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LOD201200003 Other 2013-12-30
To whom it may concern: The attached invoice and MSRP statement represents tiles produced in China from soapstone blocks. The blocks originated from the quarry area known as the "Bone Yard" or "Serene" or the "serpentine pits", located to the East of Rt 800 behind the row of houses North of the Albemarle / Nelson County line. Kierk mo -Sorensen. Acknowledgment of Individual STATE OF VIRGINIA COUNTY OF !-hef-40 -1 C- The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before � me this .lGn/G 7 21, 2 of j (date) by R1 e./< /tS/ er l0 �'c—SG'ntJS -J (name of person acknowledged). 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INVOICE.pdf; BiscuitRunStudio-Jun34-2014.doc; Letter-Mawyer- AddedDetailsJune2014.pdf; LettertoAlbereneStoneCo-Mawyer1984-1989.pdf Dear Mandy and Amelia: There are two periods of time identified in your earlier email that this email is intended to address. In response to the first period - Jan 1983 to April 1986. - A letter dated January 17, 2014 addressed to me but was sent directly to Amelia from Mr. Mawyer. He was employed from 1984 to 1989 which covers all except 1983 of that period. He clearly detailed the on -going mining operations at Serene. - At the request of Vance Wilkins, Mr. Mawyer has provided additional clarification and sent an additional letter (via email) dated June 5, 2014 which is attached. For the record, "Serene" which is the source of Serpentine soapstone has been referred to as various things such as "up the hill' (from the plant), "behind the RT 800 houses", "Serpentine Quarry", "Serene", and on inspection reports as "N" or "North of the plant' and "top of the hill'. Since the soapstone mining operation was the only "activity" in the area, everything employees worked on was part of the mining operation even clearing branches or trees to keep the access open for equipment to come and go is part of the mining activity because access to mineral mining is part of a Surface Mineral Mine (as defined by the State Code). You sent to me the 16 pages that you pulled from the records. My response for your consideration. 1. Tulikivi - Exhibit #2 - date stamped April 26, 1989 was one sheet. In the Narrative it says "the main activity at this quarry will consist of removing old soapstone blocks to be used in production and testing at the mill." This clearly confirms that the Surface Mineral Mining Operation was on -going. By the state code definition, this is included. The state requires a permit to handle the mineral blocks and process the mineral blocks so it is part of the operation. The inventory stored at this site came not only from Serene but other quarries such as Climax because it was close to the plant and there was not room at the plant to store all the 'old" blocks that were needed to continuously feed the plant processing operation and meet the orders received for specific types of soapstone ie serpentine, climax etc. The narrative goes on to say "There will be no actual quarrying at the present time." This clearly delineates "quarrying" as one of the defined Surface Mineral Mining operations that was not planned at that time. This just means that the equipment for extracting soapstone was moved to a different quarry site and they did not do actual quarrying at all the sites all the time. When there was enough block of a specific type stacked up to meet demand - they moved to the next quarry to extract block and stack another type. This document confirms the continuous operation. 2. You sent to me MOTC Reclamation Inspection Reports (' 16 pages) dates from Jan 1983 to May 1987. There are 11 reports with Permit # M-160 with Nelson County - Location of mine as "RT617 at Schuyler". Dates from 1-10-83 to 7-22-86. Using these inspection forms which clearly show County of "Nelson" as location to identify a lapse in activity from a zoning perspective when there is no wording to tie down the specific quarry area is not reasonable. The older Permit M-160 covered the permit areas in Nelson County. As I explained, the Nelson location referred to as Climax is approx. 600 acres is all located in Nelson County (Unless there is a specific reference to Serene or other Albemarle County locations - these reports cannot apply). When I provided the documentation previously, I spent a lot of time and effort to edit out the documents that referred to Nelson County so not to take up staff time going through documents that are not applicable. Per our conversation, so you can see the location of Climax, I have attached sheet 3 of 7 of the "Mining Permit Maps" dated May 22, 1986. The area outlined in RED is the permit area. (could not attached due to file size - I will deliver copy to your office). You did send 1 report dated March 2,1987 that applies to Permit #M-160 & M-161 and specifically states Nelson & Albemarle with address as RT 800Schuyler. ( M-161 included Albemarle). This has wording "An existing quarry just N of the main plant & offices, is being cleaned up and readied fro production" It goes on to refer to Old Dominion and to Alberene. The address and description "N of the plant" typically refers to Serene.. The other report dated 5/18/1987 with location "RT 800 at Schuyler" and refer to "N of the plant" so this is Serene also. None of these reports that apply to the Nelson County part of the permit area can be used to lay a basis that the Surface Mineral Mining operations in Albemarle County had a lapse in activity. 3. For this period, you have the two letters from Mr. Maywer (see above). You have the affidavits covering this period from Mr. Carroll and Mr. Wilkins that were submitted to Albemarle County zoning for the 1986 LOD. As typical with LOD's, Mr. Wilkins relied upon this LOD when negotiating with Tulikivi to take over and expand the Surface Mining operations at that time. (The recorded lease documents have been previously submitted) During this period, the parcels owned by Ms. Hardin and Ms. Flynn had not yet been created and these houses were "company" houses and the parcels are included in Serene. In addition to the other letters, I just received the letter from a buyer, Biscuit Run Studio, dated June 4, 2014 who which purchased black serpentine soapstone from Mr. Wilkins over the period 1980 to 1990. It is attached to this email. In response to the second period - Sept 2009 to Feb 2012. We submitted back in Dec 2013 an affidavit from Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Sorenson covering this period. We also submitted documentation covering this period when the August 2012 LOD was issued. (Included under tab N of my submittal) Although the parcels along RT800 were removed from that LOD because the LOD did not comply the notice