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Item No: 07E Meeting Date: Feb 9, 2015 Type of Business: Council Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 897, an Ordinance Amending Chapter 603, Section 603.06, of the City Code Relating to Licensing Requirements for Garbage and Recycling Haulers (ROLL CALL VOTE) Introduction: The City Council adopted Ordinance 891 on October 27, 2014. The Ordinance revised language relating to the collection of garbage and recycling in the City of Mounds View. The purpose of the revisions was to update the language, make it more consistent with Ramsey County requirements and to encourage greater recycling participation and collection in the City. After the ordinance was adopted, staff met with a group representing licensed haulers in the City. The haulers, through a national industry alliance, expressed concern with three areas of the new requirements. At the work session on January 5, 2015, the City Council reviewed the submitted concerns and agreed to move forward to further amend the Code regarding licensing requirements by eliminating the requirement to submit rate information. On January 12, 2015, the Council held the first reading of the ordinance. The ordinance presented for second reading and adoption remains unchanged from the version considered on January 12. Discussion: The concerns of the haulers, as expressed in a letter from the National Waste and Recycling Association (NW &RA), dated December 11, 2014, focused on three main points: 1. They believe that requiring notice of maximum rates, and possibly revoking their license if they charge more without previously notifying the City, is excessive. Our legal representatives confirm the City is well within its rights to impose such a requirement. 2. They do not want to report to the City as to which properties are NOT recycling. The haulers don't want their customers to think they are "tattling" on them. We responded that the intent was simply to be able to "target market" to those properties which may need more information about recycling, not to be punitive. 3. Finally, they want to make sure that the information we are requesting that they report on--tons of recyclables and solid waste collected--is consistent with what they need to report to the state. We assured them our reporting form would not cause them to report on things completely different or in a different format, only information they already track.