Apr. 22—ROCHESTER — Staff at Hometown Haulers, a trash hauler that services Rochester and southeastern Minnesota, is telling customers that garbage giant Waste Management is acquiring the Dodge County firm.

Hometown Haulers customers, including one who works for the Post Bulletin, are being told that Waste Management will take over the ownership on May 1. However, when contacted by a reporter, Hometown Haulers staff said the company has "no comment" about any changes.

Hometown Haulers was founded by Mark Freerkson and Landon Koss in Dodge County in 2014.

Waste Management, the largest trash hauler in the U.S., has long been a major player in southeastern Minnesota. It has a history of buying local competition, like Alli Rolloff Inc. and Garbage Man. The transition for

Garbage Man customers in late 2017 and early 2018 did not go smoothly

and spurred many complaints.

Olmsted County Solid Waste Assurance Coordinator Alex Kromminga said that the county, which licenses trash haulers, has not been notified of any change of ownership at Hometown Haulers. However, he has reached out to Hometown Haulers as a friendly reminder of the rules due to local social media chatter about Waste Management.

"If any hauler is sold on a date that they say they are no longer going to be doing business, they would need to inform the county. The county would need to know that date to make sure that all outstanding monies associated with that hauler are remediated to the county within 30 days of that date," explained Kromminga.

If Waste Management is purchasing Hometown Haulers, as it has other local firms, then Hometown Haulers' license in Olmsted County will become available.