Bedford Co. Officials Hear About Sludge: The Other Hot Item on Monday Night’s Agenda Was a Public Hearing on a Fire Protection and Prevention Ordinance.
By Beth Jones, The Roanoke Times, Va.
Jan. 9–So many residents turned out for the Bedford County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday that they packed the administration room and filled much of the outside hall.
Distinguishing the attendees there to argue for a go-kart track from those upset about the use of sludge in the county proved difficult. Spotting the residents who wanted to discuss the fire protection and prevention ordinance, on the other hand, was easier. Most were members of Bedford’s fire and EMS squad wearing their dress uniforms.
Moira Bell set the tone for the evening with a plea about biosolids, which is human waste treated to be used by farmers for fertilizer.
“We are repeatedly told there’s nothing we can do because sludge is state-mandated,” said Bell, who has complained about biosolids at several recent board meetings.
She referred to the draft of a biosolids ordinance presented to Campbell County’s board of supervisors for consideration at a meeting last week.
Bell, like the activists in Campbell County, asked Bedford County to enact an ordinance banning sludge. She maintained, strongly, that the county has that authority.
“Democracy starts here at the local level,” she said. “Here in this room.”
When she finished speaking, several members of the audience stood to clap. When their clapping didn’t stop, Chuck Neudorfer, elected the supervisor’s new chairman Monday, banged his gavel.
Supervisor Dale Wheeler expressed his support for the citizens fighting to keep biosolids out of Bedford, but said it’s up to the General Assembly. Several bills on sludge are expected to be submitted this year.
“I’m still not sure if Richmond will pay any attention,” he said.
“We will process this in our usual fashion,” Neudorfer said. “It’s not something we will be ignoring.”
As the biosolids opponents filed out of the administration room, members of Bedford’s fire and EMS squad filed inside.
They came for a public hearing on the fire protection and prevention ordinance.
Frank Rogers, assistant county administrator, gave an overview of the ordinance with Jack Jones Jr., fire and rescue chief. The ordinance, many months in the making, discusses issues such as the role of the chief and the founding and dissolution of squads and companies, and includes a provision for the appointment of a fire marshal and permits service fees for medical services.
“It needs to pass,” said Forest Volunteer Fire Department Chief Monty Coleman. “We have to have standardized training. We need to have some formal guidelines to go by. We need to have one procedure.”
Supervisor Steve Arrington said he’d heard complaints about the ordinance that were not brought up by the long line of speakers Tuesday.
Supervisor Roger Cheek said some of the wording in the ordinance needed tweaking. “I’d just like to have time to work some of the details,” he said.
Neudorfer said he believed another six months could be spent on the ordinance, but that even then, not everyone would be satisfied.
The board voted 4-2 in favor of the ordinance. Cheek and Arrington voted against it.
The board had not discussed the go-kart track by late Monday night.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Roanoke Times, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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