Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_04Oct13 CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS MINUTES October 13, 2004 Mayor Gehrz called the regular Council meeting to order. PRESENT: Mayor Sue Gehrz, Council members Laura Kuettel, Robert Lamb, Peter Lindstrom and Richard Talbot Also present: City Administrator Heather Worthington and Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy COMMUNITY FORUM: Mr. Brian Olson, 1592 Roselawn Avenue, asked questions about the upcoming Council meeting with students from the Falcon Heights Elementary School. Mayor Gehrz explained that a special Council meeting with the students will be held at City Hall on Tuesday morning, October 26, 9:30 AM and will be televised. The purpose of the special Council meeting is to expose students to local government. It will not be replacing a regularly scheduled Council meeting. PRESENTATIONS: None Scheduled APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Council minutes dated September 22, 2004 were unanimously approved as presented. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None Scheduled CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Gehrz said the general disbursements figure indicated under Item G1 should be changed to $63,176.04 because one payable was entered twice. Mayor Gehrz asked Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy to describe the purpose of the Absentee Ballot Board. Deputy Clerk Kodluboy said that record numbers of voters are using absentee ballots this year, and to save time and aid the election judges on Election Day staff is recommending the creation of an Absentee Ballot Board for the upcoming election. Absentee Ballot Boards are permitted by State statute and consist of election judges from different political parties comparing absentee ballot voter application information with voter information provided on the absentee ballot return envelopes. If everything matches the judges determine the ballots to be accepted. However, the absentee ballot envelopes themselves are not opened until they are given to the respective precinct judges on Election Day, November 2, 2004. The Absentee Ballot Board, consisting of four election judges from Falcon Heights, will meet at City Hall on Saturday, October 30, 2004, 8:30 AM. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -2- October 13, 2004 CONSENT AGENDA (continued) Kuettel moved that the Consent Agenda be approved, as amended and outlined below. The motion was unanimously approved. 1. General Disbursements through October 8, 2004: $ 63,176.04 (amended) Payroll (09/15/04-09/30/04): $ 13,207.81 2. Approval of Resolution 2004-21 appointing an Absentee Ballot Board for the general election on November 2, 2004 Approval of final payout to Astech Corp. in the amount of $16,612.40 for the 2004 Crack Seal Improvements 4. Approval of expenditure to Muska Lighting for lighting at Curtiss Field, for an amount not to exceed $11,298.00 5. Approval of partial pay estimate #5 to Jay Bros., Inc., in the amount of $75,738.74 for Curtiss Field improvements POLICY AGENDA: Petition for a permit parking zone on Lindig Street Administrator Worthington said that in spring, 2004, Lindig Street residents approached City staff with concerns about the volume of parking on their street and asked about the possibility of instituting permit parking on Lindig. Permit parking must be initiated by resident petition, as residents were informed in a June 8 letter from her. A petition was received from 20 of 26 residential properties that abut Lindig, plus nine of the apartments at 1707 Lindig. The City’s Parking Policy requires signatures from 75% of the owners (rounded up), or 20 signatures. Therefore, the petition was deemed valid. City staff had the police department run the license plates for vehicles parking on Lindig during the work week and found that a majority of the vehicle owners did not live there. The Planning Commission, at their regular meeting on September 28, 2004, voted unanimously to recommend Council approval of the resolution designating both sides of Lindig Avenue north of Larpenteur Avenue as a residential permit parking area. If approved by the Council, parking will be restricted to two hours for non-permit holders between 8 AM and 4 PM, Monday through Friday. All Lindig residents will be eligible to apply for parking permits, according to the terms of the City’s Parking Policy. Permit parking limits parking to two hours, but if a resident has a parking permit, they can park all the time. There are two areas in the City that have had permit parking for a number of years: The University/Grove area and Tatum Street. She gave a brief, oral review of the revised resolution being proposed. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -3- October 13, 2004 Petition for a permit parking zone on Lindig Street (continued) Mayor Gehrz explained that the intent of permit parking is not to prohibit parking on the streets. Residents living near or adjacent to the University find it difficult to park in front of their homes or have work done on their homes because University faculty, students and staff utilize those spaces as permanent, full-time parking spots. The yearly parking fee is $10/vehicle for up to two vehicles; $20/vehicle for each additional vehicle. Visitor parking permits are also available. Council member Lindstrom, Council liaison to the Planning Commission, said that about 15-20 residents from Lindig were at the Planning Commission meeting and all were in support of permit parking, except for 2-3 residents. One senior citizen, who has health concerns and has to contact family on short notice, expressed reservations and was assured that the City would make accommodations for her. Council member Talbot asked about temporary parking permits. Administrator Worthington said that temporary parking permits are available for $1.00 and are good for up to three weeks. The City also issues them for dumpsters. RESOLUTION 2004-22 Lindstrom moved adoption of Resolution 2004-22 authorizing the designation of both sides of Lindig Avenue north of Larpenteur as a residential permit parking area with parking in this designated area limited to two hour parking between 8 AM and 4 PM, Monday through Friday; or to residents abutting the street who have obtained a permit from the City; and to vehicles for which a temporary parking permit has been issued by the City in accordance with the rules set forth in the City’s Administrative Manual. The motion was unanimously approved. Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection Mayor Gehrz thanked the audience for coming, particularly with a very important presidential debate on television this evening. She said that approximately six months ago, the City Council authorized the Solid Waste Commission to study the advantages and disadvantages of organized garbage collection. Many residents and licensed haulers contributed information, opinions and suggestions during that study and their help is greatly appreciated. The Solid Waste Commission has completed their research of the issue and is presenting their report, proposed plan and the proposal from the haulers to the City Council tonight. Their report will be presented by Deborah Jones, the City’s Planning and Zoning Coordinator, who, along with her many other duties, provides staff support to the Solid Waste Commission. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -4- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Mayor Gehrz said that after the presentation, the City Council will discuss and vote on whether to open a 90-day discussion period on this report, as authorized by Minnesota statutes. The Council will not be voting on whether to implement organized collection tonight. If a majority of the Council votes in favor of opening the discussion period, the earliest the Council will vote on whether to implement organized collection is January 26, 2005. It is very important to allow plenty of time for the residents to review the Solid Waste Commission and haulers’ recommendations, and provide their input to assist the Council in deciding whether to adopt organized collection in Falcon Heights. If the Council decides to open the 90-day discussion period, it is being recommended that the Council adopt the following process for obtaining and analyzing that input: Within the next two weeks, a summary of the Solid Waste Commission be mailed to single family homes in Falcon Heights. This proposal does not affect multi-family buildings or businesses so it is only being sent to homes. The entire report, including appendices, will be available at City Hall and on the web site. Public comment will be taken from October 13-December 17, 2004. Between December 17, 2004-January 17, 2005, public comment will be analyzed and included in the public record. On January 26, 2005, the City will vote on whether to implement organized collection. If a majority of the Council votes to do so, the next step is to authorize the Solid Waste Commission and staff to develop a Request for Proposal specifying service requirements for organized collection. As a result of the letter that the trash haulers sent to their customers shortly after the City began studying this issue, the City has already received input from some of the residents. That has all been included in the public record and heard by the City Council. However, those opinions were provided before people had the opportunity to consider the research results from the Solid Waste Commission’s study. If the Council votes to continue working on this issue, the Council asks that people review the study and then give the City their comments, questions and opinions. It is hoped that many of the residents will do so and, since staff is limited and we want to make sure that complete comments are included in the written record, we ask that people submit their comments by mail, fax or e-mail. Mayor Gehrz said that after the report presentation this evening there will be an opportunity for members of the audience to comment. She asked that individual commentary be limited to three minutes so that everyone will have an opportunity to participate. