Trash Haulers v. St. Louis County: The Final Frontier - Showdown in the Missouri Supreme Court

One month from today, May 10^th at 9:00 a.m. in Jefferson City, the seven judges of the Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the trash haulers case (American Eagle Waste Industries, LLC et al. v. St. Louis County).  The subject case was the first of four lawsuits that were brought against St. Louis County as a result of the county’s controversial trash districting program.  The other three cases have since been disposed of by the courts with the county prevailing in all three cases (Buchanan et al. v. St. Louis County, Grace v. St. Louis County, and Weber et al. v. St. Louis County).  In each of those cases, the courts’ ruled that the county did not violate its charter or any state statutes, and thus was within its legal powers to implement a trash districting program.
 

In May of 2008, American Eagle, Meridian, and Waste Management, filed suit against St. Louis County for its failure to provide a two-year notice prior to the implementation of a trash districting program, as required per Missouri statute.  St. Louis County prevailed at the circuit court level, but the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District reversed the decision of the lower court and held that the county owed damages to the three unsuccessful trash haulers in their bids for a trash district. 

The appellate court remanded the case back to the circuit court to determine the amount of damages.  Circuit Court Judge Barbara Wallace ruled that St. Louis County owed the trash haulers damages totaling roughly $1.16 million, as follows:  $261,086 to American Eagle, $99,224 to Meridian, and $799,593 to Waste Management.  Patricia Redington, St. Louis County Counselor, subsequently challenged the amount of the damages, as well as the circuit and appellate court’s ruling, which resulted in the present appeal to the state’s high court.

After four years of meandering through the state judicial system, the legal question to be decided appears to be whether the county owes the three trash haulers monetary damages and the amount of those damages, if any. 

The plaintiffs, defendant, and amicus briefs are 93, 85, and 24 pages, respectively, which equates to a rather large time of reading material at 202 pages. 

Within a few months after the conclusion of the oral arguments on May 10^th, the Missouri Supreme Court will render its written opinion, which should result in the final chapter of the controversial trash issue in St. Louis County.  Regardless of how the court rules, the county trash districting program will continue to operate as is.  Residents in the eight trash districts will forever be forced to use the county “designated hauler” for each respective trash district, with the sole exception being those subdivisions that wisely “opted-out” of the county program being forever exempt to choose their own hauler(s). 

There is one final important point to note with regard to the 300+ subdivisions that opted out of the county program:  Never opt back into the county program, even if your subdivision chooses to contract with a county designated hauler at some point; the reason being that once a subdivision opts back into the county program, it can never opt-out again.  The county may not advise a subdivision of this little known provision; however, this is one of the many reasons for the existence of this committee and the Subdivision Trustees – St. Louis Metro Area website.    

There will be more on this issue as new developments unfold.  In the interim, check out Subdivision Trustees – St. Louis Metro Area (www.subdivisiontrustees.blogspot.com) for updates on this issue and others of interest to residents in St. Louis County.

Anyone interested in joining the protected e-mail distribution list should send his/her name, e-mail address, and subdivision/area of residence to gregporter@prodigy.net.

Please forward and pass this communication on to other interested parties, especially to those who do not have internet access.

Court Announces $ettlement to Trash Haulers

Judge rules county owes haulers more than $1.1 million

A county circuit court judge on Friday awarded more than $1.1 million in damages to three waste haulers who sued the county over the establishment of its trash-district program.

Judge Barbara Wallace ordered the county pay a total of $1,159,903.90 to American Eagle Waste, Meridian Waste and Waste Management in their suit that alleges the county failed to provide the state-required two years' written notification it was establishing eight trash districts in unincorporated areas.

Wallace awarded $261,086.65 to American Eagle Waste; $99,224.20 to Meridian and $799,593.05 to Waste Management. The haulers claimed they collectively were owed roughly $23 million.

They sued in May 2008 after failing to win contracts to exclusively serve the trash districts.

Contracts were awarded to Allied Waste, IESI and Veolia Environmental Services. Veolia last fall pulled its operations from the St. Louis region and transferred its trash district contracts to Allied.

Unauthorized haulers are prohibited from offering service to district residents.

Plaintiffs cited Missouri Statute 260.247, which states in part, "Any city or political subdivision which annexes an area or enters into or expands solid-waste collection services into an area where the collection of solid waste is presently being provided by one or more private entities, for commercial or residential services, shall notify the private entity or entities of its intent to provide solid-waste collection services in the area by certified mail.''

Trash-collection services cannot begin until at least two years after the date of notification, according to the statute, which was modified by the General Assembly in 2007 to include the county. The County Council approved legislation in December 2006 calling for the future establishment of trash districts. Eight districts were implemented by Oct. 1, 2008.

On Jan. 25, Wallace ruled the haulers were entitled to damages.

"The county's action resulted in a finite loss to plaintiffs of 40,000 customers for the statutory two-year notice period," she wrote in a Jan. 25 opinion. "By enforcing the exclusivity of its trash hauling districts, the county has effectively prevented plaintiffs from even the possibility of regaining those lost customers in that two-year period."

Read more in The Call Newspapers:  http://www.callnewspapers.com/

St. L County Trash Program Could Top $270 Million

Comments worth repeating . . .

