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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993                   TAG: 9306120233
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CREWS LOAD UP ON BRUSH

It's a lot of brush and limbs. More than 260 dump truck loads were collected by Roanoke municipal crews in the first three days this week.

And that's just the beginning of the cleanup from last week's thunderstorms.

Roanoke's crews already have collected more brush than they did in the entire month after March's blizzard.

William Clark, public works director, said Friday that the crews have made only a dent in the amount of brush and limbs to be collected.

The situation is similar in Salem and Roanoke County where crews are also working overtime to pick up the brush from the storms.

Salem and county officials did not have an immediate count Friday of the loads they have collected.

All three localities are providing special collections that will continue until all the debris has been cleared away.

Because there is so much to clean up, Roanoke has assigned 110 employees to work solely on collecting it.

City officials considered hiring private contractors to help with the cleanup, but none was immediately available. The contractors either have other ongoing projects or are working in Lynchburg, where the damage was worse.

"Our decision at this point is to utilize city employees, work long hours and Saturdays over the next two weeks," said Clark. The city will decide then whether additional personnel are needed.

On Monday, crews will begin trips through each Roanoke neighborhood. Residents should have brush to the curb and make sure it is separated from their regular trash on collection day.

In Salem, 80 employees have been collecting brush this week and will work overtime this weekend.

Roanoke County will expand its brush collection in the next two weeks. Residents are asked to place their brush at the curb, cut into lengths of less than 6 feet.

The county will have two three-member crews assigned to brush collection in the next two weeks. The county hopes to receive a knuckle-boom truck next week to help clean up large trees and limbs. The vehicle has been on order.

All three localities are chipping the brush into mulch to help save landfill space. Roanoke is offering mulch free at its mulch lot at Carver Avenue and Courtland Road Northwest. Large wood, suitable for firewood, is available free under the Memorial Avenue bridge.

by CNB