A review of the Grass Maintenance Contract with 4V Ranch, which was signed by Mayor Donna Whitener, brought up discrepancies as to what was originally agreed upon during a City of Blue Ridge workshop Tuesday, September 1.
After Councilman Mike Panter gave an overview of the contract, which includes a bill of $8,000 a month, Councilwoman Rhonda Haight explained that she didn’t remember agreeing to pay that price for months the company does not come out to mow.
She also didn’t recall agreeing to the cancellation agreement, which requires the city to be dissatisfied by the work in order to void the contract.
“I did not see the contract before it was signed,” Haight said. “So I don’t know what was officially signed based off of what was said.”
Haight and Councilman Nathan Fitts agreed that the minutes from the meeting in which it was approved need to be pulled to confirm their allegations.
“I was under the impression when we voted, it was $8,000 a month, but that $8,000 was for the months they mow, and it was spread out over 12 months,” Haight said. “When I found out and looked at this budget, and it was 90 something thousand (dollars), I called Mike and Nathan both immediately.”
She added that she’s noticed the grass around the city being high, and she even called the company about it.
Before the city opted to hire the company, county detainees performed the services. However, one of the reasons given for switching to the private company was that the detainees repeatedly damaged the city’s equipment.
The current mowing service has damaged a couple patrol vehicles, but have taken responsibility for the costs associated.
“First of all, it wasn’t gonna be based on a year,” Councilman Harold Herndon said. “We don’t mow with snow on the ground, so we was looking at maybe five months of mowing season.”
Haight explained that she would like to hire another employee for the street department who could mow the grass and perform other tasks.
The street department does currently mow along streets, just not the downtown park, she said.
Mayor Donna Whitener expressed that one person cannot handle the work load, to which Haight said the business only comes once a week every other week, and they work for just a few hours.
“Rhonda lives downtown, so she would, she actually lives in the city, and she lives downtown, so she would know,” Fitts said.
The contract holds the company responsible for mowing and weed eating, removing and disposing diseased trees, pruning and planting shrubs, picking up and delivering mulch to the park, among other things.
The company also has their own insurance and equipment.