Local lawn services edged out of mowing contract

In one case, a local company won a road improvement contract, but another job went to an out-of-town company whose bid was lower.

Such is life under Nebraskas open bidding laws; try as they might, local public bodies arent always able to spend their money locally.

That sometimes frustrating fact was brought to the forefront at the Fremont City Council meeting on Tuesday when a Fort Calhoun company outbid several local lawn services to mow Fremont parks and rights-of-way for the next two years.

The council unanimously approved Parks and Recreation Director Dan Seders recommendation to hire A Plush Lawns for up to $68,625 per mowing season for two years.

Actual payments to the company will depend upon the mowing season. The summer drought in 2012, for example, cut the season short.

A Plush actually had the third lowest weekly and bi-weekly mowing prices of eight bidders, but scored second to an Elkhorn company in the bid scoring system, but Seder said the interview process unearthed concerns with the Elkhorn companys $61,005 per season bid.

While other bidders would provide an owner-operator as the citys point of contact, Seder explained, the Elkhorn company said the city would work through a scheduling coordinator in their main office, and there were issues with scheduling flexibility.

After going through the interviews, I proposed who I thought would be the best fit for the city in terms of the product were going to receive, and then ultimately what the price is going to be for the city, Seder said.

Jim Love of Fremont told the council awarding the contract to an out-of-town company likely means four to six Fremont people wont have summer jobs this year.

With all the cities filing bankruptcy or having budget issues, the more money we can keep in our city the better off we are, Love said.

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Local lawn services edged out of mowing contract