Landfill contract extended temporarily in Charles City

Charles City’s Board of Supervisors has agreed to a temporary extension of a contract with Waste Management of Virginia.

Supervisors agreed to a 90-day extension with the services at its Dec. 5 work session as they attempt to work out a new contract with the company. The county and Waste Management have been working on a previous 18-month interim agreement due to the decline of refuse taken in at the landfill.

The original agreement signed by the parties called for a minimum of 2,000 tons per day. With the declining economy over the past two years hitting the county, each side agreed to reduce the number to 1,900 tons a day.

Waste Management asked for the extension to apply firmer numbers before making a proposal to the county on a new contract, but supervisors also believe they will be able to benefit from the extra time as well.

“I would like to see solid numbers if this is going to affect the budget,” said District 2 representative Bill Coada. “I want to know if we are going to go back to the original contract, continue with the amended agreement, or if it’s going to be something new.”

District 3 representative Floyd Miles agreed with Coada about seeing numbers, but believes they wouldn’t have them by the target date of March when the extension is set to expire.

“I don’t believe those numbers will be solid until August, which is after our new fiscal year,” said Miles. “We are going to have to use hard numbers of what we have now in order for that to happen if we can’t get an accurate account by the end of March.”

In other board matters, the boat ramp at Lawrence Lewis Jr. Park now has a date for completion.

County development/environmental planner John Bragg updated the board, saying the ramp should be finished by Dec. 15. He also suggested the board discuss a day for reopening the park.

Supervisors, however, decided to look at a different aspect of the boat ramp. Supervisors agreed to charge non-residents of Charles City a $10 fee to use the ramp. Residents will not have to pay a fee.

“Now that we have access to the James [River], I want to make sure that our citizens benefit from this,” said Miles. “We are one of the few public access ramps to the river.”

In other issues, the board:

–Asked planning director Matthew Rowe to look into a business permit and a possible fee for businesses only.

–Announced the closing of county offices from Dec. 24-26, as well as Dec. 31-Jan. 1.