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Potential "block rate" discounts. <br />Residents learn more about the potential to negotiate hauling rates. <br />Improved recycling rates and recovery. <br />Encourages households to look again at the level of solid waste collection service (i.e., <br />size of cart at 38, 65 or 95 gallons). <br />Encourages households to look at shared solid waste and yard waste collection services. <br />Improved safety (i.e., on the average, trucks that stop at every house drive slower that <br />trucks that have only a few stops on each block). <br />If it is preferred by the residents, their block can help promote business with the smaller, <br />local hauling companies. <br />Citizen — based organizing helps keep City and County government out of the decision <br />making process. <br />Organizing residential collection by citizens could lead to similar organizing of <br />commercial collection by small businesses. <br />Organized collection provides more accountability of which residents have service and <br />therefore may allow the City to more readily monitor illegal dumping. With open <br />hauling, the City can't track which property owners are failing to sign up for private <br />collection. <br />The meeting also resulted in listing the following disadvantages to organizing trash collection n <br />this manner: <br />Takes some of the flexibility and freedom to switch haulers away from the individual <br />homeowner. The "block" must now make a collective decision to switch. Therefore, the <br />inertia is in favor of the incumbent hauler and may not respond as readily to service <br />requests. <br />The organizing effort can be time intensive for citizen volunteers, especially the leader. <br />An "advisory board" of neighbors may be needed to help direct decisions of the block <br />leader. <br />If the smaller, local haulers are preferred, they may have less fleet and staff resources. <br />Smaller haulers will have less capital to re -invest. <br />If the smaller, local haulers are preferred, they may not always have the cheapest rates. <br />The sustainability of the organized trash hauling by block is dependent on citizen <br />volunteer efforts which may ebb and flow. <br />If the block — selected hauling firm is acquired by another company, the block may not <br />have any recourse and the organizing effort may need to be repeated. <br />The news articles covering the citizen — based initiatives provide some of the commentary from <br />neighborhood, city / county officials, and private hauler associations. The reporters stated that <br />there are 55 licensed trash haulers in St. Paul, and 21 serve residential customers according to the <br />Public Works Department. City and County officials that have had direct experience with <br />attempts to organize open hauling communities stated that this kind of block activism, rather <br />104 •Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC R - Analysis of Waste Collection Service Arrangements.doc <br />June 2009 <br />