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -5- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Ms. Jones thanked the Solid Waste Commission for their many months of very hard work and long and patient deliberation. They have done a very thorough job. She utilized the LCD projector to do presentation of the Solid Waste Commission’s report and it is outlined below: Background: The Solid Waste Commission (SWC) began looking at these issues in 2003, long before coming to the City Council in January, 2004. They had the benefit of the study done by Ramsey and Washington counties in 2002 and studies done by a number of cities. On January 28, 2004, the SWC came to the City Council with a list of goals outlining the kind of system they were recommending and requested the City Council to consider going forward with the process outlined in Minnesota Statute 115A.94, which is the State mandated statutory process that a City or County must use in order to implement organized collection. There are very specific steps that are to be followed: Hold a public hearing City Council passage of a resolution of intent to organize collection 90 day planning period 90 day discussion period At the end of the discussion period, if certain additional conditions are met, the City may organize collection The public hearing was held on March 24, 2004. At that time the City Council made it very clear that a final decision was not being made with the resolution of intent, but that it was to let the process go forward, and they authorized the SWC to do an in-depth study of the issue so the City Council and residents would have more information in order to make that decision. The study took longer than the SWC expected. Ordinarily, the 90 day period would have ended in June, but the SWC requested more time and the City Council granted their request. During that time, the haulers met with the SWC twice. The State statute requires that they be included in the planning process. There was one public information meeting on May 20. The Commissioners visited the Resource Recovery Facility in Newport and some of the Commissioners visited the Elk River landfill. Everyone did a lot of reading and had contact with people from other cities. There was a lot of study. The SWC was aware, when they made the list of sixteen goals that was approved by the City Council in January, 2004, that most of those goals related to service standards and they were included because they wanted to assure the residents that this plan fully intended to maintain the high standards of service that they are used to, if not improve them. But there were, imbedded in that, several big questions. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -6- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) The big questions: Do Falcon Heights residents pay more than residents in cities with organized collection? Would it make a real difference to have fewer garbage trucks on our streets? What is the best way to dispose of our trash? Should that decision be made in the community or at corporate headquarters? Falcon Heights Residents DO Pay More: Refuse Container Sizes 30 gallon 60 gallon 90 gallon Average in Falcon Heights $13.59 $15.56 $17.17 Average of 5 organized cities 8.13 10.07 12.19 The 5 cities are: Little Canada, White Bear Lake, North St. Paul, Shakopee, Stillwater The rates outlined above do not include taxes, County Environmental Charge, extra services Getting More For Less: Efficiency DOES Matter Picking up more waste with fewer trucks and fewer people in less time can produce big savings in operating costs The big question for consumers is whether those savings are passed on to them through lower prices or pocketed by the hauler Extra garbage trucks DO have an impact on our streets: One Garbage Truck = 1500 cars (Used by MnDoT) 1000 cars (Used by Roseville) 1125 cars (Used by Chanhassen) 857 cars (Used by Falcon Heights; figures provided by our city engineers, H. R. Green) 5 trucks = 4,287 cars in one week = 222,924 cars in a year Garbage Truck Share of the Load - Impact from starting and stopping The higher the speed, the more impact from stopping and starting The number of stops on the street is the same, no matter how many trucks More trucks ( average speed of each truck is faster because stops are farther apart More trucks = more damage from stopping and starting “Garbage trucks are among the oldest, least fuel-efficient and most polluting fleet vehicles in the United States.” Greening Garbage Trucks: New Technologies for Cleaner Air, INFORM, Inc., 2003 FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -7- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Local Communities Can: Provide economic incentives that reward investment in clean-fueled garbage trucks Encourage or require the use of clean fuel trucks in franchise contract negotiations or rewards Where Does Our Trash Go? Companies that contract to take all trash to the Newport RRF: Horrigan Gene’s Waste Management Companies that contract to take some trash to the Newport RRF: BFI Superior/Onyx Walters Contracts expire July 13, 2007 Where Should Our Trash Go? The Minnesota Waste Management Act gives the following order of preference: Waste reduction and reuse = best Recycling Composting of yard waste and food waste Resource recovery through composting or incineration Land filling that captures methane gas for energy production Land filling that does not capture methane gas for energy production = worst Where Should Our Trash Go? There are potential hazards associated with ALL means of municipal solid waste disposal, including recycling and composting Today’s landfills must meet stringent federal safety guidelines Land for landfills is expensive and getting hard to find Where Should Our Trash Go? Refuse derived fuel provides much more energy than landfill gas 280 tons to power