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Category Archives: Solid Waste

Louisa Supervisors amend performance agreement for Crossing Pointe

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

When a developer asks for a rezoning to build a larger number of units than otherwise would be allowed, sometimes there are agreements with the locality to provide infrastructure.

When the Louisa Board of Supervisors approved the Crossing Pointe development at Zion Crossroads in December 2019, they entered into an agreement with the developer for a $250,000 real estate tax rebate in exchange for construction of a regional wastewater pump station on the site.

“That pump station is a regional pump station in nature that serves multiple properties in that area, the Zion growth area, and not just the Crossing Pointe [Planned Unit Development],” said Louisa County Economic Development Director Andrew Wade.

Solid waste update: Mulch madness, clean fill, and the FY23 budget

Posted on March 29, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority’s Board of Directors most recently met on March 22, 2022 and got an introduction to the budget for fiscal year 2023. The RSWA’s Board is made up of one Charlottesville City Councilor, one Albemarle Supervisors, two city staffers, two county staffers, and a citizen appointed by both elected bodies.

This year’s winter storms wreaked havoc on many trees across the region, and there was much debris for government crews and property owners. In January, the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority waived fees to drop off downed limbs and trees at the Ivy Materials Utilization Center where it was turned into mulch.

“We had so much mulch available after the free vegetative debris disposal program from the storm in January that we had so much mulch, we were giving away the first two tons and then charging people after that,” said Bill Mawyer, the executive director of the RWSA and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.

Opening of new convenience center in southern Albemarle will be delayed

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Work continues to design a new place for people in southern Albemarle to drop off household waste and recycling. Albemarle’s current budget included $1.1 million for a “convenience center” to be built in Keene. The idea had been to open the center this fall, but the county’s director of Facilities and Environmental Services told the Albemarle Board of Supervisors on March 9 that there will be a delay.

“We are anticipating supply chain issues with some key elements including the trash compactors that will collect the tag-a-bag program as well as the containers themselves that collect the recyclables,” said Lance Stewart. “Everything’s made from steel.”

Solid waste authority may take more “clean fill” construction debris

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Where do buildings go when they are demolished? In some cases, removed concrete ends up being buried underground. In recent years, Albemarle County changed its rules to make it more difficult to do so. Now the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority is considering using an unused portion of the Ivy Landfill to accept some of the material.

“We’ve been approached three times in the last about 12 months by some regional and local large construction firms [such as] Faulconer Construction, Curtis Construction, and they’ve been looking to find a solution for disposing of clean fill from some large projects,” said Phil McKalips, the solid waste manager at the RWSA.

DEQ: Recycling rate increases in Virginia

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The recycling rate in Virginia increased in the year 2020, as reported by 71 planning units across the Commonwealth. Of the 11 million tons of municipal solid waste processed, 5.3 million were reported as recycled.

“However, some planning units faced recycling challenges due to the COVID 19 pandemic, lack of recycling markets in their regions and difficulty in obtaining recycling information from private businesses,” reads the executive summary of a report generated by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

Solid waste report documents area recycling efforts

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority’s Board of Directors meets for the final time of 2021 tomorrow. The packet contains data about activity at the Ivy Materials Utilization Center and McIntire Recycling Center, both of which process all manner of recycling and solid waste.

As of late September, 42 containers of paint cans have been shipped out of the facility.

“Each container holds about 4,200 one-gallon paint cans,” reads an operations report. “Therefore, we have shipped about 176,400 paint cans since the program began in August 2016.”

RSWA to conduct engineering study on new paper-sort facility

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Sean Tubbs One comment

Planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions takes many forms. Albemarle County’s Climate Action Plan has a whole chapter on “sustainable materials management” which has multiple strategies to divert items from landfills. Strategy 5.1.3 is to “identify if there is a need to local additional paper/cardboard balers in Albemarle County.” That item is under review by the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority and McKalips gave a briefing at the

The RSWA operates a facility on Meade Avenue that sorts paper material brought to the Ivy Materials Utilization Center and the McIntire Recycling Center.

“People put their recyclable materials in there and we take those back to the paper sort facility and we by and large bale all of those products,” McKalips said. “That allows us to save a lot of shipping costs in getting them to our vendors.”

RSWA seeks tonnage increase

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority has been experiencing higher volumes of tonnage received at the Ivy Materials Utilization Center. Material is sorted before sent out to other landfills. As a result, the RSWA is asking the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to increase the amount it can transfer each day to 450 tons, up from 300 tons.

“We believe that by increasing our facility limit to 450 tons per day will not result in a great deal more traffic, but rather allow us to accept the few, large load, customers that are bringing us material from infrequent large projects (like the field turf replacement project or a UVA building demolition project that we’ve seen in the past couple of years,” reads the executive director’s report for the September meeting.

Regional solid waste report under development

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is preparing a plan for what happens to discarded materials that is required by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that is due in October. (review the Solid Waste Plan)

“The solid waste and recycling plan for our region consists of Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna and Greene,” said Shirese Franklin, a planner with TJPDC.

Scottsville Town Council briefed on Keene Convenience Center, water supply

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Scottsville’s Town Council met this past Monday and got several updates on several infrastructure projects. Planning continues for a park in west downtown funded through a $80,000 grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. Scottsville Town Attorney Jim Bowling said the next step is to sign an easement document for public access on land owned by prominent landowner Dr. Charles Hurt.

“All of this land is in the flood plain and its proposed to be a permanent recreational easement for the benefit of the town and its citizens,” Bowling said. “The easement will be jointly owned as proposed by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the town.”

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