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• • FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES January 26, 2005 Organized Refuse Collection (continued) Reasons for supporting organized refuse collection: • Reduce noise, pollution 38% • Preserve streets and alleys 37% • Reduce prices 35% • Environmentally sound 30% • Improved safety 27% • Other 15% -5- Mayor Gehrz thanked the Falcon Heights residents for their opinions and suggestions. She said the Council has four options: 1. Do nothing. Take no action to change the current system 2. Hauler's proposal. Improve the current open collection by mitigating the impact of trucks by: • Bringing trucks into the City empty • .Using left turns into and out of alleys • Not driving on streets and alleys where they have no customers • Assisting with educational efforts 3. Ask staff and the Solid Waste Commission to develop specifications for a Request for Proposal to be sent to all licensed haulers 4. Adopt some other plan for improving the trash collection system Council discussion of proposals Mayor Gehrz said the City Council has listened carefully to its residents and the haulers. Now it is time for the Council to discuss these options. According to the standards for conducting Council business, Council members are asked to discuss an issue before making a motion. By doing it that way, the Council can develop a motion that reflects the consensus of the Council and avoid needing to vote on lots of amendments. What options does the Council have tonight? Mayor Gehrz said that before the process was started a year ago, she thought an organized collection system would have a lot of benefits for the City. She thought it would reduce costs for residents and improve the quality of life, particularly for those neighborhoods with alleys. She still believes that to be true, but based upon what she has learned from listening to residents during this process, she doesn't believe that a City mandated organized collection system should be adopted at this time. Instead, she supports maintaining the current open system with the improvements contained in • the hauler's proposal and with the use of the information gathered in the course of this study to assist residents who want to voluntarily reduce the number of haulers on their block.