Organized trash pickup: St. Paul, please get organized ahead of time

There have been many articles about St. Paul's efforts to "coordinate" trash collection. Although there are valid arguments for considering the change, residents should be concerned and demand that the process is actually organized before it is rolled out in bits and pieces.

When Bloomington switched to an organized system in the fall of 2016, it changed me from a supporter to an outspoken critic. Therefore, let me share some thoughts.

The city needs to completely organize the process and clearly explain the details to residents, in writing — through the mail (not just online) — before it starts.

I believe the No. 1 problem with the Bloomington rollout was lack of timely, accurate information. Bloomington posted some information on its website, but that assumes everyone has access to the internet. The city also included information in its Bloomington Briefing, but that only comes out bimonthly. Often, the information was outdated by the time it hit our mailboxes.

Early on, the city stated that we could have a second yard-waste cart for an additional one-time charge of $35. Then we were told it would be an annual charge of $35. But that was later corrected to a one-time charge.

Early on, the city stated that we needed to call to sign up for yard waste. Then the city changed its mind and stated that people were automatically signed up if they had service before.

When the city tried to gather information about rates and cart sizes, the haulers stalled or provided inaccurate information. This caused lots of problems when exchanging 21,000 carts, but even more when it came to continuation of service with a new hauler.

St. Paul should also be very careful not to set an arbitrary start date. Getting it right is more important. If they miss the summer "deadline," they should not start it in the fall, which is a very busy time with leaf and yard-waste collection.

Bloomington launched organized trash and recycling collection Oct. 1, 2016, but then decided to split out yard waste. This was a problem for many reasons. We stayed with our previous haulers for yard waste and they were allowed to bill us whatever they wanted, even though we were no longer able to choose our haulers. Some haulers didn't charge for the last two months because it was too much work to figure out what everyone owned. But my hauler raised his rates, then sold to a larger firm, which stuck me with a higher fee for two months.

When cities "organize" collection, it can go a few ways: They can have the city provide trash collection, like Minneapolis. Or they can solicit proposals from various haulers and select one. Or they can let all of the current haulers form a consortium to provide services to the city, keeping the same percentage of business that they currently have. The last option preserves jobs for the haulers, but puts a lot more power in their hands.

Christmas provided another opportunity for frustration. In the past, some haulers picked up trees free of charge, while others charged a nominal amount. After the city takeover, we were all charged. There were also mixed messages about how late in January trees would be picked up. In September, the city indicated that holiday trees would be picked up the "first few weeks in January." Then, in mid-January, residents learned that trees would only be picked up the first two full weeks of January, leaving a number of sad trees abandoned along the curb.

St. Paul is rightfully concerned about not destroying "small businesses" by choosing just one hauler. However, too often it feels like the consortium, like a powerful union, is calling all the shots.