Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors reached consensus Tuesday that Giles' eight-month trash and recycling contract with the county should be renewed. The board will formally vote on the extension later this month.
But two members, Henry Jablonski and Joe Stewart, who collectively represent Montgomery's rural southern half, objected. When adopted last year, the contract marked the first time Montgomery had accepted trash from outside its borders.
"It just seems to me that we're shortening the life of our own landfill," Jablonski said.
Supervisor Joe Gorman of Blacksburg, the board's point man on trash issues, said the agreement is one of the reasons the county's tipping fee won't increase this summer.
The fee for dumping trash at the Mid-County Landfill is $53 per ton, but would have been $58 without Giles' trash, Gorman said.
Having a greater volume of trash actually helps keep landfill operations more cost-effective, he said.
Board Chairman Larry Linkous said he and County Administrator Betty Thomas met with their counterparts from Giles last week. Though Giles could send its trash to West Virginia for a cheaper rate, it would have to pay more to have its recyclable materials trucked away, Linkous said.
The towns of Pearisburg, Narrows and Glen Lyn are currently sending their trash to West Virginia but their recyclables to Giles, which collects them and sends them to Montgomery.
The Giles officials indicated they want to be part of a regional effort in the New River Valley to finding a long-term solution to trash disposal, Linkous said.
Giles County Administrator Janet Tuckwiller said Wednesday that the contract with Montgomery will cost more in the short term but could lead toward a cheaper long-term solution. "This seems to be a better alternative," she said.
When the Montgomery supervisors approved the initial contract in October, Giles officials estimated they would send up to 30 tons of trash a day to the Mid-County Landfill. But the actual figure has been closer to 14 tons a day, Linkous said. Even that amount of trash has produced enough revenue to keep overall costs down and produce savings, he said. Tuckwiller said the figure has increased to about 20 tons a day this spring.
Montgomery's landfill is expected to run out of space by the end of the decade. The county is looking to the New River Resource Authority for the future, specifically its plans for a new landfill beside Cloyds Mountain in Pulaski County.
Montgomery is negotiating with Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Virginia Tech to create a separate trash authority that could then join the New River Resource Authority in the Pulaski effort.
But those negotiations, originally expected to be concluded by July, are still ongoing and won't be finished anytime soon, Gorman said.
Giles closed its landfill in the Wilburn Valley last fall in the face of stepped-up federal environmental requirements. Giles has not been a part of the negotiations but is being kept informed about them, Tuckwiller said.
Once Montgomery reaches an agreement with the two towns and Tech, Giles can evaluate the costs of going in on the Pulaski landfill, she said.
by CNB