Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990 TAG: 9005090788
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
As Bedford County's consultant flipped a green, blue, brown and yellow chart of a hypothetical landfill's double liner system onto a projection screen Tuesday night, some members of the audience shifted and reshifted in their chairs.
People coughed and yawned. One woman near the front of the auditorium worked on her knitting. Another woman read a book.
When the Draper Aden Associates representatives completed their 60-minute explanation of state landfill requirements and Bedford County's landfill search, they explained that one site - 545 acres off Virginia 24 and Virginia 807 - was the most suitable and least expensive.
That certainly didn't satisfy the audience, most of whom live near the proposed site that Draper Aden gave its blessing to earlier this week after a two-year search for a new landfill.
The consultant's estimate of $22.5 million to build the proposed site didn't include some, less tangible, costs, Dan Layman told the Bedford County Board of Supervisors and Draper Aden representatives.
"There are some things you can't put a dollar value on," said Layman, who lives just north of the proposed site. "I don't know how you can put a dollar value on the risk of accidents and fatalities."
Layman said the land sits near what is already one of the most dangerous intersections in Bedford County - the spot where Virginia 122 crosses Virginia 24.
Layman's fears about garbage trucks at that point were made worse, he said, in knowing that 24 school buses cross the same spot on their way to and from Staunton River's schools daily.
Another resident, Clarence Feazell, agreed that Draper Aden did not know about heavy traffic in the area when it recommended the Virginia 24 site. "Those people where the rubber meets the road know what's going on," he said. "I'm concerned about safety."
Resident Joseph Lambert told the supervisors that "thousands of rodents" and a bunch of buzzards were sure to be drawn to the site - despite their high-tech plans for landfill liners and a daily covers over the trash.
Though Draper Aden has recommended the site because of its potential to last the county a long time and its relatively low cost, the supervisors will also consider two other sites before making their final decision on the matter later this month.
A few neighbors from one of the other sites - a 363-acre tract along Virginia 43 south of Bedford - turned out at Tuesday's public hearing to object.
Val Walker told the supervisors that a family cemetery exists on that piece of land and asked that the graves be preserved.
Walker had another suggestion for the county officials on the subject of trash: recycling, she said, should be mandatory for all county residents.
Board Chairman A.A. "Gus" Saarnijoki said that would probably happen sometime soon in Bedford County, which has recently begun opening recycling drop-off sites. "We'll start out voluntary," Saarnijoki said.
by CNB