By HARRY MINIUM
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK - The offer was tempting.
Simply allow New York trash to be imported by the Southeastern Public Service Authority into Hampton Roads, and theoretically it would save the city $25 million over the next decade.
But after discussing it for nearly an hour, the City Council instructed Councilman Don Williams to vote no when the issue comes up at the next SPSA board meeting.
Mayor Paul D. Fraim said that although a good case can be made for importing trash to Hampton Roads, he opposes it for environmental reasons.
"I know it means we're going to pass on costs to our homeowners," Fraim said. "We're going to have to raise rates. I think our citizens will understand."
Norfolk's vote is just one of eight on the SPSA board, yet because the city provides about 25 percent of SPSA's income from municipal waste, it will have influence on others, Williams said.
The council debate touched on SPSA's recent troubles. Chesapeake has sued to leave the authority, which handles trash disposal for eight localities in South Hampton Roads.
Because of the lawsuit,
SPSA's ability to borrow money is limited, so it considered asking the cities and counties to back up to $23 million in bonds for essential spending.
Most area governments balked at that request, and Assistant City Manager Stanley A. Stein said SPSA has pared its debt request to $7.7 million.
If SPSA is unable to get financing - and so far it hasn't - trash rates, called tipping fees, may increase in some cities and counties.
Most council members seemed to agree on one thing: SPSA needs reform. Some members likened the agency to a free-spending consumer: The credit card has reached its limit and the bills are due.
It is $257 million in debt, Williams said, because instead of raising rates on area residents, it has borrowed to cover costs.
Accepting New York trash would provide $100 million in profit over a decade, which could be applied toward the $257 million debt, Stein said.
Replied Fraim: "I think we're just going to have to pay our way out of debt."
Vice Mayor Paul R. Riddick once served as the city's representative but asked to be relieved because he said the agency was making poor decisions.
"I could see problems down the road years ago," he said. "You can't borrow your way out of debt."
Yet all conceded Williams' point when he asked rhetorically, Who is SPSA?
"It's us," Riddick acknowledged, speaking of the region's cities and counties.
Before Norfolk commits to SPSA beyond 2018, the year its contracts with area cities and counties expires, the agency needs to show that it has long-term plans to solve its debt problems and secure more landfill sites, council members agreed.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
VB seems most eager to have Portsmouth accept trash...
I concur with Jeff Barba....if this trash was destined for VB, I am sure your stance on accepting out of state trash would be somewhat different.
Portsmouth residents, especially those in Cradock, would also like clean and scenic waterways. We already have more than our fair share of the region's less desireable "assets". Enough is enough.
Far less risk?
Mr. Barrett,
If you are so convinced that "importing" solid municipal waste is a panacea for SPSA's woes, then I ask your firm, Runnymeade, Inc., to invest the dollars and build a receiving pier and plant along the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach. The citizens of Portsmouth, and residents of the Cradock Neighborhood do not want this impact from New York/New Jersey!
Though I have applauded your stance and votes in the past on the SPSA Board, I must ask you to consider the what if: What if this were proposed for the Lynnhaven or Somewhere down the Rudee Inlet?
Something stinks here, and it's not just the garbage.
Thanks for Norfolk's Support
There is little doubt that the importation of huge amounts of NY trash brings little benefit while risking so much. The yellow fever epidemic that killed so many Portsmouth and Norfolk citizens in the 1850s came in on the hold of a ship. No one suspected infection and disease there, but we know it would be in the cargo of 2-3 6400 ton Trash ships every week for 30 years. Hampton Roads has an opportunity to attract new business and has loads of potential. That is not enhanced with NY waste downloaded and pushed by 64 barges every week through the heart of Norfolk and Portsmouth, or with streams of trucks on Hwy 58 enroute to Brunswick Co landfill, or with the buisness interest to support construction of the new Camden County Landfill... so close to the city water table. Thanks again to the Norfolk leadership for a wise decision.
Pay ourselves out???
I think the Mayor is naive when he says... "I think we're just going to have to pay our way out of debt."
Let's do some simple math shall we... SPSA owes $257,000,000 which has to be paid back by 2018. Assuming SPSA gets a sweet heart 4% interest rate, the payment would be $27,400,000 PER YEAR!!!!! Divide that by the trash the municipalities deliver to SPSA 600,000 per year and you will see that the tip rate has to go up by $46.00 per ton. And don't forget, SPSA needs to borrow more money to feed the beast.... Let's just go ahead and say it. SPSA is broke, insolvent, bankrupt. Without a new and robust source of revenue (ie New York), the system is destined to collapse. Our elected leaders need to wake up, pull thier heads out of the sand and smell that New York garbage...
Gee, if we can pay the mega landfill $30 plus $46 to pay off the debt, that's only $76/ton. $24 per ton savings times 600,000 tons PER YEAR... $14,400,000 savings per year for the citizens and taxpayers...
Irony
It is ironic that Norfolk instucted its representative that ..."the agency (SPSA) needs to show that it has long-term plans to solve its debt problems and secure more landfill sites, council members agreed." The proposed contract is a plan and it is an important strategy for SPSA to solve its long term debt problem. Norfolk leaves little doubt that they believe the Covanta deal is a financially beneficial contract, but seems to be concerned about the importation of waste. Think of that word, importation; Hampton Roads has owed its reason for being and its prosperity for centuries to our existence as a port. If politicians voted on the potential environmental impact of substances imported here, would we import gas, oil, hazardous chemicals, or nuclear material? I dobt it, and yet the importation of municipal solid waste (just like our municipal solid waste) as fuel for the waste to energy plant certainly poses far less risk than the above substances that are handled everyday.