By Lori Carlson, Editor 

Deciding that “change for change’s purpose isn’t always good,” the Prior Lake City Council on Monday agreed to maintain the status quo for garbage hauling in the city.

After weeks of discussion with haulers serving the city, the council determined that switching to a “day zone” method of collection or dictating hauler contracts would not solve issues of fuel consumption, pollution or road impacts. In May, the council directed city staff to research ways to tackle those problems.

Six licensed haulers currently operate in Prior Lake, with trucks collecting on any given weekday.

Prior Lake would have a hard time moving to day zones – in which haulers could only collect in certain areas on certain days – because only half of the six haulers in town currently collect garbage three days per week. The other three collect one day per week. If the city implemented day zones, some haulers would have to add drivers and equipment and change the pickup day for some residents, said Jane Kansier, building and transportation services director.

Day zones also would affect day of collection and prices for residents, she said. Zoning would reduce the number of days trucks are in a particular neighborhood, but it would not reduce the number of trucks on the streets, Kansier said.

Council members also opposed the “organized collection” method, in which the city would choose the hauler.

“The council doesn’t want to take away free enterprise,” Mayor Jack Haugen said.

Since first raising the possibility of garbage-collection changes in April, council members have received dozens of calls and e-mails from residents, most of them urging the city to keep the current open system.

“It’s very clear to me that residents in this community are quite happy with the way it is. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Councilman Steve Millar said.

Haugen said he hopes that at some point, city staff and haulers can revisit the issue and come up with a way to reduce fuel consumption and environmental and road impacts.

“These issues are not resolved, and if we went to one of these alternatives, it wouldn’t resolve those issues. That’s disappointing to me,” he said.

 Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.