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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 11, 1994                   TAG: 9403110071
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOARD REPLACES ENGINEERING FIRM ON LANDFILL PROJECT

Heading down the final stretch to completion of the Smith Gap landfill, the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority has replaced the engineering firm that has been with the project since its start.

The authority's contract with Olver Inc., a Blacksburg environmental engineering firm, expired several months ago, an Olver vice president said.

Rather than extend the contract until the landfill is finished in May, the authority voted to replace Olver with the Roanoke architectural and engineering firm Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern.

Olver was seeking additional payment from the authority, according to the minutes of the panel's last meeting.

"We were not making any progress" in completion of the project, said Gardner Smith, director of general services for Roanoke County and an authority member. "We had to either renegotiate [with Olver] or replace him. We decided to negotiate with someone else."

After an hour-long closed session last month, the seven-member authority authorized its chief executive officer to hire "on an emergency basis, engineering services necessary to complete all projects."

"We didn't fire [John Olver]," said John Hubbard, executive director of the authority. "He was replaced."

Authority Chairman Bob Benninger, Vinton's assistant town manager, said the switch would not delay the project any more than it has been by the weather this winter. Completion is set for May, but Benninger said two "cells" are being readied to accept garbage before then.

Members of the authority were reluctant to discuss the reasons Olver's contract wasn't extended, citing the possibility of legal action - which could be initiated by either side.

Bob Roberts, a vice president of Olver Inc., said the company did not want to comment and that no decision had been made whether to take legal action.

Olver Inc. has had a long involvement with landfill work in this part of the state.

Olver has been paid $1.5 million for work on the landfill and the transfer station where garbage will be collected in train cars and hauled to the landfill. According to contracts made available by the authority, Olver's three-year contract was up last May. It is unclear how much more money Olver wanted to finish the job.

The landfill's completion date has lagged because of construction problems and nasty weather.

Twice last year, contractors had to slice open protective liners beneath the landfill to drain water that seeped through because of faulty diversion ditches. Hubbard said contractors continue to work on the liners.

by CNB