
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993                   TAG: 9310210170
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By STEVE KARK staff writer
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                  LENGTH: Medium

GILES OKS CONTRACT FOR HAULING TRASH TO MONTGOMERY

Ten days after closing the county's only landfill, the Giles County Supervisors Tuesday approved an eight-month contract that will allow the county to haul its trash and recyclables next door to Montgomery County's Mid-County Landfill.

After a closed executive session, the board approved a contract through June 30 that will cost the county $53 a ton to dump its trash in Montgomery's landfill. The landfill will also accept Giles' recyclables free.

County officials do not know how much the contract will cost because they have never weighed their trash. Earlier this month, Supervisor Larry "Jay" Williams said he estimated the county would haul 30 to 40 tons a day to Montgomery. This would cost about $1,600 a day or $48,000 a month.

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors backed the arrangement last week contingent on the Giles supervisors signing the renewable contract by Monday.

The supervisors chose Montgomery over a West Virginia landfill being used by the towns of Pearisburg, Glen Lyn and Narrows, whose tipping fee is only $37 a ton. The West Virginia operation required a long-term contract with the county but would only guarantee the tipping fee for the first year, Williams has said.

Montgomery County, however, accepted a temporary contract that gives Giles flexibility in deciding on long-term options.

The Montgomery landfill will accept recyclables for free, he said. If county residents recycled more, it could significantly reduce the amount of trash going into the landfill and the county's cost, he said.

In the next eight months, the Giles supervisors will explore other options, such as participating in the New River Resource Authority, which has obtained permits to open a new landfill in Pulaski County at the Matson property, according to County Administrator Janet Tuckwiller.

The supervisors are also trying to hammer out the details of a plan for garbage pickup throughout the county.

The supervisors authorized Tuckwiller Tuesday to look into ways of offering door-to-door collection service to more communities throughout the county.

For now, the door-to-door service is only available in Pembroke and Rich Creek, and the Robin Hood and Mason Creek subdivisions. The county plans to expand this service to the more densely populated areas of the county.

The supervisors said they were optimistic about extending service to Ripplemead within the next few weeks and hoped to do the same for other communities soon.

However, Williams, who has served with Supervisor George Hedrick on the county's trash committee, expressed doubts that the door-to-door service will ever be available to the more rural areas of the county.

The county garbage fees for these residents should be less than the $13.75 that will be charged to those who live where door-to-door pickup is available, he said.

by CNB