While preparing for an upcoming trip, former state lawmaker Michael Paymar asked his new trash hauler how to go about pausing garbage collection at his Highland Park home.

Advanced Disposal sent him a form asking for his dates of travel — as well as a copy of an airline ticket, hotel receipt or doctor’s note. There was even an option to provide a letter from a school registrar.

“Who knows what that means,” said Paymar, who represented St. Paul in the Legislature for 18 years. “What business is it of the trash hauler if I were going to get health care anywhere in the country? A doctor or clinic has to send a letter to you that then goes to the trash company? Who knows who is looking at that information. It seems rather personal to me.”

In fact, the form listed several ways to prove he would be out of town on the days he said he’d be gone. All of them too personal for his liking, Paymar said.

Paymar added that he’s spoken to other residents who have received the same form from other haulers, and they too have refused to submit the required documents.

Now, they’re taking their complaints to St. Paul City Hall.

The haulers handle all service holds. The city has NOT approved the form that some haulers are using. If you get denied for a service hold for not providing their required information, you can appeal to the city by contacting us at 651-266-6101 or garbage@ci.stpaul.mn.us — St Paul Public Works (@stpaulpublicw) November 1, 2018

Reached by phone on Thursday, Lee Johnson, a regional operations manager for Advanced Disposal, said she would ask a company spokesman to return a reporter’s call.

Organized trash collection rolled out citywide on Oct. 1 through a contract signed about a year ago between the city and 15 private haulers.

Of the original 15, at most eight still handle residential accounts of four housing units or less. The new system requires all households to participate. Related Articles St. Paul district reports enrollment drop as pandemic moves school online

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On Thursday morning, in response to a social media inquiry from data privacy and government transparency advocate Rich Neumeister of St. Paul, officials with St. Paul Public Works tweeted that the requested medical or travel information isn’t something that the city agreed to in its contract.

“The haulers handle all service holds,” St. Paul Public Works said in a tweet. “The city has NOT approved the form that some haulers are using. If you get denied for a service hold for not providing their required information, you can appeal to the city by contacting us.”

It’s unclear if all of the haulers now use the same extended-absence form. However, a Twitter handle pertaining to the District 1 Community Council on Old Hudson Road responded to Public Works, “This is important to know. … We’ve been hearing horror stories as well in the district councils.”

Lisa Hiebert, a spokeswoman for St. Paul Public Works, said that “per the contract, the city can review a denial of service hold and work with the haulers to get valid service holds resolved.”

Details about the hold request, travel dates and the denial need to be submitted to garbage@ci.stpaul.mn.us.

PUBLIC DATA?

At Stpaul.gov/garbage, listed under “Additional Services,” the city of St. Paul’s website describes how residents can appeal denials of extended absence requests to St. Paul Public Works — but that raises deeper privacy concerns in Paymar’s eyes.

“That means that the form is now sent to someone at Public Works. If that form is now at the city, it’s now public data,” Paymar said. “That means any company or any person can have access to it. It’s just not private data anymore.”

After numerous phone calls to his trash hauler, a regional manager for Advanced Disposal informed Paymar that if he didn’t submit the completed extended absence form in full, haulers would continue to visit his house during his travels, even if there was no garbage can to collect, and he’ll be charged accordingly.

If he doesn’t pay the bill, it will go on his property taxes.

“This is beyond the pale. To me, it’s just gross negligence on the city’s part,” he added. “A lot of people are going to fill that form out because they think it’s expected.” Related Articles St. Paul district reports enrollment drop as pandemic moves school online

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Paymar hopes the city negotiates an alternative to the form with the remaining haulers, but he is not optimistic the city has many legal options.

If the contract is silent on how to handle extended absences, the city might have little legal recourse. Paymar discussed his concerns at length with St. Paul Public Works Director Kathy Lantry and Assistant City Attorney Rachel Tierney.

“I said, ‘Rachel, look, I don’t know how you can say they’re violating the contract when there’s no language in the contract about obtaining personal data from people. That’s not abrogating the contract,’ ” Paymar said. “She said, ‘Well, we’re working to get this resolved.’ “