In July of 2020, staff posted a joint City RFP on CIPLIST.com for landscape maintenance services that included mowing, irrigation work, ball field maintenance, playground maintenance and other landscape maintenance activities. Of the 33 companies that downloaded the RFP, eight proposals were received, seven of which were qualified proposers. Staff from Brea and La Habra interviewed all seven companies to determine their ability to perform the work required at competitive rates. After evaluating criteria such as appearance of equipment, company's uniform policy, references, quality of work in the field, proposal quality and interview results, staff ranked the companies as follows:
1. S. C. Yamamoto, Inc.
2. Nieves Landscape, Inc.
3. Mariposa Landscapes, Inc.
4. Complete Landscape Care, Inc.
5. Tropical Plaza Nursery, Inc.
6. Priority Landscape Services, LLC.
7. Merchants Landscape Services, Inc.
Contracts were awarded in December of 2020 to Mariposa Landscapes, Inc., S. C. Yamamoto, Inc. and Tropical Plaza Nursery Inc. Some of the other Contractors withdrew their offers for pricing or not meeting insurance requirements.
The effective date of the contracts was January of 2021 for an initial period of four and one half years until June 30, 2025, with three possible one-year extensions at the sole discretion of the City. Awards were made to Companies in an effort to balance cost efficiencies while maintaining quality.
S.C. Yamamoto was awarded six contracts and has struggled to maintain quality levels in all areas. Staff met with them in December 2020 to review the specific Contract areas and related boundaries to avoid a long learning curve. Staff has also met with them on several other occasions in addition to the daily interactions with our Landscape Contract Administrator. Staff suggested schedules for City and Maintenance District areas to help improve their productivity and quality. On June 22, 2021, staff issued a Notice-to-Cure letter giving the Contractor 30 days to resolve their quality and productivity issues until July 21, 2021. After an unsatisfactory response to the Notice-to-Cure, a 30-day Notice to Terminate was issued on July 21, 2021, which will be effective August 20, 2021.
Staff is recommending the six contracts be awarded to Nieves Landscape, Inc. who rated second highest in all areas evaluated. The following chart shows current prices and recently negotiated prices with Nieves.
| Agreement/Contractor |
New Contract Price |
Current Contract Price |
Difference |
| Parks Mowing - Nieves Landscape |
$103,950 |
$68,040 |
$36,708 |
| Landscape Maintenance at Medians/Entry Markers and Greenbelts - Nieves Landscape |
$138,392.86 |
$139,560 |
($1,167.14) |
| Landscape Maintenance in Maintenance District 1 - Nieves Landscape |
$16,350 |
$12,480 |
$3,870 |
| Landscape Maintenance in Maintenance District 3 - Nieves Landscape |
$27,000 |
$21,120 |
$5,880 |
| Landscape Maintenance in Maintenance District 6 - Nieves Landscape |
$65,000 |
$60,000 |
$5,000 |
| Landscape Maintenance in Maintenance District 7 - Nieves Landscape |
$13,410 |
$10,080 |
$3,330 |
As shown above, the cost increase to the mowing contract is $35,910 from the current cost and $28,111 more than the pre-RFP contract price of $75,833. Increases to the Districts compared to the pre-RFP contract prices are shown below:
| District |
New Contract Price |
Pre-RFP Contract Price |
Difference |
| M.D. #1 |
$16,350 |
$14,712 |
$1,638 |
| M.D. #3 |
$27,000 |
$24,961 |
$2,039 |
| M.D. #6 |
$65,000 |
$66,009 |
($1,009) |
| M.D. #7 |
$13,410 |
$13,206 |
$204 |
If approved, the new contracts with Nieves would go into effect immediately with the initial term to expire on June 30, 2025. Just as with the original landscape contracts, staff recommends the contracts include three possible one-year extensions at the sole discretion of the City. Any potential future CPI increases would be reviewed and approved by the Finance Committee. |