NO STINK OVER GARBAGE PLAN

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 2, 1993                   TAG: 9303020293
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
NO STINK OVER GARBAGE PLAN
The end came without a whimper.
Not a single protest by a citizen. Not a complaint. Not even a question by a City Council member.
Council voted unanimously Monday to discontinue backyard garbage collection June 1.
The absence of controversy was in sharp contrast to a proposal in the 1970s to end backyard collection. Then, hundreds of city residents signed petitions and attended a council meeting to protest the proposal. Council dropped the idea.
This time it was different. Opinion surveys showed a majority of city residents were willing to take their garbage to the alley or street curb.
In recent months, city officials made presentations to neighborhood and community organizations about the proposal. The informational campaign apparently eliminated any opposition.
Canceling backyard service will affect nearly one-third of the city's 36,000 households. The other two-thirds either have alley collection or voluntarily take their garbage cans to the curb already.
Ending backyard service will save the city $368,000 a year. The money will be used to help offset the cost of a new landfill and an expanded recycling program.
There will be no change in service for residents who place their garbage in the alleys at the rear of their houses. Neither will there be any change for those who already take their cans to the curb.
If people can't carry their garbage to the curb, they can keep backyard service if they have a statement from a doctor.
The city also developed a "premium service" plan that will enable residents to retain backyard collection if they are willing to pay for it.
Backyard collection requires more manpower and time. Ending the service will enable the city to eliminate 19 jobs. But six are to be shifted to an expanded recycling program, leaving a net reduction of 13. The jobs are to be eliminated by attrition. Herbert said no one will be laid off.
Approximately $142,000 of the annual savings are planned to help pay for the state-mandated recycling program, leaving a net savings of $226,000 a year, Herbert said.
When a new regional landfill opens at Smith Gap in Roanoke County this fall, the city's garbage-disposal costs will increase by $1 million a year because the dumping fee will increase to $60 a ton, from $20.
Eliminating backyard-collection service is a key to cutting costs to help cover the landfill expenses, city officials said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB