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03-12-18 CC WS MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2018 6:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 6:05 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Johnson (arrived at 6:15), Labadie (arrived at 6:30), Siakel, and Sundberg; Attorney Keane; City Administrator Lerud; City Clerk Thone; Planning Director Darling; Director of Public Works Brown; and, City Engineer Fauske Absent: None. B. Review Agenda Sundberg moved, Siakel seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 310. 2. SOLID WASTE DISCUSSION Administrator Lerud noted that at the recent retreat, one of the items discussed was to consider organizing solid waste collection. He stated that staff was looking for affirmation from the Council on this direction as well as discussing priorities and services that the Council would like to see in any agreement. He stated that this will be on the Council agenda for April 9, 2018 with a formal resolution to move forward with haulers. He noted that he had also included information in the packet from Hennepin County that they will be requiring recycling or organic material a requirement by 2022. Councilmember Sundberg asked if the idea was to keep the same number of haulers, but, give them specific locations. Administrator Lerud stated that lie believed when the City enters into this agreement it would be exclusive with the existing haulers, and, if any of them chose to leave, their share would be reallocated among the rest of the haulers. Councilmember Siakel stated that she believes that Councilmember Sundberg was asking if the proposed agreement would be organized by zones so there would not be three trash haulers working out of the same area. Administrator Lerud stated that was correct. Attorney Keane noted that it is the haulers responsibility to come up with the first plan and negotiate amongst themselves and present that proposal to the city for consideration. The city is then free to accept or reject their proposal. Councilmember Siakel asked how pricing factored into this agreement. She assumed the pricing would be the same if they are all talking to each other. Attorney Keane stated that the haulers will also have to come forward with an acceptable pricing plan that the City can consider. He noted that they are exempt from anti -trust in order to do that. Administrator Lerud stated that there are currently four haulers in the City. CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES MARCH 12, 2018 Page 2 of 5 Councilmember Siakel asked what would prevent a hauler from going door to door and soliciting business without the knowledge of this agreement. She assumes it would go back to billing and asked if the City would be handling billing and added on as a utility, for example, on a quarterly basis. Administrator Lerud stated that is an option, or the haulers could have one entity handle all the billing. He stated he thinks it would work better if either the City or one entity does all the billing so it can be guaranteed that there is pick up. He noted that if the City handled billing, it would probably be handled quarterly. The advantages to the City handling it, is that the City knows what is going on and people know to come to the City to sign up for service. Councilmember Siakel stated that approach makes sense to her. Councilmember Sundberg stated that she is hesitant because of the perception of it being lumped in with utilities. Councilmember Siakel stated that she understands her hesitation, but, feels that going this route gives the benefit that everyone will be on the same page. Attorney Keane noted that Council will have ample time during the study period to hash out these types of concerns. Councilmember Sundberg wondered about people being loyal to certain haulers, or if that was a thing of the past. Mayor Zerby stated that he lives on a cul -de -sac with just 10 homes on the street and they are all friends. He stated that he has pushed for the street to band together and have just one truck pick up from their street, but that has been unsuccessful because some people want to support the small business owner, and some want a better price, so they go with the bigger hauler. Some people make the choice because of service, such as going up to the house and grabbing their can if they forget to put it out at the road. He noted that other cities have simply put a cap on the number of haulers allowed within the City. Councilmember Sundberg asked about the impact to the streets and how that is quantified. Attorney Keane asked if the engineering department had looked at any of the numbers along with loads and life extension of streets without this kind of heavy usage. Public Works Director Brown explained that when a roadway is designed, there is something called a roadway distribution that calls for a certain percentage of heavy truck traffic. He noted that it should be fairly easy to equate a garbage truck to that and be able to quantify that. Councilmember Sundberg stated she thinks the City should start gathering this kind of data. Councilmember Siakel noted that she feels residents may accept change if it can be shown that there is a well thought out reason, rather than thinking it is just the government telling them what to do. If it can be shown that this is something the Council has looked at as a way to maintain our infrastructure and save some money, as well as being mindful of things coming down the road, such as the mandates from the County, she thinks people will support it. She stated she remembered something said about making recycling a mandate, as part of the grant. She isn't sure when that grant runs out and noted that she wasn't sure people understood that the City receives some assistance for that service from the County. She asked if that will ever run out and whether that provided the rationale for having just one collector. Councilmember Siakel stated that she feels the organics recycling is a good concept in theory, but then creates the issue of having five cans out at the curb for all the different types. Although her understanding is that the organics will be collected in a separate bag and can be thrown into the same can. She stated that CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES MARCH 12, 2018 Page 3 of 5 perhaps the City can look at making changes this with a phased approach. The advantages would be reduced traffic, better pricing, and complying with mandates from the State or County Councilmember Sundberg stated that she feels reducing the number of haulers would be better environmentally, as well. She asked if a survey had been conducted among the residents surrounding this issue. Administrator Lerud stated that it was not specifically asked as part of the recent Comprehensive Plan