Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991 TAG: 9103210422
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
The decision came even though the authority faces an uncommon luxury of not needing the space right away. Construction of a large earthen berm - a visual barrier for nearby homeowners - on the northern side of the landfill has created 15 months of capacity.
The authority had wanted to avoid the berm by building the southern expansion last year. But there were delays in getting approval from the state Department of Waste Management and the authority was quickly depleting the fill area. A circuit judge allowed the authority to expand to the north if it built the berm.
John Olver, the authority's consulting engineer, said that without a space crunch, the authority can take time to get a good bid. But Olver said he would like to have the southern expansion ready for use by spring 1992.
Jerry White, a Pulaski County representative to the landfill board, said he favored starting action now instead of waiting until "the 11th hour."
Charles Maus, the authority's executive director, said original plans called for Ingles Mountain Landfill to be used until 1993, when a permanent landfill is to be ready in Pulaski County. But the additional space created at Ingles Mountain likely would last until 1995.
However, Maus said he favored proceeding with plans to move to the new landfill as soon as possible. He told the board he had no recommendation on pursuing the southern expansion bids until he and Olver compared the cost of expansion to opening the new Pulaski County landfill as soon as possible.
Disposal costs probably would decrease if the authority could open its new landfill before using the entire expansion at Ingles, Maus said.
White asked if there are any assurances that the new landfill could be ready by 1993. "The next deadline we meet will be the first one, won't it?" he asked.
The authority voted 7-0 to ask for bids on the entire southern expansion and for individual phases.
In other business, the authority began work on its proposed budget for 1991-92. The $1.894 million proposal is $354,427 more than projected spending for this year.
Maus said the increase comes from starting to build up the operations-reserve and environmental-trust funds, paying bond principal and additional costs for required ground-water monitoring.
As proposed, Pulaski County's share is about $1.16 million while Radford would pay $620,425 and Dublin $104,855. The contributions are based on the amount of garbage each brings to the landfill. An additional $11,000 would come from other sources.
Authority members were concerned about increases in professional services and equipment spending, as well as a proposed 4 percent merit salary increase for nine employees.
Robert Asbury, Radford city manager and an authority member, called for prudence when considering any spending over base needs.
White wondered about the proposed merit increases when most valley localities have committed to no salary increases. "Quite frankly, people are just hoping to hold on to the jobs they have," he said.
Asbury, Pulaski County Administrator Joe Morgan and the town managers of Dublin and Pulaski will meet as a subcommittee April 2 to compare the proposed authority budget with the participating jurisdictions' financial pictures.
by CNB