Edina
November 21, 2023
City Council votes 4-1 to maintain current open market system, where residents will retain the right to hire their own trash hauler.
Scroll down for further information on the November 21, 2023 Edina City Council meeting.
Background of the issue:
A handful of citizen advisory commission activists in Edina, a city of 53,000, continue to push the city council and staff to institute government managed trash collection based upon meritless claims and unscientifically collected data as identified in a city staff report.
Edina is a city that prides itself as being one of the premier communities in the State of Minnesota. There is an expectation that all services provided to residents, whether they are provided by government or private businesses, are nothing less than top quality.
It is the only city in the state that legally mandates haulers to offer what is called "back door service" to residential homeowners at no additional cost (see Edina Code Sec. 12-116). Homeowners have a choice of having their waste containers picked up at the curb, or any other location on their property.
Government managed trash systems are synonymous with one size fits all service plans, low quality service, and zero loyalty to homeowners as the government is contracting for service, not residents.
Everything about government managed trash collection runs counter to the values of the City of Edina and its residents.
September 2021
An unelected citizen advisory commission, made up of activists with a desire to see government managed trash collection instituted at all costs, issued a draft report to city staff that made a number of problematic claims.
Report claims as to the number of waste hauling vehicles traveling on Edina city streets were made with zero supporting evidence. The numbers were a wild guess.
Report claims that a reduction in solid waste truck traffic would "significantly" reduce greenhouse gas emissions contained zero supporting data or an explanation of what even constitutes "significant". In 2021, 92% of city residents rated the city's air quality as Excellent or Good in a city conducted survey.
Report claims that a reduction in solid waste truck traffic would "significantly reduce road maintenance and extend road life by 5-10 years were also made without any supporting data. No other city in Minnesota has seen any reduction in road maintenance or extended life by removing a few solid waste trucks from driving on any particular city street for one day a week.
Report claims that government managed trash collection would "significantly" improve neighborhood safety are meritless when not one safety incident could be cited. Furthermore, in 2021, 95% of residents rated the city's quality of life as Excellent or Good in a city conducted survey.
The city's 2021 citizen survey said that 9 of 10 residents rate the quality of the current open market garbage collection system as either Excellent or Good. 97% rate it as Excellent, Good, or Fair.
October 2023
Edina city staff prepared an excellent quality report and fair analysis of the issue of government managed trash collection.
The city report states that additional city employees would have to be hired to manage the trash collection program. Furthermore, improvements in vehicle emissions, safety, or road impacts are either negligible or non-existent. In addition, staff stated that government managed trash collection is contrary to the city's economic development goals which promotes business growth.
See October 10, 2023 Memo on Government Managed Trash Collection
November 2023
The Edina City Council will be discussing the city's report at their meeting on Tuesday, November 21st at 7:00pm at city hall.
Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice (GHCC) sent out the following post card to Edina residents informing them of this issue and their right to be heard. Residents are encouraged to contact their city council members on this issue prior to the meeting on November 21st.
November 21, 2023
City Council votes 4-1 to maintain current open market system, where residents will retain the right to hire their own trash hauler.
Scroll down for further information on the November 21, 2023 Edina City Council meeting.
Background of the issue:
A handful of citizen advisory commission activists in Edina, a city of 53,000, continue to push the city council and staff to institute government managed trash collection based upon meritless claims and unscientifically collected data as identified in a city staff report.
Edina is a city that prides itself as being one of the premier communities in the State of Minnesota. There is an expectation that all services provided to residents, whether they are provided by government or private businesses, are nothing less than top quality.
It is the only city in the state that legally mandates haulers to offer what is called "back door service" to residential homeowners at no additional cost (see Edina Code Sec. 12-116). Homeowners have a choice of having their waste containers picked up at the curb, or any other location on their property.
Government managed trash systems are synonymous with one size fits all service plans, low quality service, and zero loyalty to homeowners as the government is contracting for service, not residents.
Everything about government managed trash collection runs counter to the values of the City of Edina and its residents.
September 2021
An unelected citizen advisory commission, made up of activists with a desire to see government managed trash collection instituted at all costs, issued a draft report to city staff that made a number of problematic claims.
Report claims as to the number of waste hauling vehicles traveling on Edina city streets were made with zero supporting evidence. The numbers were a wild guess.
