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Council weighs four options for garbage service as K&K contract nears expiration
Summary
With the city’s contract with K&K expiring in late June, staff laid out four options — renew as-is, issue an RFP for an exclusive provider, move to open market choice, or operate in-house. Council favored either renewing with stronger performance conditions or reprocurement and asked staff to return with recommended contract tweaks to reduce city administrative burden.
City staff briefed the council on refuse-service options ahead of the K&K contract expiration at the end of June. Staff presented four paths: 1) renew the existing contract (limited changes), 2) issue a competitive RFP for an exclusive provider, 3) allow open-market collection where residents select their haulers, or 4) create a city-run collection program. The presentation underscored operational trade-offs: open-market service could multiply truck traffic and complicate enforcement, while in-house pickup would require significant equipment, staffing and maintenance investments.
Several council members said options 1 and 2 were preferable. One councilor called option 3 (“open market”) a “hard no,” citing increased road traffic and enforcement complexity, while another voiced reservations about in-house service because of start-up and ongoing costs. Multiple speakers raised a separate operational problem: the city currently bills for refuse accounts on utility bills, a process that takes substantial staff time; they asked staff to reduce this administrative burden by negotiating clearer responsibilities, data-sharing or a billing handoff to the contractor.
Staff will return with specific contract provisions and operational changes — including ways to verify cans/serviced accounts, improve software or data sharing with the contractor and evaluate removing accounts that receive only trash service from city billing — to present at the next meeting before any final procurement decision.
