ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 8, 1996 TAG: 9608080086
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
Vinton Town Council has set Sept. 17 for a public hearing on a request to allow the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority to go into the refuse collection business.
Town Council took the action Tuesday night as a step to head off a potential increase in the fee Vinton now pays the authority to dispose of trash.
John R. Hubbard, chief executive officer of the authority, said one of the three major private haulers of trash in the Roanoke Valley may one day begin taking refuse to landfills outside the valley.
If that happens, Hubbard said, there would be a loss of revenue for the authority, which operates the Smith Gap regional landfill.
The authority and the landfill are supported by Vinton, Roanoke and Roanoke County, which pay the authority to dispose of trash picked up by municipal crews. The authority does not now collect trash.
Three major private haulers of trash in the Roanoke Valley now dump about 80,000 tons of refuse a year in the Smith Gap landfill, Hubbard said.
If one private hauler pulled out, Hubbard said, Vinton's share to cover the loss would be an additional $41,000 a year. If all three private haulers took refuse elsewhere, he said, Vinton would have to pay an additional $98,000 a year - an increase of about 60 percent.
Vinton now pays $50 a ton to dispose of about 3,500 tons a year picked up in the town.
To counter these possible losses, Hubbard said, the authority is asking the local governments to change the authority's charter to allow it to collect refuse itself.
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