Contract would provide fertilizer, weed control to city parks
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The City of Elkhorn Municipal Services and Utilities Committee voted in favor of recommending the City of Elkhorn Common Council approve a two-year contract with Naturescape for parks fertilizer and weed control services at its meeting April 24.
City of Elkhorn Public Works Manager Neal Kolb said city staff also priced the project out as if the department were to handle those services, though he noted while it wasn’t much less than Naturescape’s proposal, the cost they had determined only accounted for supplies, not including the cost of labor.
Alderman Bruce Lechner asked if the city were to go with only a one-year contract, if it would be the same price, which Kolb said it would be, though Naturescape was willing to lock in a contract for two years at the same price level per year. In addition, while he didn’t have exact numbers in front of him, Kolb said when the city went with TruGreen last year, the cost was higher.
Naturescape came in with a low bid of $4,820, with the next closest company bidding about $6,500, according to Alderman Michael Kluck. City Administrator Sam Tapson said the cost of the services had already been included in the city’s budget, at a total of $5,000.
Tapson also noted he agreed with Kolb that the city should pursue a two-year contract with the company.
“If you can hold them for two years, hold them,” Tapson said. “Chances are it’s not going to go down.”
A motion to recommend Naturescape at $4,820 for 2017 and 2018 was made by Alderman Cathy Bensaid, seconded by Lechner.
Before taking an official vote, Tapson asked if Naturescape had delivered a contract, to which Kolb said it hadn’t and was just a proposal at this point. As such, Tapson said with the contract being for the next two years, he wanted to make sure when the city comes up with a written contract it includes some kind of an exit clause in the event of non-performance.
“If they do a lousy job, it’s not worth $4,820 for two years,” Tapson said. “I just think we’d want to have it in there when we craft it.”
The motion was approved unanimously by committee members.
In other business, the committee also further discussed the city’s 2017 street maintenance program, eventually directing city staff to piece together some information on the tax impact of two different levels of a maintenance program. Potential projects discussed predominantly by the committee included West Lawn Street, Spencer Lane and Hazel Ridge Road.
For more details on last week’s discussion on 2017 street maintenance projects, see the May 4 edition of the Elkhorn Independent.