requirement, this does not change the fact that the Surface Mineral Mining operation has been located across the rear portions of the parcel's owned by Ms. Hardin and Ms. Flynn. The documentation for this period included the mandatory Mineral Mining Annual Tonnage Report" that was filed with VDMME for 2009 which was 500 tons, for 2010 which was 650 tons, and for 2011 which was 1179 tons. This tonnage included all the soapstone that was processed under the current permit for those years under that permit number. There is no way to dispute that the soapstone came from the Albemarle quarry locations and specifically a portion came from Serene. As a matter of fact, the harvesting of previously quarried blocks stored at Serene that were black serpentine and climax blocks that were moved there to be close at hand was an important part of growing the production volume which more than doubled from 2009 to 2011. You sent to me an inspection report dated 9/8/09 which noted Serpentine. Since it was inspected, this means it was covered under the mining permit and the location is also delineated as "active" FA which means it is within the bonded area. The September inspection report shows the previous inspection on 6/03/08. Therefore, two summers occurred between these inspections. Although the inspector noted that "no recent activity apparent" and "no equipment on site", his report is carefully worded to include "apparent" because the vegetation grows back quickly and part of the maintenance is to re -seed when they tear up the ground with heavy equipment. As proof of this, please refer back to my photo with date stamp March 6, 2012 (submitted to Zoning). Compare this to the photos that zoning staff took during the visit in Nov 2013. This is a similar time frame to the period between inspections. I think you will agree that all the rutting caused by equipment moving and loading stone blocks and clearing the area to get to the blocks is not "apparent" AT ALL when you compare the photos. The damage from the 988 loader and other equipment (see below) was completely gone and grown over with vegetation. As a matter of fact if the equipment was not on site and there was apparent erosion - the inspector could very well write up a violation for leaving the site in that condition as you have noticed when reading through pages of inspection reports. For the operator, there is no requirement to keep records other than what is filed with VDMME such as tonnage reports. To verify the mining activity that was on -going with many moves of equipment between quarry locations, Pete Farley and Tripp Stewart have been going through the "extraction expenses" invoices. Graves Loader Service was used during this period for equipment rental, moving soapstone blocks, moving the large loader from site to site with a tractor trailer, putting down stone on the access roads and renting eqpment and other items ie compressors. Most of the invoices just list the equipment but some note the move to and from locations They found a few that are specific to Serene during this period. For Feb 2011, see attached email from Pete Farley with attached invoice. (17 months into the period identified) For Dec 2011 - Jan 2012, see attached email from Pete Farley with invoices. (10 months later) The "haul blocks from top of hill to plant" was from Serene to the plant. The stone was put down on the access from RT 800 across Ms. Flynn's parcel to the large iron gate. Equipment included a "truck -trailer" to move the 988 Loader, "990 JD" which is a John Deere, 160 Case", "Track Hoe" which is a backhoe with tracks - likely a 325 or similar. Of course all this work, resulted in a complaint from the property owner for "illegal mining". This documentation clearly verifies that men and equipment were used in the mining activity at Serene. The #3 stone was put down across Ms. Flynn side yard to stabilize the access to Serene (and paid for by Alberene). Alberene Soapstone is a thriving business operation that involves Surface Mineral Mining at various locations in Nelson and in Albemarle County with most the soapstone processing in Nelson County. There have been shut downs but only for limited duration when the operating entities have changed. There have been months when activity was low and the men and equipment go back and forth between locations because that is the nature of having a unique variety of mineral stone to market to the world. Black Serpentine is highly prized and important to this industry. We request that you issue the Letter of Determination to confirm the non -conforming use that has been located on the properties in question along RT 800. Due to the value of the minerals and the mineral rights, this is very important to the owner of the mineral rights. I have read through a mountain of paper that has many many pages of information that is not applicable that has been submitted by the property owners that wish to prevent Mr. Wilkins from exercising the rights he reserved and take possession of the soapstone that is stored at Serene for future processing. In addition, the dispute over the access through to Serene and these matters are civil matters between Mr. Wilkins and those property owners. It would seem that the County's public would be better served to not become involved in the civil matters pertaining to these issues. By the way, Mr. Wilkins has met with "The Quarries" Homeowners Association and they are working on a document to put to rest their concern about the mineral rights. This does not include the parcels on the south side of RT 800 that were subdivided from the Serene parcel in 1991 where the mineral rights were reserved and not conveyed when the property was sold. Please let me know if you come across any other concerns or if anyone has any additional questions. I have copied Liz Palmer on this email. Hopefully, each of the supervisors will come to Alberene and tour the facility to get a better understanding of the soapstone operations. f o Oit gins PROJECT DEVELOPMENT LLC 2564 MT Torrey Rd,Lyndhurst, VA 22952 434 - 326 - 0334 musxit cDaol.com From: petefarley@alberenesoapstone.com To: Musxit@aol.com CC: aaronlaufer@embargmail.com Sent: 6/5/2014 4:03:52 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time Subj: Documentation of activity at Serene 2009-2011 Jo and Aharon, Attached are invoices from Graves Loader Service (Frankie Graves) starting on December 27", 2011 and going through January 41", 2012. The invoice from December 27'", 2011 is in reference to when Frankie brought over #3 sized stone gravel to put on the right of way from Rte 800 through the gate down to the Serene quarries in order to load blocks that have been reclaimed from that site and staged to be loaded at an earlier date. The other two invoices