Hello,
The notice that Wizard is referring to is a letter that is sent on a
quarterly basis to all residents, and Utility Bill payers, in Central
Neighborhood. It is the "official" notification that we send out, in
English and Spanish, that states:
"Litter and excess garbage detract from Central Neighborhood's appearance
and livability. Central Neighborhood residents want to live in a clean and
attractive neighborhood. The City of Minneapolis is cooperating with
Central Neighborhood residents to put cleanliness first and foremost and to
make Central a litter and garbage-free neighborhood.
Starting immediately, if on your garbage day the solid waste field crew
finds unconfined litter, garbage, or debris within twenty (20) feet of the
alley, the City will clean it up. However, you will be billed the cost of
this cleanup service. The minimum charge for the first cleanup will be
$50.00, but could be more; additional cleanups are billed at increasing
rates. Bagged garbage or two additional large items will not be billed as
an additional service. However, if you often have more garbage than your
cart can hold, you should consider obtaining an additional garbage cart or
using vouchers to take extra garbage to the South Transfer Station.
Please be sure to check the area near the alley or boulevard where your
garbage carts are before and after garbage collection and especially on your
garbage collection days. Remember, you are responsible for cleaning up any
litter, trash or garbage on your property, even if you did not put it there.
By picking up litter, and making sure that debris is in your cart or
properly prepared, you will keep your neighborhood clean, and avoid
additional fees." (end of letter)
Yes, as a resident of Central, Wizard has received this letter several
times; it is a quarterly reminder because I know that I tend to forget stuff
over time, and I expect that other folks do too. ( In my case, I'm sure
that when I sleep on my side, memories fall out of my ears--I refuse to
believe that I'm getting older and am loosing brain cell functions). With
the letter is a flier, also in English and Spanish that we call "If you
have...Here's what to do," that gives practical info on how to get rid of
excess garbage, large items, motor oil, etc. Again, I include that flier
with each mailing because I know that folks have more than their trash
service on their minds, and most folks do not have C & D materials or large
items each week, and don't remember what to do with them. The flier
responds, in advance, to our most commonly asked questions.
Wizard and Steve both know, through personal experience, that I DO respond
to questions, and that, when the specific situation warrants, I do waive the
fees for a particular cleanup. No, I do not waive every fee that is
questioned; I freely admit that there are situations where I wish I could
charge additional fees for flagrant messes and illegal dumping of junk.
However, I do try to treat all of my customers, all 108,000 dwelling units
worth, as fairly and evenly as possible. There is, as Steve mentions, an
appeal process from my decisions though the Utility Billing office if
customers believe that I have been unfair or unreasonable. No, I have NOT
appealed any of the decisions of the arbitrator in that process, and have
not, therefore, cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars in legal fees in
appeals of that process.
Notification for Solid Waste and Recycling Division enforcement actions,
such as the Clean City and Dirty Collection Point programs, is sent to
resident owners and non-resident owners, and we perform cleanups on dirty
properties--not owner occupied or non-owner occupied properties. Normally,
I send notices to residents, Utility Bill Payers, and Tax Payers---and a few
months ago some of the List Folks were concerned about that practice ("the
wasteful division of solid waste"). Yes, if the Utility Bill Payer name,
and/or address, is not very close in spelling to the Tax Payer name and/or
address, it is probable that folks may receive duplicate information. I
would rather that, than for them NOT to receive information. Division
employees and I do work to avoid duplicates (both electronically and when
hand signing letters), but I use data bases from a couple of City
departments, and the County, and none of them have the same data conventions
(but they're working on it!!!) I also send notices to "third parties,"
such as management companies, when they have requested that service.
Finally, there is a situation whereby someone may not receive advance notice
that my folks are performing a cleanup, but for which they are billed the
cost of the cleanup. We do "Health and Safety" cleanups, in accordance with
Minneapolis ordinance, for those rare situations in which immediate action
is needed to protect the health and safety of the public. Sometimes it is a
refrigerator full of rotting food, that can't wait a week to be properly
disposed of, sometimes it is debris that is falling into a street or alley
and impeding the ability of public safety vehicles to obtain access to
property, sometimes it is a huge pile from a moveout that both contains
rotting garbage which is attracting disease vectors (fancy term for maggots
and rodents) and affecting public right of way. These Health and Safety
cleanups are done very seldom, and only in situations where I determine that
immediate action is necessary. Often, if we can wait a day, or if there is
a way to track down a responsible party, we can call folks and give them a
chance to clean these (immediately) themselves. However, with 108,000
customers, it is (1) not always possible to contact the responsible party or
(2) there's not practicably enough time in which to research, find and
contact an individual. Health and Safety of the public comes first---that's
why most Cities get in the garbage business in the first place.
I know that our policies and programs will not please all of the people, all
of the time. I will continue to be available to folks that want to discuss
the policies that I implement in neighborhood meetings, by phone and by
e-mail. Most people know that if you'll give me 24 hours notice, and have
two folks that want to talk trash, I'll be at your meeting. I've even
agreed to be "interviewed" on a certain well-known cable television program.
I will not, however, respond to threatening calls or e-mails, and to those
folks----YOU know who you are.
Thank you for the opportunity to e-spond!
Susan Young, Director
Division of Solid Waste and Recycling, City of Minneapolis
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