The Village's turf mowing contract covers approximately 70 acres of property at  91 public sites throughout the community.  The Village is responsible for maintenance of these areas, which includes mowing, edging, aerating and general litter removal.  A bid opening was held on March 24, 2017 at 11:00 AM.  The following six bids were opened and publicly read aloud: 

BIDDER                                             BID TOTAL WEEKLY COSTS

KGI Landscaping  Skokie, IL                         $1,579.00                                                

Milieu Design Inc.   Wheeling, IL                   $2,104.89

Local Lawn Care  Naperville,IL                       $2,592.00                                        

Gilio Landscape  Arlington Heights, IL            $2,884.00

Flecks Landscaping    Wheeling, IL                 $3,232.00

Acres Group   Wauconda, IL                           $3,320.00

The bid is for  weekly mowing services during the growing season, approximately April - November. The contract is for three years with three possible one-year extensions. The weekly price is fixed for the first three years and has an optional once per extension price escalator of no more than half of the Consumer Price Index.

The apparent low bidder is KGI Landscaping of Skokie, IL. Staff checked the four references supplied by KGI and received three return calls, only one of which was favorable. KGI also failed to provide unit prices for additional work on the bid proposal form as requested.  As such, we do not believe that it is in the Village's best interest to award this contract to KGI Landscaping. Staff is therefore recommending that KGI's bid be rejected for the reasons summarized above.

Staff is recommending that the Village award the contract to Milieu Design of Wheeling, IL  as the lowest responsible bidder. Staff has checked Milieu's references and all are favorable. Milieu has performed similar services successfully for the Village in the past, and staff believes that Milieu is capable of the successful performance of this contract.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the Village Board award a three-year contract to Milieu Design Inc. of Wheeling, Illinois in an amount not to exceed $2,104.89 total weekly cost.