Public Works Agency
www.santa-ana.org/pw
Item # 16
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
June 3, 2025
TOPIC: Median and Right of Way Landscaping Maintenance Services
AGENDA TITLE
Agreement with Landscape West Management Services, Inc. for Median and Right of Way Landscaping Maintenance Services (Specification No. 25-058) (General Fund & Non-General Fund)
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve an agreement with Landscape West Management Services, Inc. for Median and Right of Way Landscaping Maintenance Services in an amount not to exceed $9,370,000 for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2025 and expiring June 30, 2028, with provisions for two, one-year renewal options (Agreement No. A-2025-XXX).
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
DISCUSSION
The Public Works Agency’s Maintenance Services Division (PWA) is responsible for maintaining over 30 miles of City street medians and various public right-of-way areas including slopes, channels, neighborhood entry monuments, bike lanes, and City owned vacant lots. The services include, but are not limited to, mowing, weed mitigation, trash removal, and irrigation systems maintenance. PWA contracts for these services and the current contract, awarded by Council in 2019, is set to expire on June 30, 2025.
The Public Works Agency places great emphasis on maintaining the public realm in an attractive condition for residents, businesses, and visitors. Maintenance of City medians and right-of-way areas have faced numerous challenges due to various factors, including increased landscaped inventory, barren landscapes resulting from the State’s restrictions on use of grass turf, and vandalism. The City has made incremental investments to improve and re-plant barren medians through installation of new drip irrigation systems and water efficient landscaping in the City's many arterial corridors including First Street, Bristol Street, Seventeenth Street, Fairview Street, Harbor Bouleveard, and MacArthur Boulevard but has additional work to perform on other corridors such as Edinger Avenue and Warner Avenue.
Rising cost of landscape maintenance labor and materials and an expanded inventory of public realm landscaping, such as bike lanes, roundabouts, and other traffic calming
Median and Right of Way Landscaping Maintenance Services June 3, 2025
5 0
7 7
devices, have further limited the ability to invest in improving and replanting the remaining existing median inventory. This service is intended for maintnenace of the existing landscaping only. It is estimated that the cost to improve barren medians is approximately $750,000 per mile with an annual maintenance cost of approximatley $150,000 for every mile of median landscaping. Furthermore, the main funding source for the median and right-of-way landscaping maintenance program is Gas Tax funding, which has historically proven unreliable due to fluctuations in fuel costs and consumer spending resulting in reduced allocations for maintenance and limiting ability to invest in median improvements.
Historically, the annual funding for median landscaping has been about $1.2 million from Gas Tax funding. Due to constant fluctuatuions and decreases in Gas Tax revenues, the Gas Tax budget for this activity in FY 2025-26 is $1,024,000. To mitigate the shortfall in funding, the program will receive $350,000 annually from the General Fund which counts toward the City’s Measure M2 required “Maintenance of Effort” street maintenance spending.
Additonally, this year in an effort to combine service contracts and to provide more efficient services, this contract will combine weed abatement services of slopes, channels, and vacant lots. The funding source for the weed abatement services will be set at $500,000 from the Environmental Sanitation Funds.
Request for Proposals No. 25-058
Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 25-058 (Exhibit 1) was issued on April 4, 2025 on the City’s online bid management and publication system. A summary of vendor participation and results is as follows:
365 Vendors Notified
4 Santa Ana vendors notified
36 Vendors downloaded the RFP packet
6 Responsive proposals received
0 Proposals received from Santa Ana vendors
Local Outreach Efforts
The Purchasing Division advertised this project on the City’s online bid management and publication system, which directly notified four Santa Ana vendors. Proposals were solicited, opened on May 1, 2025, and evaluated. Six proposals were submitted by the RFP deadline and were determined to be responsive to the specifications and met the City’s requirements. An evaluation committee reviewed and rated the proposals according to the criteria listed in the RFP, and the following summarizes the ranking of all responding firms:
Median and Right of Way Landscaping Maintenance Services June 3, 2025
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Firm City Rank
Landscape West Management Services Anaheim, CA 1
Mariposa Landscapes, Inc. Irwindale, CA 2
So Cal Land Maintenance, Inc. Anaheim, CA 3
Priority Landscape Maintenance Anaheim, CA 4
Evolution Landscaping and Plumbing Huntington Beach, CA 5 Tropical Plaza Villa Park, CA 6
Staff recommends awarding an agreement to the highest-ranked firm, Landscape West Management Services, Inc., based on their strong experience with similar scopes of services, availability of fleet and staffing, responsiveness to services, and direct experience working with the City of Santa Ana. (Exhibit 2). Landscape West holds the City’s current right of way landscaping services contract for Santa Ana and has performed well. The firm’s proposed rates are only 5% higher than the previous agreement terms and are competitive, reasonable, and within industry standard. Overall, the proposal was determined to provide the best value for the City. The total annual compensation amount is based on the available annual budget and allows the flexibility to augment staffing levels based on seasonal demands and replacement of damaged plant material and irrigation components due to vandalism and automobile accidents.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with the action.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding is included in the proposed FY 2025-26 budget. Funding for future fiscal years will be included in the proposed budgets for City Council consideration.
Fiscal
Year
Accounting
Unit
Fund
Description
Accounting Unit, Account
Description Amount
02917635-
62320
Special Gas
Tax
Median Landscaping,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Grounds
$1,024,000
06817640-
62300
Sanitation
Fund
Public Works-
Environment/Sanitation,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,0002025-26
01117017-
62320
General
Fund
PWA Service
Enhancement,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Ground
$350,000
2026-27 02917635-
62320
Special Gas
Tax
Median Landscaping,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Grounds
$1,024,000
Median and Right of Way Landscaping Maintenance Services June 3, 2025
5 0
7 7
Fiscal
Year
Accounting
Unit
Fund
Description
Accounting Unit, Account
Description Amount
06817640-
62300
Sanitation
Fund
Public Works-
Environment/Sanitation,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,000
01117017-
62320
General
Fund
PWA Service
Enhancement,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Ground
$350,000
02917635-
62320
Special Gas
Tax
Median Landscaping,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Grounds
$1,024,000
06817640-
62300
Sanitation
Fund
Public Works-
Environment/Sanitation,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,0002027-28
01117017-
62320
General
Fund
PWA Service
Enhancement,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Ground
$350,000
Optional Two, One-Year Extensions:
02917635-
62320
Special Gas
Tax
Median Landscaping,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Grounds
$1,024,000
06817640-
62300
Sanitation
Fund
Public Works-
Environment/Sanitation,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,0002028-29
01117017-
62320
General
Fund
PWA Service
Enhancement,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Ground
$350,000
02917635-
62320
Special Gas
Tax
Median Landscaping,
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Grounds
$1,024,000
06817640-
62300
Sanitation
Fund
Public Works-
Environment/Sanitation,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,0002029-30
01117017-
62320
General
Fund
PWA Service
Enhancement, $350,000
Median and Right of Way Landscaping Maintenance Services June 3, 2025
5 0
7 7
Fiscal
Year
Accounting
Unit
Fund
Description
Accounting Unit, Account
Description Amount
Maintenance & Repair
Buildings & Ground
TOTAL $9,370,000
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Request for Proposals No. 25-058
2. Agreement with Landscape West Management Services, Inc.
Submitted By: Nabil Saba, P.E., Executive Director – Public Works Agency Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager