TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Stephanie Katsouleas, Public Works Director
Keith Darling, Maintenance Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Resolution Approving Amendment No. 2 for a One-Year Extension with Merchants Landscape, Inc. for Citywide Landscaping Maintenance Services, for an Amount Not-to-Exceed $600,000 (Public Works Director Katsouleas).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 17-0096
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving an amendment to extend the terms of the Agreement with Merchants Landscaping, Inc. for one year, through June 30, 2018 for landscaping maintenance services (Attachment 1: Resolution; Attachment 2: Amendment; Attachment 3 Scope of Work; and Amendment 4 Master Pricing Sheet)
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This amendment would approve the continuation of landscape maintenance services for one year for an annual operating budget of $600,000 (See Attachment 4: 2017/2018 Master Pricing Sheet). There are sufficient funds in the 2017-2018 budget Public Works operating budget for these services.
BACKGROUND:
The City has retained services from various contractors for landscape and irrigation maintenance services for over 30 years, with the most recent award going to Merchants seven years ago. Such services include, but are not limited to regularly scheduled mowing, power washing, fertilizing, weed abatement irrigation repair, sweeping and restroom maintenance at over 80 separate sites (see Attachment 3: Scope of Work). The annual scope of work for Merchants also includes the preparation of baseball diamonds and other athletic fields for daily use. Merchants Landscape, Inc. contract expired on June 30, 2017.
DISCUSSION:
Merchants has provided satisfactory service to the City during this contract term, and has shown great flexibility in scheduling and inclusion of duties not part of the original contract. The contractor has also provided additional services to several new sites as directed by staff and has assisted staff during City emergencies and projects as needed, including:
• Distribution of sand bags during heavy rain events
• Temporary hand watering of landscape during construction events
• Rapid response to storm and traffic related tree knockdowns
• Labor for parks maintenance projects such as replacement of wood chips at the Tot Lots and Veterans Parkway
Staff has contacted other local agencies regarding landscape related bids and found that, in general, newly bid contracts have increased approximately 10% over previous priced contracts for the same scopes of work. For this reason, staff feels that the current pricing (which includes an annual CPI increase) is still competitive and worth extending Merchant’s services for an additional year while we prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) to bid for new services that would commence in FY 2018/19. The company has site specific knowledge and experience for more than 80 locations, with each location having its particular scheduling and operational requirements for landscape maintenance. Therefore, staff recommends extending the terms of the Agreement through FY 2017/18 to allow for an in-depth review of future landscaping needs as part of the RFP development process.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES:
Decline staff’s recommendation to extend the terms of the Agreement and instruct staff to advertise for new landscape maintenance services.
PROS:
Funds would be saved by not renewing the terms of the Agreement with Merchants.
CONS:
Maintenance of the City’s parkways, facilities and ball fields would not be maintained until a new vendor was secured, either through an emergency basis or through an abridged RFP process.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Not applicable.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
Attachments:
1. Resolution No. 17-0096
2. Amendment No. 2
3. Scope of Work
4. Master Pricing Sheet