Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991 TAG: 9103130569
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As a result, the county and Vinton will have a majority of the seats on the seven-member board, even though Roanoke has a larger population and dumps more trash at the landfill.
The board was told today that the 1990 census figures indicate the county is entitled to another member. The county recently requested a review of the representation issue.
Currently, the board includes three members from the city, two from the county and one from Vinton.
The regional agreement, which was approved when the landfill was developed in the mid-1970s, provides that each participating locality shall have one member for each 35,000 people or fraction thereof.
Salem, which has a garbage incinerator and its own landfill, does not participate in the regional facility.
The county had raised the representation issue on several occasions in recent years as its population has increased. But no change had been made because of differing views on whether Vinton should be excluded from the county's population in apportioning representation.
City officials had argued that the town's population should not be counted twice. The city paid nearly two-thirds of the cost for developing the landfill and dumps more trash there than the county and Vinton combined. City officials contended it wouldn't be fair for the city to have less than half the board members.
But the latest census showed the county's population is about 73,000, excluding Vinton, said John Hubbard, assistant county administrator and a board member.
"We have verified the population figures developed under the 1990 census and conclude that the population of the county does support the request for an additional member," said Hubbard, chairman of a special committee that reviewed the census figures.
John Parrott, board chairman, said he will notify County Administrator Elmer Hodge that the county can appoint a third member. The county Board of Supervisors can make that appointment immediately, Hubbard said.
On another matter, the board was told that the county hopes to complete negotiations soon with Norfolk Southern Railway on the rates and conditions for hauling trash to a new landfill at Smith Gap by train. "We hope to wrap it up soon," Hubbard said.
County officials said a trash train will cause less disruption than large trucks for residents near the landfill. They are negotiating a longterm contract with the railroad to haul the trash.
The plan calls for construction of a rail siding from the railroad's main line in the vicinity of Ironto to the Smith Gap site for the new landfill. The railroad would build the siding and provide the rail cars for hauling trash. The train would have 10 specially designed cars for hauling trash and would make a daily trip to the landfill.
City officials are focusing on three potential sites for a transfer station for unloading trash from garbage trucks onto the special train. The sites have not been made public, but they are believed to be close to the Norfolk Southern Railway tracks because rail access will be needed for the transfer station.
by CNB