from January 3`d and 41", 2012, refer to the blocks that were hauled off after this gravel was put down. He states in these two later invoices that he hauled" blocks from top of hill to plant" which is reference to hauling from Serene to the plant. I spoke with Frankie on the phone about these and he can confirm that these are definitely in reference to Serene. I was also working here by that time and can attest to this. This whole process required an excavator dig through the old piles of blocks in order to pick and stage reclaimed blocks. It required moving the 988 Loader to then pick up those blocks and place them on Frankie Graves' trailer in order to be transported to the Plant where they were later processed. This would require several days of work at the very least prior to the loading date stated in the earliest invoice. I also spoke with Kierk and the only documentation he can find regarding sending the blocks to China is a pro forma dated in 2009, but it does not refer specifically to stone or stone type. Tammy and Julia removed all of the older files from the site months ago that I believe have other invoices from Frankie and probably even documentation of some sort from Buster referring to work done at Serene. If someone was able to go through these I am fairly certain one would find at the very least invoice from Frankie from 1009-2011 similar to the ones attached. This is all I have been able to turn up here in the offices. Let me know if I can assist in any other way Pete Farley Alberene Soapstone Company 42 Alberene Loop P.O. Box 300 Schuyler, VA 22969 Office: 434 831 1051 Cell: 434 981 9351 Craves Lsarier Senicc %%lavne F. Graves % �% Q SL+u ler VA td 1 I f U U/ Schuyler tiro 22'369 RR • l •' i�YYYYY ( 1 ! m- a . �, rrssn'zn ORRDC5M Td Wd3- : T© 4TOZ S0 ''-'^f KhtP -I nra Sur rvn +,=r ORIGINAL ZTGSYE817: 'ON �3 S t J 31**Ydtl : IF-VJJ S"v. e 1-7 7 8 7 3 i ! / � � 1 �r • ® r ! •.r . w!' 4r:4�iiY IBM am rrmR9GSSt}5 KEEP TKIS SLIP wFi Hrt-tncm M 4R[GINAL 2d Wdaf::® aloe. So 'L- cTQSTM7: 'D! A�J Sar#An 3I71P&�Hj: W063 1 -( 7 Cf % 2 09IO jai £d IJdLz:TH GT0 S0 'unI ci Si£8i: '�fil ^i SAY �S Pam: w0dj BISCUITR.UNSTUDIOS, LTD. 981 OLD LYNCHBURG ROAD CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIKGINIA 22903 434-977-5411 June 4, 2014 Vance Wilkins RE: Schuyler Soapstone Quarries Schuyler, Virginia Mr. Wilkins: Our company, Biscuit Run Studios, Ltd. bought scrap soapstone from you, both soft grade and black serpentine rock, during the years 1980 through 1990 for our sculpting business and to sell to other sculptors. You allowed us to visit several of your sites around Alberene and Schuyler to obtain our stone. My memory is that we bought it for 2-4 cents/pound. My husband, David Breeden, even sculpted the piece, "The Family" (1981) in the soapstone factory in Schuyler. This piece now sits on the Juvenile Courthouse lawn on High Street in Charlottesville. We appreciated doing business with you. Sincerely, Elizabeth L. Breeden, President Biscuit Run Studios, Ltd. From: petefarley@alberenesoapstone.com To: Musxit@aol.com, tripp.alberene@yahoo.com CC: aaronlaufer@embargmail.com Sent: 6/10/2014 2:59:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time Subj: RE: 2007 Jo - Attached is an invoice showing on 2/17/2011 Frankie moved "church block from the hill". Similar to the invoice he gave me the other day, this is him referring to being in Serene. I have all of Frankie's invoices from 2009-2011 and this is the only one that seems to refer to Serene. Old Dominion, ALberene, and Climax are also all covered in the other invoices. I will hold onto these for your files if you would like Jo. I spoke with Kierk again today and he promised to get tonight the write up and whatever documentation he could from the Chinese block deal. Pete Farley J l-Fcit;4D:�' w � � O Amelia McCulley From: Musxit@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 7:36 AM To: Amelia McCulley; Amanda Burbage Cc: aaronlaufer@embargmail.com; vancewilkins@comcast.net Subject: Mining Operations for Alberene Soapstone Activity at Serene Mandy - Here is some of the information for your consideration. 1. Below I am forwarding information the information from Mr. Wilkins. This is to better understand the terminology and the perspective of the inspector when writing MOTC (Minerals Other Than Coal) Reclamation Inspection Reports. The definitions in the Virginia Code that pertain to Surface Mineral Mining are unique (There is an entirely separate section of the code pertaining to coal mining). 2. Per our conversation, the mining permit covers hundreds of acres including area in Nelson County. Inspection reports are sometimes difficult to track because the inspector may visit one site or various sites on the same day or different days. I previously was careful to edit the reports that are not applicable to Albemarle County. A lot of the reports that pertain to Serene also include the processing plant (over the line and completely in Nelson County) so these have been included because the property owned by Mr. Wilkins over the Nelson County is contiguous (and Albemarle parcel previously extended into Nelson County). Due to this proximity, Serene has been used as an extension of the plant operations for storing inventory. To understand the other permit area that is several miles away and south of the Albemarle County line, I will provide (file too large to attach to this email) the sheet from the permit maps showing the location of Climax that is several miles away (via RT617 to get to RT722). See next email for discussion of the periods you identified in your email. Jo Jo Mi�gins PROJECT DEVELOPMENT LLC 2564 MT Torrey Rd,Lyndhurst, VA 22952 434 - 326.0334 musxitna aol.com From: vancewilkins(ocomcast.net To: musxit(a)aol.com Sent: 6/9/2014 3:39:25 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time Subj: Serene Jo, Have you given the folk checking on the continuity of our activities at Serene copies of the sections of the code of Virginia shown below? These are from the definitions section. I have highlighted the pertinent sections of the code of Virginia in Green and in red I have indicated the activity or condition that Mr. Mawyer was referring to in his letter. I think this will help enable those readers who are not familiar with mining terminology to better understand his meaning. I hope this will help. Vance "Inactive mine" means a mine (i) at which coal or minerals have not been excavated or 1processed, or work, other than examinations by a certified person or emergency work to preserve the mine, has not been performed at an underground mine for a period of 30 days, or at a surface mine for a period of 60 days,(for a mine inspectors report to call a mine inactive would only require that no