Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Parks & Recreation Department

DATE:           January 11, 2011

TO:              Dave Corliss, City Manager,

Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager

                             Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

                   Ernie Shaw, Interim Director Parks & Recreation

FROM:          Mark Hecker, Assistant Director, Parks and Recreation

RE:               Bid date for 2011 Mowing Contracts

Please include the following item on the City Commission agenda for consideration at the January 18th, 2011, meeting:

Set a bid opening date of February 15, 2011, for the 2011 mowing contracts.

Project Description

The City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department has been asked to coordinate the bidding of contractual mowing services for the City. The 2011 mowing season will represent the first attempt to look at all city departments that have contracted mowing services in the past, and coordinate them into one set of bid documents. Properties being bid are currently being managed my Parks & Recreation, Utilities, Public Works, Police, Fire, and Code Enforcement. The properties have been divided by geographic location and frequency of mowing to create mowing districts. These districts will be bid separately to allow smaller local mowing companies an opportunity to bid.

The 286 acres being contract mowed represents less than 5% of the total acreage managed by the City (Parks & Recreation alone manages over 3800 acres of parks and right-of-way)

Project Funding

It is estimated this these bids will total $150,000-$160,000. Funding for this project will come from the General Fund and the Utilities Fund.

Action Request

The City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department staff requests approval from the City Commission to set a bid date of February 15th, 2011, for contractual mowing services.

Thank you for your assistance.  Please advise if you have any questions.