NewCityLogo-August2008

Council
Communication

Office of the City Manager

 
 

Date

February 9, 2009

 

Agenda Item No.        I-D

Roll Call No.               09-

Communication No.   09-074

Submitted by: Donald M. Tripp

                        Park and Recreation Director

 

 

 

AGENDA HEADING: 

 

Approving proposals from various service providers for the provision of mowing and trimming maintenance services for parks, open spaces, boulevards and other City property and authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute appropriate agreements.

 

 

SYNOPSIS: 

 

Recommend approval of the Mowing and Trimming Evaluation and Selection Committee’s recommendations to authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute contracts with the following;

 

A+ Lawn and Landscaping, (Mark Harpenau, Owner) 6990 N.E. 14th Street, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 for Mowing and Trimming Services for parks (open spaces, boulevards and right of way) at a cost of $20.00 per acre per cycle for an estimated annual cost of $348,000, effective no later than April 1, 2009. Staff recommends a three year contract with one three-year option to renew.

 

Lawn Plus, (Chad Smith, President) 5245 N.W. Beaver Drive, Johnston, Iowa 50131 for Cemetery mowing and trimming services at a cost of $30.00 per acre per cycle for an estimated annual cost of $31,000 effective no later than April 1, 2009. Staff recommends a three year contract with one three-year option to renew.

 

Kaldenberg’s PBS Landscaping, (Matt Kaldenberg, CEO/President) 5555 N.W. Beaver Drive, Johnston, Iowa, 50131 for cemetery trimming only (Glendale and Laurel Hill) at a cost of $30.50 per acre per cycle and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway at a cost of $200.00 per cycle for an annual estimated cost of $93,000, effective April 1, 2009 (Cemeteries) and December 15, 2009 (Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway). Staff recommends a three year contract with one three-year option to renew.

 

In accordance with the terms of the RFP, a timely appeal has been received regarding the proposed award for Municipal Housing vacant/scattered sites.  Pending that appeal, the recommendation for the award of that contract is not included for Council’s consideration at this time.   

 

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

 

Amount: Estimated savings in Park and Recreation for parks and cemeteries is approximately $400,000 annually. In addition, it is estimated that Municipal Housing costs will increase by $1,300 from last year’s contract.  The fiscal impact for the Park and Recreation Department is calculated on the associated re-organization within the department based on approval of this Council item.  Staff calculated the existing costs associated with the management of the parks, open spaces, boulevards, swimming pools, planting areas, playground inspections, shelter reservations, maintenance and repair, etc.  With the outsourcing of the mowing and trimming, the staffing allocation was re-distributed based on the remaining work elements to manage the contracts and maintain the remaining work elements within the City’s park and open space system.  The difference of this along with adding in the contract cost for mowing and trimming in addition to snow removal in the winter, from the lost labor, equated to an estimated savings of $400,000 with the bid prices received through this RFP process.

 

Funding Source: (Operating Budget Book ending FY2009)

 

Parks GE001 PKS070400 (Horticultural Maintenance), page 226, GE001, PKS010400 (Cemeteries), page 217.

 

Combined Fiscal Impact of Privatization Proposals:

                                                                        Initial Estimate            Revised Estimate

Mowing and Trimming                                  $  200,000                     $  400,000

Custodial – Airport                                               350,000                         650,000

Custodial – Municipal Buildings                          350,000                         650,000

Custodial – Municipal Housing                                  -                                 80,000

Animal Control                                                       75,000                           63,000

Sports Turf Maintenance                                        26,000                           50,000

Subtotal of current proposals                          $ 1,001,000                   $ 1,893,000

Golf (approved Dec. 22, 2008)                             150,000                         175,000

Total Privatization Savings                            $  1,151,000                  $  2,068,000

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

 

The Park and Recreation Department, along with other departments, was requested to provide funding reduction ideas which could reduce operating costs of the departments. In an effort to meet this budget objective, staff identified the potential of expanding the outsourcing of mowing and trimming services on public properties under the management of the Park and Recreation Department and other City departments.  A Mowing and Trimming Services RFP was developed in cooperation with other City departments to provide mowing and trimming services for parks, boulevards, cemeteries, open space, right-of-way and Municipal Housing properties.

