Published: March 06, 2008 10:39 pm            

Town manager: Sanitary Board bill a ‘wonderful resolution’ to years-old issue

BLUEFIELD, Va. — The relief and joy in Todd Day’s voice is infectious. Since he was appointed to the position of Bluefield, Va., town manager in 2003, Day has wrestled almost daily with the Bluefield Sanitary Board issue.

“We’ve never had a say in how the Bluefield Sanitary Board would be run,” Day said. “I think this is a wonderful resolution to a situation that has existed for many, many years.”

At the heart of the often-contentious issue was the matter of representation on the five-member Sanitary Board of Bluefield Board. The bulk of the customers in the two-state sewage collection and treatment system reside in West Virginia, but the board’s primary treatment facility is located in Tazewell County, Va. The Westside Sewage Treatment facility was built in the early 1980s, with a funding formula based on the higher West Virginia-side population.

The plant was high-tech and was beset with problems from the start. The two-state contractual agreement also experienced changes that ultimately resulted in the board’s make-up of three voting members from West Virginia and two non-voting members from Virginia. The two communities battled through several elected administrations and seven or more managers to get to the point where the West Virginia state legislature passed SB579 to authorize Virginia-side representation on the board.

“The governor has not received the bill yet. Sometimes it takes a few days for a bill to move from the legislature to this office,” Laura Ramsburg , Gov. Joe Manchin’s communications director said. “We’ll review it after it arrives. We’ll do our due diligence first and look at it closely.”

Day said he is aware that there are many things happening in the legislature, but to him, the Virginia side representation on the Sanitary Board of Bluefield “is a great thing!” he said. “On Nov. 30, 2006, the town of Bluefield was honored to host a meeting of local representatives with Gov. Manchin and (Virginia) Gov. Timothy Kaine,” Day said. “Most of the discussion that afternoon involved cooperation between Mercer and Tazewell counties, but both governors were aware of our problems over the Sanitary Board.

“The way we have come together to resolve our problems has been a success story with a conclusion that was long, long overdue,” Day said. “We have a budget workshop scheduled on Saturday. Last year when we had that workshop, the top item on the agenda was the sanitary board. I’m going into that budget workshop on Saturday and I don’t have to bring it up.”

Virginia State Senator Phillip P. Puckett, D-Russell said that unity was the key to success in the Sanitary Board issue. “We worked so hard to bring the two sides together,” Puckett said during a telephone interview Thursday evening at the end of a long day in the senate as the Virginia General Assembly wrestles with the biennial budget. “The reason (the Sanitary Board issue) worked was because we got leaders of both Bluefields working together,” Puckett said.

Day said in the past two years, the town has spent $250,000 in legal fees in an attempt to gain representation on the sanitary board. He said that the Sanitary Board and the city of Bluefield has also spent a great deal on the issue. He praised the Bluefield city board, Bluefield, Va., town council and the members of the Sanitary Board for working together to create a situation where the Bluefield, Va., residents will be represented.

“It hasn’t been easy, but I feel relieved,” Day said. “We’re going to do other projects together in the future. A lot can be accomplished when there is a spirit of unity,” he said.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

        

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