Agenda Item: 10
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: June 23, 2026
SUBJECT: LANDSCAPE MONITORING SERVICES CONTRACT
DEPARTMENT: Administrative Services
PRESENTER: Andrew Adams
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Award a one-year base contract to Smith Landscape Management to provide landscape monitoring services and after-hours emergency response support in an annual amount not to exceed $205,000.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute up to two additional, one-year renewal options beginning in year two, not to exceed the annual base contract amount plus applicable Consumer Price Index adjustments, upon request of the contractor.
3. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, subject to City Attorney review.
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clarita’s (City) Landscape Maintenance District (LMD) program maintains landscaped medians, paseos, slopes, parkways, transit facilities, and related public improvements throughout the community.
The City utilized contracted landscape monitors to oversee recurring maintenance activities throughout the LMD system. These monitors worked closely with LMD staff to inspect landscape conditions, identify deficiencies, coordinate corrective work with maintenance contractors, and respond to resident concerns regarding landscape maintenance services.
In 2025, the City transitioned most monitoring responsibilities to in-house staff to improve operational efficiency and coordination within the Special Districts division, which oversees Landscape Maintenance District (LMD), Streetlight Maintenance District (SMD), and Urban Forestry (UF) operations. As part of this transition, the City retained one contracted monitor to
support several of the City’s largest and most operationally demanding LMD zones.
The contracted monitor assists LMD staff with monitoring landscape maintenance services, coordinating corrective work with contractors, and responding to resident service requests (RSCs). Annually, the LMD operation responds to thousands of RSCs, many of which require coordination between contractors, residents, and City staff.
Landscape Maintenance District zones serviced by the contracted monitor consist of North McBean Corridor (T47 Northpark and T46 Northbridge), Seco Canyon Corridor (T23 Mountain View), East Canyon Country Corridor (T52 Stonecrest), Valencia Corridor (T8 Summit), and the City’s major thoroughfare median system (2008-1 Major Thoroughfare Medians). These zones generate some of the highest volumes of RSCs within the LMD system and represent some of the City’s largest LMD operating budgets.
To maintain contracted monitoring services for these areas, a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the select LMD zones was published on April 20, 2026, through Bidnet, the City’s e-procurement platform. The RFP sought qualified firms capable of providing landscape monitoring, customer service coordination, inspection reporting, and supplemental after-hours emergency response services. More than 1,100 vendors were notified of the solicitation, with 36 vendors downloading the proposal documents. The RFP closed on May 14, 2026, and two proposals were received.
City staff evaluated the proposals based on criteria including experience providing landscape monitoring services, technical expertise, professional qualifications, familiarity with irrigation and landscape systems, emergency response capabilities, customer service approach, and overall responsiveness to the RFP.
The chart below provides an overview of the evaluation results.
COMPANY LOCATION SCORE
Smith Landscape Management Santa Clarita, CA 98
Avila Services, Inc. Sunland, CA 81
Staff recommends awarding a contract to Smith Landscape Management (SLM) in an annual amount not to exceed $205,000. Smith Landscape Management received the highest overall evaluation score during the proposal review process based on its technical expertise, responsiveness, emergency response capabilities, and understanding of LMD operations. Staff determined SLM was the most qualified firm to provide the requested services.
The contract amount includes approximately $180,000 for LMD monitoring and customer service support services, and approximately $25,000 for supplemental after-hours emergency response support associated with Special Districts Division operations, including LMD, Streetlight Maintenance, and Urban Forestry-related emergencies. These services include coordination related to irrigation failures, flooding, downed trees, hazardous tree conditions, landscape damage, and streetlight-related emergencies during non-business hours.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Adequate funds are available in LMD (Fund 357), SMD (Fund 359), and Areawide (Fund 367) expenditure accounts (3572418, 3572420, 3572425-3572427, 3592403, 3672400, and 3672401) to support the recommended actions. Funding for the contract term on the renewal options will be contingent upon the appropriation of funds by the City Council through the annual budget process for each year.
ATTACHMENTS
SLM-LMD-25-26-35 RFP (available in City Clerk's Reading File) LMD-25-26-35 RFP (available in City Clerk's Reading File)