News from February 9, 2006 issue



Crittenden Coal is selling
Crittenden County Coal Company, Inc., is in the process of being sold to Phoenix Coal Corporation.

Crittenden Coal laid off about 25 miners the last week in January, but most are expected to be called back to work soon.

The coal company has been open about a year on Ky. 365 in the northern part of the county. It had been producing about 10,000 tons a month from a surface mining operation before closing temporarily Jan. 27.

Crittenden Coal Company issued a news release Tuesday that said it had entered into "an exclusive letter of intent to sell the company to the Phoenix Coal Corporation."
The sale is expected to close before the end of March, the company said.

In the meantime, Phoenix has an administrative services agreement allowing it to begin daily mining operations at the site.

Crittenden Coal had been selling coal to LG&E under an existing contract. When Crittenden Coal opened in February last year, one of the owners, Kenneth "Bo" Taylor, said equipment had been brought in from another sister mine at Coiltown off Ky. 109 near Providence.

The company spent about a year preparing the site and getting the mining license before it actually started hauling coal late last winter. Company officials told The Press last year that there was enough coal there to continue surface mining for about five years, and expansion underground could produce coal for another 20 years.
The mine is located on property owned by Kimball International, formerly Alcoa, just south of Sturgis.

"The local government and the great people of Crittenden County have allowed us to build the company into an entity that would be attractive to Phoenix Coal," said Taylor, the founder of Crittenden County Coal.

Brett Wilson, chief operating officer of Phoenix Coal, said, "We look forward to building upon Bo's work at Crittenden County Coal and are excited to partner with the workforce, the community and the local government to put the tools in place for even greater success."

Phoenix Coal Corporation, headquartered in Madisonville, focuses on acquiring, leasing and developing coal reserves ­ surface, underground and slurry ­ in the Illinois Basin, the press release said. Phoenix currently has operations in western Kentucky and Illinois.

Crittenden County Coal is an independent mining company. Its only active mine was the one here in Crittenden County.

County leases Ohio River bottom
Crittenden County has agreed to lease the mineral rights to 2,300 acres of Ohio River bottom to Audubon Oil and Gas, LCC for for three years at $103,000.

Audubon is a Henderson company that has said in the past that it was leasing land for Vintage Petroleum, which has now been purchased by Occidental Petroleum.

The county had entered into price negotiations over the past few weeks with companies interested in leasing the mineral rights to land it holds title to under the Ohio River. According to Kentucky statute, the county government owns all land under the river from the "thread" of the river to the low water mark on the Illinois shore of 1792 when Kentucky became a state.

Judge-Executive Fred Brown said that after all formal bids for the lease agreement were opened in December, the fiscal court worked out a contract with Audubon Oil and Gas, leasing the property for $45 an acre.

The county had originally been approached about leasing other land holdings such as all county roads, parks and recreation areas. Judge Brown said those areas are not included in the lease agreement approved Monday by the fiscal court with Audubon.

Several companies are leasing minerals rights in the county for exploration of natural gas and other oil and gas reserves.

Parking lot will have advantages
Marion City Administrator Garry Barber says the design for improvements to the parking lot at Marion Commons and the new city hall building should alleviate some of the concerns expressed recently by citizens.

Barber released a copy of the plans for the parking which are included above. The plans call for 24 parking spaces, including two handicapped spots that are close to entrances.

He said parking at the old city hall was not nearly as adequate and customers had to cross Bellville Street (a state highway) in order to conduct business at city hall.

"Now you can just pull into the parking lot and walk directly to city hall and to the police department," Barber said. "In addition, with Tourism, the Chamber, and Main Street in the same building, our citizens and visitors can conveniently visit those organizations."

Development of the parking lot and landscaping in front of the new building is expected to be done this spring.

"Upon completion, these advantages will only improve. Proper layout of the parking lot will allow for ample parking and there will be handicapped parking closer to the front entrance to city hall. Sidewalks will also be available for our citizen's convenience," Barber said.

A drop box for after-hours business is available for patrons who don't want to get out of their car. In the past, to use the drop box at the old city hall, a city customer had to exit their vehicle.

"The new drop box has been conveniently placed at the corner of the outside drive-thru of the Peoples Bank branch," said the city administrator. "Also, city customers can still pay at the drive-thru of the bank. So you have two easy ways to conduct busy without ever leaving your vehicle."

Landscaping in the front of the new building will help alleviate a drainage problem, Barber said. The grade of the parking lot currently allows water to flow and drain near the building. When properly landscaped, the water will be diverted underneath via a French drain system.

"Safety in the parking lot will be improved once the flow of traffic is changed to one-way traffic," Barber said. "Customers will enter from Main Street and exit onto Court street."

The city council discussed the parking lot issue at its last meeting and there have been two letters written to the newspaper about the situation. The council will likely take up the issue again during its next regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 20.