Council mowing to be tendered

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 425, 25 February 1992, Page 2

Council mowing to be tendered

Council lawn mowing is to be tendered to commercial operators, but the council is planning to do so very carefully. At last week's full council meeting

councillors agreed to call for tenders for mowing all council lawns. "There is need to carefully consider the detailed specifications for the works," stated technical services director

Bruce Dobson in his report. "The hiccups that have sometimes occurred with previous contracts do not mean that we were wrong to (use) tendering... but that specifications need the greatest possible depth of consider ation." The contracts are to start on 1 October 1992 and run for two years. Councillors agreed that caution was necessary, and agreed that community boards should be asked for their input into setting standards. General manager Cliff Houston said the contracts would not specify when or how the lawns should be cut, but rather specify a minimum standard that they should be found in at all times. The council' s business unit will be able to tender for any of the

contracts. Turf and garden maintenance work will be retained by the council staff, and

"inhouse expertise in the field of horticulture" should be retained, the report stated.