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FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES _ig_ March 24, 2004 Refuse Collection -Public Hearing on Resolution of Intent (continued) Tom Lageson, 1740 North Pascal, said there has been a lot of commentary about the streets tonight and as far as he is concerned wear on the streets is not an issue. We talked about the garbage trucks but what about the snowplows, school buses, MTC buses? An MTC bus is the equivalent of 1,785 cars. Does that mean we should get rid of them? Of course not. They serve some public good. Someone asked about calling the City Engineer. He called the City Engineer and they were not invited to attend tonight's meting. The City Engineer said that you can't quantify because there are so many variables. You are talking about state of the art streets that were put into Falcon Heights. The City Engineer said that a regular thorough program of seal coating every four to five years is much more effective than elimination of the trucks. We also talked about eliminating competition. The City of North Saint Paul, the community that people like to hold up as a model of organized collection, has seen a 7.82% increase in their cost over the last two years. That is fora 60 gallon container. BFI got the contract. They got a small increase the first year and then they jacked it up 5.86% this last year. So, if you get rid of the competition, you're going to be hurting. It will be an expensive study. Think of all the lawyer fees that are going to be involved in negotiations. Think of the staff time that will be involved coming up with options, the public hearings that will have to be held. This is not a free process. If you can't make a decision tonight and stop this, if you want to proceed with it, know that you • will be spending a fair bit of money and time to do this. Kenneth DuFresne, Walters Recycling and Refuse, Inc., said that he wanted to assure everyone here tonight that every pound of garbage they pick up in Falcon Heights is going to the NSP plant in Newport. That is because of a contract they signed with Ramsey and Washington counties. Mayor Gehrz asked Council member Lamb to summarize the commentary that had been received this evening and he proceeded to do so, as outlined below: Freedom of choice Maintaining a viable marketplace Predatory practices National versus local carriers Role of government Clarity of proposals Available resources in the City to do this work Adequate use of licensing power to address some of the issues that have been brought up here Service is actually a product of competition Lose ability to information gather Pizza haulers Volume pricing Choice of service levels and pricing NRG capacity Where our waste goes • ~r