RIVER FALLS — River Falls City Council heard a report on the status of garbage route completion since switching to one-day pick-up each week, as well as public comment from many regarding the area’s mental health resources at the Sept. 9 meeting.

During the administrator’s report, Alderperson Nick Carow asked City Administrator Scot Simpson if the results of switching to one day pick-up with Waste Management on July 21 have improved, gotten worse or remained similar.

The change was made for all residential customers to have trash picked up on Thursdays, removing Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

“This change is taking place to ensure consistency, accountability and reliability of drivers,” the city website states.

Simpson said the numbers have gotten worse with a small sample size.

“If you look at, weekly, did they make it or not make it, I think they’ve made it less weeks, less percentage,” Simpson said. “They’ve had a smaller sample, but they’ve made a smaller percentage of completed route weeks when they’ve gone to one than when they had three days.”

Carow asked if the percentage gets low enough, what conversations the city could have. Simpson replied that each week they do not complete the route, Waste Management is fined.

“Their effort is better, but they’re not manifested in the results. Effort is good, but at the end of the day, people want their garbage picked up,” Simpson said. “That’s the conversations we’re having now is that effort has still got to get to a result.”

Simpson said Waste Management has addressed personnel issues on some routes and replaced some equipment, which may help the numbers moving forward. Waste Management had completed its route in two of six weeks as of the meeting, and was at around 75% completion when doing three days of pick-ups a week.

The contract comes to an end within the year, with the city putting out a request for proposals in the next 30 days.

Suicide Awareness Month

With September being Suicide Awareness Month, community members took the opportunity during public comment to speak on things the city can do to improve mental health resources.

“We’re working to address mental health issues in our community with a goal of bringing a community response team to River Falls,” Linda Vivoda-Sadée of RF Action said. “There is a gap between what public health can do on one side and what public safety can do on the other.”

Vivoda-Sadée said she was informed of a friend who needed a therapist that was told there would be a 6-8 week wait. They felt that is not sufficient for people who may urgently need the help.

Michelle Hansen of National Alliance on Mental Illness St. Croix Valley said they are full of families with loved ones in crises struggling to get help. Hansen said confines of the law often make it difficult for police to be productive in mental health.

“What is needed is for key partners, city, human services, public safety and other representatives to come together with invested community organizations and members to discuss what is already in place and working, where the gaps are and how we can collaborate to effectively address them with a community response structure that considers funding, liability, training, statutes and other requirements,” RF Action’s Heidi Roettger said. “We also need to create an environment that normalizes seeking help early on before crises develop into more serious outcomes.”

Roettger followed Hansen’s point, saying even when the police can help out, it takes a lot of city resources to take someone across the state in a police car rather than having the necessary facilities near home.

High school teacher and RF Action member Taylor Stevens said much of the nation is a mental health resource desert, making it difficult for people to get the help they need. She said there are some resources in the Twin Cities, but people with BadgerCare often cannot access them as they are out of state. Stevens told council they have a presentation they would like to show at a future meeting if they allow it.

Resident Benjamin Fochs spoke about a suicide attempt from his brother. He said the memory is engrained in his head, and he asked people to remember to use less hateful rhetoric, especially during election cycles.

“I see things about which side you’re on versus what you’re doing, and I just see this in a lot of things lately and I think it’s gotten worse,” Fochs said. “I see a lot of discord and a lot of hateful speech on both sides, and I also see it within public development.”

Other ubsiness

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the River Falls Disc Golf Club regarding maintenance and public use of Sterling Hill Disc Golf Course. The city is responsible for providing garbage receptacles and a portable bathroom as well as mowing the trailhead and along Old Jersey Road, city documents state. The agreement goes into effect until 2028.
• Approved the River Falls Emergency Operations Plan.
• Dana Linscott spoke during public comment on the city’s transparency. He cited not keeping minutes during closed sessions to become available when its privacy is no longer necessary as one of his grievances.