2009-06-23_PWETC_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Answers to Potential Resident Concerns About Organized Garbage Collection (6/ 19/2009) 1) It's not broken, so why are you trying to fix it? It's not completely broken, but it's not operating as eff ciently and effectively as it could. As many as six haulers could drive a truck up and down a street on collection day. That means additional wear and tear on streets, increased diesel emissions, increased traffic, increased noise and a possible decrease in public safety. Residents in cities with organized collection such as Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, North St. Paul, and White Bear Lake pay lower costs and receive more levels of service than Roseville residents. Currently two-thirds of the garbage collected in Roseville is sent to landfills. The state adopted a hierarchy of waste management methods with source reduction being the best method and landfilling as the worst. Only with organized collection could Roseville direct that all garbage collected in the city be sent to a waste to energy or processing facility. Waste to energy is considered by the state to be a renewable source of energy and is preferred to landfilling. Ina 2002 survey 70% of Roseville residents surveyed were either very or somewhat concerned about where their garbage goes. And 90% said they would prefer their garbage goes to a recovery facility instead of a landfill. A majority of residents surveyed (51 %) even said they would be willing to pay more to have their garbage taken to a recovery facility. 2) Why would government expand to start running garbage service? Private haulers would continue to provide garbage service. The City is basically facilitating group purchasing. Collections will become more efficient. There will be other benefits that come from the economies of scale of haulers providing service to contiguous neighborhoods, and those benefits will be passed along to Roseville residents. 3) Government will make it less efficient than if left to the private sector. Currently there are six licensed residential garbage haulers operating in Roseville. So up to six garbage trucks could make stops on a street on collection day. This resulting inefficiency is one reason why rates are higher in Roseville as compared to our neighboring cities that have organized collection. Haulers realize efficiencies by having all the stops in a compact, contiguous region. Those efficiencies result in a cost savings that is passed on to residents. Officials in neighboring cities with organized collection report their system works well. And that they get few if any complaints. 4) You're taking away my right to choose the hauler that can best meet my needs. Garbage service becomes a utility much like electricity and water service. You don't choose your provider for those services.