The City of Lee's Summit Public Works Committee on Aug. 11 began formal work to prepare a request for proposals (RFP) for contracting residential curbside solid waste services and to assemble a citizen task force to advise staff.

Michael Park, Director of Public Works, said the effort grew from council priorities, prior task force work and recent resident survey results that ranked cost, availability and timeliness of service as top concerns. Park said staff has conducted outreach to more than 140 homeowners associations, held three of four district informational meetings (with the remaining District 3 session scheduled), met with roughly seven of the city's residential haulers and collected digital and mail feedback from HOAs.

Staff proposed a 13‑member solid waste task force to help review a draft RFP, provide community input and assist with public education during an anticipated implementation rollout. Park described a suggested composition that would include HOA representatives (a mix of HOAs that contract and those that do not) plus two residents per council district, and an industry or regional expert (for example, a consultant from Mid‑America Regional Council). He said staff will review interest forms submitted online and recommend members to the committee for finalization.

Key policy questions the committee will consider as it develops the RFP include whether existing HOA contracts should continue unchanged, what constitutes the base service (container sizes such as 65‑ or 95‑gallon carts), whether yard waste and bulky‑item collection are included in a base package or offered by subscription, and whether billing and customer service should be handled by the vendor or the city. Park said staff’s preliminary recommendation is that billing be handled by the vendor to avoid creating a new city billing operation.

Park said the council previously gave unanimous direction to proceed with the notice required by state statute to allow the city to assume contracting responsibility; staff is now collecting feedback that will inform an RFP staff hopes to advertise by the end of 2025. He said any implemented contract would likely have a long rollout—about 18 months—to allow transition, customer education and operational setup.

No vote or formal ordinance was requested at the committee meeting; committee members discussed task force composition and outreach. Staff asked committee members to confirm the proposed task force size and composition so appointments could be finalized quickly.