City of Milpitas Outsources Landscaping

City engineers in Milpitas, Calif., found ?EUR??,,????'??significant deficiencies?EUR??,,????'?? in local parks and landscape maintenance, including broken irrigation systems; dead and dying trees, grass, and shrubbery; as well as vandalized park benches and graffiti. Combined with the need to close a budget gap, the city council voted last month to outsource its landscaping needs to a private contractor.

The Bay Area city of Milpitas, Calif., has joined the ranks of municipalities outsourcing their landscaping needs to private companies in order to close a budget gap.

The Milpitas City Council voted June 5 to award contracts for up to five years of park and street landscaping and repair services to Terracare Associates. The Colorado-based Terracare will maintain 24 city parks and sports fields, and provide routine services including turf care, pruning, weed removal, plant replacements, irrigation system maintenance, trash pick-up and fixture and equipment repair.

Terracare will earn an annual sum of $1,326,155 for the first two years of park maintenance, and $1,369,638 for years three through five. The maintenance contract lasts one year, with four one-year options for renewal, according to city reports.

The streetscape maintenance and repair contract includes a not-to-exceed amount of $125,218 for landscape and irrigation system maintenance of the city's landscaped streetscapes, medians and rights of way.

Milpitas?EUR??,,????'??? budget took a $7 million annual hit to its general fund when Gov. Jerry Brown eliminated state redevelopment agencies, forcing city officials and the city council to search for cost-cutting measures. The outsourcing of landscaping services was part of a larger move to control spending that led to 43 city employees being laid off or choosing early retirement at the outset of the new fiscal year in July.

Only one of the five city council members voted against the measure, to protest the layoffs of city workers.

Terracare was selected over three other bids after being determined the most advantageous to the city. Milpitas officials made the move in part because of ?EUR??,,????'??significant deficiencies?EUR??,,????'?? in the city?EUR??,,????'???s parks and landscaping, according to City Manager Tom Williams.