Venco Western, Inc.
City of Santa Clarita REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE Zones T2 - T7 Proposal # LMD 21-23-13 Submitted by Mario DelNagro
SECTION 1.1.1 We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide this landscape maintenance service proposal in response to the RFP for Zone T2 – T7. As a provider for this service to the City Santa Clarita and with our 65 years of experience with the size and scope of this type of work we are confident that we can provide the technical competence, value and the management expertise In addition to fifty-one landscape maintenance crews, we have a Thirty man remedial crew trained to perform landscape improvements, irrigation upgrades and can install landscapes per plans. SECTION 1.1.2 PROPOSER'S BACKGROUND 1. Venco Western is owned by Mario DelNagro and Pete Christl. Venco was incorporated in the State of California in 1977. 2. Company headquarters and office located at 2400 Eastman Avenue, Oxnard, CA 3. The officer servicing all accounts is located at the company headquarters in Oxnard, Ca 4. Employees —240 locally (no national employees) 5. Employees will be assigned to Santa Clarita from the Oxnard office. 6. Point of contact for contract resulting from RFP Mario DelNagro 2400 Eastman Avenue Oxnard, CA 93030 805-981-2400 mdelnaaroevencowestem.com 7. Venco Western, Inc., founded sixty Five years ago as a sole proprietorship has maintained steady and solid growth to become one of the largest regional landscape maintenance contractors in the Southern California area. Purchased by William B and William C Burr in 1975 and incorporated in 1977 as Venco Power Sweeping with two employees and sales revenue of $98,000 annually, the current year 2021 employee count is 240 with sales revenue of $12 million dollars. Retaining family ownership during the sixty years of growth has assured a continuity of management and purpose. The management staff has worked with local public agencies and private management companies and owners for fifty five years. Venco Western has specialized in public contract work since 1976 and the majority of our revenue is derived from public landscape maintenance and enhancement contract work. SECTION 1.1.3 Venco Westem has past years experience servicing the T46, North Bridge T 47 North Park Zone 7 creekside and the park along with Zone 19. We currently service the Lower T Zones. We will have a crews working on the zone T 52 five days a week and a Foremen inspecting the work zones before and after each bi weekly service. A schedule will be followed and communication delivered to the city. Our work program method described here; SHRUB, VINE AND GROUND COVER CARE All shrub, vine and ground cover care will be performed by two (2) crews. Shrub care will include pruning for sight lines along medians and parkway corners. Current heights of shrubs on slopes will be maintained. Shrubs shall be kept three feet away from all trees. Vines will be kept close to walls and maintained to height of walls per specifications and not allowed to grow over utility boxes, trees, or landscaped areas.
Ground cover will be edged along walkways, under trees and shrubs, irrigation components and will be cut back to the ground where necessary to encourage healthy growth. Fertilization will be a minimum of the specifications. Soil samples will be taken to determine any specific soil requirements for fertilization as needed. TURF A mow crew will perform all mowing and edging maintenance services weekly. Equipment to be used will include 1 Exmark ride on commercial mowers and a Exmark 36" mower and 1 walk behind mower. All mowers will be brand new mulching mowers. All mowing and edging will be scheduled concurrently. Wells will be maintained around all trees and or shrubs planted in turf grass. All sprinkler heads will be trimmed to permit full coverage. Broadleaf grasses will be sprayed a minimum of four times per year, March, June, September and November. Thatching will be done annually per specifications in March and followed by aeration in April and again in September. Fertilization will follow the thatching in March and September and applied per specifications.
