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Format Dynamics Kodak Viewer TwinCities•com Maplewood braces for trash talk as centralized hauling considered By Sarah Horner shornergpioneerpress.com Updated: 02/15/2011 11:32:14 PM CST Maplewood is gearing up for a debate over who should take out the trash. In an effort to cut costs for road improvements and rates for residents, the Maplewood City Council is considering switching to a city- controlled trash collection system. Residents now choose from among nine licensed garbage collectors, but city officials say there could be advantages to cutting that to as few as one. Local trash haulers are worried such a move would hurt business. Meanwhile, residents have expressed concerns about losing the right to choose who touches their trash. "For whatever reason, people like their hauler, and they want to keep it that way," council member Marvin Koppen said. About 150 people turned out for a meeting on the topic in October and similar numbers are expected at a March hearing, said Shann Finwall, environmental planner for Maplewood. The city council will listen to opinions before deciding whether to call for further study on changing trash collection. Past attempts to do so in Maplewood have been met with such a public outcry that council members retreated, Finwall said. "The hauling community gets people totally up in arms about the loss of freedom and scares of government takeover," she said. "It makes a city's attempt to do anything really difficult." Residents aren't always aware of the potential benefits of buying services in bulk and reducing the number of trucks on the road, Finwall said. According to a 2009 study by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, residents in cities with organized trash systems like the one Maplewood is considering paid 19 percent to 53 percent less for trash collection than those in cities without them. Studies also indicate benefits to the environment, Finwall added. Some of Maplewood's neighbors have made the switch, including Little Canada, North St. Paul, White Bear Lake and Vadnais Heights. "We had some concerns about this being a form of communism in the beginning, but most people seem s atisfied now and we know we get better rates," said Joel Hanson, Little Canada city administrator. Little Canada splits its city into sections to allow multiple haulers the chance to be involved and lessen any harm on the hauling industry, a key concern of Willie Tennis, co -owner of Tennis Sanitation, a garbage collector in the Maplewood area. Tennis said he's worried his local business wont be able to be competitive in the bidding. "The big companies can afford to cut their rates because they can make it up in other places," Tennis http://www.twincities.com/fdcp?1297976993632 Page 1 of 2 2/17/2011