Recycling & Disposal

On Monday, February 8, 2016, the Mounds View City Council voted to discontinue its exploration of Organized Collection. As you may already know from reading previous updates on the matter, organized collection is a process permitted via state law in which Cities negotiate with their existing garbage haulers to create a "consortium" whereby each hauler is assigned a section of the City geographically representative to their existing market share, or failing an approved consortium agreement, to negotiate with a single hauler via an RFP (request for proposals) bid process to provide collection services to the whole City.  Reasons to pursue organized collection may vary from city to city, but commonly expressed objectives include reducing garbage truck traffic, reducing fuel consumption, reducing emissions and other negative environmental impacts, reducing wear and tear on roads, reducing noise, improving safety and enhancing value to residents through lower pricing on more consistent services.  The City authorized a telephone survey which was completed in December, the results of which indicated a majority of residents were opposed to the City transitioning to organized collection.  Some negative responses were qualified, however, which gave the Council reason to continue looking into the potential for organizing garbage collection.  Some negative responses included statements such as, “If the cost savings were substantial, perhaps I would be supportive”, or, “If the savings to the streets could be quantified, maybe I would be supportive.”  Other responses expressed concern that a sweetheart deal might be offered the first year in an organized collection system but once the contract was signed there would be no control over future pricing and no incentive to provide superior customer service.  Pricing and customer service standards would be explicitly spelled out in a contract, and upon expiration of the initial contract, which would be required for three to seven years, new rates would be renegotiated.  Knowing this, the haulers would always strive to provide the same level of customer service they had before organizing, and pricing would remain competitive or a different hauler would be sought.  For these reasons, on January 11, the City Council voted to initiate an exclusive negotiation process with the haulers, to better understand what a consortium would look like for the City and to what extent the residents would benefit.  One month later, however, in response to overwhelmingly negative feedback and continued resident opposition, the Council took action to terminate its negotiations with the haulers, voting to maintain the open system that presently exists.  The ability to choose your own hauler has been preserved.  The City would like to thank everyone who voiced their opinion throughout this process!