Council approves consolidated $675,624 landscape‑maintenance contract to cover Greenway Trail and Uptown areas

The Whittier City Council authorized the city manager to execute a consolidated professional services agreement with Azteca Landscape covering landscape and irrigation maintenance across multiple city locations, including the Greenway Trail and Uptown Whittier, for $675,624.

Montgomery Scott, a city staff presenter, told the council the contract replaces three prior agreements totaling about $677,816 and consolidates them into a single scope. “The recommendation before you this evening is that you would authorize the city manager to execute the professional services agreement for maintenance of landscape and irrigation systems on behalf of the city with Azteca Landscape in an amount of $675,624,” Scott said.

Staff described the contract as delineated into 15 service districts by location and task (for example, Uptown Whittier, Greenway Trail, medians, and parks). The scope adds work in several areas, including increased median maintenance on Santa Fe Springs Road up to the city’s southern border, additional power washing and cleaning on sections of Greenleaf Avenue, and an additional day of trash policing and removal adjacent to the railroad right‑of‑way near Lambert Road. Funding for the contract comes from 11 accounts across three departments, the presenter said.

Councilmembers pressed staff on quality‑control provisions after reporting past problems with a terminated vendor. Montgomery Scott and Parks Manager Art Soriano said the agreement increases oversight: two on‑site supervisors will oversee work, Azteca will meet weekly with supervisors, meet monthly with the parks manager, and attend quarterly department‑level reviews. “There are three levels of monitoring inherent in the agreement,” staff said; councilmembers said they expected quicker responsiveness on issues such as irrigation repair and Greenway Trail cleanup.

Councilmembers also asked whether the work required public‑works bidding; the city attorney advised this is a maintenance services contract, not a public works project, and therefore not subject to public‑works bidding rules. The presentation noted South Bay Landscaping’s earlier contract was terminated for lack of performance and that Azteca had stepped in on an interim basis before the consolidated agreement.

A motion to adopt the consent‑calendar item authorizing the contract passed on a roll‑call vote. Recorded votes on the consent calendar items and the separate roll call for the pulled item showed unanimous support from councilmembers present.