Palm Coast extends landscaping deal for one year

 

Palm Coast extends landscaping deal for one year

 

Date: February 9, 2012
by: Andrew O'Brien | Staff Writer

 

City Councilman Bill McGuire said Tuesday that it makes the most sense, financially, to let city crews assume the lawn-maintenance work.

 

 

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Palm Coast officials extended a contract Tuesday with Fox Landscaping for an additional year, a move that denied bringing a majority of the city’s lawn maintenance in-house.

The vote to extend the contract passed 4-1. City Councilman Bill McGuire voted not to approve the contract. The other council members, including Mayor Jon Netts, felt this could possibly be brought in-house within the next two years, but not now.

“The numbers tell the story,” McGuire said. “What’s best for the citizens of Palm Coast is to turn this over to (city crews).”

In April 2009, the Palm Coast City Council approved a contract with Fox Landscaping Inc. for maintenance services for $460,200. With the contract being extended earlier this week, the city will pay approximately $153,400 to Fox over the remaining four months in the current fiscal year.

If the responsibilities were brought in-house, the crew would fall under Streets Superintendent Tony Capela, who said it would take a crew 90 days to be up and running on the landscaping work that Fox does. That work includes law-maintenance work at all five of the city's fire stations, as well as water treatment plants and well sites, and medians. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, Capela said the total cost for the city to do all the work would be about $408,430. That would include the purchase of several pieces of equipment, as well adding seven positions, including a supervisor. If the city took the work in-house, about $50,000 could be saved. 

With the city’s decision to renew the contract, there is now a one-year extension left on the original five-year agreement.

City Councilman Jason DeLorenzo said Tuesday that comparing Fox’s contract to what it would cost in-house isn’t comparing “apples to apples.”

“This is really difficult,” he said. “I have very little interest — other than the flexibility portion, which I like — I don’t have a real big interest in expanding the number of employees that we have.”

DeLorenzo continued: “However, I do like the cost-savings. I’m not sure we’re comparing apples to apples.”

In the end, DeLorenzo voted to renew Fox’s contract.

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Currently 5 Responses

  • 1.
  • Andrew if you can find the bid tabulation sheet for that bid you will find that Fox Landscaping was the highest bid. Also If you do some more digging you will also find out that the gentleman that owns Fox Landscaping, I believe has a mother in law that works for the city of Palm Coast. I dont believe that Austin nor Corey's were on the bid tabulation sheet. I believe that the landscape should be left to the private sector but I do believe this bid was way over priced.
  •  
  • James Wigington
    Thu 23rd Feb 2012
    at 6:02pm
  • 2.
  • @ Bill Butler: This work did go out to bid three years ago when the initial contract was agreed to. Fox Landscaping Inc. is a local landscaping company.
  •  
  • Andrew O'Brien
    Fri 10th Feb 2012
    at 8:40am
  • 3.
  • When city crews are hired to take on this work so does the payroll increase and the pension's cost increase. Down the road the question will be, "Did the city do the right thing?" Only time will tell. I do have one observation. Do we not have a rather large landscaping company in Palm Coast called Austin Outdoor and another one in the industrial park on 14 Hargrove Grade owned by Elias Corey? Am I to believe that a bid process did not result in a local company getting this job? Shame, real shame.
  •  
  • Bill Butler
    Thu 9th Feb 2012
    at 4:59pm
  • 4.
  • It put a giant smile on my face, to read about jef hale getting fired. I only met him once and he was rude and unconcerned about the animals. I just couldn't believe that was the man in charge...well the idiot in charge. I don't understand what took so long to get rid of him. And I don't understand why he was ever hired for that position... I know that I could do a wonderful job if I had that position and I have no experience ... Except for my love of animals.
  •  
  • Donna Brown
    Thu 9th Feb 2012
    at 2:56pm
  • 5.
  • I think the city should pay my water bill for the next month. They just dug the swales in front of my house, without any contact with me about it, and now I have to water the sod with a "flooding amount of water" every day for the next 2 weeks for an hour, then every other day for a week, and twice for the 4th week. This is going to be a ridiculously expensive water bill.
  •  
  • RC Vela
    Thu 9th Feb 2012
    at 2:46pm
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