Report claims that a reduction in solid waste truck traffic would "significantly" reduce greenhouse gas emissions contained zero supporting data or an explanation of what even constitutes "significant". In 2021, 92% of city residents rated the city's air quality as Excellent or Good in a city conducted survey.
Report claims that a reduction in solid waste truck traffic would "significantly reduce road maintenance and extend road life by 5-10 years were also made without any supporting data. No other city in Minnesota has seen any reduction in road maintenance or extended life by removing a few solid waste trucks from driving on any particular city street for one day a week.
Report claims that government managed trash collection would "significantly" improve neighborhood safety are meritless when not one safety incident could be cited. Furthermore, in 2021, 95% of residents rated the city's quality of life as Excellent or Good in a city conducted survey.
The city's 2021 citizen survey said that 9 of 10 residents rate the quality of the current open market garbage collection system as either Excellent or Good. 97% rate it as Excellent, Good, or Fair.
October 2023
Edina city staff prepared an excellent quality report and fair analysis of the issue of government managed trash collection.
The city report states that additional city employees would have to be hired to manage the trash collection program. Furthermore, improvements in vehicle emissions, safety, or road impacts are either negligible or non-existent. In addition, staff stated that government managed trash collection is contrary to the city's economic development goals which promotes business growth.
See October 10, 2023 Memo on Government Managed Trash Collection
November 2023
The Edina City Council will be discussing the city's report at their meeting on Tuesday, November 21st at 7:00pm at city hall.
Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice (GHCC) sent out the following post card to Edina residents informing them of this issue and their right to be heard. Residents are encouraged to contact their city council members on this issue prior to the meeting on November 21st.
November 21, 2023
Edina City Council members spent an hour discussing whether there was support to move forward with a proposal to take over management of the trash collection system. The room was full with observers and this was the most important item on the evening's agenda.
Mayor Hoveland opened the discussion by stating that there were a lot of rumors in the community concerning what decisions the council had made or were planning to make on this issue. Twice, he stated his appreciation that GHCC's mailing was straight forward accurate in its message. He reassured the public that the city council had made no decisions at this point and that any changes would involve a long process.
Mayor Hoveland stated that he had received 30-40 calls a day from residents and hundreds of emails. He noted that the city survey asking about support for government managed collection had risen from a 50% positive response from surveys conducted from 2015-2021, but then had jumped to 59% in 2023. (KEY THOUGH was his comment that the survey question was the same from 2015-2021 but then was CHANGED in 2023. Had support for government managed trash collection actually risen or was the survey question rewritten to garner a more positive response? Likely the latter is most accurate.)
(Edina is not the first city to swap survey questions and then receive different percentage responses. Shoreview recently abandoned their professional survey company and replaced them with randomly mailed in surveys. Now they are trying to pass off new survey results appearing to show more support for government managed trash collection when in reality changes are more likely due to a move away from the professional survey company.)
Council Member Pierce spoke first, and wanted to echo the Mayor's comments and wanted to be fair about the issue. He wanted data and public comment before making a decision. He said that if we artificially impact the market and take away choice, we need a super majority of citizens to support this, and we do not have that. He would prefer that super majority to form on its own, not through a government mandate.
Council Member Agnew stated that she received over 1000 emails. She stated that the city could not get the data they needed unless they started the process of taking over management of the trash system. (Note: The city council possesses the power through their licensing system to obtain most if not all the data she was seeking. In fact most haulers would provide that information if asked nicely. Much of this data is reported to Hennepin County under current law.)
Council Member Agnew stated that she had concerns about traffic, safety, recycling, and yard waste ending too early. (City staff said there would be no measurable impact on traffic, that there is zero safety problems, and haulers are always willing to sit down with the council and staff to discuss recycling and yard waste issues at any time. All one has to do is set up a day and time that is convenient to all parties.)
Council Member Jackson said that the reason this issue was before the city council was due to a request of citizen advisory commission members. (The fact is that in most cities, citizen advisory commission members are not reflective of the true opinions of the residents of the entire city. Many apply to be appointed to these positions in order to drive personal, political, or ideological agendas. Elected officials need to be cognizant of this. They are the true representatives of the people and must balance all concerns and viewpoints when making decisions on behalf of all residents.)
