Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402040084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Leonard J. Bays, founder of L.J. Bays Inc., is accused of offering $5,000 to County Administrator William Rolfe to award Bays a contract to run the county's new landfill.
During Thursday's preliminary hearing, Rolfe said he and Bays were in Rolfe's office about noon Sept. 3. "[Bays] got up as if we were ending the meeting," Rolfe said. "He put down a note on the desk and said, `This is just between you and me. If we can settle this today, this is for you.' "
The note said "$5,000 in bills," Rolfe said.
When Rolfe refused to discuss the note, Bays told him to throw it away and left. Rolfe immediately consulted with Deputy County Administrator Kathleen Guzi and informed the commonwealth's attorney's office shortly thereafter, he said.
That night, Rolfe went to Bays' home to discuss the incident, and Bays apologized, Rolfe testified. Although Rolfe told Bays he had contacted authorities, including Bedford County Attorney Johnny Overstreet, the meeting was cordial, Rolfe said.
On Aug. 4, bid-opening day, Bays' company had submitted the only bid - $800,000 - to run the new landfill. The county had budgeted only $300,000 for the contract, so Rolfe and other county officials decided to check with other sources about how much it would cost the county to run the landfill itself.
Usually, the county awards contracts within three weeks of opening bids, but this decision remained unmade more than a month after Bays submitted his bid and a $40,000 cash bond.
After the alleged bribe attempt, Rolfe advised the Board of Supervisors not to accept Bays' bid. "I don't see how we can award the bid to Bays, based on the actions in the office," he said.
But Rolfe, saying he believes Bays is an honest man, said he would be willing to be a character witness if the case comes to trial.
Bays' attorneys, Drew Davis and Bill Davis, argued that Bays only asked Rolfe for a resolution of the landfill contract and did not promise money in exchange for a favorable result.
Bays, 69, could face two to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The county and Bays have had a close working relationship for more than 25 years.
In 1991, the board voted to renegotiate Bays' landfill contract and not take competitive bids from other companies to handle the closing of the old landfill. The resulting contract gave Bays a 10 percent increase over the previous agreement and assured that the company would operate the landfill through its closure and the opening of the county's new landfill.
The county closed its old landfill Oct. 9 in compliance with state and federal regulations.
Under a contract signed in March 1992, L.J. Bays Inc. was paid $250,500.53 for the first year of a multiyear contract for hauling trash and managing the old landfill, with the promise of as much as a 4 percent increase the following year.
Although Bays has lost the landfill contract, the county retained the company to pick up recyclables. Under the terms of the contract, L.J. Bays Inc. would be paid $79 for each leased recycling container, plus $60 in disposal fees for each container. The contract will end June 30.
by CNB