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Page I of 2 BY DAVE ORRICK Pioneer Press TwinCities.com- Pioneer Press Article Last Updated: 10 /01/2007 11:41:02 PM CDT Every day is trash day in Coon Rapids With four waste haulers grabbing garbage on different days of the week and different schedules for recyclables and yard waste, every residential street, every morning, features lines of trash bins amid the rumble, beeping and hydraulic drone of garbage trucks. But when several staff members in the Anoka County suburb set out to "explore the possibility' - they swear that's all they're doing - of going to one citywide waste hauler, they ran headlong into one universal truth: People are passionate about who's going to pick up what they throw out. In advance of a hearing today, staff and elected officials have been pounded withthousands of postcards telling them to back off their alleged monopolistic intentions. The campaign is spearheaded by waste haulers, who kicked off a leafleting effort as soon as word of the city's analysis wafted out of city hall. It's having an effect. "My poor wife's been home this week, and the phone hasn't stopped ringing," Mayor Tim Howe said. Then he conceded: "I just don't see us going to an organized one - hauler system, and I'm sensing that from the council" Over the years, a number of other suburbs have similarly tried - and backed off. Arden Hills, Lauderdale and Roseville are among them. In 2002, Ramsey and Washington counties considered the idea as a way to increase garbage sent to the county- contracted Resource Recovery Facility in Newport, until some 14,000 postcards arrived telling them not to even think about it. Here's the crux of the issue: A number of studies by municipalities suggests prices actually go down with one hauler. Plus, the argument goes, fewer garbage trucks will cruise the streets on fewer days, easing stress on roads and generally making life better. On the other side are those who say it's just wrong to take away a customer's right to choose, not to mention all the smaller independent waste haulers who could be put out of business. The second argument seems to win out, according to the waste haulers. "It's been our experience when this issue comes up that it's almost universal that the citizens want choice, and in every community we've seen a huge outpouring by the citizens," Doug Carnival said. He's a lawyer for the Minnesota Chapter of the National Solid Wastes Management Association and the guy behind the Coon Rapids onslaught, which tallied more than 2,500 letters by late Wednesday, nearly all speaking out against the idea of eliminating residents' ability to shop around for their garbage man. "Competition is what makes this country great," one resident wrote. "I WANT CUSTOMER CHOICE!!" scrawled another. Tim Pratt's seen it before. He's the recycling coordinator for Roseville, which has thrice explored the possibility of reducing the number of waste haulers - now seven - to one. Each time - 1988, 1991, 2002 - a citizen committee recommended changing things, and each time the City Council backed off amid louder citizen opposition. "There's just this sense in some people that'You're trying to take away one of my God -given rights: to choose my garbage hauler, "' he said. So why do communities keep trying? "Residents in cities with organized collection typically pay lower rates or have higher levels of service or both," according to a city report Pratt recently completed. According to his survey, government- managed systems in neighboring Little Canada, Vadnais Heights and White Bear Lake pay less, on average, than Roseville residents. A Coon Rapids survey concluded the same general trend, comparing its haulers' average rates with neighboring one - hauler communities such as Blaine, Circle Pines, Columbia Heights and Centerville. http://www.twincities.com/portlet/article/htnal/fragments/print _ article.j sp ?articleld= 7056668 &siteld -569 10/2/2007