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 City of Hermosa Beach --- 09-22-98AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Authorize the award of the landscape maintenance contract to Van Herrick's of Gardena, CA, for a period of thirty-two (32) months, November 1, 1998 through June 30, 2001, in the amount of $405,700.
2. Authorize the Mayor to execute and the City Clerk to attest the landscape maintenance contract subject to approval by the City Attorney.
3. Authorize the Director of Public Works to make minor changes as necessary within budget.
Background:
Specifications were prepared and request for bid notices were sent out to 55 landscape companies. In addition, staff advertised in the Easy Reader and the Green Sheet. On May 14, 1998 a pre-bid meeting was attended by ten (10) interested companies. On May 28, 1998 three (3) bids were received
The results were:
Company - City - Price
1. Landscape West - Anaheim, CA - $343,044
2. Bennett Landscaping - Harbor City, CA - $400,266
3. Van Herrick's - Gardena, CA - $451,300
Analysis:
1. Landscape West (LW) has 40 plus existing contracts exceeding $10 million dollars and is currently providing landscape maintenance services to the City on a month-to-month basis as a result the exportation of a six-year contract. Throughout the life of the contract staff has had to call LW attention to a number of occasions of work being below expectable standards. While both parties can attribute some of the problems to a misunderstanding of the scope of work, an ineffective field supervisor assigned to the work by LW may have caused the major problems.
Staff has met with representatives of LW and has express concern about the less than standard quality of work as well as their staffing practices. Consequently, they have recently assigned another area manager and field supervisors to the City. The new field supervisor has make some improvements.
In calling references for LW, there were a variety of responses including satisfactory performance and average performance but in some cases the administration was similar to our history, that is, it takes disproportionate administration. Therefore, staff is of the opinion that re-hiring LW is not in the best interest of the City.
2. Bennett Enterprises (BE) has 900 plus existing contracts exceeding $2 million dollars. In calling references, none of his current contracts cover the size and scope required by this contract proposal. Although the owner received high personal praise, some comments suggested that it took a high level of administration to get BE to perform. Therefore, staff is of the opinion that a contract with BE would be more costly and not in the best interest of the City.
3. Van Herrick's (VH) has 850 plus existing contracts exceeding $5.8 million dollars. In calling references, most indicated that VH did above average work. In particular the City of Manhattan Beach gave "high marks". My observation also includes above average marks for the appearance of the employees and equipment as well as the appearance of parks grounds in Manhattan Beach. Therefore, staff is recommending the award of contract to this company.
All three bids have been adjusted to a thirty-two (32) month period:
1. Landscape West Adjusted to $307,264
2. Bennett Landscaping Adjusted to $363,848
3. Van Herrick's Adjusted to $405,700
The proposed work is a significant increase from previous contract(s). Major additional items include:
The first year costs of $131,316 has been budgeted for the FY 98-99 Budget from the Administration/Engineering/Parks Division of the General Fund (001-4202). Therefore, no additional appropriation is required.
Alternatives:
1. Approve staff recommendation. Award the contract to Van Herrick's. Execute contract and all necessary documents and return bid bonds to the unsuccessful bidders. 2. Award bid to the low bidder. 3. Reject all bids and instruct staff to develop new specifications and send it out for bids.
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