one home for 20 years vs. 750 tons in a landfill Landfills are owned by large hauling companies: internal cost advantage Resource recovery plants charge same tipping fee to all companies, large or small FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -8- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Who should decide where our trash goes? Open system: The industry decides Organized system: We decide Industry Consolidation Open collection has not stopped small local companies from going out of business or being bought out by large companies; in fact consolidation has accelerated since 1994 Continued consolidation of the industry in the future could leave residents with few choices, little power in the market place and no voice in environmental choices about municipal solid waste Organized Collection Can Give Residents and Local Communities Leverage to Keep Local Haulers in Business Hauler Proposal - Most of the original goals are met under the existing system To mitigate impact from trucks, haulers would bring trucks into the City empty Use left turns into and out of alleys to avoid damaging curbs and boulevards Not drive on streets or alleys where they have no customers Haulers would work with the City to provide public education materials in billings. Haulers would continue to operate under their current contracts with Ramsey County regarding the Newport RRF and will continue to use Sub-title D landfills Haulers would, if asked, provide tonnage estimates This would be formalized with a Memorandum of Understanding between haulers and the City Commission Findings: Cities with organized collection do get lower prices for their residents Reducing the number of trucks in our city can have a positive impact on our quality of life and on our infrastructure With a contract we can make sure important decisions are made here in the community, not in a corporate office Commission Recommendation: It is in the interests of the residents of Falcon Heights to implement organized collection Whatever the Council decides, the Solid Waste Commission hopes residents will become more aware of ways they can reduce waste through wise consumer choice, re-use, recycling and composting. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -9- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) What happens next? October 14: 90 day discussion period begins Residents will be able to read the report Oct. 18 – Dec. 17: Public comment accepted January 26: Discussion period ends; Council will consider recommendations How to give input on this issue: Written only – mail, fax or email Mail to City of Falcon Heights, 2077 W. Larpenteur Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113 Email to mail@ci.falcon-heights.mn.us Fax to 651-644-8675 No phone calls to City Hall, due to limited staff resources. Comments must include name and address Comments must be received by 4:30 p.m., Friday, December 17, 2004 Mayor Gehrz said the entire report is very long and contains a lot of documentation. She thanked the members of the Solid Waste Commission: Jeff Alexander, Barbara Leary, Frank Meah, Susan Harding, Jim Kielsmeier, Michael Barany and Lois Millett, and said they are all volunteers who have put in a ton of time. She thanked Council member Lamb, Council Liaison to the Solid Waste Commission, and Deborah Jones, Planning and Zoning Coordinator and staff liaison to the Solid Waste Commission. She said she wanted to express extreme gratitude to Deb because she took all of the information and put it in report form. Deb worked evenings and weekends to complete the report. Mayor Gehrz opened the meeting to commentary from the City Council. Council member Kuettel thanked all of the Commissioners for working so hard on this and said she appreciated the extra time and diligence they devoted to this. She thanked all of the residents who had commented on this subject at previous meetings. Council member Lindstrom thanked everyone and said it is the most thorough report that he has seen. He asked about the comment period and Ms. Jones explained it is governed by State statute. Mayor Gehrz said she thinks people will have plenty of time to review a summary and respond. Otherwise, holiday time comes into play. This is a very important piece in the decision making process. Council member Talbot said that democracy is an ongoing process. Residents have been very vocal when contacting him in person, via email or regular mail. This is an ongoing process. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -10- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Council member Talbot recommended that residents contact everyone. Let yourselves be heard. He thanked the Solid Waste Commission for everything they have done. They missed time with their families and ate a lot of leftovers. Mayor Gehrz opened the meeting to commentary from the audience. Solid Waste Commission Chairperson Jeff Alexander said that Deb Jones is now Dr. Deb Jones! Mr. Thomas Lageson, 1740 Pascal, said this is an interesting study and he has a few questions. State statute states very specifically the City is to develop a plan and a proposal. What is a plan? Isn’t it something stating how you’re going to do it? There is no plan. We don’t know what you are proposing yet. All you are really saying is that you want organized collection. We don’t know