“We’re not a real big story,” Smith says, comparing the size of his present operation to what it once was. “We’ve got Peterbilt dump trucks and a transport, two water trucks, a crusher, screening, and three wheel loaders.”

Being a good neighbor

Sitting at the base of the foothills in Tucson can sometimes be a challenge. The foothills are considered to be “the” place for wealthier people to live in the Tucson area. Million-dollar homes are being built all around Churchman Sand & Gravel. The company is “grandfathered in” because it has been there so long, but Smith works hard to be a good neighbor. “We don’t start to work real early, and we avoid making noise on the weekend,” Smith says. “We try to be a good keeper of the property. We’ve never had a problem in all the years I’ve been here, but they just started building homes here 20 to 25 years ago.”

Complaints may not come from the surrounding homes, however, but from another source. When the county bought up all the land along the river and fenced it off, it also put in a walking/biking trail along the river. It runs between the river and the sand and gravel operation. “Of course, that hurt us,” Smith says. “We’ve had some complaints from those who use the trail. If we get a little bit of dust, they call in. We have a mountain of material between our work area and the trail to buffer the noise, so there’s never a complaint about noise — only dust. But we do our level best to not create a problem.”

The operation uses a late-model Komatsu mobile crusher that makes very little noise, but it has been moved off site. The Environmental Protection Agency informed Churchman Sand & Gravel that it would have to pay for a permit to have the crusher operating on the property. Smith decided to wait until business picked back up before purchasing the permit, so the crusher sits idle at another location.

Scan this tag to see a short video of Tucson-based Churchman Sand & Gravel loading aggregate into a customer’s waiting dump truck.

Smith says regulations continue to get tighter every year. “You can’t just go out and build a pad. You have to be extremely careful about not tearing up the land around it. I’m all for that. I don’t like to see the land torn up.”

When it comes to safety, Smith is adamant. “State mine inspectors are a bit lax, but the federal government inspectors are sticklers,” he adds. “But the last time MSHA [Mine Safety and Health Administration] visited, we got a clean bill of health. I do everything in the world to maintain our safety.”

Looking to the future

When the economy tanked in 2008, Churchman Sand & Gravel was working on the foundation for a million-dollar house being built in the foothills. Two more million-dollar house foundations were on order as well. But then the recession hit, and “business shut off like a faucet,” Smith says. “We had nearly $300,000 worth of cancellations in four hours and ended up about $160,000 in debt because of it. It has been really hard to work through it, but we’re almost there.”

Smith looks forward to improved business in the future, and says he has no plans for retirement. “I’m 83 years old and don’t care anything about quitting,” he says, with a wink. “All of my friends are dead, and I have a son in the business, so I choose to stay and create as many problems as I can for him.”

Equipment List

Peterbilt transfers (2)

Peterbilt 10-wheel dump truck

Komatsu WA320-3 wheel loaders (2)

Komatsu WA380-5 wheel loader

International water truck

Peterbilt water truck

Komatsu BR380JG-1 jaw crusher

Volvo EC16CL excavator

RD40 shakers (2)

RD90 shaker

Grizzlies (4)

small skid steers (2)