Sebastian council approves mowing contract and CD investment, hires outside counsel; SB 180 litigation motion dies

The Sebastian City Council on Sept. 10 voted to award a citywide right-of-way and ditch mowing contract, approved investing city funds in a certificate of deposit, and ratified hiring outside counsel for a construction dispute. A proposed resolution to join litigation challenging Senate Bill 180 failed to advance.

The council voted to award ITB 25-19 for citywide right-of-way and ditch mowing to Sage Services Incorporated as the primary vendor and STS Maintained Services Incorporated as the alternate. Procurement staff told council they met with the two lowest bidders to confirm both understood the work scope and that the lowest bidder could perform the contract at the submitted price. Procurement staff said the contract’s initial term disallows price increases and that renewal terms were included in the staff report for council approval.

The move to award the mowing contract passed on a roll-call vote with Council members Dye and Nunn, Mayor Bob McPartland and Vice Mayor Fred Jones recorded as voting yes.

Council also approved Resolution R-25-29 to invest city funds in a certificate of deposit with a local credit union at a fixed 4.25% rate for up to 15 months. Finance staff said the city would deposit about $8,000,000 to lock in earnings for the next…