Council Member Jackson spoke of state mandates for recycling and stated that government managed trash collection would help them collect much needed data to address these mandates. (Actually a lot of data on solid waste is mandated to be reported to county government in the 7-county metropolitan area. All one has to do is call Hennepin County to get the reports. Additionally, any data can be mandated through the city's licensing process, which the city could do immediately, without taking away anyone's right to choose their own hauler.)
Council Member Jackson concluded by stating that elderly people contacted her stating they get help from their current hauler. She said that she is not convinced that government managed trash collection will actually reduce waste stream management. (She is correct, it will not.) She did not want to reduce service to residents. She was not going to support moving forward on government organized trash collection but noted that the reality of the garbage stream overwhelming the landfills will not go away.
Council Member Risser stated that she appreciated the letters and had not gotten through all of them. Wants to get to Council Member Jackson's goals of reducing waste. Mentioned Golden Valley having a fabric recycling donation program that was successful.
Council Member Risser stated that there are too many trucks on the road and that some roads are challenging for trash trucks. (The fact is that this problem was actually created by the city council years ago. Elected officials previously voted to mandate that all haulers operate in a neighborhood on one specific day, so you get 6 days of no trash truck traffic and one day with everyone. In cities that allow for every day collection, you may only see one truck a day for trash and another for recycling. One hauler works a neighborhood Monday, and a different one Tuesday, etc. Imagine if the city council were to mandate that all Amazon deliveries were to be made only on Wednesday's in your neighborhood!)
Council Member Risser concluded by recognizing that there are trade offs. She stated that intuitively government managed trash collection sounds better, but on the other hand haulers don't care as they have a mandated collection area and don't have to compete for resident's business. She proposed that the city consider a city wide trash pickup day for large items like is done in some other cities.
Mayor Hoveland stated that there is no proof that it is worth changing the system. The city staff report noted negligible or no impact on numerous points. He noted that trash day is only one day a week. He said that the stories residents left on his voice mail and through email were very compelling in support of the current open market system. He also spoke of supporting the small businesses and that a government managed system would let the big dogs take out the small people and that this did not sit well with him.
Mayor Hoveland also spoke in opposition to having to hire a garbage czar employee at $125,000 a year to manage all of this, stating that we don't need this now. He spoke that residents could reduce 40% of all waste by simply composting. He said we should stick with what we got and sit down with the haulers and see what we can improve without going to government managed trash collection.
Both Council Member Pierce and Mayor Hoveland said that the status quo doesn't mean we do nothing. The next steps are pretty open but it will not include government managed trash collection.
Council Member Pierce made a motion to keep Edina as an open collection trash system and refine that existing system. Seconded by Mayor Hoveland. Council Member Risser asked that we explore other cities and what they are doing for textile collection.
Hoveland, Pierce, Risser, and Jackson voted YES. Agnew voted NO.
City Council votes 4-1 to maintain current open market system, where residents will retain the right to hire their own trash hauler.
Note that Explore Edina / Edina Chamber of Commerce submitted a letter in support of open market trash collection and the small trash hauling companies that have served the community for many years.
Edina City Council members spent an hour discussing whether there was support to move forward with a proposal to take over management of the trash collection system. The room was full with observers and this was the most important item on the evening's agenda.
Mayor Hoveland opened the discussion by stating that there were a lot of rumors in the community concerning what decisions the council had made or were planning to make on this issue. Twice, he stated his appreciation that GHCC's mailing was straight forward accurate in its message. He reassured the public that the city council had made no decisions at this point and that any changes would involve a long process.
Mayor Hoveland stated that he had received 30-40 calls a day from residents and hundreds of emails. He noted that the city survey asking about support for government managed collection had risen from a 50% positive response from surveys conducted from 2015-2021, but then had jumped to 59% in 2023. (KEY THOUGH was his comment that the survey question was the same from 2015-2021 but then was CHANGED in 2023. Had support for government managed trash collection actually risen or was the survey question rewritten to garner a more positive response? Likely the latter is most accurate.)
(Edina is not the first city to swap survey questions and then receive different percentage responses. Shoreview recently abandoned their professional survey company and replaced them with randomly mailed in surveys. Now they are trying to pass off new survey results appearing to show more support for government managed trash collection when in reality changes are more likely due to a move away from the professional survey company.)
