06-26-2023 CC - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council June 26, 2023 Regular Meeting Page 3 Mr. Newsom explained Walters serves as the single hauler for Osseo, Blaine and Columbia Heights. He noted he also served as the sole provider of recycling for Spring Lake Park. Mr. Wiggins indicated he serves as the single hauler for Ham Lake and Champlin, along with being the sole recycling provider for Anoka and Ramsey. Ms. Mathiasen stated across the seven county metro area she manages 20 to 30 municipal contracts. Council Member Lindstrom stated he understood Walters and Ace are the biggest providers in the community. He questioned how the market share has been for these two haulers in the past 10 years. Mr. Newsom explained over the past five years Walters has grown dramatically, which was due to lack of service from other providers. Council Member Lindstrom indicated there was a resident in Mounds View that was in a wheelchair that switched to Walters and the driver happened to notice he had trouble getting his garbage can down. He learned that Walters called him and asked to pick up the garbage at the door instead of at the street. He appreciated the high level of service Walters was providing. Mr. Delaforest commented pricing was also a main concern for clients. Acting Mayor Meehlhause explained Mounds View was pursuing organized collection for three reasons. He stated noise reduction, purchasing power and wear and tear on streets were the main concerns for the City. He reported the City has replaced all of its streets in the past decade and the City was looking to take care of its investments in its streets. Jennifer Parkos, Curbside Waste, arrived at the meeting and introduced herself to the Council. She explained Curbside was a smaller company that has little power compared to larger companies. She indicated she was not for organized collection because she appreciated there being competition. Mr. Delaforest explained he has not been able to discern any gains or savings from cities that have organized collection when it comes to streets. While he understood a great deal of money are spent on streets to properly maintain them, he has not found a study that shows organized collection saves streets. However, there was information available that there would be winners and losers when it comes to requiring residents to have organized trash collection. He anticipated some residents would lose their hauler and they would be paying more. Mr. Wiggins questioned what other ways the City was working to reduce weight on the road. He explained all of his trucks have four axles. He noted the pounds per square inch for school buses was more than the weight on the streets for garbage trucks. He asked if the City was looking into the weight of any other industries that were using City streets. City Administrator Zikmund reported the City was not looking into any other industries at this time.