New trash centers will replace messy eyesores

By Justin Faulconer

Published: August 13, 2008

Some may refer to them as dumpsters — others may drop the phrase “rural container sites.”

Labels aside, Amherst County officials want more efficiently managed, pristine trash centers and are developing two such collection sites to open by either late this month or early September.

The centers — on Buffalo Springs Turnpike near Virginia 130 and on Warrick Barn Road near Virginia 151 — are replacing sites that officials say get much out-of-county trash.

The new guarded centers, fenced and with night lighting, will curtail illegal dumping, said Teresa Nuckols, the county’s solid waste director.

“We’ll have better control over the waste stream,” Nuckols said. “The main priority is to have a clean and safe environment.”

The new sites also provide for recycling and have containers for bulk items such as furniture — items prohibited at existing locations.

“You were not allowed by county code to do that at those sites, though people did,” Nuckols said.

Once the new centers are open, Nuckols said a contractor who hauls at the existing sites would remove the metal containers and clear the areas.

Meanwhile, the county’s solid waste department wants to hire eight part-time employees to police the two new sites.

The workers would operate the equipment, which Nuckols said disposes of the waste, and be available to help residents with dropoffs.

“Customers do not operate the equipment,” she said.

Since the county discontinued motor vehicle decals recently, there is no way to identify county residents entering the sites, which is why Nuckols said the preferred hires are those familiar with the area.

The department is researching options to identify users, such as with solid-waste permits, she said.

The center on Buffalo Springs Turnpike would operate 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. The Warrick Barn Road site would be open five days a week, the days so far undetermined, during the same hours.

Construction costs are close to an estimated $567,000, Nuckols said.

The county has two similar waste collection sites, on Coolwell Road and near U.S. 60 east of the Town of Amherst.