minerals were removed for a period of 60 days, not years) (ii) for which a valid license is in effect, and (iii) at which reclamation activities have not been completed. "Surface mineral mine" means (i) the pit and other active and inactive areas of surface extraction of minerals; (ii) on -site mills, shops, loadout facilities, and related structures appurtenant to the excavation and processing of minerals; (this is the compressor house)(iii) impoundments, retention dams, tailing ponds(this is the old quarry that the slurry was pumped into), and other areas appurtenant to the extraction of minerals from the site; (iv) on -site surface areas for the transportation and storage of minerals excavated at the site;(this is where we stored blocks from Serene and other quarries for later transportation to the plant for processing) (v) equipment, machinery(this is the compressor used to power the drills and other equipment), tools and other property used in, or to be used in, the work of extracting minerals from the site; (vi) private ways and roads appurtenant to such area;(this is the right of way into the Serene track from Rt 800) and (vii) the areas used for surface -disturbing exploration (other than by drilling or seismic testing) or preparation of a site for surface mineral extraction activities. A site shall commence being a surface mineral mine upon the beginning of any surface disturbing exploration activities other than exploratory drilling or seismic testing(this was prior to 1940), and shall cease to be a surface mineral mine upon completion of initial reclamation activities(this will be sometime in the future). The surface extraction of a mineral shall not constitute surface mineral mining unless (a) the mineral is extracted for its unique or intrinsic characteristics, or (b) the mineral requires processing prior to its intended use. (both of these conditions apply to the stone from the Serene Quarry area. Serene has been an active mining site, continuously under permit since required, for many decades. Vance Wilkins PO Box 469 Amherst, VA 24521 434-946-7599 home 434-941-1001 mobile 434-381-9934 office 2 HIGGINS ENGINEERING, INC. 390 LEXINGTON TNPK., AMHERST, VA 24521 TEL. (434) 946-7170 • FAX (434) 946-7567 June 5, 2014 Attn: Jo Higgins Ref: Employment and work related to Alberene Stone Co. 1984-1989 Dear Mrs. Higgins As follow up to my letter of January 17, 2014, all the tasks outlined in that letter are part of the mining operations that were on -going at that time. The activities described did include the Serene quarry area where the Serpentine stone was brought out with men and equipment and taken to the plant for processing. In paragraph 5 of my original letter, I referenced that the compressor had to be checked at least 2-3 times a day. This compressor was located on the Serene quarry site and was part of the equipment used in the mining operation to power drills and other equipment. The slurry line and slurry that I referred to in my letter that was pumped up to the Rt 800 quarries which is the area called Serene is a byproduct of the stone sawing operations, so handling of the slurry is also part of the mining activity. It cannot be drained into the stream so this was required to allow for the stone dust to settle. All the maintenance of components including the pumps to provide water, the water tanks to store water, the slurry lines, the equipment used for handling the stone and the areas where soapstone was stored at the Plant and at Serene were necessary to and part of the mining operation. Every activity we did was part of the mining activity from finding the requested soapstone type and sorting the blocks to sawing and shipping the blocks to fill orders. In paragraph 6, 1 referenced that we got blocks from along state route 800. This area includes the Serene site. This site is known for producing the Serpentine or hard stone and was also used as a lay down area to store stone from other quarries because of its proximity to the plant. Also we processed at least two or three orders for Serpentine stone every year that I was employed at Alberene Stone Co. and sometimes more. There is no other Serpentine stone vein to get this type of stone from than the Serene property behind the row of houses on Route 800. For every order for Serpentine we had to go to the Serene property and get a block or blocks. Not only did we get all the Serpentine stone from the Serene area we also some times, especially in the winter, got other types of stone stored there when it was difficult to get to the outlying quarries which had types of stone other than Serpentine. I hope I have given you a more thorough explanation of our operations. Si c rely, e wyer President Higgins Engineering, Inc. FLANGED PIPE FABRICATORS 0 FITTINGS AND ACCESSORIES C-rN,wrS Lo4j'ro( S";cAf J 77R72 4A!GNAL £d WdL3:TO tToo SO 'U^i [T$si£87: 'ON d 531titF` 3INkR{j: 4JLYtd -tj t7v c.`I +-4'Ad lall -ev"c' r 1-178 l3 CUSTOMER 5 ORDER Mj pEpAA7'MP1rT DAFE NAME AWFMGB S CM. STATE, ZIP t:.q SOLO BY CAS3i FO.O. CFt47GE ON AOOT AAOSE PAID OUT OUANnTyl DESCR1P110N i i10E AWWW 1 � .10 ' ' 3 Tl P 1,4.;r i 4 8 El 7 8 9 7� A 1p 10 11 t 7 12 A✓! 13 1A` 14 15 ; 18 _ 17 18 19 _ RECEvED SY ORONAI Z,� WdLF:TO CTOZ SO ' n; MGTE8': 'ON XHA 53l1 1 3I?i"tt% :lid Graven 1=dCr SCM00 % Wayne F Graws Schuyler ler VA td 177869 s�n�ta vn n9ss v ©_ • I i � pac-saus KEEP THUS 5UV rtm r1crcrirt4 .c ORIGINAL Td Wd?c:TO 7TOE SO 'u^S n85T£87: 'U4 X;;d S�Vkz--J 3i*4td.l: 14D6A From: petefarley@alberenesoapstone.com To: Musxit@aol.com CC: aaronlaufer@embarqmail.com Sent: 6/5/2014 4:03:52 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time Subl: Documentation of activity at Serene 2009-2011 Jo and Aharon, Attached are invoices from Graves Loader Service (Frankie Graves) starting on December 271h, 2011 and going through January 4`h, 2012. The invoice from December 27`h, 2011 is in reference to when Frankie brought over #3 sized stone gravel to put on the right of way from Rte 800 through the gate down to the Serene quarries in order to load blocks that have been reclaimed from that site and staged to be loaded at an earlier date. The other two invoices from January 31 and 41h, 2012, refer to the blocks that were hauled off after this gravel was put down. He states in these two later invoices that he hauled" blocks from top of hill to plant" which is reference to hauling from Serene to the plant. I spoke with Frankie on the phone about these and he can confirm that these are definitely in reference to Serene. I was also working here by that time and can attest to this. This whole process required an excavator dig through the old piles of blocks in order to pick and stage reclaimed blocks. It required moving the 988 Loader to then pick up those blocks