ACTION REQUESTED:
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Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works with a Request to Accept the LOW BID and Approve a CONTRACT with HULSE LAWNCARE, in the Amount of $18,000.00 for the 2014 MOWING OF CITY-OWNED VACANT LOTS.
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BACKGROUND:
Prior to 2011 City-owned vacant lots were mown by the Peoria Park District. During 2011, in an attempt to save money, Public Works accepted bids for the mowing of City-owned vacant lots. The Park District was invited to submit a bid, but declined. At that time, the low bidder was Hulse Lawncare, who was awarded the work, performed it in an acceptable manor, and has been the low bidder every year since.
This year, Community Development changed their procedure to mow Peoria County Trustee-owned lots from a work order system to mowing on a scheduled rotation, like Public Works does. Therefore, Public Works and Community Development solicited a combined bid to determine whether there would be any savings from a larger contract. Many small mowing contractors would have been excluded from bidding on the large contract that included 671 vacant lots. Therefore, bidders were given three options:
· Option # 1 was for a price to mow all 511 Peoria County Trustee-owned vacant lots and all 160 City-owned vacant lots.
· Option # 2 was for all Peoria County Trustee and City owned vacant lots split into 2 Routes. Route 1 had 405 vacant lots southwest of MacArthur Highway and West Main Street. Route 2 had 266 vacant lots in the rest of the City.
· Option #3 was split into 3 routes. Route 1 was the 328 Peoria County Trustee lots southwest of MacArthur Highway and West Main. Route 2 was the 183 Peoria County Trustee vacant lots in the rest of the City. Route 3 was the 160 City owned vacant lots in the entire City. The bid price was to mow each vacant lot one time. A vacant lot is defined as having a parcel number.
Only one contractor, Wineinger & Sons, bid on all vacant lots per Option #1. Their bid price was $11.75. However, Public Works recommends awarding mowing of the City-owned vacant lots to Hulse Lawncare for their bid price of $7.25 because it is the most cost-effective option for the City. Also, since Hulse Lawncare has mown these vacant lots for the past 3 years, they are familiar with the route and will not require much staff time getting started. See the attached bid tabulation and bid evaluation.
It is estimated that the vacant lots may have to be mown 12 times. Since the bid documents were prepared, the City has taken ownership of an additional 4 vacant lots and several more are pending. Litter cleanup is incidental, but the contractor will be paid extra to remove televisions, furniture and garbage.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Funding for this expenditure is provided in the Public Maintenance Grounds (formerly Horticulture Services) Account Number 101-3124-542.36-04. Litter cleanup is incidental, but the contractor will be paid extra to remove televisions, furniture and garbage.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: Keeping public property mowed improves the quality of the entire City.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: City-owned vacant lots will be mowed on a regular basis.
IMPACT IF DENIED: Public property will not be mowed.
ALTERNATIVES: As directed by Council.
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: Hulse Lawncare has current EOO #01799-150630.
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL'S 2014 - 2029 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Financially Sound City Government, Effective City Organization
2. Attractive Neighborhoods with Character: Safe and Livable
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Support sustainability.
2. Reinvest in neighborhoods.
3. Have an efficient government.
DEPARTMENT: Public Works