Agenda Item: 7
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: January 10, 2023
SUBJECT: LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE DISTRICT CONTRACT FOR ZONE 27 DEPARTMENT: Administrative Services
PRESENTER: Keith Miller
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Award a two-year contract to Oak Springs, Inc., to provide landscape maintenance services to Landscape Maintenance District Zone 27 (Circle J) for an annual base amount of $236,308, plus an additional $71,752 in annual contract expenditure authority to address unforeseen maintenance and repairs, and authorize a one-time additional $33,620 in expenditure authority to address deferred landscape maintenance needs throughout the Zone, for a collective not to exceed amount of $649,740 over two-year contract.
2. Authorize a one-time appropriation from Landscape Maintenance District Fund 357 totaling $75,215, as identified in Attachment A, to fund expenditures for one-time landscape clean-up activities and recurring maintenance services expenditures associated with the recommended contract for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022-23.
3. Authorize ongoing appropriations from Landscape Maintenance District Fund 357 totaling $99,827, as identified in Attachment B, to support recurring landscape maintenance services expenditures associated with the recommended contract commencing in Fiscal Year 2023-24.
4. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute up to three additional, one-year renewal options beginning in year three, not to exceed the annual contract amount, inclusive of as- needed expenditure authority, plus an adjustment in compensation consistent with the appropriate Consumer Price Index, upon request of the contractor, and contingent upon the appropriation of funds by the City Council in the annual budget for such fiscal year.
5. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, 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 Proposal (RFP) number LMD-22-23-19, for the maintenance of LMD Zone 27 (Circle J) was published and circulated via the City’s Bidnet system on September 23, 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 comprised the weighted criteria used to evaluate proposals.
• Value Provided (30%)
• Rotation Schedule (20%)
• Team Composition/Crew Member Structure (15%)
• Acknowledgement and Understanding of Specifications (15%) • Proposal Amount (10%)
• References & 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 for poor performance should the contractor fail to meet their maintenance schedule.
The City transmitted the solicitation to 424 vendors, including the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Industrial Association, of which 19 vendors downloaded the RFP.
Five companies provided proposals for consideration with the results below.
PROPOSAL COMPANY LOCATION BID
AMOUNT
POINTS
AWARDED
Proposal 1 Oak Springs, Inc. Sylmar, CA $236,308 277.33 Proposal 2 Venco Western, Inc. Oxnard, CA $252,732 261.66 Proposal 3 American Heritage Landscape, Inc. Canoga Park, CA $305,676 247.00 Proposal 4 Stay Green, Inc. Santa Clarita, CA $299,988 247.00 Proposal 5 Oakridge Landscape, Inc. Santa Clarita, CA $520,000 236.33
Oak Springs, Inc. (Oak Springs) achieved the highest score, with the evaluation team determining their proposal offered the best overall value. Oak Springs’ proposal was distinguished by the overall composition and structure of their crew, their approach for rotating personnel throughout each assigned LMD zone, the modification of operations due to seasonal changes, and recognition of additional detail within focal areas. Finally, staff has completed a due-diligence review of Oak Springs’ professional references and determined their work history meets the City's standards and performance expectations.
As part of this action, staff is requesting one-time appropriations of $75,215 to address operational needs through the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23. A breakout of this requested appropriation includes $33,620 to address deferred landscape maintenance needs throughout LMD Zone 27 on a one-time basis, and $41,595 to fund the increased cost of providing maintenance services for LMD Zone 27, as identified in Attachment A.
Additionally, staff is also requesting ongoing appropriations of $99,827 from Fund 357 commencing in FY 2023-24 to fund the increased cost of providing maintenance services for LMD Zone 27, as identified in Attachment B.
The request for additional appropriations is a direct result of how prevailing wage increases have affected the overall landscape labor market and inflationary impacts upon fuel and material costs.
This impact is evidenced by the range of competitive pricing provided by the five responding vendors. In this instance, staff’s recommended contract award reflects an overall increase of more than 73 percent for the same level of service, as compared to pricing when these same zones were competitively awarded in 2018.
In order to maximize operational efficiencies and ensure as-needed work and repairs are completed in a timely manner, staff recommends increasing the annual expenditure authority associated with each landscape maintenance contract as detailed in the recommended action section of this report. As-needed work constitutes, but is not limited to, responding to emergencies, repairs or replacement of irrigation systems which are damaged or have reached the end of their useful service life, replacement of dead plant material, addressing vandalism, and one-time beautification enhancement projects.
The increase in expenditure authority granted by the City Council does not represent any guarantee of additional compensation under the terms of the recommended contract. Beyond retaining the discretion to utilize alternative contractors as deemed necessary, all unscheduled repair work or one-time enhancement projects performed by Oak Springs will continue to require staff review and advanced authorization by the City’s Special Districts division.
Based on the above, staff recommends awarding this landscape maintenance contract to Oak Springs.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
1. Do not award contract to Oak Springs, Inc.
2. Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
The recommended action requires a one-time appropriation of $75,215 from Landscape Maintenance District Fund 357 to support recurring landscape maintenance services associated with the recommended contract award through the end of FY 2022-23. This action also requires an ongoing appropriation of $99,827 from Fund 357 commencing in FY 2023-24 to support recurring landscape maintenance costs associated with the award of this contract.
ATTACHMENTS
LMD Zone 27 Requested Budget Appropriations - Attachment A LMD Zone 27 Requested Budget Appropriations - Attachment B Response File Zone 27 Oak Springs, Inc. (available in the City Clerk's Reading File)