ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290026
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Pulaski County officials heard arguments Monday night for and against expanding the New River Resource Authority but have still not voted one way or the other.
Jerry White, vice chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said the board had not discussed the question among its members and so could not yet vote on it.
The matter still had not been discussed in public session by midnight, following a 90-minute closed session on personnel, legal and land matters and a prospective industry. The board continued its meeting to 7 p.m. Thursday for its quarterly joint session with Pulaski and Dublin town councils.
Pulaski County, the town of Dublin and city of Radford must all agree for Montgomery County, Virginia Tech and the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg to be able to join the NRRA. Radford City Council became the first of the three current members to approve the expansion agreement Monday night.
"Let's talk about that pesky old landfill again, how about it?" expansion opponent Andy McCready opened his remarks to the board during citizens' time. McCready suggested that the increased tonnage which would come into the new NRRA landfill is massive enough to constitute a "substantial change" referred to in NRRA bylaws as requiring an amendment to them.
The new 350-acre landfill will be located on Cloyds Mountain in Pulaski County, near the Pulaski-Giles county line. Opponents of the expansion agreement are concerned that Pulaski County could lose control of what comes into a landfill within its borders if the NRRA board representation changes, as proposed, to three members each for the Montgomery County group, Radford and Pulaski County (including one member from Dublin).
Pulaski County currently has two members; Dublin, one; and Radford, two. The current NRRA landfill, soon to be closed, is in Radford.
But Pulaski County Administrator Joe Morgan said the county could keep waste from outside the NRRA area out of the landfill in several ways, including veto powers and zoning regulations. Supervisor Bruce Fariss said those concerned about NRRA representation do not seem concerned about Pulaski County having minority representation on boards governing other activities located within its borders, such as an upcoming regional jail.
"I think the basic problem here is that the people feel Montgomery County is overwhelming you," said Joel Burchett, one of four citizens speaking in opposition to the agreement. "I've heard no one support Montgomery County bringing their trash into Pulaski County."
Morgan noted some reasons why Pulaski County might actually want Montgomery County trash. Because Montgomery County is Pulaski's largest neighbor, with about half the population of the New River Valley and generating by far the largest waste stream, its inclusion lets the NRRA reduce costs by taking advantage of economies of scale, he said.
It would allow a reduction per ton in disposal costs, Morgan said, and also make recycling economical.
Fariss said recycling is not cost-effective unless there is enough volume to get a contract to supply a business with waste products to recycle. Otherwise, he said, a locality must take whatever it can get on the open market for recyclables, which is a money loser.
Morgan said the Cloyds Mountain landfill is the only new landfill currently planned in Southwest Virginia, and should last 100 years even with the Montgomery County localities using it.
White predicted that it will be the last landfill to be located in Pulaski County. A century from now, he predicted, other means of trash disposal will be in use just as methods of handling wastes have changed in the past 100 years.
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