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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 03-25 As St. Paul rethinks trash collection, here’s how others do it PIONEER PRESS As St. Paul rethinks trash collection, here's how others do it ,o x i� l _ or ;r i r� 1 r / March 24, 2016 UPDATED: 11 hours ago As St. Paul contemplates moving toward organized trash collection, residents and city officials are looking over their shoulders at the experience of other municipalities for tips— and to avoid potential pitfalls. In ,,,,,,,, pewoo , where a switch to organized hauling is widely believed to have cost a city council member his seat, homeowners who don't generate much waste can ask to have Republic Services pick up their trash every other week for a lower fee. In ,B.I..Q.Q..m.i.n,, ton the city is about to begin service with a consortium of seven haulers. Their contract includes language allowing future collection of organics such as kitchen scraps and pizza boxes. And .........I,.n.n. ,. . o is mandates the most all-encompassing program by far. Monthly trash bills automatically cover some extras — including graffiti removal and the collection of yard waste, bulky furniture, electronics and appliances. The city also is rolling out the collection of organics such as kitchen scraps. "It's a little different, with the base fee covering all of our programs," said Dave Herberholz, the Minneapolis director of solid waste and recycling. "People seem to like it that way, not having to pay an extra $10 for a couch or refrigerator." St. Paul to change course For decades, St. Paul homeowners have contracted their own haulers— 18 companies operate within the city limits. It can be almost as complicated as choosing a cell-phone plan. Trash haulers charge different rates depending in part on barrel size, yard waste pickup and street or neighborhood. Eager to spare city streets and alleys from being inundated with multiple garbage trucks each week, t,,,,, t. is collecti n u is feedback throw A ri 10,on what an organized trash collection system should look like. "We're trying to figure out ... if we were to change, what would be the most important priority," said Anne Hunt, the city's environmental policy director. More than 1,200 responses have been submitted online. So far, most respondents have ranked the ability to choose their own hauler as a low priority. Stable rates and customer service are common concerns. Mindful of hidden extras such as fuel surcharges, St. Paul also is asking residents to take some secrecy out of the system by posting their bills to social media with their name and the last two digits of their street address crossed out, using the hashtag #ShareYourBiIIStR A report to the city council is likely in late May. The goal is to create a more uniform system, while locking in competitive rates and more amenities, such as sofa and appliance pick-ups. Ideas include negotiating a single contract with a consortium of haulers, as Bloomington has done, or splitting the city into zones and assigning specific haulers to each zone. City Council Member Dai Thao, a proponent of organized trash hauling, hopes a new system would cut down on illegal trash dumping, a problem that disproportionately affects low-income neighborhoods. Cleanup is costing the city nearly $300,000 a year. Opponents worry that a city-run system would eliminate consumer choice and competitive pricing. Some residents have developed a longstanding relationship with their haulers, or they worry about reduced customer service. Haulers remain anxious. "There's a few guys that don't have enough work, and if it goes organized, they wouldn't be able to make ends meet, depending upon the price," said 66-year-old Ken Berquist of Ken Berquist and Son. The company has serviced Mac-Groveland and surrounding neighborhoods since 1930. "If the city decides to go (to one hauler), and do like they did in Maplewood, all kinds of haulers lost out on all kinds of work out there," said Berquist, a second-generation hauler. "If they did that to me in St. Paul, there goes my retirement. ... That's scary to me." Details will have to be worked out, including how to administer an organized system. Maplewood's billing, for instance, is handled by the contracted trash hauler, Republic Services. Bloomington plans to handle billing itself. In St. Paul, some residents would like to see haulers allow labor agreements. TRASH OR RECYCLING? Discussions about trash collection are overlapping with the city's efforts to bid out new recycling contracts. How one will affect the other is unclear. Determining whether services such as yard waste and organics collection are better handled through a trash or recycling contract will be a key point in discussions. In St. Paul, participation in recycling appears to have peaked or even decreased, despite the city's "All In" marketing campaign. The city is evaluating bids for curbside recycling from Eureka Recycling, Republic Services, Tranquility Housing and Waste Management. Separately, the city is working with Ramsey County to determine the best way to collect organics, such as kitchen scraps. Hunt said options include collecting them along with trash or recycling, having a separate truck for organics, or continuing to offer county drop-off locations. City officials had once hoped to issue a request for proposals for organics collection by this summer, but nothing is in the works yet. Here's a look at details of residential trash hauling in Maplewood, Bloomington and Minneapolis. MAPLEWOOD Trash hauling was once so controversial in Maplewood, it's widely believed to have c..h..a..n..ggd the maeuc !f the city council. Not long after the council voted in 2011 to organize trash hauling, a key proponent I.Q.51,,his...se,.a.t...to. an outs !ken o onent of the ro osal. Haulers The five-year contract with the city's residential hauler, Republic Services, a national firm, began in October 2012 and carries two one-year options to renew into 2019. Republic does not use unionized haulers. Apartment buildings with more than four units contract their own haulers. Costs For a homeowner with a 32-gallon trash cart emptied weekly, t , .... at , .r rra„ . th, is $10.85, including a 28 percent Ramsey County Environmental Charge, the state's 9.75 percent Solid Waste Management Tax and a 75-cent charge for maintenance of the city-owned trash carts. Rates, which are adjusted annually, will be reduced by 32 to 43 cents per month April 1 as a result of contract provisions. They include annual fuel adjustments, an adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index, and an adjustment based on the tipping fee at the Newport facility where the solid waste is collected to be processed into fuel. Republic does the billing. Opt-outs About 260 residents have opted out of the contract after proving they have a responsible alternative method of trash disposal. Another 154 low-volume accounts have opted for every- other-week collection and 20-gallon carts, at a monthly cost of$6.70. "A large portion of the people who have opted out are sharing with their neighbor," said Chris Swanson, environmental and city code specialist for the city. "We have a more elderly population than St. Paul, so for a lot of people, it kind of fit their lifestyle, especially if mom and dad live next to their kids." Yard waste and appliances Yard waste pickup is available for an additional fee. Residents can schedule pickup of what's known in the industry as "bulkies" — couches, dressers, appliances and electronics — of v.