TREE CARE All tree pruning per the contract, November through February to raise trees 10' over sidewalks and 14' over streets or private property. Dead wood removal to these heights will take place when necessary. The following practice will be applied to these height restrictions: 1. Remove dead, loose or broken branches. 2. Remove branches that cross over important branches. 3. Remove branches that create a wedge between important branches. 4. Remove branches at the end of limb that create extra weight and could break off in windy conditions. 5. Remove sucker growth. 6. Remove limbs that obstruct signage or touch buildings or structures. Tree ties will be inspected in January, February, July and October to determine if they need to be adjusted or removed. Per contract specs, where possible, trees will be deep watered monthly June through October. Trees will be fertilized. Venco Western has an on staff Licensed Tree Arborist to assist in tree diagnosis and evaluations. WEED AND PEST CONTROL All pre-emergent weed control in bare areas can be applied four times per year. Post emergent weed control in hardscape gutters, sidewalks or medians will be applied a minimum of four times per year. A one man trained spray crew directed by a Qualified Applicator using spray equipment will be scheduled throughout the City to perform pre and post emergent applications and inspect areas for weed control as needed. Typical pre and post emergent chemical use will include: Pre emergent Deminsion Post emergent Round up Fusillade Turflon Sedge hammer (nut grass) All specifications for chemical application per State of California and County of Los. Angeles will be followed. A chemical log will be turned in monthly to list the date time, location quantity and type of material that was applied. All open space areas are to be maintained annually per the contract for brush clearance and fuel modifications per the county.
GENERAL CLEAN UP 1. All trash will be removed weekly per contract specifications to off site roll offs. All green waste will be recycled. 2. All areas will be policed daily per specifications. 3. Every Monday the crew will perform cleanup of litter trash, shopping carts on all major arterials sidewalks and landscaped areas. MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF WALKWAYS, DIG PATHS, DRAINAGE CHANNELS AND ORNAMENTAL IRON GATES AND FENCES. 1. All decomposed granite paths will be maintained weed free and repaired of ruts or low worn spots. 2. Drainage channels, V-ditches and debris basins will be kept weed free and clean of debris per contract specifications. Prior to the rainy season, after a rainfall and after the rainy season a complete inspection of all v-ditches will be made to insure they are free of debris. CERTIFICATIONS Certifications will be supplied upon request to confirm the following; 1. Quantity and description of fertilizer used. 2. Quantity and description of soil amendments used on planting projects. 3. Quantity and description of grass seeds used during turf renovation. 4. Invoices for extra work will include quantities and sizes of all plants replaced. 5. copies of a licensed California Pest Control Advisor recommendation and copies of Pesticide Use Report by same for all chemical pest control work performed with weight and/or volume of material used. ADDITIONAL SERVICES 1. All additional tree trimming, stump grinding, stump removal and tree removal work to be Tree planting and watering service to be performed by Venco Western, Inc. remedial crews. 2. Irrigation services will be repaired by our large irrigation crews and will be supplemented by the remedial crews when necessary. Venco Western remedial crews can install backflows, controllers, as well as diagnose electrical problems. Our crews have experience and expertise in installing wireless ET 'smart controllers.
SUPERVISION Venco western will include a Supervisor in charge of all crews who will create schedules and work plans. The work schedule will be maintained and will include all pest control, fertilization, dethatching and aeration schedules. Schedules will be emailed each Monday. Any schedule changes due to weather or other unforeseen conditions will be communicated. The supervisor will monitor the zones to ensure good communication and identify deficiencies to resolve issues before they are a problem. Our Supervisor will respond to residential issues and take directions from city monitor and staff. Venco will employ a Account manager to create punch lists and log repairs. The Account manager will prepare requested proposals for plantings and upgrades to the landscape and irrigation system. IRRIGATION The Venco Western Irrigation Technician will be monitoring the systems weekly for issues and runtime. When problems are discovered a repair Technician will prepare irrigation repair proposals per the contract and notify city monitors and staff. A irrigation crew, equipped with a truck stocked with irrigation repair parts will be in the zones up to five days a week, dedicated to the repairs for this area. fourty hours each week are included in the pricing for 1. Probe the soil to determine effectiveness of watering schedule and head adjustments weekly 2. Perform 2 minute test for sprinkler head and valve adjustments weekly 3. Clean, adjust, remove any obstructions and repair all heads and lines weekly 4. Check for missing valve boxes or lids and replace 5. Perform manual irrigation as needed.
