*The following letter was not mailed to Otis McCrimmon from WRQ president Jim Hurley, or the result of a face-to-face meeting following up. It was instead hand delivered to the McCrimmon home by city council member Bridgette Jordan Smith.
Reprinted unabridged with permission from Otis McCrimmon.
Reprinted unabridged with permission from Otis McCrimmon.
July 2, 2010
BY EMAIL AND US MAIL
Mr. Otis McCrimmon
127 McCrimmon Road
Vincent, AL. 35178
Re: Vincent Hills Quarry
Dear Mr. McCrimmon;
The purpose of this letter is to let you know that I have been listening to your concerns throughout this process, as well as those of your neighbors. Additionally, Ms. Bridgette Smith has spoken to me on several occasions about the need to address those concerns and various perceptions regarding why White Rock Quarries purchased some property in Vincent, Alabama, but not all that surrounds our current site.
First, let me say something very clearly regarding the issue of race. Neither I, nor White Rock, think twice about the color of someone’s skin. Racial discrimination has no place in our lives, either privately or professionally, and I will not tolerate it. When White Rock began purchasing property in Vincent, no one at my company had any idea about the race about who owned property near our selected site. With that said, and knowing what I know now, I recognize how things have been perceived by the minority community after the fact and, for that, I understand. I would like to take the time to tell you why we first purchased the land that we did and to give you assurances that we will treat you and our other neighbors fairly in the future.
As you know Shelby County has an abundance of high quality limestone. Our interests in the Town of Vincent began after an independent broker, who had acquired some property to the east of both the Norfolk Southern and CSX rail lines, came to me with an offer to sell this property. After researching the quality of limestone and the available market that could be serviced by the rail lines, I made the decision to move forward with the project. Knowing that the plant facility must be located near the intersection of both rail lines, the broker for White Rock began identifying additional willing sellers of property further east. We needed approximately 1000 acres for the project to work. Our initial purchases of property were all south of CR 62, due to the location of the high quality limestone. I have attached a geological map showing the location of the high quality limestone.
Our experts soon told us that we needed property that could be used for a water treatment area and that property should be located very close to the plant facility. Because that property would not be used for mining, the limestone quality on the water treatment property was not important. After discussing this with the broker, he approached the Whitlock family with an offer to purchase their property located north of CR 62 and, more importantly, directly north of our projected plant site. After many attempts to purchase the property, the Whitlock family refused to sell. Because of the absolute need to obtain property close to the plant site for water treatment, the broker approached Mr. and Mrs. Greene and Mr. and Mrs. Gates regarding an offer to purchase their property. As you can see from the attached map, the Greene/Gates property was the “next best choice” (after the Whitlock property) for the location of the water treatment area. We were relieved when they agreed to sell. After purchasing the Green/Gates property, we closed on various parcels from the Fleming family in the center of the property we had acquired. This gave us almost 1000 acres. I hope you can see from this explanation that we based our land purchases on: (1) where the rail lines were located, (2) where the limestone was located and, (3) where we had to place the water treatment facility.
Although we currently have enough land for the project, White Rock buys additional land from willing sellers. However, we cannot invest any more money in the property until we get the project up and running. After that, we will always consider purchasing more land. I want to assure you that, if we are fortunate enough to operate in Vincent, I will treat you and other prospective sellers fairly, if you decide to sell. It is public record what we paid for the property in Vincent. Those prices are now the base of what we will be expected to pay for possible future purchases of like property.
We want to be good neighbors and will continue to listen to your concerns. For example, we were told that your family did not want a forty foot berm running down the side of your property. As such, I directed my planners to revisit the issue and develop a berm that was much smaller. That flowed with the existing land, and was nicely landscaped. I hope these changes addressed those concerns.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Jim Hurley
President, White Rock Quarries
Cc: Ms. Brdigette Smith
