Bentonville schools split lawn-care contract; East-side work goes to OPW

President Faddis and trustees on May 19 approved a plan to split the Bentonville School District’s grounds-maintenance contracts between two firms after staff presented competitive bids.

Facilities staff member Michael Vilcet told the board the district solicited proposals, received three responses and — after reference checks — identified two qualified providers. “So, the plan is, providing your approval tonight, we’re gonna split the district,” Vilcet said, recommending OPW Commercial Services be awarded the East-side work under a one-year contract of about $315,000 while the incumbent (referred to in the presentation as Envy) would keep the West side under its current contract of roughly $775,000.

The superintendent’s office and facilities staff framed the split as a risk-managed way to test a lower-cost bidder while preserving a long-standing local contractor. Vilcet said the district’s objective was to ensure service quality and avoid unintentionally putting the incumbent out of business: the split gives the new vendor the opportunity to prove performance while retaining the experienced provider for half the district.

Trustees asked for clarifications about the scope and pricing; Vilcet said the OPW scope includes more frequent mowing and weed control and that OPW’s references checked out strongly. He said OPW has regional offices and a headquarters in Dallas. The district will monitor performance for a year and then re-evaluate whether to combine contracts or re-bid the work.

Trustee Tatum moved to approve the contracts; Jeremy seconded. The board voted unanimously to approve the split contract plan and enter the agreements as presented.

Next steps: staff will execute the one-year contracts and monitor vendor performance, returning to the board after the trial period and before any longer-term contract award.