Monroe council approves contracts for replacement of concrete, trees, fencing, mowing services

Feb. 28—MONROE — City council approved four contracts worth more than $260,000 during Tuesday night's meeting.

The contracts included replacing the concrete driveway at Fire Station 61, mowing services for the city parks, planting trees and fixing a baseball diamond fence.

Loveland Excavating & Paving, Inc. submitted the lowest bid at $123,117.50 for replacing the concrete between the exit of the three bay doors at Station 61 and Main Street, according to city documents. This project was part of the 2024 capital funding that was appropriated by city council in December 2023.

Midwest Groundscapes LLC was awarded the $95,200 contract to mow the 72 acres of city/township owned property, according to the one-year contract, with a possible three additional years of service if the city is satisfied with this contractor.

The company will be responsible for mowing Community Park (25 acres), Crossings Park (25 acres), Mound Cemetery (12 acres), North Monroe Cemetery (nine acres), and Lemon Twp's Amanda Cemetery (one acre).

The contract is based on 32 services per season that equals $2,975 per mow. Public Works Director Gary Morton said a full-time topped out operator/laborer in Public Works with full benefits has a salary package of $93,000 per year. He said the contract equates to 1.02 full-time employees.

He said Public Works spends 160 employee hours per week on additional mowing city-owned properties and that does not include roadside mowing operations of the state routes and rural roads within the city.

Robinson Fence Co. was awarded the $16,500 contract for the replacement of a fence around baseball field No. 1 at Community Park. The city allowed $25,000 in the 2024 budget.

The existing fence is in "disrepair" and many of the posts are rusted off at ground level, according to the city.

Public Works plans to replace all the fencing within Community Park over the next several years, Morton said. The Monroe Sports Association requested the fence around the No. 1 field be replaced first, according to city documents.

Berns Landscaping will be paid $27,887 to replace street trees in the Todd Glenn subdivision.

Last month, Public Works had 89 existing street trees removed. This contract will replace those trees with 68 trees. The original trees approved by the city in this subdivision were found to be too large for the five-foot tree lawn area between the curb and sidewalk, according to city documents.

Due to their size, those trees had done "significant damage" to the sidewalk within the subdivision, the city said. The neighborhood HOA agreed to pay for the replacement of damaged concrete.

Morton said the trees have a one-year warranty.