Area History
The Chase Quarry proposal was first introduced to our community in May 1991. Four developer representatives and seven community members attended a key meeting with Kingdom Gould on October 19, 1993.
The Goulds believed strongly in creating community partnerships.
Over the next two years, 25 meetings were held to discuss community concerns.
In 1994, the Articles of Incorporation were signed, establishing the Ridgely's Run Community Association, to manage the new community center that was coming. The Association is named after the stream that runs through the area, originally called Ridgely's Forest in 1711.
Community meetings, with displays about the proposed quarry were held on April 23 & 24, 1994 and Question and Answer sessions were held on April 26 & June 2, 1994. On June 2nd, three votes were held…
1. Should the quarry proceed? 40 yes, 10 no
2. Should the community representatives negotiate a deal? 48 yes, 2 no
3. Should the representatives finalize a contract? 16 yes, 34 no
At a final meeting on May 5, 1995, members voted to approve the agreement, which was signed after three more work sessions.
Key agreements regarding our Center include:
- Land donation and construction of our Center.
- A donation of 5 cents per ton of stone to the community association, with a minimum of $50,000 annually, towards maintaining the centers expenses.
- Construction of a community center at the developer's expense on 7 donated acres.
- Donation of 40 acres to the Howard County Conservancy.
- Only emergency quarry access via Mission Road, all regular traffic must use US Rt. 1.
- Blasting limited to 10 seconds per month, warning signal to be sounded prior to all blasts.
- Quarry will maintain a fund to rectify any possible foundation damage caused by blasting.
- No quarry operations to begin before 7:00 am Monday to Saturday, no Sunday operations allowed.
- Neighborhood residents to be given an opportunity for employment at the quarry.
- Wells affected by the quarry to be replaced at developer expense.
- No asphalt production on site without community approval.
- Entire quarry operations be fenced and supervised to prohibit trespassing
We thank the residents who served on the original community board: Ross Dangel, Bill Exum, Charles George, Merle Green Sr., Chris Hildebrandt, Martilyn Irwin, Thomasina Johnson, Gerald Maynor, Ken McGaffin, Gary Prestianni, Mike Sager, Mark Smith, and Paul Snyder.
We appreciate the Goulds and Savage Stone for building this community partnership. We appreciate the community members dedicated to creating our concept. Our Center was built in 2007. Our association continues to manage these facilities today, balancing various commitments, with a board of dedicated volunteers, to continue their legacy.
Recently, we embarked on a journey to refresh our building in partnership with Savage Stone. We've repaved our parking lot, rejuvenated the interior and exterior with fresh paint, revitalized our kitchen, installed new flooring at the front, furnished our space anew, and upgraded our televisions. We are busy creating more events and partnering with our Guilford Park High School friends to encourage our youth to get more involved in their community. We are very proud to have you come in and see our efforts.
If you are interested in contributing, please email RidgelysRun@gmail.com, and we will add you to our volunteer list.