2025 BOULEVARD MAINTENANCE CONTRACT AWARD
Report recommending the award of the municipal boulevard maintenance contract to RLC Enterprize Ltd.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT
TO: Council DATE: May 26, 2025 FROM: Ben Lubberts, AScT, Deputy Director of Engineering MEETING DATE: June 3, 2025
2025 BOULEVARD MAINTENANCE CONTRACT AWARD
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT Council direct staff to award the 2025 Boulevard Maintenance Contract to RLC Enterprize Ltd in the amount of $100,000 net of taxes.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Option #2: | THAT Council direct staff to award the 2025 Boulevard Contract to RLC Enterprize Ltd. in the amount of $142,376 (net of taxes) to include the provisional Work; AND THAT the Financial Plan be amended accordingly. |
| Option #3: | THAT Council direct staff to award the 2025 Boulevard Contract to RLC Enterprize Ltd. in the amount of $ 195,000 net of taxes to include the provisional work and contingency to elevate the work to non-reduced level of service as needed and directed by Staff; AND THAT the Financial Plan be amended accordingly. |
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval on the award of the 2025 Boulevard Maintenance Contract for the remainder of 2025 calendar year.
BACKGROUND:
At the May 13, 2025 regular Council meeting, Council set the budget for contracted boulevard maintenance services for the total 2025 year to be $400,000 and directed staff to undergo a competitive bid process for the services. Due to the Town being already committed for the first five months of payments under the current contract, the budget for the remainder of the year – and for the purposes of this competitive bid process – is $100,000.
Three key variables were included into the competitive bid process to ensure a successful process:
- Staff anticipate that the Town would be unlikely to deliver the full current suite of boulevard maintenance services within the remaining 2025 approved budget. Therefore, staff removed strategic items from the base contract and instead included them as provisional items: elective items that could be excluded from the contract without significant short term impacts.¹
- The term of the new contract is reset to be for the 2025 year only and to expire on December 31, 2025. Aligning Contract starts with the non-peak landscaping season is expected to attract more bids for future competitive bid processes.
- Instructions for proponents was given to propose reduced services if their bid price exceeded the $100,000 budget.
EVALUATION:
The expedited process ensures continuity of services without significant lag from the completion of the old contract (expired May 31, 2025). As a result, the competitive bid process was administered through a Request for Proposals (RFP) that closed on May 23, 2025.
The RFP required each proponent to provide a detailed proposal to be evaluated based on Company Profile and Experience, Methodology, Personnel, Pricing and Value-Added Services. While six (6) contractors attended a mandatory pre-bid meeting, three (3) proposals were received from RLC Enterprize Ltd (RLC), Victoria Contracting and Municipal Maintenance Corp. (VCMMC), and Your Place Social Enterprises Ltd. (Your Place).
Their submissions were evaluated with results summarized below:
| Contractor | Total Points (Out of 100) | Fee Total | Provisional Work Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| RLC | 90 | $ 100,000* | $ 42,376 |
| VCMMC | 81 | $ 249,096** | $ 32,250 |
| Your Place | 69 | $ 167,400** | Not provided |
*RLC’s Fee Total proposed a reduced level of service to achieve the allotted budget. ** VCMMC and Your Place Fee Totals did not propose any reduced level of service to achieve the allotted budget.
¹ Examples of provisional items are fall leaf collection on non-beautified boulevard corridors and one-time litter pickup on non-maintained boulevards.
RECOMMENDATION & OPTIONS:
Considering the high rating and lowest pricing of RLC’s proposal, and their overall proposal quality that includes a methodical reduction in service levels to deliver the services within the approved budget, staff recommend awarding the 2025 Boulevard Maintenance Contract to RLC.
