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Mounds View City Council August 14, 2023 <br />Regular Meeting Page 10 <br /> <br />evaluate items until such time. He indicated he does not spend time considering petitions until they <br />have been submitted. <br /> <br />Council Member Lindstrom questioned if there have been any scenarios where organized <br />collection has been implemented and cities have had to pay damages for unwinding a contract. <br />City Attorney Riggs indicated he was not aware of this. He advised the City Council that there <br />were only 113 charter cities in Minnesota, which makes the process for Mounds View unique. <br /> <br />Acting Mayor Meehlhause recalled that Bloomington went forward with organized and a lawsuit <br />was brought forward by citizens. It was turned down initially, it went to the Supreme Court and <br />was ultimately placed on a ballot and it got voted down. The residents voted to continue to be <br />organized. Assistant City Attorney Ketchum reported there were three lawsuits regarding this <br />matter in Bloomington. This item was put to a charter amendment and was voted down by <br />Bloomington residents so they still have organized collection today. <br /> <br />Rene Johnson, 7385 Pleasant View Drive, stated because there is such community interest in this <br />item, she supported the Council tabling action on this item until there was a full Council. She <br />anticipated more residents would become engaged in this matter over the next three or four months. <br /> <br />Bob King, 7408 Silver Lake Road, indicated this item was only to negotiate with haulers and has <br />nothing to do with Mounds View going to organized collection. City Administrator Zikmund <br />stated this was a step towards negotiating a price. <br /> <br />Dr. Strait believed the City was spending a lot of time addressing a matter that did not pertain to a <br />City the size of Mounds View. She explained St. Paul and Bloomington had organized trash <br />collection and both of these communities were a great deal larger than Mounds View. <br /> <br />Carol Mueller, 8343 Groveland Road, commented her husband had regrets he was not able to <br />attend this meeting. She stated her husband would like to see a resident serving on the negotiating <br />team, because they would be responsible for paying the garbage bill. She reported her husband <br />would be willing to serve on the negotiating team, should this item move forward. She indicated <br />his other concern was that the 3,400 single family homes in Mounds View have a higher tax rate <br />than other properties in the community. She questioned what type of fee, on top of the garbage <br />bill, would be added to residential utility bills. Lastly, she asked who would be fielding calls <br />regarding concerns with garbage service. <br /> <br />Finance Director Beer reported apartments and commercial properties pay a much higher tax rate <br />than residential properties. <br /> <br />Council Member Lindstrom asked if the City would be charging an administrative fee to residents <br />for organized trash collection. Finance Director Beer indicated this would be determined by the <br />City Council. His recommendation would be to not have the City do the billing or phone calls. <br />Assistant City Attorney Ketchum indicated the Resolution before the Council would have the City <br />handling the billing and customer service. <br /> <br />City Administrator Zikmund stated it would be staff’s recommendation that the hauler manage the