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Council delays decision on closing Roseville Leaf Recycling Center after public outcry
Summary
After a lengthy staff presentation on costs and equipment needs and more than an hour of public comment, the Roseville City Council voted 4–1 on Oct. 13 to follow a commission recommendation and keep the leaf recycling site open for one more year to collect further data and explore options.
Public Works Director Jesse Fryhammer told the council that staff had proposed closing the city’s leaf recycling site to reduce duplication of service with Ramsey County and to avoid large capital replacement costs for aging compost-turning equipment. Fryhammer said the site collects about 30,000–35,000 cubic yards of leaves annually, yields 4–5,000 cubic yards of compost and requires about 720 staff hours (estimated $59,000) and significant equipment investment. He estimated some replacement equipment options could cost as much as $800,000, while smaller pull-behind options would require other equipment changes and reduce site capacity.
Fryhammer said Ramsey County already provides a yard-waste service and that closing Roseville’s site would increase average resident travel distance roughly 1.5 miles. He also noted site constraints (limited queuing), illegal dumping and odor/noise complaints; the Public Works Environment & Transportation Commission recommended keeping the site open for one more year to collect more data and explore options.
Multiple residents told council the site is heavily used by seniors and residents without transport and described frequent trips and higher travel burdens if the site closed. Speakers included Roger Hess, John Hughes, Richard Carlin and landscaping contractors who said costs and travel time would increase. Several residents said they had not seen clear, mailed or posted notices about the Oct. 13 decision and asked for more public outreach.
Council member Graf moved to follow the commission’s recommendation to keep the site open for one year to gather information; council member Strachan opposed. The motion passed 4–1. Council asked staff to return with additional analysis of used equipment options, repair options, county coordination and equity impacts. Staff said if the site’s turning equipment fails catastrophically before replacements are secured the city would face operational constraints and may need to revisit options earlier.