Staff are supportive of RLC’s methodical reduction in levels of service to deliver the services within the approved budget (lower costs). Reasoning to support the proposed reduced services are summarized below:
| Proposed Reduced Service | Summary of Supportable Reasons to Consider |
|---|---|
| Maintain “Level 2 – Groomed” boulevards as “Level 3 – Moderate” | • Difference in appearance is small and may go unnoticed to the travelling eye. • Only a small area of the Town is maintained at Level 2 and as a result could be unnoticeable from a community wide perspective. It also improves equity of services throughout the community. • The short Contract length would not impact the health of the boulevards and pivots could be made for the future 2026-2030 RFP. |
| Reduce areas requiring monthly maintenance by 40% and shift those areas to quarterly visits | • Difference in appearance may be noticeable but the reduction in service would not impact the health of the boulevards. Pivots could be made for the future 2026-2030 RFP. • The reduced service could act as a trial opportunity to assess how select boulevards response to less frequent maintenance. |
| Assign only 50% of the typical required effort toward “semi-annual” boulevard maintenance. | • “Semi-annual” boulevard maintenance generally entails rough mowing non-irrigated areas on lower travelled roads. • The first of two “Semi-annual” work efforts will be substantially completed by the time the new contract commences so it is feasible to prioritize the “Semi-annual” inventory and skip service on lower-priority boulevards to save costs. |
Staff support the following additional options should Council wish to reduce the level of risk in the aesthetics and quality of boulevard maintenance work:
| Alternative Option | Implications |
|---|---|
| Option 2: Award contract to RLC with an increased contract value up to $142,376 to include provisional work. | Up to $42,376 in additional expenses unaccounted for in the approved 2025 Budget. With the increased contract value, boulevard maintenance levels would be reduced as noted in the table above, but staff would implement provisional work on an “as and when needed basis”. |
| Option 3: Award contract to RLC with an increased contract value up to $195,000 to include non-reduced levels of service and provisional work. | Up to $95,000 in additional expenses unaccounted for in the approved 2025 Budget. With the increased contract value, boulevard maintenance levels would be maintained generally as seen today and staff would implement provisional work on an “as and when needed basis”. |
Important note: Because the 2025 budget has already been established, if equivalent efficiencies within other Transportation operating budgets are not available to off-set the incremental cost of non-reduced levels of service, then the 2025-2029 Financial Plan will need to be amended to account for the increased contract value.
ANALYSIS:
Impacts and implications can be summarized as follows:
Community Impact: A reduced level of service. However, staff have made horticultural-driven decisions through engaging maintenance consultants and internal staff to provide a program that limits the visual and health impacts of the boulevards. Reduced costs and level of service is in direct correlation to what staff have heard during the Budget citizen engagement process. There are motivations to reduce operational costs to reduce taxation to residents.
Financial Implication: The recommended option significantly reduces operational costs. In total, the recommended option puts the total budget at $400,000 – a 50% reduction from the previous year’s budget.
Council may consider increasing the contract value to account for ‘non-reduced’ services and/or provisional work. If equivalent efficiencies within other Transportation operating budgets are not available to off-set the incremental cost of increased levels of service, then the 2025-2029 Financial Plan will need to be amended to account for the increased contract value.
It is expected that learning curve and the management of expectations between contractor, residents, and others, will require more staff time. This would impact staff’s ability to conduct other works, including but not limited to Capital Project delivery.
ALIGNMENT:
The recommended option aligns with the Town’s following core guiding documents as follows:
| Plan | Alignment |
|---|---|
| Strategic Plan: | Strategic Priority D, Goal 1: Confidence in the fiscal health and financial stability of the Town. Implement asset management program improvements. |
| Other Policy Documents: | Financial Plan: in accordance with the Strategic Plan, Council heard from the citizen satisfaction survey of some commentary requesting for a reduction in boulevard maintenance. |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION GOAL:
The desired level of public participation for the recommended option is:
[x] Inform [ ] Consult [ ] Involve [ ] Collaborate [ ] Empower [ ] N/A
No engagement has been conducted as a result of the direction to expedite a competitive bid process. Future engagements regarding operational levels of service may be conducted in the future as part of the Town’s asset management program.
TIME CRITICAL:
Immediate decision from Council is required to maintain business continuity: the previous Contract ended on May 31, 2025. Delays in the award can result in boulevard growth being significant and causing hardships (and extra costs) for the new Contractor to maintain.
CONCURRENCE:
| Position | Initials | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Administrative Officer | SS | I concur with the recommendation. |
REVIEWED BY:
| Position | Initials |
|---|---|
| Director of Corporate Administration/Deputy CAO | N/A |
| Director of Finance & Technology | SV |
| Director of Development Services | N/A |
| Director of Engineering | IL |
| Director of Protective Services | N/A |
ATTACHMENTS: None
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