survey, but there were several, unsolicited, comments that came in the survey responses even though the question was not asked. Councilmember Sundberg noted that communication will be very important on this issue. Councilmember Siakel agreed and noted complaints about traffic on trash day and confusion about whether your trash has gotten picked up or just your neighbors. She stated that she sees some benefit to consistency and dependability with just one hauler. Councilmember Sundberg stated that there would also be more clout for the City behind a complaint rather than just one individual. Public Works Director Brown stated that there is also the inefficiency on behalf of the hauler, so the prices may come down because they are not having to drive from one end of the City and back again for just a few cans. He stated that this change would also support the Green Steps program. Councilmember Siakel stated that there are other additional services you can purchase, like yard waste disposal that she would want included. Councilmember Sundberg asked if there was a large price difference with our current haulers in the City. Administrator Lerud stated that he suspects people will be surprised by the difference in pricing. Councilmember Sundberg asked if there are any communities that have only allowed one trash hauler to operate. Administrator Lerud stated that there were many communities that had one hauler. Councilmember Johnson stated that he lives on a cul -de -sac with five houses and four different haulers. He stated his concern that if the City went to just one hauler, there could be the perception of residents having no choice and being told what to do. He likes the idea of allowing three haulers that are zoned appropriately within the City. He reiterated the importance of clear communication with the residents that this should be something that actually helps make their lives easier. Councilmember Sundberg stated that she felt it was clear that this was the right thing for the City. Councilmember Siakel stated that she felt this would also need to be billed through the City. She suggested giving two options, for example, option A is basic service and option B is basic service plus yard waste or other additional services. She likes the idea of billing quarterly. She asked if there would be a way to give consideration for differences between, say a senior citizen, living alone that doesn't have much trash output and a residence that has three cans that are overflowing every week. Administrator Lerud stated that there are usually smaller can options, or the option of every -other -week pick up, rather than weekly. Councilmember Siakel stated that she likes that idea. Councilmember Labadie asked for clarification on Councilmember Sundberg's statement as she joined the meeting about it being clear that this was the right thing for the City. CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES MARCH 12, 2018 Page 4 of 5 Councilmember Sundberg stated that she meant that organized trash collection seemed to be the clear solution for the City. Mayor Zerby stated he thinks one of the biggest issues will be price. The last thing he wants to see is the perception of people saying that City forced a new hauler on them and now are paying $5 /month more. Councilmember Siakel noted her concern with just having one carrier and what would happen if they back out, or close down. If there are three haulers, and one of them leaves, there are options for others to come in and simply take over those routes. Administrator Lerud noted that another advantage to having three haulers is they have cooperatively decided on a price that the City can go out and compare to other cities. Mayor Zerby noted that there had been several comments related to garbage and recycling in the Comprehensive Plan survey. He stated that there is obviously interest among the residents. He read aloud some of the items in the survey. Mayor Zerby would also like to have the option of an annual curb side pick -up of larger items. He hears this request time and time again from residents, like the City used to do. Councilmember Labadie stated that curb side pick -up will need to be very specific with what is allowed or instruct the collectors to leave things behind that don't fall into the specific parameters. Councilmember Johnson noted that some items should remain part of the drop off program at Public Works, such as chemicals and paints. Councilmember Siakel explained how the City -wide curb side pick -up day used to work and how communication was handled with residents. She noted the costs were evenly distributed among the residents, which then had some people who never used it complain that it was included on their utility bill and others loved it because you pretty much could put anything out there and it would be hauled away. She stated that in some cases it was by other residents with a flat -bed truck that came around before the haulers got there and took what they wanted. She suggested looking into the cost to provide this service to residents. She reiterated that importance of explaining to people the "why" behind making the change to have fewer haulers and moving towards organized collection. Administrator Lerud noted that a committee is not required at this point, but, suggested that the Council consider giving direction on how to move forward in creation of the committee to consider the proposal from haulers. Councilmember Labadie stated that her concern about forming the committee may be the time commitment that the City is asking people to commit to. She would like to be clear, up front, the time frame and how much meeting time will be required. She stated that if people are volunteering, she feels they deserve an accurate estimate of what it will involve. Administrator Lerud stated that he did not think the City had a good handle on those issues yet because he was not it was not known if the hauler proposal was going to be acceptable. He suggested waiting on the committee until some of those details were more solidly ironed out. CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES MARCH 12, 2018 Page 5 of 5 Councilmember Johnson suggested that Communications Director Moore be allowed to start communicating with residents before the notice goes out that the City is considering approving entering into the 60 -day negotiating period with the haulers. Councilmember Sundberg left the meeting. Councilmember Labadie stated that she believes anything relating to construction material be banned from being included in the curb side pick -up event. She feels strongly that there needs to be a list of allowed and not allowed items. 3. ADJOURN Siakel moved, Labadie seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of March 12, 2018, at 6:42 P.M. Motion passed 4/0.