St. Paul residents shared tales of garbage trucks — five, even 10 per week — driving through alleys in the early morning. Over the past few months, many people have urged city leaders to switch from having individuals hire their own trash hauler to a coordinated system that would reduce the number of trucks on the street.
There also have been pleas from local trash companies who fear the shift would put them out of business, as well as from residents who said they want to preserve their freedom to choose who picks up their waste.
St. Paul is the latest city to wade into a debate many communities across the Twin Cities metro area have taken on in recent years, with mixed results. It remains to be seen whether the Capital City will join cities such as Bloomington and Maplewood and move forward with implementing a coordinated system. But the report that city staff presented Wednesday evening steers officials in that direction.
In February, the City Council sought public input on trash collection in an effort to set goals and objectives for implementing an organized system. The city found that more St. Paul residents are in favor of the switch.
At a public hearing Wednesday, Alexa Fang with Aspen Waste Systems said that the city's survey was flawed and that St. Paul needs to hire an independent consultant to conduct a statistically valid survey.
"There are pervasive and serious concerns about organized collection," Fang said.
City officials said that the survey was not meant to be statistically valid but that it was an effort to solicit general feedback from the community — which they also received at Wednesday's hearing.
Some people told the City Council that the system is not broken and that it doesn't need to be fixed. Others listed numerous ways they think an organized system would improve the city, from helping the environment to reducing noise to making streets safer.