and place them on Frankie Graves' trailer in order to be transported to the Plant where they were later processed. This would require several days of work at the very least prior to the loading date stated in the earliest invoice. I also spoke with Kierk and the only documentation he can find regarding sending the blocks to China is a pro forma dated in 2009, but it does not refer specifically to stone or stone type. Tammy and Julia removed all of the older files from the site months ago that I believe have other invoices from Frankie and probably even documentation of some sort from Buster referring to work done at Serene. If someone was able to go through these I am fairly certain one would find at the very least invoice from Frankie from 1009-2011 similar to the ones attached. This is all I have been able to turn up here in the offices. Let me know if I can assist in any other way Pete Farley Alberene Soapstone Company 42 Alberene Loop P.O. Box 300 Schuyler, VA 22969 Office: 434 831 1051 Cell: 434 981 9351 Page 1 of 1 Suby Re: Quarry info Date: 12/28/2013 1:05:27 P.M. Eastern Standard Time From: MUsx1t(Qiaol,com To: AMCCULLE(Dalbemarle oro One person, Mr. McClung, was mailing directly to you an affidavit pertaining to the period of time he was the geologist and safety director for Georgia Marble. Hopefully, you received that already. Please confirm. I was waiting for another affidavit via email from Mr. Mawyer with Higgins (no relation) Engineering, Kenneth Carroll's son-in-law, for period 1983 - 1986 pertaining to specific information on Serene. He promised to send it before the company shut down over xmas week - but he apparently didn't get to it. They come back to work on Monday. Regardless, I will have the information to you no later than Tuesday even if this information does not come in on Monday. Thanks Jo In a message dated 12/27/2013 2:40:40 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, AMCCULLE@albemarle.org writes: Good morning, When will you be submitting the info I requested? 90 �fWgins PROJECT DEVELOPMENT LLC 2564 MT Torrey Rd,Lyndhurst, VA 22952 434.326.0334 musxit@aol.com Monday, December 30, 2013 AOL: Musxit Page I of I Subj: request for additional information to support determination request Date: 11/15/2013 10:49:55 A.M. Eastern Standard Time From: AMCCULLE(o)albemarle.org To: musxit@aol.com Jo, Here is the additional information we are requesting for our consideration of this issue. If you provide contact information for Mr. Wilkin's attorney, I can forward this to him. BTW, I got a call from Valerie Long late yesterday afternoon on this topic. She confirmed that she will be submitting information to explain the material reliance since Ron's determination. 1. A description of the business as it existed when zoning was adopted in 1969. What was occurring — was stone being drilled and cut from the quarry and processed at the plant or was stockpiled stone being used at that time? Can you give us an idea of the nature and level of activity. 2. Because the permit involves several properties and it has changed somewhat over time, can you please provide a history that lists properties (tax map and parcel), company names and mine names for the mines under permit with DMME? 3. For the same reason, can you please provide information as to the history of mineral rights associated with the properties under the DMME permit. 4. Can you please provide specific and historical information (from 1969 for every two years) as to the sale of stockpiled stone from the Serene quarry from either the residential lots or the property behind it. 5. Can you provide affidavits from individuals who either worked in the mine or otherwise have first-hand information as to the mining activity on the Serene quarry properties? Friday, November 15, 2013 AOL: Musxit F- z m 2564 Mt Torrey Rd, Lyndhurst, VA 22952 434 — 326 - 0334 email " musxit(d)aol.com" DATE: December 30, 2013 TO: Amelia McCulley Albemarle County —Zoning Department FROM: Jo Higgins, Project Manager RE: Alberene Soapstone — Mining Activity Mineral Rights Owner —S. Vance Wilkins, Jr Mineral Rights Leased by Virginia Soapstone Ventures, LLC Questions from email dtd 11/15/2013 from Amelia McCulley 1. A description of the business as it existed when zoning was adopted in 1969. What was occurring- was stone being drilled and cut from the quarry and processed at the plant or was stockpiled stone being used at that time? Can you give us an idea of the nature and level of activity. REPSPONSE: See Attachment A - "History" which is a bar chart with time line. When the zoning was adopted in 1969, Jay & Tee, Inc. (Formerly Georgia Marble Company and formerly Alberene Stone Corporation of Virginia) conveyed Georgia Marble Company (formerly New Marble Company) in Deed dated 1969 (Attachment C) properties including 29 parcels in Albemarle County that John Graves as trustee for Virginia Alberene Corporation, conveyed to Alberene Stone Corporation in 1935. (Page 2 of the Deed — Item #1). After another 4 years of operation, Georgia Marble closed the Plant for a brief period and that same year, 1973, the Plant was reopened then purchased by Mr. Wilkins in 1976. See Affidavit from Mr. McClung who worked for Georgia Marble from 1967 to 1971 (Draft — unsigned Affidavit is Attachment P- signed affidavit was mailed directly to Zoning). He confirms that all the mining activity at all quarry locations in Albemarle were active during that period of time and specifically Serene. He was the geologist and safety director so he had knowledge of all the operations. Kenneth Carroll's affidavit — Attachment D with Vance Wilkins affidavit — Attachment E also provide information up to 1986 which was requested by Albemarle County Zoning. Kenneth Carroll operated the Mill for Wilkins until he purchased it in 1983. 