Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 30, 1994 TAG: 9401300135
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Approximately 12,000 households whose residents put their own garbage cans at curbside will be issued 90-gallon rollout containers that can be emptied by an automated truck. Some 13,000 residences already have the containers.
Residents disposing of yard clippings or items too bulky for the containers no longer will have regularly scheduled service. They can call and set up an appointment.
The changes are expected to take place in June.
Both moves are designed to improve efficiency in the county's General Services Department, which has overrun its budget two consecutive years.
Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors appropriated $400,000 to get the department through this budget year, which ends June 30.
One major reason for the budget overrun has been the cost of keeping the county's aging fleet of garbage trucks on the road.
Relief is on the way.
By April, the county will have three new garbage trucks, known as "one-armed bandits." The trucks will replace four manually loaded trucks that have a history of maintenance problems.
The one-armed bandits also are more efficient, requiring a single driver compared to a three-person crew for the old trucks. They will save an estimated $150,000 per year.
This spring, the county will begin distributing the 90-gallon containers to residents who still use their own trash cans.
The new trucks and containers will bring automated trash service to all county residents with the exception of a few hundred in isolated areas, according to General Services Director Gardner Smith.
The county also will get two new trucks to handle the collection of bulk trash and brush.
The bulk service will be twice a month, by appointment.
Residents now served by one-armed bandits have their bulk trash and brush picked up once a month on a regular schedule. Residents now served by manual trucks often get their bulk trash picked up weekly.
The new bulk and brush trucks will have an automated "knuckle boom" that will pick up large items. Smith estimated those trucks will save about $200,000 a year, by freeing up workers to perform other duties now handled by part-time employees.
by CNB