Dublin Council Receives Updates on Landfill; Projects
By DAVID QUESENBERRY
Patriot Publishing
The Dublin Town Council at its February meeting, heard a presentation on the Regional Landfill from Joe Levine, Executive Director of the New River Resource Authority and updates on current Town projects.
Levine said that the Town of Dublin had been a member of the Authority since its founding in 1986. The current regional landfill on Cloyd’s Mountain has been in operation since 1997 with an additional area of the landfill opened for use two years ago. He said that at its meeting last month, the Board approved the budget for the upcoming year with no rate increases for members. The Authority had added Wythe and Bland counties as customers last year which allowed the Authority to stabilize rates for all members.
Town Manager Darrin Cullip asked what the life span of the landfill was. Levine said there was 350 acres of the total 950 acres that was deemed suitable as a potential landfill operation area. Currently 100 acres were permitted for waste disposal with 66 acres now filled. Given the current level of usage with all things remaining the same he estimated a life span of 30 years. Another 100 acres was set aside that could be designed, permitted and built for future use. Presently only 66 acres of the potential 350 acres for disposal was being used.
One unique feature of the operation was the use of gas generated by the landfill. Levine explained that gas from decomposing waste was 50 percent methane. Part of the gas was captured and disposed of using a flare. The other part is sold to another firm who uses it as fuel for twelve engines to generate enough power for 4600 homes in the NRV. While the gas is sold for power production, its use also reduces the landfill’s “carbon footprint” which generates revenues through the carbon credit procedure which are determined by an annual audit. Levine ended his presentation by inviting Council to tour the facilities.
Following the presentation, Council received several updates on Town operations and ongoing projects.
Council learned that the Town was continuing its work on installing updated accounting software in the Town Treasurer’s Office.
Town Treasurer Kim Dalton told Council that the changeover to the Edmonds accounting software was moving along. The first phase of the changeover, which included financials, human resources and payroll, would start on April 1st. Training for employees on the new software was scheduled for a couple of days of the first week of March during which the Treasurer’s Office would be closed for the training.
Dalton said that both she and Town Manager Darrin Cullip would be on a phone call the following day concerning the second phase of the changeover which involved water billing; taxes; and work orders. When asked by Mayor Debbie Lyons if she was comfortable with the new system, Dalton responded that she was and that it had been a busy month updating various documents, but she liked the challenge. She told Council that the direct deposit part of the program was there, but she was having to wait on the login credentials before its use.
The new accounting software is the latest improvement by the Town of Dublin to upgrade its financial and utility billing operations. The Town had previously added radio read capability to its water meters, allowing real-time meter readings to be transmitted directly to the Treasurer’s Department.
Regarding the budget, Town Manager Darrin Cullip reported that it appeared to be “on track.” General Fund Revenues at the end of January were at 48 percent of the budgeted amount, while revenues were at 52 percent of budget. Cullip noted that General Fund revenues were affected by the timing of tax collections and that some expenses were a little higher to pay some items that were held over from previous months. The Enterprise Fund showed revenues at 65 percent of budget and expenditures at 42 percent. He said that he did not see any anything that concerned him that the Town would not make its budget at year’s end.
In other updates, Cullip reported that the brownfield grant project was getting underway. The engineering firm for the project had been hired and had been shown the areas to be tested in the Industrial Park. Cullip said the main focus would be on demolishing the former boiler building near Newbern Road due to the level of asbestos in the building. Structural testing would be done he said, but it appeared that demolition was the best case scenario to remove the asbestos.
Regarding the Town’s audit, Cullip said he had talked with the auditing firm of Robinson Farmer Cox on focusing the audit to go back before the time of COVID and possibly perform a cash audit as well. He said that because of the firm’s workload, they would be available in a month to begin work. Cullip also told Council that there had been two meetings on the Town’s revised website and that he would be meeting with marketing students at Pulaski County High School to see if they would be interested in finishing up the site.
In other action, Town Council approved the Town of Dublin’s participation in Pulaski’s Fourth of July Parade in celebration of the nation’s 250th year of independence. Council also approved a resolution for submission to the Commonwealth Transportation Board closing Giles Avenue to heavy truck traffic.
The next scheduled meeting of the Dublin Town Council will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday, March 19, 2026 in the Council Chambers of the Dublin Town Center.