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Something stinks in Continental Ranch, and it's not just the garbage cans.

In Marana's largest neighborhood, a battle is brewing among residents, the community association and two trash-hauling outfits over whether homeowners have the right to choose who picks up their garbage and how often it gets picked up.

"We just want to be able to look at our options," said Russell Clanagan, a Marana town councilman and 10-year resident of Continental Ranch. "This is not an insignificant part of people's lives."

At issue is whether Waste Management Inc. has exclusivity when it comes to providing trash pickup to the 3,800-home development or whether residents can look elsewhere, to companies such as Saguaro Environmental Services — which so far has signed up more than 75 homeowners in the area.

Waste Management has been in partnership with Continental Ranch since 1994. The newest contract that began Nov. 1 involved switching from twice-weekly garbage pickup to once-weekly, with a second day for picking up recyclables.

The change in service reflects an effort by Waste Management to encourage customers to recycle more, Continental Ranch Community Association Board President Jan Mann said. More recycling means less trash, she said, and therefore less need to have trash picked up twice.

"We are trying to go greener and do what's best for the community," Mann said. "Everybody in Tucson is once-a-week, everybody in California is once-a-week."

Continental Ranch residents, however, say they're not on board with the reduced service, especially when association rules require them to keep their garbage cans out of sight, leading many to store them in their garages.

That can lead to a foul-smelling garage, some say.

"We have our home for sale, and we can't just have garbage sitting in our garage," resident Patty Weissenfels said. "I have two big dogs, and when you clean up your yard every day, you can't put that anywhere but in your trash. When you're showing your house every day, that makes it hard."

Exclusivity in contract

The contract between Waste Management and the community association is exclusive, officials from both say.

But an Aug. 20 letter sent by Karen Matthews of Platinum Management — the company that helps run the community association — to one homeowner said "you are welcome to purchase service from anyone you choose."

A second letter, sent Oct. 16 from the association to all homeowners, added that "each home does have the opportunity to contract with whomever they choose for trash and recycling service" and "if you find a better value elsewhere with another provider … then feel free to switch."

Mann said the information in those letters was provided without actually verifying whether the Waste Management contract was indeed exclusive.

"It wasn't an error on our part, it was a misinterpretation of the contract," she said. "We did not even see in the contract that it was exclusive."

That mistake was explained in an Oct. 29 letter sent by the community association to all homeowners. The letter stated that "every contract the CRCA has held with Waste Management has been exclusive — granting them the right and privilege of being the only residential sanitation company in our company."

The letter went on to say the association had never before had the need to "enforce the exclusivity clause in our contracts."

Competitor enters scene

Mann said the resident Matthews wrote to on Aug. 20 forwarded that letter to Saguaro, a local trash-hauling company that serves neighborhoods and individual homes throughout the Tucson area. Mann said Saguaro then used the letter as an invitation to solicit Continental Ranch residents.

"They come flying in like vultures," Mann said. "They have created this whole situation."

Saguaro looked into entering Continental Ranch at the request of that resident, company homeowners association liaison Kathleen Gonsalez said.

"We found out a lot of customers didn't realize they had a choice," Gonsalez said. She said the resident who contacted Saguaro asked the company to include the forwarded letter "so people will know they can use another hauler. We didn't send it out to all residents, just to a test sample of about 400 homes."

Doug Jorden, a lawyer who represents Waste Management, said he understands how the letters sent by the association could have led to "confusion" over whether Waste Management is the exclusive hauler.

However, he said, since that issue has been clarified both to residents and in an Oct. 25 letter to Saguaro, there is no reason for Saguaro or other trash haulers to feel they have a right to solicit Continental Ranch residents.

"We believe there is an exclusive contract with Waste Management, and so does the homeowners' lawyer," Jorden said. "It's unfortunate that there was maybe some confusion made by these other letters. We respect our contracts, we would respect others to honor our contracts like we would theirs."

Gonsalez says Saguaro's legal department is disputing whether Waste Management has exclusivity or whether it is only considered the preferred hauler, which would mean other haulers could still operate in the area.

"In areas where we are the preferred hauler we do have competition," Gonsalez said.

No input on once-weekly

Many residents wonder why the association agreed to go to once-a-week service without soliciting public input.

Roxanne Ziegler, a Continental Ranch resident since 1989, who — like Clanagan — was elected to the Marana Town Council in March, said the community association wasn't smart enough to know it was giving its residents a raw deal.

"This HOA we have right now, they're not reasonable and they're not savvy enough and educated enough," Ziegler said. "I'm not surprised that Waste Management is upset, because they don't want anybody to come in here and take their business. I don't care if it's trash, if it's rocks, if it's houses, if you have exclusivity, that is gold to you."

Mann says a representative from Waste Management was at the association's July board meeting to discuss the service change, but no one voiced any concern.

No one knew about the pending change, Weissenfels countered, because board agendas are only posted on the association Web site, www.continental ranchca.com.

"I have never gone onto the HOA's Web site, and I was on the board for four years," said Clanagan, who during his tenure on the board became disenchanted with how Platinum Management operated.

"We have a management company here that just goes out of their way to make people's lives miserable. They've become entrenched. They don't want opinions, they don't want suggestions."

Special forum Nov. 27

A special homeowner forum, called "Let's Talk Trash" on the association Web site, has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Continental Ranch Community Center, 9150 N. Coachline Blvd., before the association's regular monthly meeting.

"I want homeowners to be able to stand up at a podium and speak their mind," Mann said.

That was not the case at the Oct. 23 meeting, when Mann refused to answer questions, telling residents they had to talk to a Waste Management official at the meeting.

Anyone who speaks out publicly could be in for retaliation, contends Weissenfels, who is Mann's sister. Weissenfels said the last time she spoke at a board meeting she was "audited" shortly thereafter, and forced to move two flowerpots from her porch into the backyard.

"The hostility that will be at that meeting will preclude anybody from talking," Weissenfels said. "It's like Nazi Germany; you can't say or do anything without being retaliated against."