ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997 TAG: 9703280049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER THE ROANOKE TIMES
Pulaski County and Dublin will submit their proposed changes to an agreement for expanding the New River Resource Authority to the other governments involved.
Dublin and Pulaski County have agreed on four conditions they want met before expanding membership in the New River Resource Authority.
A proposed agreement that would add Montgomery County, Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Virginia Tech has been approved by Radford City Council. It also must be approved by the governing bodies of Dublin and Pulaski County to become official.
Dublin Town Council and the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors met in closed session on the matter Wednesday night at Dublin Elementary School. Board Chairman Joe Sheffey and Dublin Mayor Benny Keister subsequently issued a joint statement about the four concerns agreed on by the two governing bodies:
They want to keep Dublin as a separate authority member with the town having one vote. The proposed agreement would give three votes each to the new Montgomery County members, Radford and Pulaski County. Dublin would be included with Pulaski County.
The two governing bodies agree on Pulaski County and the other jurisdictions each having three voting members, but with the additional one for Dublin. Under the current board setup, Pulaski County has three votes, Radford two and Dublin one.
They want to require a unanimous vote of the authority board to hire an executive director or legal counsel.
They want all future negotiations and the addition of any future jurisdictions to the NRRA to require unanimous approval and participation of all member jurisdictions. Some Dublin officials were upset that the original proposed agreement was being negotiated by representatives of Pulaski County and Radford, but none from Dublin.
Dublin, Radford and Pulaski County formed the authority 10 years ago for a regional approach to solid waste disposal. The authority has been using a landfill in Radford on Ingles Mountain, but will soon move to a new one in Pulaski County.
Keister and Sheffey said their governing bodies have listened to residents' concerns about the addition of the Montgomery Regional Solid Waste Authority jurisdictions.
"Concerns presented have included control over the landfill site that will be used by jurisdictions outside Pulaski County, the makeup of voting rights of an authority board that would be reconstituted, the useful life of the landfill, the economic impact of an expanded membership, truck traffic patterns and the assurance of participation by all current members in negotiation of landfill expansion," they said in their statement.
The four new conditions will be submitted to Radford and the Montgomery authority.
Pulaski County and Dublin listed five other concerns raised by residents that have been settled:
Outside garbage is prohibited from localities that are not NRRA members.
Unanimous consent of all members will be required to assign different rights. One locality could not do it, regardless of the vote on the NRRA board.
Through truck traffic would be off secondary roads such as Virginia 627 (Highland Road) and Virginia 746 (Giles Avenue) to the new landfill, with trucks being maintained to avoid leakage or litter.
Pulaski County's existing zoning controls are sufficient to regulate present and future use of the landfill.
Savings from the authority expansion would allow solid waste disposal at a lower cost, as well as funding for recycling.
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