Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990 TAG: 9005090509
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
The budget shows no tax increases, but the county will implement a household user fee of $1.50 a month for garbage disposal and $17.50 a ton for businesses. The amount is about half of what it costs the county to bury waste. The budget allocates $16.2 million for the general fund.
In other business, the supervisors agreed to support a grant application from the New River Valley Planning District Commission to the state Water Control Board. The grant would fund a study of pollution problems and potential solutions to those problems on Peak Creek.
The $50,000 matching grant is federally funded, with the planning commission responsible for about 25 percent of the costs, said County Administrator Joe Morgan.
"The grant would allow us to look at the known problems and ID the problems not already identified," Morgan said. "It would also assist us in finding out what can be done locally."
The state Water Control Board has reported the presence of heavy metals in the creek. The majority of the metals, which include iron, zinc, lead and selenium, are coming from the old Allied Chemical plant site. The plant closed down in 1976.
The board also instructed County Extension Agent Richard White to represent it at a public hearing for the Southwest Virginia Farmers' Market, to be located in Carroll County.
Carroll County has donated a 25.62-acre graded site, complete with utilities, to the state for the location of the market, which will be used by farmers and wholesalers in 13 counties.
Pulaski County has not invested in the market because only a small income is earned county-wide from vegetable, fruit or nut produce, White said.
"Today it is not beneficial," White said. "But in the future it will provide options for greater diversification of produce in the county." White was instructed to convey the board's approval of the project and also a few concerns.
One concern is that if the market allows farmers to set up shop on a first-come, first-serve basis, people from outlying counties may not arrive early enough to find space for selling their goods.
Supervisors also said they were worried wholesalers could control the prices. White said the wholesalers would sell to companies and stores while farmers would sell directly to customers.
by CNB