What is the proposal process like?

CoPS inspects the community to select or verify pet waste station and trash can locations, then usually provides a detailed proposal within 72 hours of receiving the request for proposal.

What does pet waste station service include?

Service includes USDA Certified Biobased dog waste bags and can liners, waste pickup around each station, station inspection, repair reporting, and removal of collected waste from the property.

Does CoPS on Doody require a long-term contract?

No. The community signs the proposal, and service continues until CoPS receives written notice from a community representative.

Will the community receive a service completion notice?

Yes. Communities may choose to receive an email or text notification when service is complete.

Are CoPS on Doody team members background-checked and insured?

Yes. CoPS states that every team member is background-checked before working on a property and that the company carries commercial liability insurance.

Five Questions Every Board Should Ask Before Approving Next Year's Pet Waste Budget

DAVE JENSEN

CEO

August 5, 2026

Commercial Pet Waste Station Service

By Dave Jensen, CEO, CoPS on Doody · Commercial Pet Waste Station Service

Boards decide; community managers advise. That division of labor works best when the board knows which questions to ask because a pet waste line item, like any service line, deserves the same scrutiny as landscaping or snow removal, just rarely gets it.

Five questions cover what a board actually needs to know before voting, and none of them require expertise in pet waste. They require only the discipline boards already apply everywhere else.

A manager's job isn't to convince the board. It's to arrive with answers to these five already in hand.

The five questions

1. What is the current program actually delivering?

Not "are there complaints," but what the records show: service documentation, complaint themes by location, and station condition. If the answer relies on impressions rather than completion notices and a recent walk-through, the real finding is that the program lacks documentation worth fixing before it's worth funding.

2. Is the scope defined well enough to compare bids?

A board can't evaluate a price without a defined scope: which stations and areas, what happens at each visit, what's restocked, what's documented, and what the response commitment is between visits. Competitive bids only mean something when every vendor priced that same definition.

3. Which fund does each cost belong in?

Recurring service is an operating expense. Stations and receptacles are durable equipment and reasonable candidates for a reserve or capital line. Blending them into one number is how boards accidentally weigh a monthly service against their reserve health and vote no on both.

4. What happens when something goes wrong between visits?

The answer should exist in writing: a defined service day, a stated response window, and both committed to written service terms. If the current vendor's answer is verbal, the board is approving a hope, not a program.

5. How will we know it worked a year from now?

Ask for the measures up front: fewer complaints in the known trouble spots, documented visits, stations scored annually. A line item with defined outcomes is renewable on evidence which makes next year's vote faster too.

How should a manager present the answers?

In the board's own language, and neutrally. Not "we need more stations" rather, "we've identified recurring problem areas where added convenience may improve resident compliance." Not "we should replace the stations" rather, "this equipment is reaching the point where replacement belongs in our long-term asset planning." The first framing sounds like a request; the second sounds like governance. Boards respond to governance.

This is also where a one-page leave-behind earns its keep: issue, options considered, recommendation, budget impact by fund, and the outcome measures one page, no persuasion. The Board Discussion Guide includes a fill-in template.

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What shouldn't the board be asked to do?

Adjudicate vendor details. The board's job is the five questions; the manager's job is everything underneath them gathering bids, verifying scope parity, checking references. A board packet that asks directors to read three full proposals produces table-it votes. A packet that shows the comparison already done, with a recommendation and its reasoning, produces decisions.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Our board just wants the total. Is that enough?

A total with no fund split, no scope, and no outcome measures can only be compared to last year's total which is how budgets drift for years. The five questions take one agenda item to answer and remove most of next year's debate.

What if the current program can't answer question 1?

That's a finding, not a failure. It usually means service documentation doesn't exist in which case requiring per-visit completion notices from any vendor, current or new, belongs in the scope before new spending does.

Should the vendor present to the board?

Generally no the manager presents; the vendor supplies documentation. A vendor who equips your manager with clear scope, terms, and records is showing you how they'll behave after the signature.

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Bottom Line

A board that asks these five questions approves pet waste budgets in minutes, not meetings because the answers replace debate with evidence. Managers: bring the answers. Boards: insist on them.