That the City Council:
A.  Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Gauci Landscaping for Landscape Maintenance of certain City owned parks, government buildings, and reservoirs;

B.  Approve and authorize the City Manager to issue a purchase order in the amount of $224,992 utilizing the adopted Fiscal Year 2021-2022 funds for landscape maintenance from the Park Maintenance budget to Gauci Landscaping, of La Habra, California, for the provision of landscape maintenance services; 

C.  Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Complete Landscape Care, Inc., for Landscape Maintenance of entry markers, medians, parkways, and mowing-only of certain City parks; and

D.  Approve and authorize the City Manager to issue a purchase order in the amount of $126,000 utilizing the adopted Fiscal Year 2021-2022 funds for landscape maintenance from the Park Maintenance budget to Complete Landscape Care, Inc., of Whittier, California, for the provision of landscape maintenance services.

In 2019, the City of La Habra participated with a group of Orange County cities to consider a joint Request for Proposal (RFP) for landscape maintenance services.  Ultimately, several cities chose not to participate in the RFP, but the cities of La Habra and Brea proceeded and issued an RFP in July 2020. 
 
At the time the RFP was issued, the City of La Habra only contracted out landscaping services for three parks, as well as landscape maintenance of city-owned buildings, parkways, medians, and entry markers, at an annual cost of $283,505. The original RFP envisioned bids for those same parks, but as the RFP process expanded, staff included all landscaped areas in the City for pricing proposals. 

RFP Response
A total of seven contractors responded to the RFP and because staff anticipated multiple responses, the RFP was crafted in a way that allowed for the potential division of work assignments and issuance of contracts to multiple vendors, as best met the needs of the City.  In addition, the City clearly indicated that it could, at its discretion, cancel and/or reject any or all bids that the City felt necessary.  The bids that were submitted included the provision of services to all City-owned properties.

The following shows the overall fees that were submitted by the seven contractors.
 

Fee Schedule 1* includes bids for landscape maintenance of passive parks, government buildings, parkways, medians, entry markers, and reservoirs. 
Fee Schedule 2** includes only landscape maintenance of sports parks

When City staff proposed a proposed scope of work that would divide work assignments among the bidders in a way that best suited the operational and financial needs of the City, all bidders rescinded their bid, with the exceptions of S.C. Yamamoto and Complete.  Although S.C. Yamamoto had the lowest overall bid, staff did not select them due to a history of poor performance on prior contracts with the City.  Staff then negotiated directly with the City’s existing contractor, Gauci Landscaping, as well as with Complete Landscaping, to secure competitive pricing for landscape services for the City of La Habra.

After negotiating with Gauci Landscaping and Complete Landscaping, City staff was able to secure lower contract prices with both contractors as follows:
 

Park Division Staff
As part of its approved budget for FY21-22, the Public Works Department created a reorganization plan to better allocate labor resources in anticipation of contracting out certain landscaping and park maintenance work.  The plan would reallocate two M-20 Maintenance Laborers to non-General Fund operations, as well as eliminate two vacant M-40 positions and one Part Time Laborer position. 

This reduction in labor costs would contribute to a substantial savings for the Public Works Budget, the summary of which is as follows: 
 

The new contracts and Parks Division reorganization is anticipated to save the General Fund approximately $367,447 per year, or $2,572,129 over seven years.

It should be noted that La Habra Parks division staff will continue to maintain the seven largest parks in the City, five of which are sports parks.  In addition, the City's tree maintenance program was not included in RFP and Parks Division and its existing tree maintenance contractor will remain responsible for tree maintenance, as well as special events, after hours emergencies, and other duties as required.
 
The following is a general summary of the new proposed scope of work allocated between the two contractors and City of La Habra staff. 
 

 

The total annual increase in Parks Maintenance Contract costs for the new contracts will be $26,779.  The total savings from the Parks reorganization will be approximately $394,226.  The total annual savings to the General Fund will be approximately $367,447.