ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 5, 1997 TAG: 9704070048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: TOM ANGLEBERGER THE ROANOKE TIMES
STAFF WRITER KATHY LOAN CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
Developer, trash hauler want to place a private trash transfer station behind the retail complex at U.S. 460-Peppers Ferry Road.
Local trash hauler Bob's Refuse hopes to build a trash transfer station and garage behind the Grand Piano and Lowe's stores, in the heart of the New River Valley's retail center.
Owner Bob Underwood said it will be a big benefit to his business and his customers.
However, some local officials say the retail area is wrong for a trash facility.
Christiansburg Town Council will have the final say, April 15, when it meets to decide if a conditional-use permit should be granted for the facility. After a public hearing, the town Planning Commission will make a recommendation to council.
Council will then vote on the permit, which was applied for by William P. Matthews, the son and namesake of the developer who helped change the area around U.S. 460-Peppers Ferry Road from a horticultural farm into a retail strip.
"I'm trying to get something in to benefit everybody," Underwood said. "I want to do nothing but get rid of my own trash without paying through the nose. It won't be a large operation. There's not going to be a busy street."
The transfer station would be used for trash picked up from apartment Dumpsters, businesses and clients outside of Blacksburg. Bob's Refuse is contractually obligated to haul Blacksburg residential trash to Montgomery County's landfill. That trash would not go through his transfer station, unless the contract is changed in the future.
He estimates that six to eight garbage trucks and three or four tractor-trailers will use the facility each day. Trash will not be left on the floor of the transfer station over night, he said, nor will trash be visible from outside of the buildings.
Underwood believes it will cheaper for him to take his trash trucks to this central point, load the trash into tractor-trailers and then haul it to other counties. He says other counties can offer him a better price for landfill space. He also is looking to the near future, when Montgomery County closes its current landfill and all trash has to be shipped away anyway.
Someday, Underwood said, he would like to use the station to expand his recycling program. Although Montgomery County's brand-new, nearby recycling center offers recycling services, he says he would rather separate trash from recyclables himself. Then he can keep the money from selling the recyclables, instead of letting Montgomery County sell them.
Many recyclables are thrown away in apartment Dumpsters and with a new facility those items could be sorted out and recycled, he said.
While Underwood is positive about the project, not everyone else is.
Joe Gorman, chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, said he does not like the idea of the trash transfer station.
"We would prefer that it not be done because we would prefer to handle all of the recycling and solid waste for the entire county," said Gorman. He is also a member of the Montgomery Regional Solid Waste Authority, formed several years ago by the county, towns and Virginia Tech as part of a regional effort to handle trash. That authority is attempting to join the New River Resource Authority and use its new landfill in Pulaski County.
Already, one group has publicly opposed the trash transfer station. The Montgomery Regional Economic Development Commission voted March 26 to oppose the project. The commission sent a letter to the Christiansburg Planning Commission asking it to vote against the project.
Development commission Chairman T.W. Bonham said the group was largely concerned with the impact of the trash transfer station on other businesses.
"It's strictly the environment. I think it conflicts with the retail environment that we have out there," he said, specifically noting concerns of smell, unpleasant sights and extra truck traffic.
Underwood said his operation will not be that unpleasant and he picked the site he did because it would be secluded.
Dumpsters are behind every shopping center, he said. "What's so bad about me just because I'm the one who empties them?" he asked. "I can't see why everybody is so against garbagemen having a place to work."
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