"DON'T STEP ON THE GRASS, SAM"

The process for determining who will be chosen for mowing for the City is as follows:

1) Assistant City Manager directed Community Development staff to solicit proposals for mowing.
2) Staff looked in phone book and assessed companies that had ability to mow commercial/municipal properties.
3) Letters were sent to five (5) contractors to request quotes on specific properties.
4) Responses received and reviewed. Two of the five contractors responded. A third contractor presented proposal with no bond insurance after hearing about it at the City Council meeting.
5) Assistant City Manager reviewed proposals and contacted each of the contractors to request additional information. Met with Yardmaster.
6) Assistant City Manager compared proposals and met with City Manager McMahon to review.
7) Assistant City Manager recommended use of J.D. Skytta as primary contractor and Yardmaster as secondary contractor if primary was unavailable, could not mow within 24 hours, or too many lawns for one contractor.
8) Assistant City Manager prepared terms to be presented to primary and secondary contractors.
9) Award letters and terms prepared by Community Development staff.
10) Both contractors chosen were notified.
11) Lawns assigned to mowing contractor by Housing Inspections. In most instances, Ms. Noell Sivertsen coordinated the lawns that needed attention. However, both Ms. Sivertsen and Mr. Michael Dobrzeniecki identify, post and submit lawns in violation of property maintenance ordinance.

I think it is important to understand that the lawns that the City of Painesville has to mow are 6 inches or over in height. Therefore, the contractor must have proper equipment to complete in a expedient manner. In order to minimize the expense, the properties are mowed as low to the ground as possible and the Housing Inspectors do not submit properties to be mowed a second time until they are over 7 inches in height. A contractor or young person with a regular lawn mower would, most likely, destroy their mower on grass this high. In addition, few contractors are willing to provide the $100,000.00 insurance liability bond and mow as directed. There are also large parcels and commercial lots that require a brush hog to mow due to size, height of grass and topography.

FYI. The primary contractor was chosen years ago by the former City Planner, Brian Fanz. The contractor has done a very good job and is responsive when notified. This was also taken into consideration. Please understand that we are more than willing to work with any landscape contractor that has the ability to mow in accordance with the terms developed.

Sincerely,

Douglas L. Lewis

Douglas L. Lewis
Assistant City Manager/Director of Community Development
City of Painesville
7 Richmond Street
Painesville, Ohio 44077
E-mail: dlewis@painesville.com
Phone: (440) 392-5802
Cell: (440) 653-7764
Fax: (440) 639-4831