Mansion Farm

Snow Bids - Landscape Committe Meeting, Wednesday, November 2, 2011

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The Landscape Committe met this week to review the snow bids for this coming winter.  Criteria was made by the committee and sent to all interested contractors to bid.

 

The Board of Director received 6 bids from various contractors in Delaware and Maryland.  The landscape committee reviewed all 6 bids and 3 bids were voided because they did not meet the criteria that was asked.

 

The 3 remaining bids were reviewed apples to apples.  The 3 remaining bidders will be called by a landscape committe member to provide references for further investigation.

 

Here are the list of the companies in the running for the snow removal contract in order of the most criteria met.

 

1.  Raffa's Lawn Care Service - Wilmington, DE

2.  Bay Country Landscape - Elkton, MD

3.  Wilcox Landscaping - New Castle, DE

 

Once the references are called and confirmed, the winning bid will be presented to the Board for approval.

November 3rd 2011 Report Reply

In an effort to keep the community informed, I am posting the minutes from the Landscaping Committee Meeting for 2012 Snow Bids.

 

 

Mansion Farm Landscaping Committee

Review of Snow Removal Bids

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Call to Order by:

Annamarie Love

Scribe:

Joan McKenna

Attendees:

Darrell Henderson, Al Love, Annamarie Love, Joan McKenna, Mike Minster, Frank Mullins, Christine Perkins, Paul Perrone, Mary Scalley, Sylvia Simpson

Updates, Discussion, and Decisions

Topic

Key Points

Follow-up Issues

Reviewed Specifications

Annamarie reviewed the specifications provided to prospective contractors.

Mansion Farm

Specifications for Snow removal

November 2011 – April 2012

The purpose of this specification page is to provide a basic guideline for all companies interested in submitting a bid for snow removal for Mansion farm.

1       Prices to be broken down in two groups 

  •  Mansion Farm Drive only 
  • All roads
    • 2       Cost of snow removal from roadways, curb to curb. ( 1inch to 3.99 inches- 4.0 inches to 5.99inches 6.0 inches to 7.99 inches 8.0 inches and over) Map and street list attached.

3       Price for salting of roadways.( Elbow and Intersections)

4       Breakdown of all equipment and prices if price is per piece of equipment.

5       Response time to all calls from snow manager. And response time to arrive on site.

6       All prices to be the same for all days including Saturday, Sunday and Holidays.

7       All bids to include a spring inspection for damage contractor responsible for all damage.

8       No bid will be accepted with automatic plowing terms or linked contract terms.

9       Snow measurements will be determined by the weather service at New Castle Co Airport

10       All drivers must be drug free and have proper license for the equipment used in Mansion Farm.

11       Please submit a list of other developments that you provide service for.

12       Contractor to stake all roadways prior to December 15th.

Bids must be received on or before October 30th to be considered. Bids not received on time or not meeting the above terms will not be considered.

 

Scoring System

The above specification requirements were reviewed and prioritized prior to this meeting.  Annamarie reviewed the prioritization and provided a worksheet to compare bidding contractors.

  1. Business License in Delaware?
  2. Insured?
  3. Prices same for weekends/holidays?
  4. Agree to Pre/Post season inspection?
  5. Agree to cover damages?
  6. Agree to Stake Neighborhood by 1 December?
  7. Cost (1”-3.99”) Mansion Farm Dr. Only (MFO)/Entire Development (All)
  8. Cost (4”-5.99”) MFO/All
  9. Cost (6”-7.99”) MFO/All
  10. Cost (8+”) MFO/All
  11. Level/Amount of insurance coverage
  12. Cost per ton of salt
  13. References/Recommendations
  14. Flexibility (in contract agreement)
  15. Response time

 

Contracts Received
  1. Bay Country Custom Landscapes, Elkton, MD 410-398-0880
  2. Wilcox Landscaping, New Castle, DE 302-322-3002
  3. Penny Hill Lawn and Landscape, Wilmington, DE 302-275-5933
  4. Raffa’s Lawn Care, Lincoln University, PA 302-561-4495
  5. Chambers Landscaping, New Castle, DE 302-328-1312

True Green- EXCLUDED from consideration as they submitted a contract for geese control. 

 

Contract Scoring
  • All bidding contractors were licensed and insured.
  • The 2 following contracts were unanimously excluded from consideration due to considerably higher bid prices: Penny Hill and Chambers
  • It was noted that of the 3 remaining bids, Bay Country and Raffa charged the same price for Weekends/Holidays.  Wilcox charged more for Weekends/Holidays and did not comply with the provided specifications.

