Laserfiche WebLink
Mr. Fart asked if the City had statistics on the level of street deterioration created by different garbage haulers <br />using the same residential street. Mr. Hobson said that he had done research for Fort Collins, Colorado, that <br />indicated there was a cost associated with multiple trucks traveling down a street. He said that information <br />could be provided to the council. Mr. Fart asked how significant one more truck could be. Mr. Hobson said <br />that the vehicles in question were considerably heavier than passenger vehicles, and in small neighborhoods <br />with narrow streets the trucks could damage the curbs when turning around. Primarily, however, the issue was <br />weight. Mr. Hobson said that it might not be a terribly significant cost but it was a quantifiable cost <br />nonetheless. There were more significant costs than the wear and tear created by trucks. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked what parameters existed if the City decided to have exclusive territories and franchise <br />them: Could anyone bid on those territories, including nonlocal haulers? Ms. Young said that she had <br />discussed the issue with the City Attorney's Office. Currently, there was a five-year rolling license issued to <br />haulers. She suggested if the council decided to change the system, staff could negotiate with the current <br />haulers and turn those licenses into franchises, thereby retaining the local haulers. Ms. Young said that in <br />instances where a franchise agreement existed, there was generally a provision for automatic renewal. Mr. <br />Hobson added that the option of an exclusive franchise did not involve a bidding process, but working with the <br />current haulers on franchises. Ms. Bettman asked if the haulers could sell the franchises. Mr. Hobson said <br />yes. Ms. Young clarified that they could do so now. Mr. Hobson added that typically, franchise agreements <br />included a clause that required municipal approval of the franchise transfer. That approval could not be <br />withheld unreasonably. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman determined from Mr. Hobson that there was the chance service could gravitate toward nonlocal <br />haulers. Mr. Hobson reiterated that the possibility existed today. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman noted the savings projected from franchising exclusive territories, and asked if staff was saying <br />that adoption of the recommendation would mean customers would see a rate reduction, and how long would <br />that be guaranteed. Mr. Hobson said that they could see a reduction but might not; another approach would be <br />to forego a rate adjustment or postpone the adjustment for a longer period of time. If the City were to reduce <br />the rates by seven to eleven percent, he believed that there would need to be an inflationary adjustment to the <br />rates during the next rate review as the rate reduction would capture all the actual savings. Ms. Bettman asked <br />how the savings would affect the commercial haulers. Mr. Hobson said it would have no impact on the <br />commercial routes; the savings he mentioned was specific to the residential rate. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly commended the staff work and expressed appreciation for the amount of public input staff sought. <br />He asked about the potential that the rate-setting process could be made more transparent and open to the <br />public without requiring the haulers to open their books to the public. He suggested staff consider the question <br />for the future. Ms. Young said that it was difficult to disguise the information from one hauler to another <br />because of the distribution of accounts. One hauler had 80 percent of the residential market, for example, and <br />labor costs differed depending on whether the hauler is unionized. Mr. Hobson said that if the information <br />could be phrased in terms of cost increases for major expense categories that might work. Mr. Kelly suggested <br />the issue be discussed with the haulers. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked how there could be competition when the City sets the rates, and new haulers were <br />prohibited. Ms. Young said the haulers compete on the basis of service. Comments from the focus groups <br />and phone surveys indicated that there was appreciation of haulers who would walk to the house to retrieve <br />garbage cans, which added to the actual cost to the hauler. She noted that some haulers did not charge for this <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 11, 2001 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />