Post by L Roebuck on Sept 3, 2006 7:53:02 GMT -5
Randolph eyes land for quarries
Acquisition could save thousands
BY HARRY FRANKLIN
State Editor
CUTHBERT, Ga. - The Randolph County Commission has voted to pursue condemnation procedures under eminent domain to acquire property north of Cuthbert off U.S. 27 that includes two rock quarries and historic caves.
Commission Chairman Charles Evans Simmons said proceedings have not been initiated because county officials first want to talk to new owners of the property to try to reach an agreement, allowing the county to acquire rock from the quarries to improve county dirt roads in exchange for tax breaks for the owners.
The land is part of 3,444 acres of timberland along both sides of U.S. 27 in the Grier community that is to be auctioned off at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Dawson Country Club in Dawson.
The property on the west side of U.S. 27 includes the old Wade Quarry and a series of limestone caves known as Grier's Caves. Land on the east side includes the Williamson Quarry.
Simmons said the county has about 200 miles of dirt roads that are contributing soil runoff to stream pollution. By obtaining the rock quarries, or at least the opportunity to take and crush rock from the quarries to help cover the dirt roads, the pollution could be reduced significantly and the roads and their access improved.
He said the county probably would contract with a private company to crush the rock.
"It costs us $16 a ton for crushed rock. We could do it for $3.50 a ton," he said.
Because the county has limited income, he said the number of roads the county can gravel is limited by the higher cost.
The quarries have not been used for years, but Simmons supplied a copy of a report from geologist Mark D. Cocker with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources showing that the Wade Quarry contains nearly 311,000 short tons of proven or probable limestone rock, and the Williamson Quarry more than 134,000 short tons of proven or probable rock. The quarries possibly hold substantially more rock.
Chunks of limestone lying on the ground in the Wade Quarry will break easily and are dotted inside with whole and pieces of seashell dating to a time when a sea bed covered that area.
The caves have been known for more than a century. Charles T. Swann, a Cuthbert native and geologist with the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute based at the University of Mississippi, is familiar with the caves but said he has not been inside them for several years.
"They're not large caves," he said. "The limestone there is not very thick. Most of the rooms are muddy, with two to three feet of mud on the floor. The entrance room is shaped like an upside-down bowl. There's a mound in the middle and it floats off to the side. There are two other caves. There's not another entrance you can get into."
He said the caves, which lie on timberland, are of historic interest and should be preserved, but probably are unsuitable for tourism use. They are named for a Grier family that once owned the property.
Simmons said the county is interested in seeing that the caves are protected. In the past, the entrance was sealed off with logging debris, apparently for safety purposes.
Full Article
Acquisition could save thousands
BY HARRY FRANKLIN
State Editor
CUTHBERT, Ga. - The Randolph County Commission has voted to pursue condemnation procedures under eminent domain to acquire property north of Cuthbert off U.S. 27 that includes two rock quarries and historic caves.
Commission Chairman Charles Evans Simmons said proceedings have not been initiated because county officials first want to talk to new owners of the property to try to reach an agreement, allowing the county to acquire rock from the quarries to improve county dirt roads in exchange for tax breaks for the owners.
The land is part of 3,444 acres of timberland along both sides of U.S. 27 in the Grier community that is to be auctioned off at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Dawson Country Club in Dawson.
The property on the west side of U.S. 27 includes the old Wade Quarry and a series of limestone caves known as Grier's Caves. Land on the east side includes the Williamson Quarry.
Simmons said the county has about 200 miles of dirt roads that are contributing soil runoff to stream pollution. By obtaining the rock quarries, or at least the opportunity to take and crush rock from the quarries to help cover the dirt roads, the pollution could be reduced significantly and the roads and their access improved.
He said the county probably would contract with a private company to crush the rock.
"It costs us $16 a ton for crushed rock. We could do it for $3.50 a ton," he said.
Because the county has limited income, he said the number of roads the county can gravel is limited by the higher cost.
The quarries have not been used for years, but Simmons supplied a copy of a report from geologist Mark D. Cocker with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources showing that the Wade Quarry contains nearly 311,000 short tons of proven or probable limestone rock, and the Williamson Quarry more than 134,000 short tons of proven or probable rock. The quarries possibly hold substantially more rock.
Chunks of limestone lying on the ground in the Wade Quarry will break easily and are dotted inside with whole and pieces of seashell dating to a time when a sea bed covered that area.
The caves have been known for more than a century. Charles T. Swann, a Cuthbert native and geologist with the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute based at the University of Mississippi, is familiar with the caves but said he has not been inside them for several years.
"They're not large caves," he said. "The limestone there is not very thick. Most of the rooms are muddy, with two to three feet of mud on the floor. The entrance room is shaped like an upside-down bowl. There's a mound in the middle and it floats off to the side. There are two other caves. There's not another entrance you can get into."
He said the caves, which lie on timberland, are of historic interest and should be preserved, but probably are unsuitable for tourism use. They are named for a Grier family that once owned the property.
Simmons said the county is interested in seeing that the caves are protected. In the past, the entrance was sealed off with logging debris, apparently for safety purposes.
Full Article