@. .ryio_q fees, as high as $24 for a cast-iron bathtub or hide-a- bed. Curbside pickup of bulkies is offered at reduced fees for at least two to four weeks around October. Recycling and organics Residential recycling is handled by Tennis Sanitation, and businesses can opt in as long as the recyclable material can be collected in 95-gallon carts. Other than a program for city employees at City Hall, Maplewood does not offer organics collection. For organics, .R.a. ..m.s.gy Count drop-off sites are located in St. Paul, Mounds View and White Bear Township. BLOOMINGTON Bloomington has yet to begin its new contract with a consortium of seven haulers, ,,,,,bi, ,h,,,, bggi dg1.aygd by a lawsuit filed by residents and backed by haulers opposed to the switch. The suit, filed in Hennepin County District Court, questions whether the city violated its charter by moving toward an organized system based on the process outlined in state law, instead of collecting public signatures to back an ordinance. "We hope that we'll hear by the end of April what the judge's decision is," said Karl Keel, Bloomington's public works director. Haulers Service, once expected to begin in June, is now scheduled to start in September. The five-year contract—which „r ,,,both tr ,,,, .and,,,r p c in — carries a five-year option to renew. It does not require unionized labor. Bloomington Haulers LLC is made up of the licensed haulers that operated in the city before trash services were organized. They include national firms such as Republic and Waste Management and smaller, family-run Minnesota companies such as Vierkant Disposal and Randy's Environmental Services. Costs Based on a survey of 300 residents, the city says a homeowner with a 32-gallon bin paid an average of$16.76 a month before organized trash collection, though prices varied widely. "It ranged from as low as $10 to as high as $80," said Keel, noting that residents who monitored their bills closely were able to negotiate better deals, sometimes by switching haulers. "It's kind of like cable TV. It just slowly rises and rises and rises. There's a huge disparity in an open system." When organized collection begins, weekly pickup of a 32-gallon cart will cost homeowners m„old.y after taxes and fees. Billing will be handled by the city. Monthly recycling bills are expected to drop from $9.02 under the open system to $5.67. Recycling is collected every other week. The contract also covers operation of the city's spring curbside cleanup program, a longstanding tradition where neighboring homeowners clean out their attics and garages on the same day. The spring cleanup is funded through a separate utility fee of$2.84 per month, a line item alongside the city's monthly water and sewer utility bills. Opt-outs Bloomington does not offer every-other-week trash service, but residents can opt out altogether if they prove they have a responsible way of disposing of their trash, such as sharing with a neighbor. Yard waste and appliances Bulkies such as sofas, dressers and electronics cost an additional fee, which varies by weight and type. Yard waste pickup is also available for an additional fee. Recycling and organics The trash and recycling contract does not cover organics collection in the immediate future, but it will allow citywide collection using compostable bags when a site becomes available for processing. "We have a price from them for $2 per household (monthly) to consider implementing that citywide," Keel said. "Right now, they couldn't come through with that at a price they find reasonable, because there's no site large enough to do the sorting." MINNEAPOLIS Since 1971, Minneapolis has been contracting with a consortium of residential trash haulers to service half the city, and had city crews service the other half. "At that time, the powers-that-be decided it was a good idea for the city not to pick up the entire city," said Herberholz, the city's director of solid waste and recycling. The system has withstood the test of time and grown to include recycling, yard waste, graffiti cleanup, furniture and appliance collection, and even organics under a single base fee. Haulers A consortium of a dozen small, local haulers operating under the title Minneapolis Refuse Inc. (MRI) services the north and southeast corners of the city. The city's municipal crews cover northeast and southwest neighborhoods. Residential buildings with more than four units contract their own haulers. The city renewed its five-year trash-and-recycling contract with MRI about two years ago. MRI's recycling employees are unionized, but trash haulers are not. Costs Trash, recycling, graffiti removal, yard waste, organics collection, appliance and furniture pick-up are billed. ....to. iether at a base rate of 22.89 a month before taxes and fees. Using a 32-gallon trash cart adds $2; the 94-gallon cart adds $5, for a total of$27.89. The state's 9.75 percent solid waste management tax and a 9 percent Hennepin County fee adds about $5.22, for a total bill of$31 to $33. Opt-outs The city does not allow residents to opt out of the trash and recycling program. Yard waste and appliances Bulkies, appliances and seasonal yard waste are included in the base fee and picked up weekly on the same day as garbage collection. Recycling and organics There are many locations throughout the city where residents can drop off kitchen scraps, pizza boxes and other organics, but the city has also begun collecting organics in lidded carts at curbside. About a fourth of Minneapolis households already have the option as of last fall, and the program will gradually expand this year to cover the rest of the city. Residents must opt into the program. Instructions are online. ...........................................