PETERSBURG, Va. -- Trash collection will continue in Petersburgafter the city made a monthly payment to the company that oversees the city's trash removal and recycling.
On Aug. 19, a lawyer for the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority sent a letter to acting City Manager Dironna Belton and Virginia's Secretary of Finance Richard Brown threatening to suspend service if the city did not pay at least one full month's payment by Friday.
In the 25 years the authority has been in operation, CVWMA Executive Director Kim Hynes said they've never had to send out such a letter.
The company said the city failed to pay $632,894 it owes them from January to May of this year.
The CVWMA Board of Directors met for their monthly meeting in Richmond to discuss what action to take regarding trash pick-up in Petersburg, Friday morning.
"Petersburg is significantly past due," Hynes said, "They did send out two checks yesterday that totaled $125,465, which is more than we requested of $122,000. So we do have that in the bank."
Hynes said the city still owes the company about $613,000 because a new monthly bill was recently sent out to municipalities.
As part of their agreement to keep services running, Petersburg must also propose a payment plan to become current on the amount due to the company by Aug. 26.