much more than what was given to us on March 24. We need to see more specifics because the next 90 days is supposed to be discussion with haulers about how to make this work. At the very least he expected to see something a little more concrete about what you’re proposing. If you look at the report it is all over the board. You’re talking about natural gas trucks. You’re talking about multiple haulers. You’re talking about multiple zones. He doesn’t think the report meets the standard set forth in the statute for what constitutes a plan. All of the study that has been done during the last 90 days could have been done before the resolution of intent, and should have been done before then. You talk about price. Price isn’t everything. You talk about saving us $60/year. How much of that will be eaten up by the City for additional administrative cost? That is one of the things we don’t know from this study. What is going to be our point of contact? If there is a problem do we call the City? Do we call the hauler? Do we talk to a neighbor and complain to them? What will be our point of contact if there is a conflict that needs to be resolved? How many economists are on the Solid Waste Commission? You talk about the consolidation of the waste industry. That is a good sign of competition. What other industries have consolidation? There are a lot of industries where constant growth is going on. That is the standard part of business. Going to organized collection will inhibit competition and the waste haulers will be hurt. Council member Lamb said the process followed the State statute precisely. The City Attorney has been contacted on a regular basis about this to make sure the Solid Waste Commission is following State statute. The statute called for at least a 90 day study period. That study period has now ended and the Solid Waste Commission has put forth its recommendation. That recommendation says that we now should have a discussion period. As he remembers the statute, the City isn’t required to include the haulers in the discussion period, just to be technically correct, but we are going to. But, what we really want to do is discuss this with the residents. During the Council discussion the Council will need to decide what a summary means. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -11- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Council member Lamb said that Falcon Heights is the second most educated community in the State of Minnesota. He recommended that the 70 page report go out to all of the single family home residents. He doesn’t doubt that the City followed the right process and, more importantly, the City Attorney doesn’t doubt that the City followed the right process. Ms. Jones said that she wanted to respond to Mr. Lageson’s statement that there are no plans in the SWC report. She said they are on pages 33-34, and she reviewed them for the benefit of the attending and viewing audience. Mr. Douglas Carnival, attorney for the National Solid Waste Management Association, thanked everyone for their participation in the process. He said the haulers disagree with the recommendation and prefer that the open hauling, competitive system that exists right now continue. At the request of the SWC and Ms. Deb Jones, the haulers put together a set of ideas that were developed as they had discussions with the SWC, and he thinks they do what the City Council wants in trying to achieve the goals the City Council set forth in a way that permits open and free competition to exist as an alternate to proceeding forward with the organized collection system. Although he has not seen the report, he trusts tonight is its unveiling. He is a little concerned that it does not talk about some of the things that are not so advantageous about organized collection. Perhaps it does and he is looking forward to reading it. The haulers have emphasized that choice is something their customers speak of. The three most important things in this industry are: Choice, choice, and choice. When they alerted their customers early on that this process was being undertaken, they got over 200 responses from their customers indicating that they were concerned about proceeding forward with organized collection and those responses will be shared with the city at the appropriate time. All but a handful though that choice and not having the government involved with waste collection were very important. The report, he trusts, talks about choice and how important it is to the residents. He said he didn’t know if the report deals with the issue of the potential displacement of waste haulers, large and small, and what impact that might have on the local businesses. There is concern among the haulers as to what this might do and, frankly, there is concern among the citizens of the City that this impact will be dramatic and is going to upend longstanding relations that people have had with their haulers. That choice will be lost to them, with detrimental impact to the people they do business with. With respect to decision making, the haulers look at it from the perspective of citizens and customers making their own choices as to whom they want to do business with and how they want that service to be performed, rather than ceding that decision making authority to the City. As good intentioned as it might be, those decisions are better made for the benefit of everyone at the individual level, based upon individual household preferences and situations. He encouraged the Council to work with the haulers and implement a voluntary system and not proceed with organized collection. If the City Council decides to proceed forward, the haulers will provide the City with the comments they have received from their customers. