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City Receives Bids For Public Works Services
PW Bid
At Oakdale City Hall, Operations Manager Dee Tatum (center) reads one of the received submissions for city park maintenance services as Union Representative Mike Eggener (right) takes notes.

The City of Oakdale took its next step toward privatization of public works services on Wednesday, Oct. 31, when it publicly opened bids on a contract for city park maintenance.

Public works personnel, a union official, interested city residents, and a bidder were present in the lobby of city hall when Operations Manage Dee Tatum, accompanied by Human Resources Analyst Michelle McKinsey, opened the sealed bids.

Only two landscaping companies submitted bids by the noon deadline.

“We’ll be looking them over this weekend to see if they meet the compatibility to the request,” said Tatum prior to opening the sealed envelopes.

Grover Landscaping of Modesto listed they could complete the required duties for $357,384 per year, or $1,027,152 for the three-year contract.

Sierra Landscaping Corp. of Walnut Creek proposed a much lower bid of $206,471 per year, or a total three-year fee of $619,413.

Due to the noticeable variance, Tatum said that both bid sheets would have to be reviewed to ensure compatibility with the city’s request. He anticipated a Nov. 19 announcement of who the city would select if the process goes through.

The current Oakdale 2012-2013 budget shows $179,599 in personnel costs and $74,050 in operating costs for park maintenance, a total of $253,649 per year, allotted by the city. It is unknown if the bid proposal required additional duties or personnel.

For the full story, read the Nov. 7 edition of The Leader.