ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Nearly 40 people showed up Monday night to oppose the expansion of the New River Resource Authority to include Montgomery County.
The NRRA now handles solid waste for Pulaski County, the city of Radford and town of Dublin. A proposed agreement has been negotiated to add Montgomery County, the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, and Virginia Tech.
Speakers Monday before the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors worried that the addition will dilute the county's ability to control the types of garbage coming to a new landfill located below Cloyds Mountain.
The Board of Supervisors will probably decide at its next meeting Jan. 27 whether to approve the agreement, Chairman Joe Sheffey said. Radford has approved it. Some members of the Dublin Town Council, who hold their public hearing Jan. 28, have expressed opposition.
The board also directed its staff, including County Attorney Tom McCarthy, to prepare a response to concerns raised at Pulaski County's hearing.
Speakers echoed some of the objections raised by Dublin officials over the agreement giving three members each to Pulaski County, including Dublin; Radford, and the Montgomery County entities. One of Pulaski County's members would be from Dublin.
Currently, Pulaski County has three members, Dublin has one and Radford has two. (The town of Pulaski is also served by the NRRA but holds no membership apart from the county.)
Pulaski County will be the site of a new NRRA landfill to open soon on Cloyds Mountain, replacing the current one in Radford. "If it's in our county, I think we should control it," Thomas Pifer told the supervisors.
Andy McCready, a businessman who was a key organizer of the opposition speakers, said Pulaski County should have "clear veto power" over outside waste being buried here. "We cannot allow that level of control to be given up," he said.
He also objected to Pulaski County losing and Radford gaining a vote on the NRRA's governing body. "Why should we give them one of our votes?" he asked.
Finally, McCready said the Montgomery County localities should have to pay a premium to use the landfill. He suggested previously that the extra income be earmarked for school construction in Pulaski County.
"Their landfill will fill up in July of '98. They have waited too long to take action," he said. "Now they need us. We should make the most of it."
The agreement calls for the Montgomery County entities to pay $35 per ton of solid waste buried. McCready said they would have to pay $50 or more per ton elsewhere. He suggested an extra $15 per ton to Pulaski County because the landfill will be here, which would total about $825,000 per year in "hosting fees."
"I get the impression that Montgomery County is slipping in the back door," said Dr. Joe Holmes of Dublin, after the current NRRA members did the work of securing a new landfill and getting all the necessary approvals.
"Would any one of you like for someone else to control your yard or your home?" Via Sayers asked the supervisors.
Most of those attending the hearing raised their hands or stood when McCready asked how many opposed the agreement. Only two stood when he asked how many favored it. One of those was Dr. David Stanley, a Dublin councilman.
Benny Skeens and Sam Gregory are the Dublin councilmen who said they opposed the agreement, and Mayor Benny Keister has expressed reservations about it. Sam Farmer has said he favors it. The other council members, Peggy Hemmings and Alden Hankla, have not expressed an opinion on the issue.
Pulaski Supervisor Jerry White, who negotiated the agreement with Montgomery County along with Radford Mayor Thomas Starnes, said an NRRA goal since 1987 had been to increase its size. "We feel like it is a good agreement and serves the interests of Pulaski County," he said.
Among its cited advantages are an estimated 30 percent reduction in disposal costs per ton by having a larger service area; a larger and more economical operating base for recycling, composting and other programs to handle waste without burying it; reducing variability in the waste flow stream; and promoting regional cooperation.
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