Board authorizes bids for snow‑removal and landscaping amid concerns about steep, variable costs

The Blaine County School District Board on July 15 supported staff plans to issue requests for proposals for districtwide snow removal and site‑specific landscaping contracts and returned with multiple directions to tighten scopes and seek price guarantees. Director Benyon described the district’s historical use of multiple contractors and said several vendors had resigned recently; he recommended going out to bid so the district could compare like‑for‑like proposals for snow removal and weekly landscaping services. Benyon said bids for snow removal should return to the board in September to give contractors time to plan for winter. Trustees pressed for clearer contract scopes and transparency on add‑on charges. Trustee Turner and others reviewed year‑to‑date spending that exceeded original contract amounts and asked staff to break down contract line items, clarify escalation clauses, and request time‑and‑materials rates or guaranteed change‑order pricing to avoid unexpected costs. Trustees and staff discussed partial in‑house solutions. Benyon said some maintenance tasks that support small sites (district office, maintenance facility, workforce housing) could be done by district crews to reduce contracted scope and cost; the district has already reduced an in‑house landscape crew from two to one position this summer to test capacity. Trustees suggested modeling multi‑year averages to compare the cost of hiring in‑house staff and equipment against contracting. Snow removal costs were highlighted as highly variable by weather; one board member said a guaranteed snow contract could smooth spikes in high‑snow years. A representative noted the district has paid more than contracted amounts in some years due to major repairs (irrigation mainline breaks) and that insurance‑driven wildfire mitigation work will increase landscaping costs shortly. Board members asked staff to return with RFP language that clarifies guaranteed rates, time‑and‑materials change‑order processes, breakdowns by site and services, and options for partial in‑house provision. Staff will return snow‑removal bids in September and landscaping bids in December.