Got a reply off list from Pederson's. I'll quote part of it here:
"I understand your frustration. We are working on the matter and we apologize
that we didn't inform the population about our decision. Our decision was to
have blue bags for our elderly residents or residents that are otherwise
physically unable to bring their garbage in and don't generate enough garbage
to take advantage of our monthly residential service. And to answer your
question, yes, the service was abused by some of our customers."
No word on what the alternatives are. My neighbor puts out 1 bag per month, is
their only alternative now to haul their garbage to the transfer station if
their physically capable? I know they won't pay for a $30/month service, no
way.
The blue bag system was great when Schulte's ran the option at the SA with the
"blue bag" dumpster. You had already paid for the BB's so you just had to drop
one off conveniently in town when you had a full one. No transaction needed,
no waiting for "regular" hours. And, it didn't cost the owners anything to go
pickup up the bags, because there was no pickup. For some that might be a
problem, but for me, I appreciated the ability to take care of it when I wanted
to. Saves the hauler a bunch of money in fuel too. Now, I have to wait for
them to be open! Highly inconvenient for anyone who works a regular, full time
job. Those folks might pay for the regular monthly service, but to me, I paid
only about $18-$24/month ($6/bag w/tax) for garbage, depending on how many blue
bags I put out per month, usually only 3-4. Going to $30/month for something I
don't fully need is not a smart choice in my mind. In this economy, any
savings is appreciated, and making service more expensive is not a good
business move. Pederson's should figure out some rates that make sense for
people who have 3,4 or 5 40gal CANS of garbage out there, and tons of cardboard
and recycling, as opposed to one small 20gal can with no recyclables at all.
Charge by volume or by can like everywhere else. This is what other cities and
municipalities do. Let's give county residents the incentive to recycle, and
make both Pederson's prosper as well as the county recycling program. We all
benefit, materials get recycled better, and the landfills don't fill up as
fast.
Jeremy