Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: APPROVE LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE STANDARD
SERVICES AGREEMENTS FOR RECENTLY IMPROVED
HELEN PUTNAM AND SUNFLOWER PARKS
Date: January 13, 2026
Written by: Craig Scott, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Recommendation
It is recommended the City Council of the City of Cotati approve by Motion Landscape Maintenance Agreements with LandCare, Inc. for routine landscape maintenance of the recently improved Helen Putnam and Sunflower Parks.
Background
The City is completing significant capital improvements to Helen Putnam and Sunflower parks and these improvements require increased weekly maintenance. In general, landscape maintenance services are provided by PJM. However, certain areas requiring a higher level of landscape maintenance (such as Kotate Park) have been contracted out to LandCare.
Analysis/Discussion
Capital Improvements for the Helen Putnam and Sunflower parks are being completed in January and the maintenance responsibility for these improvements will transfer from the contractors to the City sometime in early February. Anticipating this transfer, the City has requested proposals from LandCare, LLC to provide maintenance for a one year period. These contracts will overlap with warranties on the new construction which cover the landscaping for a three month period and hardscape and equipment for a one year period following City acceptance of the improvements. The warranties do not cover routine maintenance of the landscaping. The City’s garbage collector, Recology is to include servicing the trash recepticles in their City-wide contract and Public Works is to perform weekly servicing of the dog waste stations and share general trash pickup duties with the landscaper.
LandCare, LLC provided the attached proposals for this work and Staff has determined them to be fair and reasonable and is recommended for approval. The proposals include abiding by the City’s Integrated Pest Management Policy which only allows for the use of organic hebicides and pesticides. The contract for Helen Putnam Park is to cover the entire park, new and older sections, and the Sunflower contract will do the same which includes the street landscaping and median landscaping. Existing landscape contracts with PJM, which currently cover the unimproved portions of the parks, are being canceled coincident with the start of the LandCare contracts. If approved by the City Council, the new landscape contract will begin on February 1, 2026 or City acceptance of the parks, whichever occurs later.
Financial Considerations
The existing landscape maintenance contracts for Helen Putnam and Sunflower parks are for amounts of $700 and $250 per month, respectively. These costs are to increase to $2,575 and $1,750 per month for the two parks, respectively. Anticipating these increases, the FY25/26 adopted budget increased the City’s overall landscape maintenance budget from $45,550 to $93,220 or an increase of $47,670. The increase in landscape costs for these two parks for the remaining 6 months of the Fiscal Year is $24,450 which is well within the $47,670 increase budgeted for this FY. Next FY has a landscape budget of $96,020 which, accounting for all the City landscape maintenance contract costs, is adequate to cover nearly a full year at this level.
Note that an early priority for 2026 is to re-issue a request for proposals for landscape services City wide, particularly given the significant investment in parks. Depending on the outcome of the RFP process, any needed adjustments can be made at that time.
Environmental Issues
This action is found to qualify for a Class 1 Categorical Exemption under CEQA Section 15301 in that the project consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of the existing or former use.