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -12- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Mayor Gehrz said there is a section in the report that discusses disadvantages. Council member Lamb said the report contains the haulers’ recommendation. Ms. Susan Harding, 2189 Folwell Avenue, said there is organized collection in the University Grove, her neighborhood, and she is very happy with it. There have not been any problems. Mr. Gene Wegleitner, Gene’s Disposal, said he has not seen the report yet. Nothing has been mentioned about extra charges. A lot of cities are organized and it might be cheaper, but you’re not being shown the administrative costs for the City. The haulers took a survey and there aren’t five trucks going down every road. If this goes to bid, he knows he can’t do it. Ms. LaDonna Schugel, 1896 Holton Street, said the City already has a good thing going. There are neighborhoods that want to be organized and they have gotten themselves organized. What’s the use? She doesn’t think you can improve on that. For some neighborhoods it makes very good sense. The residents have done it right so far. Continue with the way things are. Mr. Brian Olson, 1592 Roselawn Avenue, said he agrees with the last lady and the gentleman before. If the neighborhoods want to privately organize, well and good. If they don’t, well and good. With regard to the public comments, how will the comments be kept? Will there be some kind of uniformity? Can any member of the public come in and ask to see the 3-ring binder? If members of the media are going to be looking at these comments, ask them to print them verbatim. Make sure there is no misconstruing of meaning. Administrator Worthington said that commentary received via e-mail, fax, mail or phone is public information and will be kept in perpetuity. Any comments without names and addresses will not be used. The willingness to use e-mail will save a lot of time. Mayor Gehrz said she would be disappointed if the City didn’t get a lot of comments. The purpose is to give residents an opportunity to review the information and then comment. Mr. Michael Barany, 1813 Prior Avenue North, said he wanted to thank the people who came this evening and provided comments about what can seem like a very one sided process. He wanted to make sure that everyone knows that the members of the Solid Waste Commission (SWC), at every meeting and whenever they receive public input, do take a lot of time to thoroughly discuss all of the issues that are raised. Just know that your voices are not ignored. He said he wanted to answer some of the issues that have come out of the comments here tonight and in so doing, hopefully, provide a little bit of his own personal rationale for supporting the recommendation for organized collection. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -13- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Mr. Barany said that a lot of these issues have come more from misunderstandings or misrepresentations for which we cannot place blame, but for which we should try to clarify and resolve. He said he wanted to begin with Mr. Lageson’s comments. Mr. Lageson first expressed concern about what is the plan and City Council member Lamb provided an excellent answer that provides half of the story. The other half that was also discussed by the SWC pointed to the fact that through the bid process, which is a competitive bid process, we need to keep the option open for creative proposals from the haulers. We do not want to lock ourselves into an option where we might not be able to receive a bid that could potentially provide useful services and options for the City. Mr. Lageson expressed concerns about prices and the point of contact. The report addressed this specifically about where concerns are directed. Cities with organized collection have all developed systems for dealing with customer concerns that have been streamlined, based upon the specific city’s needs and the flexibilities of the haulers. Mr. Lageson wondered whether there were any economists on the SWC and while he, Michael, is not one personally, he does take many classes with economics graduate students, so he can speak a little bit to some of the issues that Mr. Lageson raised, and many of them are very important. Mr. Lageson talked specifically about entry barriers, and Gene’s comments notwithstanding, long term contracts have proven successful for small haulers to provide competitive services and to bid for contracts on the scale that the City is offering. One also must consider that entry barriers exist regardless of whether you are in an organized system or an open system, and those entry barriers continue to mean that competition is not a guarantee, which brings him to Mr. Carnival’s remarks. Mr. Barany said that Mr. Carnival used what he considers to be a misnomer talking about open competitive systems. As Mr. Lageson pointed out very succinctly, open is not to be taken as synonymous with competitive. Staff member Jones pointed out in her presentation that the open system that we have now is certainly not competitive and that has been seen through the gradual consolidation of the industry into a few large haulers. This is something that the City Council needs to consider, not only what will happen in an organized system, but what we have going now and what will happen in the future now. There are issues of choice but we must remember that choice cannot be considered in a vacuum. He said he can assure everyone in the audience and at home that choice was considered and weighed, and so far the SWC does not see a compelling reason to weigh choice over the many benefits they see from organized collection. He said the issues about peripheral charges that were raised by Gene will be addressed in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and all such charges will be made forthright and clear to all before any recommendations are made about an RFP. The public commentary portion of the meeting was closed. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -14- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Mayor Gehrz said the Council needs to decide whether to proceed with a 90 day discussion period and, if so, what kind of distribution of information and public input process the Council wants to have. There are two-three choices: 1. Proceed with the 90 day discussion period, beginning tonight. This means the residents would get the benefit of the information of the study. 2. Not proceed. If the Council chooses to not proceed, the Council would say thank you very much to the Solid Waste Commission and to the staff for the hard work. The Council would try to proceed with some kind of Memorandum of Understanding, voluntary, on the part of the haulers. We would shelve the report and ask the Solid Waste Commission to focus on recycling and the residents of the community would not see the result of the study. 3. The third option would be something else that is neither of those two. Council member Lamb said he would like to make a proposal and see if the discussion can be narrowed down to three questions: 1. Whether to call the study period to an end and open the discussion period. 2. Discuss what summary means. A lot of people have done a lot of work. The haulers have put a lot of work into their proposal. The Solid Waste Commission has put a lot of work into their proposal. There are about 70 pages in this document. He can see places where some of it can be cut down, but if summary means ten pages, he would be against that. The executive summary is two pages, the full report is 70 pages, and there is a stack of material about two feet tall. He would offer the haulers the opportunity to rewrite their section, if they want to. We want to represent the arguments as fairly and succinctly as possible. 3. Proposed feedback mechanism. Essentially, he agrees with the feedback mechanism being proposed, but the City needs to make sure that people who don’t have electronic access, or don’t choose to use electronic access, still have an opportunity to get this material and respond with their comments, questions and concerns in a relatively easy manner. Mayor Gehrz explained, for the benefit of the attending and viewing audience, that before the Council votes on a motion, there is generally discussion. When it seems the Council has a sense of the issues, a Council member then puts forth a motion. Council member Kuettel said that she would like to give residents the opportunity to read the report. Then get back their responses in a format that best suits the City staff. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -15- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Council member Lindstrom said the City has gone halfway down this road. This merits further discussion. A ton of work has been put into this. Keep moving. Council member Talbot said that at the March 24 meeting, City Hall was packed. People are now being asked to contact us with their opinions. There can be more discussion about the feedback mechanism. Council member Lamb moved that the Council call a formal end to the study period, as required by State statute, and initiate the discussion period, which will begin October 14, 2004 and end January 26, 2004. The motion was unanimously approved. Mayor Gehrz said that during the discussion period, what will be sent out? Council member Lamb said there are three choices. We are talking about 70 pages that include the full hauler proposal and this is not all of the documentation by any means. Use this document because it is a very good summary document and represents the work that has been done to date. Send out this report, plus or minus. Mr. Thomas Lageson read a portion of the State statute aloud and said the City is to provide mailed copies if any residents request to get any or all of this stuff. Council member Lamb said the Council knows that all of the material is public record. The question is, how are we going to come to some balance with usefulness without sending so little it doesn’t mean anything. We need to provide some of the flavor that is not in the first five to ten pages. Mr. Gene Wegleitner, Gene’s Disposal, asked if haulers will have an opportunity to see the report before it goes out. They don’t know what’s in