St. Paul community group hopes for alternate solution to trash dispute

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: It's our top story this afternoon. The city of St. Paul has averted a garbage pickup crisis for now. Mayor Carter declared a three-day state of emergency that allows the city's new garbage hauler to begin service today, as was scheduled. The dispute between the city and community members centers on whether the garbage hauler, FCC Environmental, can use a lot it purchased to maintain and fuel its trucks. Joining us now is Meg Duhr, the President of the West 7th/Fort Road Federation, which is the neighborhood where this lot is located. Really appreciate you coming on with us, Meg.

MEG DUHR: Hi, there. Yeah, thanks for having me on your show.

NINA MOINI: I think, for most people listening, it just feels like garbage hauling is the most essential and basic of city services for the city to be able to figure out. And it's sort of like, how did they get here? That's why it's important to have your perspective. So for people unfamiliar with the location of this lot in question that the garbage hauler had purchased, can you share where it is, what surrounds it, and what's the concern from you and your neighbors?

MEG DUHR: Sure. Sure. And our community, we're part of St. Paul, too, and we also want quality, uninterrupted trash collection, so we support the emergency orders. But yeah, where the site is, it's on Randolph Avenue. It's about 1,200 feet from the Mississippi River and it's about two blocks from the Randolph/West 7th intersection, which is a major intersection in our community and a place that the city planning has designated as a neighborhood node. And Randolph is also one of the only streets that connects to the river. If not for Randolph, it would be basically a 2 and 1/2 mile stretch of our community that is cut off from the river.

And West 7th, being so close to the river, it doesn't really feel like a river neighborhood because of so much other freeway construction and other past industrial uses that cut the community off from the river. And so for decades-- the earliest plan was 2002-- this location, although it has been industrial, the location has been identified as an area for higher density residential use, green space, commercial development because it is such an important intersection in our neighborhood and for the city at large.

NINA MOINI: So when you first started this effort at taking this to the city with your concerns, when was that?

MEG DUHR: The first time we brought up our concerns was actually back in June, when we had kind of heard rumors that the new trash hauler was eyeing a site in our neighborhood, and we started asking questions to our contacts in public works. And even at that early stage, we were told that this was a private sale between FCC, the company, and the seller, and it was kind of out of the city's hands, and there wasn't really anything that they could say.

And we were told to contact FCC. So we, of course, did. And FCC would not meet with us until all throughout the summer and fall, we kept bringing up concerns. And then the first time they met with us was in December. And we were sort of told, at that point, it was already a done deal because the purchase had gone through. So the community has really been left out of this process from the get go.

NINA MOINI: So then, fast forward March 19 is when city council members voted 5 to 0 to uphold the appeal from your group here. So they were essentially agreeing that some more time needs to be taken to figure out the proper zoning and interpret the laws that are on the books and how far could FCC go with the lot that they have. Is it just storing trucks or is it also be being able to refuel their trucks there and building upon it?

After that, on March 19, is when Mayor Carter seemed to come out and say, this can't happen. He had said he would declare a state of emergency. What is your interpretation of what happened with the council between then and now?

MEG DUHR: Well, obviously, we think the council made the correct decision with the misapplication of the zoning code and all the contradictions to the 2040 comprehensive plan and other existing plans. They made the right call. And there were also huge procedural concerns with missing testimony for the planning commission that was also a reason for granting our appeal.

So I wasn't surprised. I thought it was a little overblown to call it a crisis and an emergency because even if the community had not appealed, FCC would not have had their site built out by April 1. They have multiple other permits to get through. They didn't submit their site plan until mid-February, and that's the fully-detailed architectural plans, the landscaping plan, where the refueling site would go. That wasn't even submitted until mid-February, so there's no way it was going to be built by April 1.

What we were asking for in our appeal is really just-- I mean, we want them to try to find a new site is the ask. And we hope that there is consideration of that in these 90 days rather than just try to find more administrative workarounds at City Hall.

NINA MOINI: So Mayor Carter said yesterday that he's going to be asking council members at their meeting tomorrow to extend the state of emergency-- because those can only be three days from the mayor-- extend it to 90 days to give time for the resolution, which you alluded to the 90 days. But he essentially says, hey, FCC bought this land, and they can do with it what they want within the laws that are on the books. But I want to play just a clip from the news conference that the mayor, Mayor Melvin Carter, had yesterday about what he's thinking about as things move forward.

MELVIN CARTER: I expect there will continue to be disagreements where the long-term disposition of that site on Randolph is concerned. At the same time, I have been appreciative of the consensus that we have among elected city leaders, I believe we have absolutely no more urgent task in front of us right now this week than ensuring the continuity of our trash hauling.

NINA MOINI: What's your response as you listen to that? It sounds, I mean, really urgent the way the mayor is talking about it.

MEG DUHR: Yeah, I mean, that's certainly a-- we agree that there should be no interruption to trash collection and there shouldn't be. These orders handle that. I think it's a little bit overblown that there could have been an interruption. Like I said, we support the three month extension of the emergency order. But we want to see that time where there's true collaboration with community and exploration of other sites.

And Mayor Carter and his staff have been saying for months, well, it's industrial use. They bought it fair and square. But it's really not that simple. Light industrial zoning-- the code specifically says it's a use that's supposed to have no external impacts. And I don't know how anybody could argue that 36 garbage trucks coming and going, plus all the staff parking, is not going to have an external impact.

This neighborhood, this spot to the neighborhood, is transitioning to more transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly location. And this is what the comprehensive plan calls for. So this is really just taking it in the wrong direction.

NINA MOINI: If you don't feel, Meg-- in your group, don't feel that there's real earnest collaboration happening, would you consider taking legal action? What are the options that you're exploring?

MEG DUHR: Well, there is still the site plan process, which there will be a public hearing before the zoning committee, and then it goes to the planning commission. So we will be reframing our arguments from the perspective of the site plan. And we just received the updated site plan a few days ago, and it's 300 pages. So we will be going over that with a finetoothed comb and considering our next steps. Legal action is certainly on the table, but it remains to be seen.

NINA MOINI: And there are also state laws that support-- making sure that people are collecting garbage and for the safety of people in the state. And I don't want to put words in your mouth, but are you feeling like this is theatrical or what are you trying to say about this, the idea of the state of emergency?

MEG DUHR: I mean, I recognize that was the administrative step needed to continue operations at the site in light of the council decision. But it makes it sound like it was this crisis, and that the opposition slowed down FCC's build-out of the site, which is not the case. The reason why they don't have their CNG plans yet is because they didn't submit their site plan until mid-February. I guess that's what I'm trying to say.

NINA MOINI: All right, Meg, well, we really appreciate you coming on. We hope you'll come back as things continue to unfold here and as we continue to track this issue.

MEG DUHR: Thank you.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. That's Meg Duhr, President of the West 7th/Fort Road Federation in St. Paul.