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LAUREN WOOD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Beth Foster speaks Saturday afternoon about the oil operation on historic Arlington property, which is directly behind her family’s house on Auburn Avenue.

Archived Story

City requests continuance on Arlington oil well application

Published 12:29am Sunday, August 12, 2012

NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez has requested a continuance from the Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board for the Arlington oil well matter, which was scheduled to be heard by the board Wednesday.

Mayor Butch Brown said he believes there are still some unanswered questions about the circumstances surrounding the oil operation on historic Arlington property.

“I think the oil and gas board needs to understand all the issues with the agreement with (Mike) Biglane given by the former mayor,” Brown said.

LAUREN WOOD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Pools of muddy water and orange construction fence remain after the oil operation cleared the area on historic Arlington property. Beth Foster, whose house overlooks the area, said that numerous trees were removed for the operation.

The agreement in question, signed by Biglane and former mayor Jake Middleton on Dec. 29, 2011, gave Biglane’s company, RMB Exploration, authorization to continue the oil operation at its own risk before it received city approval with the understanding that the operation must get the necessary approvals from the planning and preservation commissions. The agreement also required developers to repair any damages to the site or neighboring properties.

The agreement was approved by the Natchez Board of Aldermen at its Jan. 10 meeting. Brown said he had recently been told by some aldermen that they never approved the agreement.

A copy of the Jan. 10 aldermen meeting minutes does not show the aldermen approving or even discussing the agreement.

However the video of the Jan. 10 meeting, filmed by Bruce TV, shows that former city attorney Everett Sanders brought up the agreement during his report.

The aldermen discussed concerns about the agreement with Sanders and former city planner Bob Nix, and Ward 4 Alderman Tony Fields made a motion to approve the agreement but upon further discussion withdrew his motion.

Ward 5 Alderman Mark Fortenbery asked Sanders the specifics of the agreement. Sanders said the agreement required RMB to make an application for city approval but also allowed them to go forward and recognized that a significant amount of money had been spent and actions were taken “rightfully or wrongfully” based on information Biglane had received.

Fortenbery made a motion to approve the agreement, which passed 3-2. Aldermen Rickey Gray and Dan Dillard voted against the motion. Alderman Bob Pollard was not present for the vote.

The meeting minutes show that Sanders had no report at the meeting and no vote on the agreement was recorded.

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  • Anonymous

    Shut him down.  That’s it.

  • vilou09

    Sounds like the Natchez version of the Watergate scandal, LOL!!

  • Anonymous

    So, as I understand this article, Ms Foster is upset that the proerty her kids have been tresspassing on has not been maintained in a manner in which she approves of? Why is it that some people in Natchez feel entitled to have a say in what happens on another person’s property? If it’s public property, or your property, yes, you have a say. If it’s private property, guess what, it doesn’t belong to you, so you should have no say in what goes on.

  • Anonymous

    This is all bull, they make a huge mess and don’t clean it up. Then ask to do it all again on a differnt track of land. What?? Come on Biglane, fix the mess you made and clean up the enviroment you distroyed to find out there was nothing there. This is total BS.

  • Anonymous

    Oil wells have been producing inside the city limits for years.  There have been or still are producing wells beside the bridge, beneath the bluff, and on Cemetary Road.  The well adjacent to the City Cemetary chugs along quietly just a few yards from homes and streets.

  • Anonymous

    I believe the property owner is the only one with the right to make clean-up demands on Mr. Biglane. Ms. Foster is crying in her beer over land that she acknowledges is not hers. She should build a privacy fence so she doesn’t have to look at it, if that’s how she feels. Her children were trespassing on someone else’s private property — she’s lucky they weren’t prosecuted.

  • Anonymous

    How many other items handled on city agendas are not documented correctly in the minutes?  Mr. Holloway seems to have his office’s shortcomings making negative news more regularly since the election.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/2XGO6JCKDMT7227QNLMCA64A3A J.

    Some sound like the mentality that refused to let Standard Oil build their plant many years ago in Natchez and forced them to Baton Rouge.  Go figure!  

  • Anonymous

    The land owner has perfect evidence of Ms Foster tresspassing on their proerty. A picture of her, on their land, on  the front page of the Natchez Democrat. In Mississippi you are guilty of tresspassing if you are on someone’s property without written permission to be there. For some reason I doubt she has it.

    People trying to mind someone else’s business really tick me off. Here’s an idea, maybe she wants to buy the property for fair market value and then she can do as she wants with it.  She can also assume the liability of others trespassing on her property.

  • http://www.natchezdemocrat.com khakirat

    Sound like the watergate tapes huh”!!

  • http://www.natchezdemocrat.com khakirat

    Mike, get the drill bits ready to spun in for your going to make Natchez proud making some great wells!!

  • Anonymous

    To everybody pretty much that has gotten together to write the below statements……you’ve got to be kidding.  trespassing….since when has exploring the woods in your backyard as a child trespassing….I’m not quite sure whats happening here but I know it’s bad…..middle of Natchez and on a historic site is not and should never be acceptable for oil exploration I don’t care what you ole boys think.  Go somewhere else, anywhere outside of the city limits….there are thousands of acres of land to tear up and leave trashed up like you do.  I can only hope that the right decision will be made.  I hope Beth can stay strong and that the deer and owls come back.  

  • Anonymous

    your not from around here are you…..or maybe you are but your part of this drilling team…

  • Anonymous

    There is no age limit on trespassing, a child can do it as well as an adult, and perhaps get stabbed in the end such as the recent situation.  That fact overshadows this entire story designed to pique human interest into the argument.  The oil and gas board will weigh in on the legality of drilling there and, I think they will be allowed to drill since mineral rights have a unique position in law and I do not think you can prevent exploitation.

  • Anonymous

    Not one mention of FRACKING.  You know, high pressure injection of a slick fluid into the bedrock.   I bet the wells in the city from way back have never FRACKED.  Secondly, if this property not a public nuisance?  Maybe this new city attorney can get service upon the landowner.  It’s legally absurd that the landowner successfully avoids getting brought into court to answer for his violations; yet is allowed to execute an agreement as controversial as this.  Pretty scummy deal done by  the ex mayor.  He should have been chasing down the landowner.  

  • Anonymous

    Why are you obsessed with fracking? There have been several knowledgeable commenters on ND stories on this issue that say fracking is never called for in Wilcox sands. Let’s say your house flooded and all you’re concerned with is fire prevention — doesn’t make any sense. Go on back to Oklahoma where they’ve been fracking without incident since the 1940s.

  • Anonymous

    Arlington used to be “historic,” now it’s just history — gone, deceased, ruined. If someone spent $100 million on it today, it would still never be what it was. There are neither materials nor expertise to replicate the original construction,not to mention the furnishings that burned up. Move along, nothing to see there. I would guess Mr. Biglane already agreed to repair any damage to the land and he’s just waiting to complete the test wells before calling in the landscapers. When it comes to this issue, never have so many shown such little intelligence.

  • Anonymous

    NO KIDDING.

    They aren’t fracking this formation; it doesn’t need it.

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