Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 12, 1991 TAG: 9103120360
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By GREG EDWARDS/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
However, what the supervisors did not decide Monday night is whether the county will, itself, ask to participate in some way in the landfill - which is located at Smith Gap in Roanoke County near the Montgomery County line - and the trash train. Montgomery County must find a replacement for its own landfill within the next few years.
The supervisors heard from representatives of two separate groups of Bradshaw residents who have concerns about the landfill. One group is concerned mainly with protecting residents' interests if the rail spur is built; another still has hopes of blocking the construction of the spur altogether.
Pat Lavery, chairman of Bradshaw Residents Against Contamination of the Environment, would like to see the supervisors take an unequivocal stand against the trash train but, short of that, wants the board to demand that the railroad conduct extensive environmental studies before proceeding with construction of the spur.
"We are fearful contamination will just skyrocket if the rail spur comes through the area," Lavery said.
Lavery, whose organization claims 275 members, said she opposes the trash train because it will harm property values, the watershed, and the valley's natural beauty.
Jack Waldeck, representing the Concerned Citizens Committee, said he wanted the supervisors to help ensure that Montgomery County citizens get the same protections from damage caused by the landfill or rail spur that are being offered Roanoke County residents. One of those protections is the free replacement of damaged domestic water supplies.
Waldeck also asked the supervisors to have a county engineer sit in on the planning of the spur's construction and said any additional water diverted into the valley could cause a serious flooding problem.
Waldeck said he also worries about the rail line opening up access to residents' property to motorcycle riders and others and about the use of herbicides along the railroad's right-of-way.
Supervisor Todd Solberg said an issue larger than the Bradshaw residents' concern over the trash train is the question of what Montgomery County is going to do with its trash. "We have trash and we have to put it somewhere," he said.
Chairman Henry Jablonski said the Smith Gap landfill seems to provide Montgomery County with an opportunity for getting rid of its trash. "We do have to be serious about looking at all alternatives and I think this is an alternative," Jablonski said.
Board members directed County Administrator Betty Thomas to find out what it would cost for the county to develop a new landfill of its own and on what the cost and what legalities would be if Montgomery County used the Roanoke Valley landfill and trash train.
However, amendments to a resolution committing the county to helping the Bradshaw residents made it clear the county is not yet supporting construction of the rail spur.
Also on the subject of trash, Sheriff's Deputy Larry Waddell warned the supervisors that Montgomery County's illegal dump problem is growing - a problem that Supervisor Ira Long claimed was due to the county's increased landfill fee.
Waddell, whose job is to track down illegal dumpers, seemed to support Long's conclusion. People he's caught have said they broke the law because they didn't want to pay the county's fee, Waddell said. But he acknowledged that much of the trash is household garbage that could go into the county's roadside green boxes without a fee.
Some people will illegally dump their waste no matter what you do, Waddell said.
Waddell said that since Feb. 20, inmate crews have picked up over 7 tons of illegally dumped trash and 325 illegally discarded tires. The deputy displayed a map that showed illegal dump sites more than doubling in the past two years.
Sheriff Louis Barber said another deputy to police the criminal dumpers would cost up to $32,000. Barber said convenience of disposal was probably one big problem and said some people would drive by the green boxes to throw their trash over the bank.
"If you double the number of deputy sheriffs it's not going to make a dent in the problem," ventured County Attorney Roy Thorpe.
One solution discussed by the supervisors was requiring contractors to rent metal dumpsters for their construction debris before they can get building permits in the county. Much of the illegally dumped waste has been construction material, Waddell said.
In other business, the board heard a complaint from E.O. Essary of Blacksburg about a 10 percent annual interest that is charged those who sell land that has been in agricultural land use. The agricultural land use category provides farmers, through lower taxes, an incentive to keep their land in farming, but when it's sold for some other purpose, the tax break up to five years back must be repaid.
Essary said he had not been told about the interest charge when he signed up for the program in 1979, nor had he been told that rural land, which is not in cultivation or agricultural use could not be included in the program without a penalty. He said he was penalized for taking the tax break on four acres that was not being used for farming because it was a "canyon."
The board also heard a plea from G.C. Richardson, representing himself and 10 other residents of Old Mill Estates in Elliston, for help in completing a road in the subdivision. The developer has gone bankrupt and forfeited a road bond.
The $13,000 in the bond is not enough to complete the $41,000 worth of work needed on the road. County Attorney Thorpe, however, said the county has no legal obligation to help residents with construction of the road.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 14, 1991.
Because of a reporter's error, the last name of Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Wooddell was mispelled in a story Tuesday about Bradshaw Valley residents meeting with the Board of Supervisors to discuss a proposed "trash train" through the valley.\
Memo: CORRECTION