 

General terms and conditions set forth in the RFP, which will be incorporated into the negotiated agreement, include free use of the City’s mowing and trimming equipment on City owned property only. The City shall maintain said equipment however the Contractor shall pay of any damage caused beyond normal wear and tear. The general care of the parks and open spaces as outlined in the RFP mirror the current City operations regarding the type of work and number of mowing cycles.  Additionally, the awarded proposer shall be required to submit a completion report to the assigned Park and Recreation Department contact to verify the work was completed to the City’s satisfaction for payment purposes.  Performance standards outlined within the RFP will be incorporated into the final negotiated agreement and shall address the notice of default, cure period and resulting action should the awarded proposer fail to cure an identified default.

 

On December 8, 2008, by Roll Call No. 08-2158, the City Council approved the issuance of a Request for Proposals for mowing and trimming maintenance for parks, open spaces and boulevards.  Nineteen (19) proposals were mailed and nine (9) companies submitted responses to this RFP.  The RFP responses were received by the Procurement Administrator on January 26, 2009, and forwarded to the Evaluation and Selection Committee comprised of City staff including Park and Recreation, Municipal Housing and Finance Department staff.  The Evaluation and Selection Committee reviewed and scored the proposals and met on January 30, 2009, to tally the individual proposal scores. The Committee evaluated and scored the responses using the criteria established in the RFP, including qualifications, experience, management and staffing, references and expense to the City.  Cost to the City accounted for fifty percent of the points possible under the RFP criteria.

 

The Evaluation and Selection Committee is recommending that the following areas of mowing and trimming business be awarded as follows:

 

Ø  Parks (Right-of-Way, open space and medians)         A+ Lawn and Landscaping

Ø  Cemeteries                                                                  Lawn Plus

Ø  Cemeteries (trimming only)                                        Kaldenberg’s PBS Landscaping

Ø  Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway                                 Kaldenberg’s PBS Landscaping

Ø  Municipal Housing – Manors                                      A+ Lawn and Landscaping*

*The Municipal Housing Agency is recommending rejecting all bids for mowing and trimming services for the manors.  This work will be performed by existing staff at the buildings due to a reorganization of their workloads and the sale of other Agency property. 

 

Staff also recommends that the City Manager or his designee be authorized and directed to negotiate and execute appropriate contract agreements to provide mowing and trimming services in accordance with the RFP documents and responses.  The results of this action will be an annual savings of $400,000 (parks)  also requiring the lay-off of staff in the Senior Horticultural Technicians, Horticultural Technicians and Park Technician positions.  However, each awarded proposer has been requested to consider hiring City employees affected by the impact of this recommendation.

 

 

PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION(S): 

 

Date:  December 8, 2008

 

Roll Call Number:  08-2158 

 

Action:              Issuance of Request for Proposal (RFP) for the following: (Council Communication No. 08-731) (B) Mowing and trimming maintenance for parks, open spaces and boulevards.  RFP Moved by Vlassis to adopt.  Motion Carried 7-0.

 

 

BOARD/COMMISSION ACTION(S): NONE

 

 

ANTICIPATED ACTIONS AND FUTURE COMMITMENTS: NONE

 

 

 

 

For more information on this and other agenda items, please call the City Clerk’s Office at 515-283-4209 or visit the Clerk’s Office on the second floor of City Hall, 400 Robert D Ray Drive.  Council agendas are available to the public at the City Clerk’s Office on Thursday afternoon preceding Monday’s Council meeting. Citizens can also request to receive meeting notices and agendas by email by calling the Clerk’s Office or sending their request via email to cityclerk@dmgov.org.