Residents, company clash at meeting

By Karen Williamson

A disagreement between some county residents and a mining company led to heated words at this week’s county commission meeting, including accusations of extortion against the county engineer.

Twin Pines Coal Company has been mining in the southwest portion of Cullman County for about five years, according to engineer Steve Ingle. They are requesting that a portion of Country Road 27 be relocated so they can begin a new mining operation.

But commissioners told company representatives they had to resolve some complaints by residents living on County Roads 12 and 14 first.

Residents were surprised to learn during the meeting that County Road 14 had been vacated by previous commissioners in 2002.

Terry and Carolyn Calvert and Randy McClendon own land off of former County Road 14 and will need access to their property when the work is done, which Twin Pines will have to provide, according to county commissioners.

Martha Johnson, whose family has owned their land for 102 years, said Twin Pines stripped through streams that fed into their streams on property adjoining their land. She said their water supply was broken off and told commissioners that her father’s complaint was that they had never paid for water in the past for their livestock.

“Why should we pay for water just because they stripped through?” asked Johnson.

Rand Linton, attorney for Twin Pines Coal Company, responded strongly.

“We deny that we are responsible for this,” said Linton. “We have done everything,” referring to obligations to Johnson.

Johnson said Twin Pines offered her three temporary solutions to remedy the problem. They offered to let her cows feed at a pond on neighboring property, but the cattle couldn’t maneuver the steep decline to the pond, according to Johnson.

“When they moved out of here, we lost the use of the pond,” she said.

The company offered to put in a well, but the family would have to pay for the electricity to operate the pump. They also offered to pay the water bill for two years until the strip mining moved.

Paulene Parker, Johnson’s mother, said during the meeting that it cost them $100 a month to purchase water for their cows. Johnson said later in a phone conversation that during the summer, water could cost as much as $200 a month.

When county engineer Fred Penn told Linton and Ingle that they would have to work with the residents to meet their needs, Linton exploded, accusing Penn of extortion several times.

After the meeting, Penn said, the county would not relocate County Road 27 until the residents’ requests are met.

A special meeting was called for Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. to discuss the issues. A Public meeting will be held tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center on County Road 15 so that all the citizens in the Beat Eight community can voice their concerns.

Chairman Wiley Kitchens said the county attorney and Linton will have to work out an agreement.

“We are going to get these people satisfied,” he said.

In other business

The Off-Road Vehicles Park is not only moving ahead but with some additional funding, may open a year earlier than planned in 2008, according to Kitchens.

County attorney Dan Willingham said the purchase of the acreage for the park had been accomplished. He said the county could now apply to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for additional funding. Approximately $275,500 in funding is available through ADECA with a $68,875 match by the county, he said.

According to Director Sammie Danford with Cullman County Economic Development, the monies will be used for engineering services to develop a master plan, to build a kiosk and park office where environmental and safety education will take place, a maintenance building and parking area.

Commissioners agreed to prepare a resolution requesting state legislators to increase the County Coroner’s salary to $10,000 from $6,700. The coroner also has a $1,000 expense account.