Quality Assurance Plan We at Venco Western believe frequent and direct communication within our organization and with our customers provide a smooth flowing, successful maintenance operation. To that end, written schedules, written communication between the City Santa Clarita Inspectors and Contract Manager and the contractor combined with regularly scheduled joint site inspections with the City Inspectors and the Venco Western Area Supervisor and Account Manager are vital. The following allow for communication and response: • English speaking supervision. • Daily Area Supervisor visits on site • Regularly scheduled site inspections with all representatives with a punch list developed and worked from • Follow up to punch list • Written response and action taken to Inspector and citizen requests • Customer Service request log and follow up Twenty-four hour daily emergency response per the specifications will be available (see below). All crew leaders and supervisors have cellular communication to the main office. We operate on a co-operative partnership principle. We believe a proactive approach to potential problems and a resolve to correct any deficiencies are the keys to success for the City Santa Clarita and Venco Western. The Venco Western Customer Service dispatcher, Igor Lumbrano will transfer information to the field, log the time and nature of the request and follow up with a completion date. A log will be submitted at the end of each month detailing the calls, email requests and the date of completion. (forms similar) , City of Santa Clarita Service Log Date/Time Address Contact Phone # Service Request Action Taken Completed SECTION 1.1.5 ESTIMATED HOURS FOR STAFF Mowing* Weekly hours 120 Detail* Weekly hours* 160 Irrigation Weekly hours 40 Spray crew Pest control Weekly hours 10 Supervision Weekly hours 20 Administration Weekly hours 8 Account Manager Weekly hours 12 Contract Manager Weekly hours 4 TOTAL Weekly hours 374 * Hours seasonally adjusted per field requirements Venco Western staffing includes the following field and administrative and technical support: 1 Foremen 5 crew labor 1 mow and detail and trash crew members 1 irrigation technicians 1 spray crew members 1 supervisor 1 in house customer service and dispatching and reporting 1 account manager/ 1 QAL license holder and certified arborist 1 contract manager 1 pest control applicator 15 people assigned to the contract.
CONTRACTORS EQUIPMENT Venco Western equipment will be two (2) new (2022) Chevy 2500 crew trucks, new trailers. one (2) New Chevy 1500's for supervisor and irrigation techs, and new mowers and power equipment. All equipment is serviced in house in our specially designed state of the art three bay maintenance facility by six specialty mechanics. All equipment maintenance history and schedules are done through VCR (virtual control room) a software fleet maintenance program. Each crew will have all new small tools 4 weed whips 3 power hedge trimmers 2 electric blowers 1edger 2 walk behind mowers 1 chain saw for each truck. 7 SECTION 1.1.4
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA SCHEDULE OF SERVICES Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec TURF Fertilization X X X X Dethatch X Aeration X X GROUND COVER Fertilization X X TREES Check stakes, ties, guy wires X X X X Fertilization X X Tree Pruning to 12 X X X SHRUBS Fertilization X X CHEMICAL APPLICATION Apply selective herbicide on turf areas X X X X Apply pre-emergent herbicide in ground cover X X X X Apply pre-emergent herbicide on open ground X X X X Slug and snail Control X X X X X X X X X X X IRRIGATION Controller check X X X XXX X X XXX X X XXX X System check X X X XXX X X XXX X X XXX X Change controller batteries X Check ornamental monument and pathway lighting X X X X X X X X X X X COLOR CHANGE SITE WALK THROUGH With City Inspector XX X XXX XXX XXX TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF WORK Crew Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Mowing T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 Crew #1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 Crew #2 Irrigation T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 Trash Detail All Zones All Zones All Zones All Zones All Zones Spray Crew As Needed As Needed As Needed As Needed As Needed 6