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Mounds View City Council November 25, 2024 <br />Regular Meeting Page 3 <br /> <br /> <br />Mayor Lindstrom commented he believed the action the City Council was taking would encourage <br />capitalism and competition that the haulers say they love so much. <br /> <br />Council Member Gunn asked how residents would know what the rates were. City Administrator <br />Zikmund reported this information would be posted on the City’s website. <br /> <br />Mayor Lindstrom recommended that once the rate information was known by the City that a mailer <br />also be sent to residents with this information. <br /> <br />MOTION/SECOND: Gunn/Meehlhause. To Approve the Solid Waste Standards and directing <br />staff to communicate the price maximums to residents. <br /> <br />Council Member Clark stated she was surprised to see this coming forward noting the Options <br />Committee had twenty recommendations for the Solid Waste Standards. She supported these <br />recommendations being taken into consideration before a mailer is sent out to residents. <br /> <br />City Administrator Zikmund indicated the proposed mailer would have pricing information with <br />directions on where to find the information on the City’s website. He indicated there would be <br />time to further discuss the recommendations from the Options Committee in February. <br /> <br />Council Member Clark supported the Council further discussing the recommendations from the <br />Options Committee in February. <br /> <br />Mayor Lindstrom commented for far too long the waste companies in Mounds View have been <br />utilizing the subscription market to take advantage of residents by charging junk fees to impact <br />their bottom line. He reported the Council sought to address this though organized collection by <br />having long term contracts in place with fixed pricing. He stated his intent was to see this through <br />the end while respecting how residents vote. He understood the residents have spoken loud and <br />clear about wanting to retain the subscription market. He indicated it was not his intent to cast a <br />vote in favor of organized collection, but wanted to be clear that other councilmembers feel the <br />same way or may want to pursue organized collection at some future point. However, the City still <br />has this problem of looming price transparency within the subscription market, which led the <br />Council to pursue the proposed standards and license transparency ordinance. He believed the <br />inequality in the current market was disturbing, noting bills ranged from $20 to $70 per month. He <br />indicated residents were being taken advantage of and he wanted residents to be able to make <br />educated decisions without rates being raised over and over again. He called attention to how <br />haulers were not loyal to their customers and discussed how the “Vote No” campaign was <br />impacting residents. He discussed how profitable it was for haulers to have an open market versus <br />being locked into an organized contract. He was of the opinion price transparency was extremely <br />important for residents and stated he was proud to say today would mark a new chapter for waste <br />collection standards in Mounds View. He stated the City would not go another year with residents <br />being exploited by subjective billing, but rather all trash hauler pricing would be published on the <br />City’s website if haulers wanted to work in Mounds View. <br /> <br /> Ayes – 5 Nays – 0 Motion carried.