1 also spoke with Mr. Mawyer who worked for Kenneth Carroll from 1983 to 1986 and he is sending an email to confirm activity for that period of time. Other more general historic information going back to the 1800's is included in the articles in Attachment C — such as "Chronology of Alberene Stone and Its Railroads" which provides a description of railroad serving the operation that even transported pupils for a period of time. Trucks took over transporting the soapstone in 1962 and the RR between counties stopped in 1963. This is all background information. Per the affidavit by K. Carroll, "continued to extract, process and sell" was on -going during his tenure. Mr. Carroll is deceased but this affidavit was submitted in 1986 and it still stands. Page 1 of 7 2. Because the permit involves several properties and it has changed somewhat over time, can you please provide a history that lists properties (tax map and parcel), company names and mine names for the mines under permit with DMME? REPSONSE: There have been various entities involved in the ownership of property and ownership of mineral rights over the years. The VDMME permit is issued to the "operator" of the mining activities. If you refer to the time -line, you will see the various changes in the operational names. Prior to 1986, the permit numbers were M-160 and M-161. In 1986, Permit 05904AB was issued to The New Alberene Stone Company which was the company name used by Tulikivi of Finland (makers of fireplace and stove products all over the world). They leased the mineral rights from S. Vance Wilkins (See Attachment G). In 1997, the VDMME permit 90393AA was issued to New World Stone Company which was owned by V. Wilkins with operation authorization for K. Sorenson to cover the land area (132.88 acres) that included Serene once it was released by Tulikivi in their lease amendment of 1996. Tulikivi released some properties in their lease amendment and V. Wilkins kept the mineral rights on some which included Serene. Eventually all the land area was transferred to the New World Stone Company permit. In 2010, V. Wilkins leased the mineral rights for 99 years to Virginia Soapstone Ventures, LLC and the VDMME permit name did not change as the ownership of New World Stone Company was transferred rather than a new permit being issued. The name of the quarry areas in Albemarle County are: Old Dominion which is TM126-21B of 130.1 acres Alberene which is TM 111-8W (incl 111-8) of 118.5 acres Serene (Serpentine) which is 126-31C & 31 D of 455 acres (105 + 350) These tax map references include the current TM126-31J, 31A1— 31A8. The land area on the other side of RT800 was sold and developed as "The Quarries" subdivision and the mineral rights were sold to that developer (as noted in the County Real Estate Records). The first two are listed by name on the 1986 Letter of Determination (Attachment F) and the third quarry area was listed by parcel numbers without a reference name. The attachment to that LOD showed the parcels are outlined in red on the 1979 Albemarle Tax Map. This shows that 126-31C & D actually straddled the Nelson -Albemarle county line. On the VDMME permit maps, Old Dominion and Alberene are listed by name. Even though the name Serene(for the man that named "alberene') and Serpentine go back a long time, they are not listed on the VDMME permit maps like the other quarries. All the parcels are referenced as "Schuyler" for the community name. There are VDMME inspection reports that refer to mine #s and some use quarry names - Serpentine and Serene along with Old Dominion and Alberene (Climax is the main quarry in Nelson County) but there is no index for these numbers. The numbers used for tonnage reports and some inspections were assigned to the quarry holes and not locations per Mr. Sorenson who could not remember which numbers went with which quarries so this info is not available. For an understanding of the Schuyler - Serene quarry & Schuyler Plant - See Attachment B. Both the 1986 permit map and the current state topo map with tax parcel outlines are shown. The area on the other side of RT800 is removed from the current permit maps and also the parcels to the south and east of TM126-31J have been removed from the permit maps. The core area of Serene that has always been continues to include TM126-31J, 31A1 through 31A8 in Albemarle County and 49-A-67 (which includes Nelson portion of the Albemarle assigned tax map numbers 126-31C & 31) and 62-A-15. [The Nelson County quarry names are "Climax" located on RT 722 as referenced on the 1986 permit maps, and two other names not referenced but known by quarry staff - "Churchhill" (closest to Church) and "Smoke Stack" for the old chimney on the plant property.] Page 2 of 7 3. For the same reason, can you please provide information (from 1969 for every two years) as to the sale of stockpiled stone from the Serene Quarry from either the residential lots or the property behind it. RESPONSE: The residential lots were under identical ownership at the time the zoning ordinance was adopted in 1969 because all was included in the same tax map parcel. The quarry is clearly located across the rear of the lots and the parcel behind the residential lots — See Attachment B. In 1990, the subdivision was approved to create 8 parcels across the front of Serene. The intent was to convert the rental houses to affordable housing to enable residents to purchase and become homeowners (instead of renters). I visited the site once to look at the potential for alternative -innovative septic systems (wetlands treatment) when I first came to work for Richard Moring. I remember the large iron gate and the condition of the houses at that time which were very deteriorated. The only reason the parcels were configured as they were was because the minimum acreage that was allowed by Albemarle County at that time (and currently) was 2 acres. The survey plat (at the request of the County) clearly showed a "quarry" line to delineate the separation between the residential use and the quarry use. All references to Serene by quarry staff, inspector records, and maps (up until 2013) considers the entire area and does not differentiate between which parcel the activity occurred. Most inspection reports refer to Serene as .8 mile north of Schuyler plant or 1 mile north of plant. No one paid any attention to property lines because the entire area was under the control of the quarry personnel, they drove between the houses to access the quarry operation and all 8 parcels were included in the VDMME permit area and the "active" area under the VDMME permit showed the entrance across TM126-31A2-3-4-5-6 and active area across the rear of 31A3-4-6. Their proximity to the Plant is well documented. See Attachment I with VDMME permit map showing the direct access from these parcels to the plant. Attachment J is the permit amendment to increase the active area to cover the rear of 126- 31A1 and 31A2 with a narrative that describes the removal of stored soapstone. In 1991, Mr. Wooten, Owner of 31A1, and Mr. Hargrave applied for a permit from VDMME which was denied because the same area was under permit and Mr. Wilkins would not release that area. See Attachment K. For documentation of activity for every 2 year period — See the Bar chart - each of the 3 main quarries in Albemarle were active during Mr. McClung's tenure from 1967 — 1971. I spoke with him over the phone and drafted what he told me. He was going to check the dates which he corrected after it was mailed to him, edit and send this directly to Zoning. Draft affidavit is Attachment P. Also Mr. Wilkins affidavit which starts in period 1969 when the flood of 1969 brought Mr. Wilkins to the bridge work over the