 

Contract Questions & Clarifications

During the review of the contracts, questions were identified regarding response times, fuel surcharges, and overtime. Bay Country and Raffa were contacted for answers/clarification.  Raffa proposed new contract pricing during this contact.  The group discussed this and decided to make its recommendations based on the originally received contracts to be fair to all contractors.

 

Ranking

The following bidding contracts were unanimously ranked in the following order by the landscaping committee based on pricing.

  1. Raffa
  2. Bay Country
  3. Wilcox

NOTE – It was discussed to exclude Wilcox as they did not comply with the specification requirement for same price for Weekends/Holidays.  Wilcox was included only as a third choice in the event that the feedback from the references for the first two contractors should be negative.

 

References

The committee agreed to check references for contractors.

  • Al to check Raffa
  • Paul to check Bay Country
  • Mike to check Wilcox

Discussed topics to be checked: Prompt response, Shows up on time, Pleased with work, Any billing issues, Any additional unexpected charges, Contractor servicing too many developments, etc.

Al, Paul, and Mike to email results to Annamarie.

Annamarie will aggregate results and notify committee via email.

Next Steps

Based on the feedback from the contract references:

  • Positive Results: The committee submits above ranking of received contracts to the Community Board.
  • Negative Results: The committee will discuss altering recommended ranking.

 

 

Summary of Mansion Farm Snow Removal Bids 2011-2012      
             
Recommended Priority 1 2 3
Contractor Raffa's Lawn Care Bay Country Custom Landscaping Wilcox Landscaping
Contact Information Joseph Raffa
335 Heron Dr.
Lincoln University, PA 19352
302-561-4496		 Elkton, MD
302-530-5252		 PO Box 629
New Castle, DE 19720
302-322-3002
Business License Yes Yes Yes
Insurance Yes Yes Yes
Prices the same for Weekends/Holidays? Yes Yes No
Agree to Pre/Post season inspection? Yes Yes No
Agree to cover damages? Yes Yes Yes
Agree to Stake Neighborhood by 1 Dec.? Yes Yes No
Breakdown by Depth Mansion Farm Drive Only Entire Neighborhood Mansion Farm Drive Only Entire Neighborhood Mansion Farm Drive Only Entire Neighborhood
Cost (1"-3.99") $200.00 $975.00 $150.00 $555.00 $156.00 $816.00
Cost (4"-5.99") $400.00 $1,200.00 $375.00 $1,387.50 $218.00 $1,142.00
Cost (6"-7.99") $400.00 $1,200.00 $685.00 $2,485.00 $316.00 $1,656.00
Cost (8"+)     Hourly Hourly $316 + T&M $1656 + T&M
Cost (8.1"-12") $600.00 $1,400.00        
Cost(12"+) $400 + $125 /hr /truck $1400 + $125 /hr /truck         
Level/Amount of Insurance coverage Provided on request    
Cost of salt $400/ application
(4 tons)		 $1600/ application
(8 tons)		 $139.50/ ton $139.50/ ton $190/ ton (3 ton minimum) $190/ ton (3 ton minimum)
Cost of salt - Elbow & Intersections only $800/ application          
Cost of Salt & Sand Mix     $95.00/ ton $95.00/ ton    
Cost of Sand Only     $65.00/ ton $65.00/ ton    
References/Recommendations Yes Yes  
Flexibility (in contract agreement) Yes Yes Yes
Response time 2hrs. 15Min.-1Hr. 2Hrs. Vs. 4Hrs.?
Other considerations 1).Contractor offered to change the cost (4"-5.99") to $975 and to submit a new bid. This was not considered in the ranking.
2) 6 trucks
3) Can cancel contract with written notice from customer		 1) No fuel surcharge.
2) Overtime if manual labor goes over 40Hrs.		 1) Fuel surcharge possible.
2) Can cancel contract with 30 day written notice from customer
3) In the event of heavy ice and freezing rain, customer will be billed on a time and materials basis at the rates listed.
             
Notes:             
1) It was discussed to exclude Wilcox as they did not comply with the specification requirement for same price for Weekends/Holidays.  Wilcox was included only as a third choice in the event that the feedback from the references for the first two contractors should be negative.
2) Cost (1"-3.99") was not considered as the Board previously determined to not activate snow removal until at least 4" have accumulated.
3) Ranking was based on Cost of Entire Neighborhood Snow Removal as this is the primary service needed.

 

This information was provided to the board for a vote.

November 14th 2011 Report Reply
Cherry_blossom_alpha
Bear, Delaware 19701