"Meanwhile, a second lawsuit lurks, this one claiming that setting up garbage districts requires a popular vote. Now, the entire mess is headed for the Missouri Supreme Court."

"To top off the confusion, subdivisions representing a quarter of the eligible households opted out of the county plan, which means there still will be plenty of garbage trucks rumbling around."

"But Mr. Dooley and the council never effectively made their case, and now they've run into a legal minefield. They should pick their way out carefully and try again."

"Waste Management Inc. says it expects to lose $65 million in business over two years as a result of the changes. 'We had to park trucks and lay off over 60 employees," says a spokeswoman. "It could be damages that we'll ask for.'"

"The county will not divulge how much money they’ve spent on the trash program, but outside estimates are way over $10 million. If Waste Management expects to lose $65 million, the other three companies will probably loose a like amount. This means the total loss could well be over $270 million and growing."

"It’s amazing that no one within County management or the County Council will take responsibility."

Florissant Proposed Trash Contract Meets Mixed Reception

The rates proposed by a single waste hauler to provide trash collection in Florissant drew both support and skepticism from seniors who packed a public meeting recently. Meridian Waste Services was the low bidder among five licensed waste haulers who submitted bids to the city for a three-year contract.

Mayor, Robert Lowery, had insisted that the bids include a 50 percent discount for seniors 60 and older.

A number of residents at the meeting, however, questioned whether the new rates would be cheaper than the city's garbage tag program for seniors.Seniors have the option of purchasing tags to place on individual garbage bags, rather than paying a monthly rate. Seniors who choose the tag option pay $20 and receive 20 to 30 tags, depending on the hauler they use.

Proposed trash rates in Florissant:- The cost would be $11.85 a month ($5.92 for seniors) during the first year of the contract, with an increase to $12.26 the second year and $12.69 the third.- Weekly yard waste pickup would be $8.15 per month ($4.70 for seniors). Additional bulk waste, household waste and yard waste pickup would be $15 per pickup ($7.50 for seniors). Major appliance pickup would be $20 per item ($10 for seniors). Christmas tree pickup would be $5 per tree ($2.50 for seniors). Rental of a 64- or 96-gallon container would be $3 per month ($1.50 for seniors).

Customers say trash pickup plan works smoothly, so far

District 3 Residents Say They’re Pleased With Trash Program. District 3 was the first of the county's eight trash districts, which largely serve the unincorporated area, that began operating on July 1. The seven other districts began service Sept. 29.

Judging from the reaction of West Overland residents, other county residents may like the change. After all, who wouldn’t if the rates are lower and there are less trucks. Unfortunately there are other wrinkles for some county residents.

The new code requires weekly recycling collection to be a part of basic trash service. Yes, we should all recycle, but unfortunately, not all county residents want to. This ends up becoming a “forced” recycling program and results in a price increase for those individuals.

County officials hope recycling will lessen the amount of trash placed in landfills, limit the number of trash trucks on local streets and lower monthly rates. County officials have been trying to convince residents that recycling is going to lower month rates but they cannot explain how that happens.

Despite the initial acceptance by some residents, there may be clouds on the horizon.

Charles Barcom, who heads Meridian Waste Services, said that he plans to ignore the county's program and sign up his old customers. Meridian was one of several hauling firms that lost out in the bidding process.

Barcom said St. Louis County Counselor Patricia Redington said in a Missouri Court of Appeals hearing that the county cannot stop other haulers from signing up customers, short of adopting a new ordinance.

Meridian and other firms are appealing the dismissal of a suit that alleged that haulers should have been given a two-year notice of the new county program. "I intend to go back and re-sign up some of the customers," Barcom said.

St. Louis County Sued by Trash Haulers

Three waste haulers filed suit against St. Louis County to derail the county's plan to divide its unincorporated areas into eight trash collection districts. American Eagle Waste Industries, Meridian Waste Services and Waste Management of Missouri in St. Louis County Circuit Court filed the suit. The suit says the county violated state law by failing to give the companies two years' notice before starting the program.

The plaintiffs asked Circuit Judge James R. Hartenbach to immediately block the county's plan, but Hartenbach rejected the request.The county has hired a single hauler for each district, except in subdivisions that opted out. The program is due to begin in October. For the eight districts, only four haulers were selected with some serving multiple districts.

County Executive Charlie A. Dooley through spokesman Mac Scott, called them "sore losers." Said Scott: "Our lawyer believes we have done everything strictly according to the book in instituting this program, and we are planning to move ahead with it."

Thanks for The Recycle Cart, St. Louis County

I have to say that I appreciate the county giving us a recycle container. They make it much easier to recycle. Before, I had Waste Management and they only provided you with a small bin that had to be carried to the street. The pickup for recycling was only every other week, which meant my small bin filled up and I had to use my own bins for the rest. So I had to carry 2 or 3 bins to the curb and because they were not closed containers often time the items would fall out or blow out.

Since Paddock Forest voted to use Meridian Waste, my trash bill went down by $25. So all though some people see this as a bad situation, it has been good for us. Just wanted to give another perspective.

. . . Jami Dial