Rock Fish River— the rip rap came out of Serene which was the closest quarry to the bridge. He stayed involved and purchased the entire operation and properties in 1976. From 1976 — 1986, the documentation which was an affidavit from he and Mr. Carroll was provided along with reporting the income from the sale of soapstone. The affidavits clearly state that the operation was continuous and Mr. Wilkins 2013 affidavit clearly states that he was aware of the requirement to continuously use the property for mining or loose the non -conforming status. In the mid 1980's, he requested HI zoning that was not approved although the compressor bldg. was located on TM126-31A3-4 and the slurry water from the plant was pumped to the quarry hole at Serene (Noted on the VDMME map — Attachment B) as stated in the narrative. I also spoke with Mr. Mawyer of Higgins Engineering in Amherst, Va. on Thursday, Dec 19,2013, who worked there from 1983 to 1986. (Will be sending an email to confirm details) He confirmed that Serene was a soapstone storage area, the compressor directly behind the houses (and on the residential parcel) served the plant operation and the slurry water was pumped back up to the hole near the compressor bldg. as Page 3 of 7 part of the requirements for handling the drainage to protect Ivy Creek which runs next to the plant bldg. This was in addition to inventory storage and retrieval. It was also a waste area for the broken slabs taking up space at the plant yard. 4. Can you provide affidavits from individuals who either worked in the mine or otherwise have first-hand information as to the mining activity on the Serene quarry properties? RESPONSE: Several key individuals have provided affidavits — Mr. Carroll, Mr. Wilkins, Mr. McClung, and 3 persons on the affidavit covering the recent 2 years which includes the photo I took on March 2012. Mr. Mawyer's office closed for holidays and he should be back to work on Jan 6. He indicated he would send an email regarding his tenure working for Kenneth Carroll. All of these affidavits include explicit reference to Serene activities. INFORMATION SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION OF NON -CONFORMING QUARRY ACTIVITY ON PARCELS OWNED BY MS. FLYNN AND MS. HARDIN—TM126-31A2, 4, AND 4 - LOCATION OF SOAPSTONE QUARRY ACTIVITY HISTORY: The Serene/Serpentine Quarry area was included in TM126-32C — 32D when you refer to the tax map of 1979. At that time, the larger parent parcel actually straddled the Nelson -Albemarle County Line per the outline in red done by Zoning at the time of the 1986 LOD. The Albemarle County Assessment of mineral rights has been and is currently based upon TM126-32C of 105 acres and TM126-32D of 305 acres for a total of 455 acres. The real property assessed value of the mineral rights have been taxed under these numbers since Mr. Wilkins purchased the acreage in 1976. Over the years, the property has been subdivided and some parcel have been sold to others. The Serene quarry area is located on the south side of RT 800 on parcels owned by Vance Wilkins in Albemarle County TM126-31J and in Nelson County TM49-A-67 and 62-A16 and includes parcels where Mr. Wilkins reserved the mineral rights in Albemarle County - TM 126-31A1 thru 31A8 which include the parcels owned by Ms. Flynn and Ms. Hardin. See Attachment B — It shows both the USGS map that was used as the base map for the VDMME permit in 1986 (Since USGS was updated every 10-15 yrs — it could be 1975-1980 mapping) and the current state topographic map with the outline of the tax map parcels from the county GIS system added for the same area. You will see if you closely look at the USGS portion on the left side of the sheet — there are notes on the 1986 permit maps that pertain to the quarry operation in 1986. Behind the then "company owned" housing that fronts on RT800 (currently 31A1-31A8) you will see that there is a small building labeled "compressor house" which served the processing plant to the south. There is also a quarry labeled "slurry reservoir wash for plant' because this is where the slurry water was pumped to from the plant. (Mr. Mawyer confirmed these facts for period 1983 — 1986) This served as a settling basin for the particulates in the slurry water from cutting soapstone. Due to the proximity to the plant, Serene was used as additional storage area for soapstone inventory from other quarry locations and this is documented in the affidavit recently submitted showing that "Climax" block was retrieved from Serene for processing and sale. This establishes the direct relationship that Serene has with the plant located to the south in Nelson County. Page 4 of 7 Mr. Vernon Harris of VDMME in his research (because of complaints received from Ms. Hardin) confirmed that as far as he can tell the entire area has been included in the VDMME permit area since the 60's per which is prior to the Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance. For period ending 1986- permit numbers M-160 & 161. For period 1986 to 1997 —permit number was 05904AB. (See Attachment H). For period 19987 to 2013 — permit number 90393AA.(See Attachment M). Even though included in the permit area, this may not confirm that the "use" from a zoning perspective was occurring but for a mining activity to occur, the area must be under permit to the state. More importantly, the Serene Quarry (and 2 other quarries in Albemarle — Old Dominion and Alberene) has had many acres of "active area" designated in the VDMME permit which is shown in yellow. Although from time to time, the active areas have changed over the years — Serene area including the subject parcels have always been included on the permit as "active area". For active area designation the operator is required to post a bond with the state and pay additional fees — so if the area is not active — the operator under the permit would remove the designation and avoid these fees. It is reasonable to assume that the area that was bonded was being used as active or it would have been removed. In addition, Mr. Wilkins was aware, as stated in his affidavit of the requirement to continue the mining activity for a short period of time each and every year so he either leased or gave permission to individuals to extract or retrieve minerals or did it himself. (He had the construction equipment to do it.) This was an important financial commitment to maintain the permit, pay the fees, undergo inspections by VDMME, do drainage maintenance, secure the site and maintain the safety measures as required by the state. All these facts considered should provide adequate documentation that the activity was continuous. Additional facts: a. In the early years the soapstone extraction activity which created the holes was on- going. Comparing the 1986 USGS map to the newer recent topo maps — several quarry holes were added over the period of approx.. 