the 70 pages. If the report goes out with prices being that different, he thinks it’s one sided. It is a big decision for a lot of people. Mayor Gehrz said the City will provide copies to the haulers who are licensed in the City. Council member Lamb said that Roseville, North St. Paul, etc., did their best to gather up basic data. The purpose of sending this out is to educate people as to what was found and what haulers recommend, so people can see what has been going on. This will help them come to an informed decision. There will be charges and countercharges. There is a need to get this discussion going. He thinks the residents will be impressed with how well the report has been prepared. Council member Talbot said the City is into the discussion period. He knows there are lots of other factors. Get a copy and comment. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -16- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) There was a brief discussion about report format, size, printing and mailing costs. Administrator Worthington projected the cost to send the complete 70 page report to every resident would be about $9,200 (printing-$5,000 and mailing-$4,200). The cost to take the Executive Summary, the hauler’s report and essential graphs, and condense them to 8 pages, two sided, 11” x 17”, folded, with a staple in the middle, would be about $2,000 to print and mail to all single family residents. Solid Waste Commission Chairperson Kielsmeier said he thinks everyone should have an opportunity to read the report. He suggested that a good summary be sent out with a response form. If a resident wants the full piece, they will get one. They should not be denied the opportunity. Not everyone is going to find it easy to pull a copy off the internet. Council member Lamb said he is perfectly willing to support that suggestion. Administrator Worthington said the entire report, including the appendices, will be available on the City’s web site. Copies will be made available at the library and at City Hall. Mayor Gehrz recommended that the report be edited, but include as much information as feasible. Pay attention to readability and have a good summary. Condense it, but give people the opportunity to ask for the whole thing. Lindstrom and Lamb moved that staff condense the report to what, in their judgment, represents the best mixture. Upon request, anyone will be able to get the full 70 pages, which will also be accessible via the internet. Anyone can come in and look at all of the material. There will be a copy at the library and at City Hall. Have a half-page rip-off that residents can complete and return if they want the full 70 pages. The motion was unanimously approved. Mayor Gehrz reminded the attending and viewing audience they can call the City Council. If there will be some mailing delays, the Council can extend the comment period. Council member Lamb said that if there is a snag, the Council has the power to extend this period if needed. We want to know what the households think. Council member Talbot asked if something could be included in the public notices. Administrator Worthington said the City could, but she isn’t sure how this would be stated in the legal notices because it isn’t statutorily required to be. Letters to the editor could be written. Council member Lamb said the Council can remind people about this at every City Council meeting. Remind the media to keep this on the front burner. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -17- October 13, 2004 Solid Waste Commission Report on Organized Collection (continued) Kuettel moved that public comment be accepted via email, letter, and fax. Sender’s names and addresses will be required. Input will be accepted from now until 4:30 PM, December 17, 2004. The motion was unanimously approved. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mayor Gehrz said that on Saturday, October 2, the City participated in a major drill in the City that permitted the CERT graduates to work together with police, fire, the Ramsey County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Department, and “victim volunteers” from area training programs for paramedics, fire and law enforcement. Approximately 80 people participated and everyone learned a lot. The City will be doing future exercises. The senior building at the SE Corner development is now open. There will be an open house on Tuesday, October 26, from 4-6 PM. Drop by and take a look at the building. On Sunday, October 17, the University will be holding an annual tour of the St. Paul campus from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. People will have an opportunity to learn about food, weather, biotech, etc. Brunch will be offered for fifty cents. It’s a fantastic event and she encouraged everyone to attend. Administrator Worthington said that in 2005, the Metropolitan Council will be increasing its Service Availability Charge (SAC) to $1,450. Saint Paul Regional Water Services has informed the City they will be proposing approval of the following water rate adjustments for Falcon Heights, St. Paul, Maplewood and West Paul for 2005: Winter rate per 100 cubic feet $1.56 Summer rate per 100 cubic feet 1.66 All year per 100 cubic feet 1.46 The regular City Council meeting was adjourned at 9:20 PM. Respectfully submitted, Mary Shea Kodluboy Deputy Clerk