The city council now plans to address the issue at its meeting later this month.

Extreme cold caused delays the week before Christmas

• City Clerk Adam Geffert told the Post Republic Services halted services on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23 “due to the extremely cold temperatures and blowing snow.”
• Republic cited driver safety and their trucks’ hydraulic systems as the main concerns at that time, Geffert said.
• Other trash haulers in Johnson County and the Kansas City region canceled pickups those days due to the weather.
• The city was told residents with Thursday and Friday pickups that week could put out as much trash as they wanted the following week, and it would all be picked up.

Go deeper: This is not the first time Republic Services fell short on pickups in Prairie Village — or Johnson County.

But mechanical issues caused more delays

• Geffert said delays in pickups continued through the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
• Some homes in the area south of 75th Street and east of Mission Road were missed for two straight weeks.
• Ultimately, Geffert said, Republic told the city on Monday that mechanical issues with some trucks prevented the completion of routes last week.
• As of Tuesday, Geffert said most routes in the city had now been completed.

The city now plans to fine Republic

• Geffert said he told Republic on Tuesday, after multiple attempts to contact the company over the New Year’s weekend, that it was unacceptable to fail to update the city with multiple days worth of service issues.
• “We are able to assess fines for service issues, and intend to do so this month,” Geffert said. “Needless to say, city staff is frustrated with their performance and we apologize to residents for having to deal with these issues.”

Residents are fed up

• “All in all, it’s a mess,” Prairie Village resident Carly Duvall said in an email to the Post.
• She lives in the impacted area and says she went without a waste pickup from Dec. 16 to Monday.
• She said she understands trash delays happen, but thinks it unacceptable for a week-long delay to occur in the middle of the holiday season.
• A lack of communication led to many residents leaving their trash out from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31 — allowing animals to rummage and wind to blow trash around, she said.

Republic will address the city council about the delays

• The waste management company’s media team told the Post via email the Kansas City area did experience service delays due to the winter storm and the holidays.
• The media team said additional trucks were running in Prairie Village as of Jan. 3 and the company plans “to be back on schedule as quickly as possible.”