1970 to 2011. (USGS may have been 5 to 15 yrs old in 1986) The count was 6 on the earlier maps and recent maps show 8 quarry holes. The extraction is not like a gravel quarry — the quarry holes take years of work to drill and saw blocks for extraction — there is no blasting used in this process. The minerals extracted were either processed at the time of extraction or stored as inventory at the site. In this case, the parcels under consideration have always been used for inventory storage not only for the minerals extracted at Serene but from other quarries located in Nelson & Albemarle. Mineral blocks were moved to Serene because of its proximity to the processing plant. The distance is approx.. 3300ft which is about 10 football fields or about 3800ft using the RT800 access across Ms. Flynn's property. b. Soapstone that was extracted was stored at this location since it was contiguous with the plant and easy to retrieve blocks for processing. A short direct access by rail was in place during the 1960's, 1970's, and possibly 1980's and removed. It was clearly stated in the Nov 1997 Permit Amend documentation- SEE ATTACHMENT M that "grading" of the rail area was required so it must have been removed just prior. c. Serene (Serpentine) area was an extension of the plant storage of inventory from other quarries including Climax which is a Nelson County quarry location. Mr. Wilkins tried in the 80's to have this area rezoned to HI since it was being used for this purpose. Per Mr. Mawyer during period he worked for Mr. Carroll which was 1983 — 1986, he confirmed that the compressor building serving the plant was located at Serene. He confirmed that the slurry water from the plant activity was pumped to Serene quarry holes as part of the plan to handle the particulates in the Page 5 of 7 processing water because this was required as it was not allowed to flow into the stream adjacent to the plant. This confirms that Serene has been a part of the overall plant/ quarry operation. d. The housing along RT 800 frontage of Serene quarry area was built as "company housing" sometime prior to 1967 (per Mr. McClung) when owned by Georgia Marble Co. Mr. Wilkins purchased the property in 1976 then subdivided in 1990 and sold 8 parcels to Kenneth Carroll/Schuyler Land Development. The mineral rights on the 8 parcels were reserved by Mr. Wilkins by deed when conveyed. (Deeds have been provided to Albemarle County) e. There is a complaint to the Zoning Department on file that was made by the property owners in March 2012 for "illegal mining" on their property. It is evident by the existing situation that men and machinery have been on -site as necessary to do required maintenance and move soapstone blocks to the plant and can do so without being seen by the residents because of the elevation difference it is difficult to see what is going on. There are also other access points. f. The definition in the state code for the mining activity that falls under the VDMME is inserted below. The following items specifically pertain to the activity at Serene: Items i, ii, iii, iv, and vi. The last sentence "shall not constitute surface mineral mining unless (a) or (b) — both are met with the soapstone activity that has been occurring at this site. Serene soapstone is unique and it does require processing prior to its intended use as well understood (Zoning staff visited the operation). : § 45.1-161.2922. Definitions: "Surface mineral mine" means (i) the pit and other active and inactive areas of surface extraction of minerals; (ii) on -site mills ,shops, loadout facilities, and related structures appurtenant to the excavation and processing of minerals; (iii) impoundments, retention dams, tailing ponds, and other areas appurtenant to the extraction of minerals from the site; (iv) on -site surface areas for the transportation and storage of minerals excavated at the site; (v) equipment, machinery, tools and other property used in, or to be used in, the work of extracting minerals from the site; (vi) private ways and roads appurtenant to such area;and (vii) the areas used for surface -disturbing exploration (other than by drilling or seismic testing) or preparation of a site for surface mineral extraction activities. A site shall commence being a surface mineral mine upon the beginning of any surface disturbing exploration activities other than exploratory drilling or seismic testing, and shall cease to be a surface mineral mine upon completion of initial reclamation activities. The surface extraction of a mineral shall not constitute surface mineral mining unless (a) the mineral is extracted for its unique or intrinsic characteristics, or (b) the mineral requires processing prior to its intended use. In Summary, the sole fact of being included in the mining permit area may not confirm the activity has occurred continuously but considering all the information as it relates to the quarry/mining activity and the affidavits for periods of time along with inspection reports and the nature of this specific industry — there was no two year period that Serene (or any of the other 2 quarry locations) had a lapse in activity. The bond with VDMME is a financial commitment. It should also be noted that the 1986 Letter of Determination was requested by Mr. Wilkins because of his negotiations with a potential company to operate the plant and take over the mining. Once received, this determination was relied upon for an international (from Finland) Company to lease the operations from Vance Wilkins — see deed Attachment G and secure a VDMME permit (Attachment H). Therefore, there was Page 6 of 7 substantial financial reliance upon this determination and Mr. Wilkins clearly made the county aware of his on -going negotiations that were directly dependent upon receiving the non -confirming use confirmation in that LOD. (See Wilkins letter to Evans with LOD). As pertains to a new Letter of Determination to be issued covering the properties of Ms. Flynn and Ms. Hardin, the documentation presented supports that continuous use of the their properties for mining operations, support facilities to the processing plant and plant quarry operations, and access to the Serene area from RT 800 has been continuous since the zoning was adopted in Albemarle County. There is also a sentence in the Non - conformities section of the ordinance that is explicit about mining being allowed to expand (into abutting parcels) that seems to have been included possibly based upon the existence of the soapstone industry located in Albemarle County. Once you review this information, please let me know if you have any additional questions. Page 7 of 7