Council Member Pierce spoke first, and wanted to echo the Mayor's comments and wanted to be fair about the issue. He wanted data and public comment before making a decision. He said that if we artificially impact the market and take away choice, we need a super majority of citizens to support this, and we do not have that. He would prefer that super majority to form on its own, not through a government mandate.
Council Member Agnew stated that she received over 1000 emails. She stated that the city could not get the data they needed unless they started the process of taking over management of the trash system. (Note: The city council possesses the power through their licensing system to obtain most if not all the data she was seeking. In fact most haulers would provide that information if asked nicely. Much of this data is reported to Hennepin County under current law.)
Council Member Agnew stated that she had concerns about traffic, safety, recycling, and yard waste ending too early. (City staff said there would be no measurable impact on traffic, that there is zero safety problems, and haulers are always willing to sit down with the council and staff to discuss recycling and yard waste issues at any time. All one has to do is set up a day and time that is convenient to all parties.)
Council Member Jackson said that the reason this issue was before the city council was due to a request of citizen advisory commission members. (The fact is that in most cities, citizen advisory commission members are not reflective of the true opinions of the residents of the entire city. Many apply to be appointed to these positions in order to drive personal, political, or ideological agendas. Elected officials need to be cognizant of this. They are the true representatives of the people and must balance all concerns and viewpoints when making decisions on behalf of all residents.)
Council Member Jackson spoke of state mandates for recycling and stated that government managed trash collection would help them collect much needed data to address these mandates. (Actually a lot of data on solid waste is mandated to be reported to county government in the 7-county metropolitan area. All one has to do is call Hennepin County to get the reports. Additionally, any data can be mandated through the city's licensing process, which the city could do immediately, without taking away anyone's right to choose their own hauler.)
Council Member Jackson concluded by stating that elderly people contacted her stating they get help from their current hauler. She said that she is not convinced that government managed trash collection will actually reduce waste stream management. (She is correct, it will not.) She did not want to reduce service to residents. She was not going to support moving forward on government organized trash collection but noted that the reality of the garbage stream overwhelming the landfills will not go away.
Council Member Risser stated that she appreciated the letters and had not gotten through all of them. Wants to get to Council Member Jackson's goals of reducing waste. Mentioned Golden Valley having a fabric recycling donation program that was successful.
Council Member Risser stated that there are too many trucks on the road and that some roads are challenging for trash trucks. (The fact is that this problem was actually created by the city council years ago. Elected officials previously voted to mandate that all haulers operate in a neighborhood on one specific day, so you get 6 days of no trash truck traffic and one day with everyone. In cities that allow for every day collection, you may only see one truck a day for trash and another for recycling. One hauler works a neighborhood Monday, and a different one Tuesday, etc. Imagine if the city council were to mandate that all Amazon deliveries were to be made only on Wednesday's in your neighborhood!)
Council Member Risser concluded by recognizing that there are trade offs. She stated that intuitively government managed trash collection sounds better, but on the other hand haulers don't care as they have a mandated collection area and don't have to compete for resident's business. She proposed that the city consider a city wide trash pickup day for large items like is done in some other cities.
Mayor Hoveland stated that there is no proof that it is worth changing the system. The city staff report noted negligible or no impact on numerous points. He noted that trash day is only one day a week. He said that the stories residents left on his voice mail and through email were very compelling in support of the current open market system. He also spoke of supporting the small businesses and that a government managed system would let the big dogs take out the small people and that this did not sit well with him.
Mayor Hoveland also spoke in opposition to having to hire a garbage czar employee at $125,000 a year to manage all of this, stating that we don't need this now. He spoke that residents could reduce 40% of all waste by simply composting. He said we should stick with what we got and sit down with the haulers and see what we can improve without going to government managed trash collection.
Both Council Member Pierce and Mayor Hoveland said that the status quo doesn't mean we do nothing. The next steps are pretty open but it will not include government managed trash collection.
Council Member Pierce made a motion to keep Edina as an open collection trash system and refine that existing system. Seconded by Mayor Hoveland. Council Member Risser asked that we explore other cities and what they are doing for textile collection.
Hoveland, Pierce, Risser, and Jackson voted YES. Agnew voted NO.
City Council votes 4-1 to maintain current open market system, where residents will retain the right to hire their own trash hauler.
Note that Explore Edina / Edina Chamber of Commerce submitted a letter in support of open market trash collection and the small trash hauling companies that have served the community for many years.