HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10375 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10375
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council March 3, 2020
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SUBJECT: MOWING CONTRACTS 2020
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The purpose of this Informal Report is to provide an update on mowing service improvements for the 2020
mowing season, some of which will be addressed with contracts being recommended for award on the
March 17, 2020, City Council agenda.
During the 2019 mowing season, ideal grass growing weather conditions, combined with a number of
contractor defaults, resulted in a high number of delayed mowings. In an effort to improve mowing
services citywide, the FY2020 budget appropriated an additional $1,000,000 to increase contractor
mowing frequencies in specific areas and for interim mowing services (by contract or park staff) to address
potential defaults or to take on new areas added to the inventory. The budget plan allocates the use of
these funds as follows: increased frequency of rights-of-way mowing for $550,000, hot spot contract
mowing for $300,000 and hot spot staff mowing overtime for$110,000. The remaining $40,000 balance
has been set aside for contingency expenses, i.e., equipment repair or lease, new properties, etc. As a
result, the following mowing program improvements will occur:
• Increase rights-of-way (ROW) mowing frequency to a 14 day cycle from the previous 28 day cycle
including aligning the start of mowing services of ROWs at the same time as traffic dividers. This
improvement will increase the number of ROW mowing cycles from 9 to 20 cycles annually.
• Alignment of select ROWs with adjacent traffic dividers so both the ROW and traffic dividers are
mowed at the same time, by the same contractor.
• Implementation of"Hot Spot" mowing services, primarily by contract, whereby contractors (or in
some instances, staff) are deployed to address contractor defaults and take on new service areas.
These changes required that bids be issued for additional mowing contracts. On an annual basis, bids are
re-let due to either an expiring contract or contractors not renewing or defaulting. In FY2019, six of 14, or
43%, of the mowing contractors either failed to perform or opted not to renew contracts.
As noted above, the FY2020 recommended bid awards for mowing services are scheduled for the March
17, 2020 Council agenda. Total funding allocated in FY2020 for contract mowing, including the service
improvements summarized above, is $3,072,366.
In the interim, hot spot mowing contractors and park staff are maintaining areas as needed. The following
areas went out for bid in January 2020:
• Rights-of-way: Southwest and Northeast Regions
• Traffic dividers: West and South Districts
• Other areas: corner clips (traffic intersections), select city facilities and parks
Due to the mild winter, which has resulted in an exceptionally short dormancy period for grass and weeds,
the 2020 mowing season began in early January, requiring park staff and hot spot mowers to begin
mowing activities much earlier than in normal years.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10375
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council March 3, 2020
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SUBJECT: MOWING CONTRACTS 2020
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In an effort to minimize and address complaints in a timely manner, additional changes made within the
mowing program include:
• Conducted "Let's Mow" forum vendor meeting with 38 contractors attending, resulting in eight
companies submitting bids; three of which are being recommended for bid award
• Conducted a post-2019 mowing season survey of mowing contractors
• Nearing completion of recruitment process for an additional inspector to verify work completed
• Creating a GIS layer of mowing properties inventory
• Updated all maps which will be used in assignment of inventory
• Conducted analysis of MyFW trend report that tracks data on complaints received, worked and
resolved
• Conducted training and refresher training for mowing contractors on the CRM app which is used to
issue work orders and document work completed
Reporting mowing concerns:
To better capture data including the volume and nature of complaints and validate the effectiveness of
contractors, park staff is working closely with the CRM team to document all calls and complaints.
To report high grass and weeds or for additional information, individuals are asked to use the MyFW app
or email 1 234(d-)FortWorthTexas.Gov or call: 817-392-1234.
Current inventory and frequency:
CATEGORY # UNITS FREQUENCY RESPONSIBLE TO MAINTAIN
Parks 291 14/21 days Contract and park staff
Traffic dividers 275 14 days Contract
Rights-of-way 501 14 days Contract
Corner clips 149 14 days Contract
City facilities 44 14 days Contract and park staff
Round-Abouts 23 14 days Contract
For questions regarding this information, please contact Richard Zavala, Director, Park & Recreation
Department, at 817-392-5704.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS