Casey Begins Demolition of 709 S. Central in Blight Cleanup Push

Casey City Council Meeting | June 1, 2026

Article Summary: Casey Police Chief Adam Henderson told the City Council on Monday, June 1, 2026, that demolition had begun that day at 709 S. Central after an insurance question was resolved, with two additional condemned properties slated to come down by mid-June. Mayor Mike Nichols said the city has worked through its first list of nuisance properties, nearly cleared a second and is now working from a third.

Casey Blight Cleanup Key Points:

• Demolition began Monday, June 1, at 709 S. Central; contractors are expected to finish the work by June 15.
• Two additional properties — identified in the meeting as the Applegate property and the Shackleford property — are in the process of coming down.
• June 15 is also the remediation date for two trailers at a South Central address, weather permitting.
• The city clarified with its insurance carrier how liability, damage-to-rented-property and scheduled personal property coverage apply to demolition work.

CASEY — Demolition crews began tearing into a condemned house at 709 S. Central on Monday, June 1, 2026, the same evening the Casey City Council learned that two more properties are close behind it and that an insurance snag holding up the work had been cleared.

Police Chief Adam Henderson, reporting during the officers’ portion of the council’s regular meeting, said crews “started demoing” earlier that day and that the contractor expects to be finished by June 15. Asked about the timeline, Henderson said the work at 709 S. Central was one of three teardowns that had been staged and ready to proceed.

“They had everything ready to go. We had a bit of a hang up on the insurance, but I cleared that up today,” Henderson said. “And so they’re in the process of getting those three down.”

Along with 709 S. Central, Henderson identified the other two structures as the Applegate property and the Shackleford property. Neither address was stated during the meeting.

Henderson also told the council that June 15 is the remediation date for two trailers at a South Central address, a schedule that depends on the weather. He said the party who purchased the trailers is expected to remove them, and that if that does not happen, the city can take them.

Insurance Questions Resolved

Nichols used his mayor’s report to walk the council through an insurance question that surfaced once demolition began. He said he spoke with an agent at the city’s insurance agency, who explained the distinction between general liability coverage, an amendment covering damage to rented property, and scheduled personal property coverage, which applies only to equipment the city owns outright.

“You have your liability insurance in case you tear something up, which is a general liability. We all understand that,” Nichols said. He said equipment such as the city’s cameras falls under scheduled personal property, which carries a higher rate.

Nichols said the agent asked that he and the chief maintain a running list of the homes involved. Some of those structures are owned by the city, he said, while others have been approved for teardown by judge’s order or by statute. The agent told him the mixed status was not a problem, and that properties can be added to and removed from the schedule without charge until the end of the year.

“This is going to be an ongoing thing if we’re going to keep things cleaned up,” Nichols said.

Working Through the Lists

The demolitions are part of a property cleanup effort the city has been pursuing through a series of lists of problem structures. Nichols said the city has finished the first list, has nearly exhausted the second and is now working on the third, with roughly three properties remaining on one page of the current list.

“People are starting to say good things about what we’ve done,” Nichols said, crediting the police chief and city staff for driving the work. “All I do is point my finger and say do this, and you guys have done it.”

The official minutes record that Henderson was questioned about the demolition of buildings and reported that the demo of 709 S. Central had started, and that Nichols reported demolition had begun on one of the three properties.

The council took no formal action on the demolitions, which were reported as informational items under officers’ reports and the mayor’s report. Alderman Steve Jenkins, Ward II, was absent.