Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Before Wells Fargo these were things faced daily

FOLANDS, IDOT, HALLET MATERIALS and the land the mine was on.
In 1997 Adams signed a lease for twenty years with Folands to start and operate a mining operation for sand and gravel on Folands property after Ronald Foland asked her to start a sand and gravel operation on his property. The initial lease agree the mine would be started on the land in sections 4 and 9 that Foland owned. The property Foland’s owned that was contiguous was a bottom ground area of 199 acres in sections 5 and 8. Adams agreed she would mine the areas in sections 4 and 9 first. Folands and Adams mutually agreed in the lease if the need arise later Adams could mine the areas in sections 5 and 8. The mining operation would provide high-grade construction materials locally to the Southern Iowa region.

Unknown to Adams until after the fact an Iowa Department of Transportation employee in 1999 talked to Folands at their home convincing them to have the lease with Adams cancelled through legal action. Telling the Folands if they would do this they (meaning persons within the transportation department) would bring in a large company that would start paying the Folands right away.

Folands had Adams serve papers by the sheriff’s office of Decatur County notifying her that they were demanding $20,000.00 or the cancellation of the lease. Adams checked to see what her options legally were with a recommended attorney George Frampton. During the meeting with Mr. Frampton and one Sean Pelliter Mr. Frampton informed her he represented Martin Marietta. He asked her if there were any problems with Martin Marietta. She responded not that she knew of she had gone to George May who worked for Martin Marietta at the time before signing a lease with the Folands. George had provided her with a lease as a pattern so she could write a lease between the Folands and herself. She had asked George if Martin Marietta would be interested in opening a mine there before she started the mine. The MM geologist that viewed the material was rude and not interested in starting a mine in Southern Iowa claiming “there is no sand in Southern Iowa”. George told Adams she should start the operation. Telling her “Becky you can do this try, try, try, take it as far as you can”. Mr. Frampton reviewed the lease and told her it look familiar as he wrote the original from MM that she had been given to use as a pattern.
Mr. Frampton asked her “What do you want? Do you want the farm?” She told him, “No I just want to do what I said I would do start a sand and gravel mine.” He said, “That’s all. You sure you don’t want the farm?” She replied, “No”. He told her in that case she should just get a hold of Lee Elson. Explaining to her she really need not need to spend the money it would take to hire him. He said “Elson can take care of this for you.” He also recommended that she call a friend of his Dick Sargent. Saying he can help you I think. She wrote down the name and phone number of his friend Dick Sargent.

Lee Elson filed the papers needed to address the situation with Folands and told Adams to just continue forward. This case would be settled the day of court outside of the courtroom in August 2000. Folands offered to sell the land to Adams. Adams told Foland she did not have the money so Foland gave her a purchase option good for one year from the date it was signed. If the option was not exercised the twenty year lease would still remain in effect from the starting date of the actual mining as the lease required. The start date for mining was agreed to be July 2000.

Several weeks after the agreement with the Folands on the land purchase option was made the main electrician for Hallet materials came to Adams/Stubbs house requesting landscaping services. He told Adams he was Hallet Materials main electrician. Explaining Hallets Materials was opening a huge sand and gravel mine down here. He said, “I am going to retire right here. I just built a new house right up the street at the edge of town.” Adams stood there listening to the man and said really! “Yup” the man stated, “They are dealing with some old woman and an older woman”. Adams considered the phrase “Old woman and older woman”. That could only be Doris Foland and Sandy Foland, Ronnie Foland’s mother and wife. He looked at Adams and she told him, “I did not know anyone else besides myself who owned a sand and gravel mine down here.” The conversation went back to the work the man wanted performed at his new house. Adams agreed to perform the work if her husband approved it for the electrician fixing a generator that her husband and her had bought. The man never completed the work he claim he would do for the landscaping work Adams performed with her husband’s tractor at his house.

Two major Hallet people had contacted Adams in 1997 asking her if should would get a DBE and let them be her partners. She asked, “What is a DBE?” they explain it was for disadvantage business enterprises and further explained to Adams that they wanted control of the multimillion dollar road contracts. They told Adams they would give her 20 percent over ride on the contracts they bid using her name. She told them she had been a contractor for 13 years in Idaho with DOT and never had to do that. She could not picture herself doing it now but write it all down and mail it to her. She would consider it.

In 1998 the big Komatsu dozer was sabotaged and the engine was destroyed. Before the spring season started in 1999 the engine of the dozer would have to be fixed. Running short of money after two years of getting the land ready to mine Adams elected to sell at discount a mortgage they held on a house that they had sold in Idaho in 1995.



In December 2001 the land purchase option was about to run out. Adams parents had just sold a property in Idaho. Adams asked them to buy the mine property. At least she would have some protection from the hostilities of people trying take over the mine like the DOT and Hallet Materials or any others that would illegally try to take over the mine. (NO! I can no longer think of mining at the place we dedicated our life savings and years at preparing to mine. My parents sold the land. They were afraid since the county had taken our house and transferred, refused to take my husband's name and my name off the county ownership records that Wells Fargo would steal their life savings also. So no land, no home in Idaho anymore. Rod's equipment is gone, we have not had water in this place since the Wells Fargo and sheriff raid. The pipes froze up throughout after the sheriff encouraged the propane man to take our propane and the tank. Yes the propane was paid for. It takes money to fix things when others break them. That is Life in Iowa!)

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