THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020346
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
The City Council saved its garbage collector about $2,800 Monday by allowing a requested rate increase to take effect July 1.
Waste Industries Inc., which disposes of city businesses' garbage, had asked two weeks ago to make the increase retroactive to meet higher fees imposed by Pasquotank County on July 1.
Dumping rates per ton have been steadily increasing as area governments send garbage to a new high-tech regional landfill in Bertie County.
But a council committee, led by Councilman Lloyd Griffin, had recommended delaying Waste Industries' latest increase until Aug. 1. because of short notice. Company officials protested that idea at the July 18 work session and in a July 27 letter to City Manager Ralph Clark.
``It is most unfortunate that someone would suggest delaying our increase on the grounds that we did not notify our customers soon enough,'' Waste Industries Regional Manager Jim Roberts wrote.
Officials argued that the company had prepared businesses for an increase but could not lay out exact figures until the county announced its dumping charge.
The new commercial rates will be $22.34 for an 8-cubic-yard bin, up from $20.98, and $17.67 for a 6-cubic-yard bin, up from $16.67.
After Monday's meeting, council members posed on the ``front porch'' of the municipal building for an early observance of ``National Night Out,'' a countrywide anticrime demonstration scheduled for tonight.
Residents nationwide are encouraged to turn on their porch lights in a show of solidarity against crime. Extra Elizabeth City police officers will patrol during the evening, police said. by CNB