Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER REJECTION OF BIDS FOR RFP NO. 23-014: CITY-WIDE MEDIAN LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE
Body
I. SUMMARY
On March 20, 2023 the City of Carson, Department of Public Works issued a bid for proposals from qualified contractors to provide professional landscape median maintenance for medians City wide.
Three (3) bids were received. Staff has discussed and re-evaluated the City’s options with respect to contractor qualifications, bid pricing structure, and having multiple contractors perform the work with the City Attorney’s Office. That discussion resulted in staff having to seek a rejection of all bids due to staff desiring to award the bid to multiple contractors. Staff believes that awarding the bid to multiple contractors is more advantageous to the City and its residents. Having multiple contractors affords each contractor the appropriate amount of time to provide high-level maintenance on the City’s medians. It also reduces response times when requests are submitted.
City Staff requests that City Council reject all bids received and authorize staff to re-advertise in an effort to receive competitive and responsive bids, with the understanding that there may be multiple awardees.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Take the following actions:
1. REJECT the bids received for RFP 23-014: City-Wide Median Landscape Maintenance
2. AUTHORIZE staff to re-advertise in an effort to receive competitive and responsive bids with the understanding that there may be multiple awardees.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT reject the bid.
2. TAKE another action the City Council deems necessary and appropriate at this time consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
On March 3, 2023, the City of Carson, Department of Public Works, issued an RFP for City-wide median Landscape Maintenance. Prior to the issuance of the RFP, the City was without a contractor for approximately five (5) months. The previous Median Landscape Maintenance Services contract expired in December 2022. After the expiration of the Median Landscape Maintenance Services contract, the City experienced unprecedented rainfall. The combination of unprecedented rainfall and not having a contractor resulted in the weeds growing exponentially.
A mandatory pre-bid meeting was held March 30, 2023, at the Corporate Yard on 18620 South Broadway Street , which was attended by seven (7) contractors. Sealed bids were due on April 20, 2023. Three proposals were submitted by the following contractors:
1. Mariposa Landscapes, Inc
2. SGD Enterprises
3. Swayzer Corporation
At the time of proposal submission, staff re-evaluated the needs of the City based on the exponential weed growth and concerns for safety, and determined that having multiple contractors maintaining the medians would provide a higher quality of landscape maintenance for the City as a whole.
Staff was advised by the City Attorney’s Office that pursuant to Section 22038 of the Public Contract Code under the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act, a public agency may reject any bids presented and has the option to readvertise the project, provided that the public agency furnishes a written notice to bidders. In addition, per the Carson Municipal Code, Chapter 6, Section 2612(d), “Bid Acceptance or Rejection,” the awarding authority may reject any and all bids presented and may resolicit for bids in its discretion.
Therefore, staff requests that the City Council reject all bidders and instruct staff to readvertise the project in effort to receive more competitive bids.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None, rejecting a bid does not have a direct fiscal impact to the City.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. RFP 23-014 (pgs. 4-71)
Prepared by: Arlington Rodgers, Jr., MPA Public Works Director