SR 04-23-2019 3I
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 23, 2019
Agenda Item: 3.I
1 of 4
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Susan Cline, Director, Public Works, Public Landscape
Subject: First Modification to Agreement with LandCare USA for Citywide Landscape
Maintenance Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a first modification to agreement #9625 (CCS) in the amount of $1,085,282 with
LandCare USA, a Maryland-based company, for citywide landscape maintenance
services for the Public Works Department. This will result in a five-year amended
agreement with a new total amount not to exceed $13,203,073, with future year funding
contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
LandCare USA provides routine landscape maintenance and special landscape-related
projects for many City open spaces (e.g., Tongva Park, public right-of-way medians)
and facilities (e.g., Woodlawn Cemetery, City Hall, and the Santa Monica Airport). Due
to the addition of many routine maintenance sites and several requests for one-time
projects, the total contract amount for the seven-year term has been reached. Staff
recommends modifying the agreement with LandCare USA to cover landscaping
services for the reminder of the current agreement, which will expire on September 1,
2019 and authorize up to $1.085 million in additional expenditure authority. Modifying
the agreement would ensure that assets are maintained for environmental and aesthetic
purposes and recreational and passive use. The bidding process for a new agreement
for landscape services beginning in September is currently underway.
Discussion
Landscape maintenance includes weed abatement, hardscape cleaning, irrigation
inspections, trash removal at all parks, and turf aerification, fertilization and mowing.
LandCare USA performs the work routinely at different frequencies (e.g., daily, weekly)
2 of 4
depending on the task and per one-time projects at the request of various departments
and has recently implemented the use of environmentally friendly products to perform
weed abatement. The completion of several infrastructure projects has added to the
routine landscape maintenance inventory since Council approved the original
agreement in 2012. Some of the completed projects that have added routine landscape
maintenance include Ishihara Park, medians and parkways along the Expo Line, the
downtown Santa Monica Expo Station, and various traffic calming features. Such
additions to the routine landscape maintenance inventory has added nearly $250,000 in
annual expenses.
Unbudgeted one-time landscape maintenance projects have occurred frequently across
departments since the approval of contract terms. These types of one-time projects
have often been components in citywide initiatives such as water conservation and
addressing homelessness. For water conservation efforts, LandCare USA has removed
turf, added mulch and native plants, and installed drip irrigation at a variety of locations.
In FY 2016-17, LandCare USA completed one-time water conservation projects at a
cost of almost $103,000. To help address homeless-related matters in FY 2017-18,
LandCare USA performed a clean-up of Interstate 10 and planter renovations at Reed
Park and Memorial Park for just over $85,000. In summary, additional routine landscape
maintenance and projects requested by various departments accelerated the use of the
agreement’s current authorized amount of just over $12.1 million.
The recommended agreement modification ensures the payment of work invoiced since
March 2019, uninterrupted routine citywide landscape maintenance, completion of
necessary projects by request, and a 10% contingency until the current agreement
terminates on September 1, 2019.
Past Council Actions
08/14/2012 (Attachment A) Landscape Maintenance Services for Various City
Locations
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
3 of 4
Staff seeks authority to increase the amount of the agreement with LandCare USA to
continue uninterrupted routine and requested landscape maintenance projects citywide
through August 31, 2019.
Contract Modification Request: LandCare USA
Agreement # Current
Authorized
Amount
Modified
Request
Amount
FY 2018-19 Budget
Dept Account #
Total Revised
Contract
Amount
9625 $12,117,791 $219,524 01500023.550010
$368,740 01500023.550010 40073
$1,293 01160002.529140
$105,921 57500002.529220
$1,274 01180003.529140
$43,995 11500001.550010
$21,670 50500001.550010
$9,373 16500001.529670
$24,987 60600011.550016
$36,241 11500002.550010
$2,356 53500001.529160
$828 01200005.529140
$24,127 01400028.550010
$5,094 01500003.552010 55099
$1,642 01190001.529130
$9,036 51500001.529420
$5,432 51500001.529450
$91,677 59500001.550010
$2,520 01160004.550010
$10,890 01500025.550010
$98,662 10% contingency
$1,085,282 Modification Total
Total $13,203,073
Funds are available in the FY 2018-19 budget, and funding for July and August 2019 is
subject to Council budget authorization.
4 of 4
Prepared By: Carlos Collard, Senior Administrative Analyst
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. LandCare USA Oaks Initiative Disclosure Form
REFERENCE:
Modified Agreement No. 9625
(CCS)