Vulcan Mining Company

[Mountain Times Editor]

The Vulcan Mining Company, which is the company that does the strip mining in Azusa had a meeting in the Lodge this evening. They disclosed their proposed plan and compared it to the current one. We appreciate that they took the time to come to the Lodge to present their new plan.

Both the current and the new plans are estimated to be completed by 2038. That is not a typo.

A tour of the facility will be scheduled in the near future so that we can get a better idea of what is being done there. So please keep an eye out on your newsletter.

The new plan proposes to mine an additional 80 acres more than the current plan allows. These 80 acres will be viewed mostly from various sections of Mountain Cove. In return for being allowed to mine an additional 80 acres, they included a plan to reconnect the Fish Canyon (creek, stream or river), part of which is currently underground, and they will reseed mined areas when they are done mining specific areas and make them look a little better than they are currently required to.

I have been told that the mine brings in a lot of tax dollars iinto the city. I was just looking through the city budget and did not see them listed anywhere so I'm not sure how much they acutally pay the city.

It may be possible for the city to condemn the property and close them down. In order to do this, the city would have to pay the current owners the current value of the property. Would it be possible for a developer to go in there and redevelop it to more than off set the money that the current mine pays to the city and the cost of purchasing it, I don't know. If the new plan is accepted with the 80 additional acres that they would be allowed to mine, this would make the land that much more costly for the city to purchase from them.

What do you think should be done?

Vulcan Materials is a public company.
www.vulcanmaterials.com
www.vulcanmaterials.com/irwindale

The city of Azusa has annual revenues of approximately: $28 million a year.
www.ci.azusa.ca.us/Finance/PDF/budget%202003-2004/2003-2004Budget-Bk1.pdf

[Lester]

I sent some questions to the city about the mine and they kindly responded back...

1. Would it be possible to find out how much money, in tax dollars, Vulcan Materials brings into the city? Azusa Rock paid $153,273.98 for the year 2000 and $6,226.77 for the year 2001. The last quarter in which the city received monies was December 2001. The reason why we have not received any revenue in the past 3 years is that overburden is not taxed. Overburden is the fine sand and silt that overlays the rock material that must be removed first before rock mining can occur. In essence it is waste that has no economic value. If it is sold, however, it would be subject to the excavation tax. I understand that mainly overburden is now being removed.

2. Most residents were very upset to find out that they plan on mining until 2038. Azusa Rock (Vulcan) has a vested right to be there. The original Use Permit was granted in 1963. In 1988, a new Conditional Use Permit was granted, modifying the original Use permit by adding a long list of conditions (which the 1963 Use Permit did not have). One of those
conditions was a time limit.

3. They did mention that it is possible for the city to condem the property, but the city would have to pay the fair market value for the property. Has anyone looked into the possiblity of getting a developer to pay the fair market value for the property and have it be redeveloped into something that would more than offset the loss in the cities budget?
This is a highly unlikely option. In order for the City to condemn the property, it must be done for a "public purpose", and the City would have to pay fair market value and relocation costs. The market value would be based on its existing use, and could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I cannot think of a development project that could economically work under these constraints. Moreover, the property is too steep to develop.

[Bill]

Is it possible in the negotiations with the City and Vulcan over the 80 acres of land to add in some mitigation measures for the noise coming from the gun range?

[Lester]

I realize this may sound crazy, but I feel that this is the last chance the city has of trying to stop the strip mining from continuing. We have not even seen the worst of the strip mining yet. They have not started to remove the rock. They have only removed the top soil.

What if a tram was put up the road on the West side and a world class resort was built at the top. The parking could be below, with professional office buildings and luxury condos. A few large professional office and condo buildings on the bottom could be worth a few hundred million dollars alone.

I think that the city should look into every possibility before even considering accepting the additional 80 acres to be mined. Allowing them to mine an additional 80 acres will make that property that much more valuable and difficult to condemn.

I wonder if the Getty needs more property.

[Bill]

I agree that the strip mining is ugly and does not present itself immediately as an asset to our community. However, Vulcan Materials has the mining rights to be there and will continue to mine.

But something interesting is happening. There is an 80 acre parcel of land (as noted in the first post), which Vulcan wants and it's not clear they have the rights to mine it. I think the focus now should be to pursue a development agreement with Vulcan. In this agreement, the City can specify several conditions in exchange for allowing Vulcan to mine all or part of the 80 acres. For example, increasing the quality of the reclamation plan, implementing more strict sound mitigation or elimination for the gun club, explore/allow other uses for land Vulcan is on but won't mine, contribute to river enhancement projects, give the local schools, etc. As you know, a similar development agreement document was formed for the monrovia nursery plan and I feel will be very successful. This allows the people of Azusa and the City to maintain and dictate (to some degree) how and what will be done with the land. I believe the City Council and Vulcan are open to such a plan (a joint development agreement). I think we should focus our efforts to urge the City Council and Vulcan to pursue this opportunity. I think the citizens should be allowed to contribute to the development agreement through public hearings and meetings, etc. If the City pursues the option to flat out deny Vulcan from mining the 80 acres I am sure a long, expensive court battle will ensue - and who thinks the City should spend money on that?

[Lester]

Hello Bill,

You are probably right. I just thought that we should at least look into the possibility of looking at alternatives.

If the city is able to negociate with them, they really need to cut down how long they plan on being there. Many residents suggested that they should leave after 5 years from now. That gives the city a place to begin negotiating. 34 more years is unreasonable.