Westwood Council Approves $43,000 Westvale Maintenance Contract

Members of the Westwood council unanimously approved a field and landscape maintenance contract at for Let It Grow Inc. this week, though they said the goal is to bring the work back in-house.

According to Borough Administrator Robert Hoffmann, the bid was $43,625 for one year. He explained that the project added 30 acres and officials thought it would be beneficial to see how the area needed to be cared for.

"We want to make sure we have the right equipment to do it," Hoffmann said.

During the council meeting Tuesday night, Council President Robert Miller asked what the benefit of awarding the contract would be, considering the borough DPW was currently maintaining the area.

Hoffmann said the DPW just does the lawn cutting, with grass clippings picked up by an outside vendor. He said the DPW is not able to fertilize the area, do bug applications or aeration. Let It Grow would be able to, Hoffmann said.

Mayor John Birkner Jr. said the discussion has been to pass the duties back in-house next year. He said he thinks a benefit of the contract is freeing up borough personnel to work on other projects.

"Plus I think it's a good value for what we'd be receiving and the consistency of having the entire facility to be cared for by professional landscapers," Birkner said.

According to the mayor, the governing body budgeted $53,000 for the maintenance, so the awarded contract is well under that amount.

As the members of the council registered their "yes" votes on the bid, each stated the desire to bring the work back in-house.

"We have to come up with a field maintenance plan for the future for all our fields, not just for Westvale," Councilwoman Ingrid Quinn said.