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Item No: 5 Meeting Date: January 4, 2016 Type of Business: Work Session City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Review Results of the Organized Collection Telephone Survey Introduction: The City Council has agreed to work with the Morris Leatherman Company to prepare and conduct a telephone survey of 400 Mounds View residents in an effort to ascertain resident opinion on the issue of organized collection. A flyer was sent to utility account holders and an article printed in the Mounds View Matters to inform the residents of the impending survey, which was planned for the first week of December. The survey has been completed and a summary has been prepared by the company for the City’s consideration. Discussion: The survey results, which are attached for the Council to review, indicate that 35% of respondents would support organized collection while 53% are opposed to it, with 13% unsure or unresponsive to the question. In addition to the telephone survey, staff collected survey results from residents who chose to proactively take the survey, either online or by picking up a survey document at City Hall. The results of the proactive survey, which may not be statistically valid, reflect a similar breakdown of sentiment regarding organized collection. Finally, staff collected responses from residents via email who wrote in to share their opinions. The breakdown of opinion via email correspondence represents the same as the telephone survey and the online / paper copy survey results. 52 residents wrote in, three of which were not verified with an address, leaving 49 opinions to draw from. Of those indicating definitely one way or the other, 40% supported Organized Collection while 60% were opposed. Many residents expressed concern about their rates increasing, or services changing, or their current hauler not being chosen. A few who expressed opposition or no opinion admitted they could be supportive if the negotiated rates were substantially better than existing rates. Some simply responded that their support would depend on other factors, such as senior pricing, smaller cans, pricing guarantees, level of service, etc. Naturally, we cannot predict what the rates could be without going through the process. Recommendation: Review and discuss the survey results and provide direction to staff. Respectfully submitted, ________________________ James Ericson City Administrator