Shame on the City of Greenville, Texas
Someone in the City Hall of Greenville needs to get their head out of their backside.
Last summer the very popular local fertilizer seller Eldorado Chemical caught fire and burned. It has yet to be rebuilt due to the ridiculous demands of the City of Greenville, Texas.
To recap, the Eldorado Fertilizer dealership at the corner of US Highway 380 and US Highway 69 saw its fertilizer storage building catch fire one early morning last summer. The fire department had to use bulldozers to smother the fire because water would have caused the fertilizer to run off and pollute the local groundwater.
As a frequent customer, I was told that the plant would be rebuilt in a few weeks. Surprisingly, not only did the fall planting season come and go with no activity at the site, but the Spring season is in full swing, and nothing has been rebuilt.
The story I was told by two employees and a banker makes my blood boil.
In order to rebuild, the City of Greenville told Elorado that it had to run a water main for a fire hydrant out to the site, pave the entire site in concrete, and then brick facade all the new buildings. These items would cost Eldorado $750,000 in additional costs.
The fire hydrant is pretty stupid - water and fertilizer are a no-no. And there are no other buildings within a mile of the plant site.
Second, brick and fertilizer do not go together. The caustic agents in the fertilizer would break down the mortar and brick very quickly. The foundation of the building must be specially engineered to support the weight of the fertilizer so as not to cause the brick to crack and fall apart.
Finally, the Eldorado site consists of about 2 acres and very heavy trucks come and go all the time, necessitating a very strong and reinforced pad with major storm runoff provisions.
The old metal and wood building worked just fine, the gravel pad is still fully functional, and the fire hydrant is a dumb idea. So why the requirements on Eldorado? It just does not make sense.
The last word I heard was that an Eldorado VP of was in town last week to try to sort out the mess with the City. Good luck.
The worst thing about the fire is the fact that 7 employees are now out of a job thanks to the city of Greenville. In addition, you cant tax an empty gravel pad. And everyone who went into Greenville for fertilizer now goes somewhere else and spends their money somewhere else.
I have not been there in 7 months when I used to go two to three times a week because thats where I got my seed and fertilizer. My receipts from last year show over $8000 in taxable goods purchased in Greenville not counting tens of thousands for fertilizer. I now go to to a city 50 miles North of town.
I am not sure how much money the Greenville economy has lost, but its got to be in the hundreds of thousands so far if one factors in the lost wages and hundreds of fewer vistors to the City. And Greenville is spitting in the eyes of the farmers and ranchers who have supported the city in the past. Whats the point of having a Cotton Museum if no one can fertilize their Cotton?
And this is not an isolated incident. Armadillo Collision operated by Brian Goodwin on I-30 SW of town was almost run out of business when the city tried to zone his brand new, immaculately run, and very busy firm out of existence. Brian perservered by taking his fight to the city and to the press and he succeeded.
Had he failed, he would have been financially ruined.
Think about this - how does a city which answers to the people have the power to ruin local firms? How can any man or woman who works for Greenville go home to their familes knowing they have ruined someone elses' lives? They should be ashamed of themselves.
You would think a city with the word Green in its name and a yearly Cotton Festival would like to have a fertilizer dealer in town.
Shame on the City of Greenville.
Last summer the very popular local fertilizer seller Eldorado Chemical caught fire and burned. It has yet to be rebuilt due to the ridiculous demands of the City of Greenville, Texas.
To recap, the Eldorado Fertilizer dealership at the corner of US Highway 380 and US Highway 69 saw its fertilizer storage building catch fire one early morning last summer. The fire department had to use bulldozers to smother the fire because water would have caused the fertilizer to run off and pollute the local groundwater.
As a frequent customer, I was told that the plant would be rebuilt in a few weeks. Surprisingly, not only did the fall planting season come and go with no activity at the site, but the Spring season is in full swing, and nothing has been rebuilt.
The story I was told by two employees and a banker makes my blood boil.
In order to rebuild, the City of Greenville told Elorado that it had to run a water main for a fire hydrant out to the site, pave the entire site in concrete, and then brick facade all the new buildings. These items would cost Eldorado $750,000 in additional costs.
The fire hydrant is pretty stupid - water and fertilizer are a no-no. And there are no other buildings within a mile of the plant site.
Second, brick and fertilizer do not go together. The caustic agents in the fertilizer would break down the mortar and brick very quickly. The foundation of the building must be specially engineered to support the weight of the fertilizer so as not to cause the brick to crack and fall apart.
Finally, the Eldorado site consists of about 2 acres and very heavy trucks come and go all the time, necessitating a very strong and reinforced pad with major storm runoff provisions.
The old metal and wood building worked just fine, the gravel pad is still fully functional, and the fire hydrant is a dumb idea. So why the requirements on Eldorado? It just does not make sense.
The last word I heard was that an Eldorado VP of was in town last week to try to sort out the mess with the City. Good luck.
The worst thing about the fire is the fact that 7 employees are now out of a job thanks to the city of Greenville. In addition, you cant tax an empty gravel pad. And everyone who went into Greenville for fertilizer now goes somewhere else and spends their money somewhere else.
I have not been there in 7 months when I used to go two to three times a week because thats where I got my seed and fertilizer. My receipts from last year show over $8000 in taxable goods purchased in Greenville not counting tens of thousands for fertilizer. I now go to to a city 50 miles North of town.
I am not sure how much money the Greenville economy has lost, but its got to be in the hundreds of thousands so far if one factors in the lost wages and hundreds of fewer vistors to the City. And Greenville is spitting in the eyes of the farmers and ranchers who have supported the city in the past. Whats the point of having a Cotton Museum if no one can fertilize their Cotton?
And this is not an isolated incident. Armadillo Collision operated by Brian Goodwin on I-30 SW of town was almost run out of business when the city tried to zone his brand new, immaculately run, and very busy firm out of existence. Brian perservered by taking his fight to the city and to the press and he succeeded.
Had he failed, he would have been financially ruined.
Think about this - how does a city which answers to the people have the power to ruin local firms? How can any man or woman who works for Greenville go home to their familes knowing they have ruined someone elses' lives? They should be ashamed of themselves.
You would think a city with the word Green in its name and a yearly Cotton Festival would like to have a fertilizer dealer in town.
Shame on the City of Greenville.
posted by Red River at 6:50 PM
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