Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The old adage, "The early bird gets the worm," may apply to our avian brothers, but not to Corky Koors, owner of Koors Amoco.
Koors recently sold his interest in the gas station because business fell off during, and since, the widening of Ind. 15. The decreased business, combined with the Environmental Protection Agency mandate to upgrade or remove old underground gas storage tanks made it unfeasible to remain in business.
"My gas business was cut in half because of the road construction and it never came back," Koors said. "With it taking $12,000 to $15,000 to install the storage tank monitoring devices, I elected to have the tanks pulled early."
The old tanks were removed May 28 and 29, he said.
"On June 1, I received a letter from the Indiana Development Finance Authority informing me about their grant program to pay small operators for removing their underground storage tanks," Koors said. "I called the IDFA and asked for a grant application to be reimbursed for the costs of removing the tanks."
He was informed that any tanks removed prior to July 1 were ineligible for the grant. The $12,000 spent to remove the tanks would not be reimbursed.
"I've tried to do everything by the book," Koors said. "I just want people to know that some of these government programs just don't work quite right."
Lara Beck, spokesperson for the IDFA, said while the authority sympathizes with Koor's plight, their hands are tied in processing his grant application.
"We have such limited funding that we can't fund it retroactively," she said. "The statute just isn't set up that way."
Calls to State Rep. David Wolkins (R-Winona Lake) for his assistance did no good, Koors said. The entire ordeal has soured his outlook on government and the state bureaucracy.
"The letter I received the first of June made no mention of tanks being removed prior to July 1 being ineligible for the grant program. The IDFA representative was very rude and uncooperative," Koors said. "I called Rep. David Wolkins and told him that I was just frustrated and quickly losing respect of the government bureaucracy."
