Greenfield / Afton
Nelson County, Virginia
On Friday of last week we told you about the closing of the very popular Re-Use (or Free Shed) at the Rockfish Valley recycle / dump center just off Route 151 near the community center in Greenfield. Since then a petition drive has been started by Victoria Jenkins. She’s already got over 300 signatures opposing the closure.
“I had an amazing time at RVCC’S Indoor Market today. What fun to connect with so many community members and talk about the “Free Shed”, a passionate subject for so many people. It was great for me to share my ideas, and also, to listen to all the stories. Thanks to everyone for their signatures, their stories and their solutions. We got a total of 309 signatures in just over 4 hours,” Victoria told us.
The closure of the shed at the Rockfish Valley location has become a hot button issue. Tyler Hawn with CBS-19 out of Charlottesville did a story on the closure Sunday.
“Besides talking to the people interested in keeping the shed, I got a chance to talk with several people who did not want the shed to stay, including a chance meeting and conversation with a staff member just outside the Treasure Chest. Later, I visited and talked with 2 other staff members down at the site to get their opinions.
Looking from all sides, it’s clear that the current problems about the shed are problems created on both sides. The abuse cited by Mr. Carter is coming from both the public and from the staff. There are dated, unclear, unrealistic, and contradictory “Guidelines” posted on the shed that are not being respected by the public or the staff. Bending or breaking the rules, whether it’s done to help someone else out, or whether it’s done to help themselves out, is why the shed is not working,” Victoria went on to tell us.
Victoria said she has some ideas on how to improve the situation, but not close the shed.
Solutions for keeping the “Free Shed” at Rockfish:
-Move the shed to another location within the site for better entrance flow.
-Reduce the time the shed is open, especially evening winter hours after dark.
-Have the shed open less days per week. Maybe open on Thurs.,Fri.,Sat.,Sun.
-Create a definite no parking zone (painted on the blacktop) in front of the door.
-Hire a staff member to monitor and run the shed.
-Set up a volunteer system to help monitor and run the shed.
-Rewrite, update, and post the new guidelines visibly and clearly on the shed entrance.
-Have the staff all “on board” with the new guidelines.
We will continue following this story and post updates when we have them.
