PARKER — Like Callaway, the city of Parker is considering a right-of-way maintenance contract with Infrastructure Corp. of America (ICA) at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
All municipalities in Bay County previously contracted directly with the Florida Department of Transportation, with FDOT paying the cities in exchange for maintenance. FDOT recently entered into a contract with ICA to provide right-of-way maintenance. ICA has offered Parker about $19,000 to provide mowing, landscaping and trash pickup for its sections of Tyndall Parkway (U.S. 98) and U.S. Business 98. The previous contract with FDOT was for $25,000. If Parker accepts the contract, its Leisure Services department would be responsible for the work.
The payment difference of $6,000 is not what concerns Mayor Rich Musgrave. Included in the ICA contract are penalties for noncompliance, as much as a $1,000 penalty per complaint of grass being over 6 inches, Musgrave said.
“It’s fairly onerous; all the risk was on our side,” Musgrave said. “It’s not a contract I would recommend anybody sign.”
However, the downside of not signing the contract is leaving maintenance up to a third party. ICA is obligated to provide maintenance, but there is a question of how often grass will be cut and trash will be picked up.
For now Callaway has decided not to accept the contract from ICA in part because of a $3,843 difference in payment, but the Callaway Commission approved the deal because of concerns with maintenance. ICA stated it was only mandated to mow seven times and pick up trash 12 times a year.
“We take pride in maintaining it because it’s the entryway for our city,” Musgrave said.
Musgrave said City Attorney Tim Sloan might offer revisions to the contract to be sent back to ICA.
In other business, the council is scheduled to:
- Discuss a dock permit for James and Rhonda Mitchell at 4333 E. U.S. Business 98.
- Unveil a new trash truck. The $125,000 truck has been financed over four years.
- Discuss financing options for new police vehicles. The police department is budgeted to receive three new vehicles in 2015, with two already ordered. Musgrave expects buying the vehicles outright to be less expensive than a financing options. He expects the cars to cost about $38,000 each except for the K-9 ready vehicle, which costs slightly more.