By a 4-2 vote, the Christiansburg Town Council Tuesday night voted down a proposed amendment to Chapter 28 of the town code that would have required all garbage, trash or refuse be delivered only to facilities of the Montgomery Regional Solid Waste Authority in Christiansburg.
The decision came after the council had discussed the ordinance for well over an hour at a work session prior to the regular meeting.
The change was first discussed at the council meeting of February 25 and was the subject of some controversy. A spokesman for the Virginia Waste Industries Association, which represents 41 private garbage collectors, argued the ordinance would create a waste disposal monopoly by not allowing private collectors to dispose of trash at facilities of their choice.
Alan Cummins, executive director for the Montgomery Regional Solid Waste Authority, disagreed. He told the council a decision favoring the one facility would help keep costs low. “It doesn’t create a monopoly. It would still foster competition for haulers,” he said.
Rob Guidry, president and CEO of CFS Container First Services, told the council at the February meeting that the ordinance would drastically affect his business and the investment his company is making.
Ashleigh Garnes, the company’s general manager, asked the council in February why they should “penalize and essentially financially destroy existing, permitted businesses by eliminating competition for no reason?”
The practice now is that most private independent solid waste companies like CFS Container First take their refuse to a landfill in Dublin. According to CFS, the tipping fee for the Montgomery Solid Regional Waste Authority is $54.50 per ton, $22 higher than the fee charged by the Dublin landfill.
After tabling the matter at the February meeting, the town council put it to a vote Tuesday night and voted the proposed amendment down.
In other matters, the council held a brief public hearing on a request by Cole Shows Amusement Company for a conditional use permit to set up a carnival at the New River Valley Mall property at 782 New River Road owned by Rockstep Christiansburg. The company brought a carnival to the mall last year. And seeks to return. The carnival would require the presence of two police officers during the week and four officers on the weekend. The hearing was closed without any action being taken on the request.
The council approved the awarding of a contract for $153,867.90 to King General Contractors, Inc., for construction of the Christiansburg Fire Department improvements Phase II project.
Two persons involved with the program presented the council with information on the NRV Homegrown Business Alliance. The program is an effort to encourage local shopping through the use of a Go Local Card in which independent businesses offer discounts for the card’s use. The program is new to the NRV, but similar programs in other cities have had a huge impact on local businesses, the council was told. Independent businesses served by similar pro-local/independent campaigns have consistently and dramatically outperformed those businesses in communities lacking them, according to a discount directory handed out at the meeting.
A customer purchases the Go Local Card for $20 for a year and then uses the card to redeem discounts or giveaways from participating local businesses. The Go Local Cards can be used as many times as the customer wants at a local business throughout the year. All the cards expire in December of 2020.
The NRV Homegrown 2020 discount directory included discounts and giveaway from some two hundred local businesses in the NRV, including businesses located in Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Draper, Dublin, Elliston, Fairlawn, Floyd, Hillsville, Meadows of Dan, Pembroke, Pulaski, Radford, Riner and Shawsville.
After some discussion, the council voted to reopen Hickok Street. The farmers market will continue to be located on Hickok Street for the 2020 season, but in October, the roadway will be closed for almost a year for a planned multi-million dollar storm water project. Last summer, a similar project closed the backside of Hickok from College Avenue for eight months.
Mayor Mike Barber sought and was granted permission to proceed with the issuance of a proclamation and the creation and placement of a banner recognizing March 29 as Viet Nam Veterans Day in Christiansburg.