Bartholomew County will be going back to the drawing board for a new salt barn on State Street after bids came back at more than half a million dollars.

Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has found the current salt storage lacking and a danger to the environment as much of the salt is stored and mixed in the open and can leach into the ground.

County Commissioners had expected to spend about $350,000 for the new salt storage facility, but the lowest bid that came back from construction firms was about $530,000, commissioners said.

Commissioners decided yesterday to reject all of the bids and to start over.

Kleinhenz said that the county would put the project back out to bid after refining the specifics of the project. He said the county would hope to have new bids in hand by the end of the year.