CCP 07-31-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

e To: Mayor Dennis Probst and Arden Hills City Council CC: Dwayne Stafford, Public Works Director From: Mark. Kelliher, Chairman of AH Operations and Finance Committee June 23, 2000 RE: Coordinated garbage collection schedule for the City of Arden Hills In the June meeting of the AH Operations and Finance Committee, we passed the following resolution: "The Committee recommends that the Arden Hills City Council adapt a coordinated, weekly garbage hauling schedule for all licensed residential haulers in the city. Based on the conversations the Committee has had with residential haulers, as well as the research collected, the Committee recommends that the Council limit residential trash pick-up to Tuesdays for all homes south of 694 and Wednesdays for all homes north of 694. Furthermore, when it becomes feasible to do so, the Committee recommends that the Council have the recycling contract revised so that a similar schedule is implemented for recycling.' Background As the Council is aware, one of the initiatives that our Committee set out to explore was a method to reduce the unsightliness of omnipresent curbside trash containers. Currently, there are principally four licensed residential haulers in the city and each of these haulers requires at least two days to complete a customer route in the city. Thus, on any given weekday or Sunday evening, a resident's trash sits at the curb. This means that a neighborhood is exposed to the unsightliness 6 days a week. e In addition to an eyesore, the current system increases the likelihood of litter formation, given that the trash is exposed to the elements (wind) 6 of 7 days a week. Noise pollution and road wear from the traffic caused by the heavy trucks were also issues that were identified as problematic. Finally, the Committee recognized that omnipresent trash containers meant an increased likelihood that the city's snow-plowing vehicles would collide with the curbside containers. We understand from Public Works Director Stafford that curbside containers slow down the snow-plowing process. In exploring solutions to the problem, our Committee identified two potential options. First, the City could open itself up to an annual bidding process that would give one hauler exclusive access to the city's residents. This option had merit In that, in addition to solving the issue of unsightliness, it reduced the number of trucks lumbering through the neighborhoods and would have isolated the noise pollution to a singular point in time on an individual day. However, the Committee felt that such a solution would be anti-competitive, expensive to administer and might reduce the quality of service that residents now get with their individual haulers. The second option that our Committee considered was to limit trash hauling to individual days of the week, but allow any licensed hauler to solicit resident-customers. Although this option was commerce-friendly, it did have the draw-back of not reducing the amount of garbage truck traffic (i.e. wear on the city's streets). Rather, such traffic is condensed into a single day per neighborhood. Be that as it may, the Committee felt this option was congruent with its philosophy to be commerce-friendly and therefore chose to explore this second option in greater detail. e As part of Its research, the Committee invited ALL licensed residential trash haulers to attend our meeting and provide us with input. Records from AH Public Works show that there are four haulers licensed for residential service in the city. Three of these haulers chose to attend our meeting, although all four responded to our request regarding customer routes.