ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
Landfill officials will try to come up with a regional recycling plan in three months, but city representatives are questioning whether Roanoke County's deadline is realistic.
The governing board of the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority voted Wednesday to seek bids from professional firms and local colleges for a study that would come up with cost estimates for a regional recycling program.
There was no opposition to doing the study, but some board members were worried that time pressures would affect the quality of the study.
"I don't know how in the world we can get a study back in 90 days," said Kit Kiser, vice chairman of the authority and director of utilities and operations for the city.
Bill Rand, one of two county representatives on the board, said it would be up to the consultant hired to do the study to make that call. He said the landfill board needs to sign a contract for the study in January to increase the chances that it can be completed on time.
The vote came one day after members of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors vowed to end curbside recycling service for 3,700 households unless they receive a plan by late March for regional service.
Supervisors said they don't want to continue using general tax dollars to pay for a curbside recycling program that is available to less than 15 percent of its trash customers. At the same time, they were unwilling to spend money on a countywide program that would operate separately from those in Roanoke and the town of Vinton. All three localities share the Smith Gap landfill, which is operated by the authority.
Supervisors suggested the authority should be in charge of a regional recycling program, which would require approval from the three local governments.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge discussed the issue with City Manager Bob Herbert on Wednesday. While the county is trying to decide if it should continue providing curbside recycling, Herbert said the question before the city is whether a regional program will save money.
He noted that Roanoke will have citywide recycling by the end of the month, whereas only a fraction of county residents have the service. The city's program is different from the one county officials envision. City residents separate their own recyclable materials before they are collected, but county officials say it would be cheaper to go with a system in which recyclables would be separated at a sorting station. That system allows for automated collection with ``one-armed bandit" trucks. The county already uses one-armed bandits, while the city is still considering whether to switch.
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