Scrap mandate won't sink Roanoke County

It caused a ruckus at first, eliciting sharp and colorful rebukes from all five Roanoke County supervisors.

“It sounds like the General Assembly just threw out the baby with the bathwater,” Supervisor Richard Flora bemoaned.

Others chimed in, adding to a growing pile of concern and consternation. And then, from the end of the dais, Supervisor Ed Elswick asked the ultimate question:

“What happens if we tell the state that we’re not going to do it?”

The subject at hand this week: a new scrap metal permit procedure handed down by state legislators as a way for localities to curb metal theft. As initially interpreted by the Roanoke County Attorney’s Office, the law would require any person looking to sell or transport metals, bathtubs, even faucet fixtures to acquire a permit. The permit application would come with a $50 fee, fingerprinting and a criminal background check — each step another incentive for a person to avoid the process altogether, supervisors feared.

“People will start dumping illegally in order to avoid recycling because they don’t have a permit,” Elswick said.

So County Attorney Paul Mahoney — spurred further by more than 100 calls from concerned citizens — sought input from other jurisdictions in the state in an effort to learn how they interpreted the same legislation. What he found altered the scope of the discussion.

Some places, such as Montgomery County, opted to waive any fee for nonscrap dealers, people who might want to sell unwanted metals after completing a household project. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Brian Wright said the goal was to make the process as uncomplicated as possible.

“Now, junk dealers will have to pay a small fee for the cost of being fingerprinted, usually about $12,” he said.

In Franklin County, where authorities said they don’t have the manpower to process a steady stream of requests, all applicants will be accepted only two days a week at the county jail, where they will be subjected to fingerprinting and a $25 fee.

In Roanoke County, officials wound up deciding Tuesday on an even more relaxed approach. No fingerprinting, no fees and easy access to permit applications.

“What we first put together was truly a bureaucratic approach,” Mahoney said. “That obviously caused a lot of problems. On further review I said, ‘Well, OK, we’ll treat this more as an honor system.’ ”

Mahoney said any criminal activity will be caught on the back-end of an attempted theft, when scrap yards document and consider goods brought to their businesses for potential purchase.

“They’re going take a picture of what you dumped, and that’s what’s going to catch the bad guys,” he said.

Weather Journal

2 days ago

1. One person injured in Friday night shooting in Roanoke

2. Britney Spears spotted at Lynchburg restaurant

3. East Carolina poses new challenge for Virginia Tech football 

4. Lowe's tapes may hold clues to Roanoke woman's death

5. William Byrd stuns Salem in football win

6. 'Best defense in nation,' Tech player says about victory over ECU 

7. Roanoke County electrical short quiets 5 Wheeler radio stations

8. Roanoke resource officer's quick action saved young girl

9. Concert review: Timeless Willie Nelson plays to appreciative crowd

10. History says this one will matter for Virginia Tech