Agenda Item: 11
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: June 28, 2022
SUBJECT: AWARD LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE CONTRACT FOR ZONE
T52 (STONECREST)
DEPARTMENT: Neighborhood Services
PRESENTER: Keith Miller
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Award a two-year contract to American Heritage Landscape, Inc., to provide landscape maintenance services to Landscape Maintenance District Zone T52, Stonecrest, for an annual base amount of $105,000, plus an additional $32,296 in annual contract expenditure authority to address unforeseen maintenance and repairs, for a total two-year amount not to exceed $274,592.
2. Authorize ongoing appropriations in the amount of $15,010 from Landscape Maintenance District Fund 357 to expenditure account 3572427-514110 to support recurring landscape maintenance services.
3. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute up to three additional, one-year renewal options beginning in year three, for an annual amount not to exceed $137,296; plus an adjustment in compensation consistent with the appropriate Consumer Price Index, upon request of the contractor, contingent upon the appropriation of funds by the City Council during the annual budget for such fiscal year.
4. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, and modify the awards in the event impossibility of performance arises, and execute all documents subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clarita (City) administers 61 financially independent zones within the Landscape Maintenance District (LMD), providing landscape maintenance services through
contracts with private companies. Request for Proposals (RFP) No. LMD-21-22-33, for the maintenance of LMD Zone T52 (Stonecrest) was published and circulated via the City’s Bidnet system on April 7, 2022.
Unlike a bid procurement, where the recommended contract award is based upon the lowest, most responsive bid, this procurement utilizes multiple weighted criteria to evaluate and score proposals. While the price for services is a component constituting 10 percent of the weighted evaluation criteria, 65 percent of the evaluation criteria focuses on the composition and structure of the contractor’s crew, their schedule to rotate through the maintenance areas, and overall value. The following categories comprise the weighted criteria used to evaluate the proposals:
• Value Provided (30%)
• Rotation Schedule (20%)
• Team Composition (15%)
• Acknowledgement and Understanding of Specifications (15%) • Proposal Amount (10%)
• References and Certifications (10%)
A multiple weighted criteria procurement reinforces performance expectations and works to ensure that vendors dedicate adequate employees to service the contract. To improve maintenance standards and enforce accountability, the solicitation also includes provisions to impose payment reductions on the contractor when maintenance schedules are not met, or where poor performance is documented.
The City transmitted the solicitation to 324 vendors, in addition to the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Industry Association. Fifteen companies downloaded the RFP, with two vendors providing proposals for consideration.
Bid Company Location Bid
Amount
RFP
Points
Proposal 1 Venco Western, Inc. Oxnard, CA $189,000 234.67 Proposal 2 American Heritage Landscape, Inc. Canoga Park, CA $105,000 194.33
While Venco Western, Inc. (Venco) received the highest cumulative score from the Special Districts evaluation team, their proposed cost reflected a 110 percent increase as compared to the current contract. Since the existing assessment revenue generated by LMD Zone T52 is not sufficient to support operations at this cost, staff entered into negotiations with Venco in an effort to modify the scope of services. Ultimately, staff and Venco representatives were unable to reach terms on an agreement, resulting in Venco withdrawing their proposal.
Upon Venco’s withdrawal, staff engaged American Heritage Landscape, Inc. (American Heritage) in contract negotiations. While American Heritage did not achieve the highest cumulative score, the evaluation team did award their proposal the highest score in the category of Value Provided and found them to be highly competitive in multiple categories including Team Composition.
Overall, the proposal submitted by American Heritage dedicates 77 weekly hours of combined supervision and field labor towards servicing LMD Zone T52. American Heritage’s proposal achieves a desirable balance of management versus staff at a price point that can be supported by existing assessment revenues generated by property owners in the Stonecrest community.
Staff has completed a due-diligence review of American Heritage’s professional references and determined their work history meets the City's standards and performance expectations. Based on the above, staff recommends awarding this landscape maintenance contract to American Heritage.
As part of this action, staff is requesting the ongoing appropriation of an additional $15,010 in base budget to support recurring landscape maintenance services expenditures associated with the recommended contract award.
Based on operational experience managing these landscape zones, staff also recommends increasing the annual expenditure authority associated with this contract by $32,296 to address unscheduled repairs and as-needed work. By authorizing as-needed contract expenditure authority, City staff is able to utilize LMD assessments generated by property owners in a cost- effective and responsible manner.
It is important to note that as-needed work does not represent any guarantee of compensation under the terms of the recommended contract. All as-needed work performed by American Heritage under this contract will require advance review and authorization by the City’s Special Districts Division.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
1. Do not award contract to American Heritage Landscape, Inc.
2. Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the General Fund associated with this action. The recommended action requires an appropriation of $15,010 in additional ongoing base budget from LMD Fund 357 to support recurring landscape maintenance costs associated with the award of this contract.
ATTACHMENTS
American Heritage Response - Zone T52 (available in the City Clerk's Reading File) RFP#LMD-21-22-33 Final (available in the City Clerk's Reading File)