Augusta Lawn Care

((555) 555-5555) (1234 Longview DriveAugusta, OR 99999)2010 Augusta, Oregon Municipal Mowing Proposal Prepared for: Mr. Robert Nelson, City ManagerSubmitted: April 10, 2010Total bid: $261,248

Augusta Lawn Care

1234 Longview Drive, Augusta, Oregon 99999Phone: (555) 555-5555 Fax: (555) 999-9999augustalawncare.com

April 10, 2010

Mr. Robert Nelson, City ManagerCity of Augusta, Oregon 5678 Orange DriveAugusta, OR 99999

Dear Mr. Nelson:

In response to your request, we are submitting a proposal to obtain the city’s annual lawn mowing agreement. Based on our experience and qualifications, we feel confident that we will be able to perform the best possible job.

As you know, Augusta Lawn Care has held this contract for the past five years. We sincerely hope to maintain this relationship, and hope that you will continue to choose us to fill your needs. We understand that this year’s agreement calls for weekly mowing of 5 miles of Route 24 median and sidings, 10 acres in Willoughby Park, and 23 acres at Augusta Memorial Golf Course, and that the contract will run from May 30 thought September 30. Our staff is very eager to work on these projects, and we guarantee that our commitment will be unmatched by any other company.

We are excited to announce that we have purchased an entire new line of state-of-the-art equipment this year. Our proposal describes this equipment and how it will effectively meet the needs of the City of Augusta. Our proposal also details our award-winning staff’s ability, experience, and qualifications. You will find that safety and professionalism are traits well known to our firm. Finally, our proposal will include an estimate of the total number of labor-hours the contract will require, a contract price, and a weekly schedule.

Thank you for the opportunity to present this proposal. We hope that you will continue to trust your needs to Augusta Lawn Care. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call.

Sincerely yours,

Carrie PenneyLandscaping Contractor

Enclosure

Augusta Lawn Care ProposalApril 10, 2010

About Us

HistoryAugusta Lawn Care has been serving the landscaping needs of Augusta, Oregon for over twenty years, and has held the municipal mowing contract for the past five years. We feel confident that our overwhelming list of achievements, landscaping awards, and safety training will assure you that we are the best option. You will find that not only is landscaping our profession, but a passion as well.

Augusta Lawn Care feels that it is important to be personally involved in city beautification, and we host “Saturdays in the Park” once a month. We take great pride in our city, and this event encourages the community to do so as well. The first Saturday of every month, Augusta Lawn Care asks the community to join us in Willoughby Park to help pick up trash, rake leaves, or plant flowers. All of our employees actively participate in this program, and we feel that it is particularly important to implant these qualities in our youth. Below (Figures 1 and 2) are some pictures from March’s Saturday in the Park.

Figure 1: March Saturday in the Park Figure 2: March Saturday in the Park

As you can see, we take great pride in the city of Augusta, and you can rest assured that we will be extremely committed to doing the best job possible, should you choose Augusta Lawn Care for your landscaping needs. AchievementsAugusta Lawn Care has won several awards for our outstanding projects. Some of our most recent and notable achievements are listed below.

· Oregon’s Best Maintained Park, 2005 – 2009Willoughby Park has been selected as Oregon’s Best Maintained Park for every year that Augusta Lawn Care has had the privilege of maintaining it.

· Outstanding Safety Achievement, 2009The Augusta Daily began recognizing companies for exceptional safety records in 2009. Augusta Lawn Care reported no safety violations during all of 2009, and it is our ambition is to maintain this perfect record.

· Augusta’s Best Maintained Golf Course, 2007 – 2009Augusta Memorial Golf Course has been selected as the best maintained golf course in Augusta for the past three years. Before 2007, this award did not exist.

· Augusta County’s Cleanest Highway, 2009

Last year, Route 24 was awarded as the cleanest highway in Augusta County. It is a goal of Augusta Lawn Care to keep this highway as clean and beautiful as our community has come to expect.

EmployeesAugusta Lawn Care feels that it is extremely important that all employees participate in an extensive training program. Because we go to such great lengths to ensure that our employees are well trained, we do our best to maintain our employees. Our turnover rates are extremely low, and the average employee has 6 years of experience with Augusta Lawn Care. We require that each employee participate in several hours of continuing education each year. This education comes in many forms, from safety courses to ethics courses, and is an extremely valuable asset. We are lucky to have such a great team of employees at Augusta Lawn Care.

Equipment As earlier stated, we are extremely excited to introduce you to a new line of equipment that Augusta Lawn Care will be using. Augusta Lawn Care has purchased several 2010 eXmark® Zero Turn Riding Mowers. These mowers will be excellent for use on the golf course, and in the park. These mowers include a hydraulic power deck-fold system, which enables operators to easily adjust cutting height with the push of a button. They also have a heavy-duty canister air filtration system, a blade-tip speed of approximately 18,500 fpm, and ground speeds up to 10.4 mph. Figure 3, below, shows one of these exceptional mowers.

Figure 3: 2010 eXmark® Zero Turn Riding Mower

We also purchased several 2010 model 6.0 hp Kawasaki® mowers. These smaller mowers would be great for use on Route 24. They have extremely powerful engines, are self-propelled, include a 3-speed transmission, and have generous 1 gallon fuel tanks. This mower is captured in Figure 4, below.

Figure 4: 2010 6.0 hp Kawasaki®

We have also purchased a new set of edgers. Augusta Lawn Care will be using the 2010 Little Wonder® 6232 10 Inch Pro Lawn Edger. This edger includes an anti-vibration grip and a four wheel design that provides extra stability. The large three quart tank reduces refueling intervals, increasing the efficiency of our work. Figure 5 shows the Little Wonder® edger.

Figure 5: 2010 Little Wonder® 6232 10 Inch Pro Lawn Edger.

Job Summaries

1.) Route 24Augusta Lawn Care has provided the maintenance along Route 24 for the past 5 years. Before Augusta Lawn Care started working, Route 24 looked like this:

Figure 6: Route 24 (before)

As stated earlier, Route 24 was recognized as Augusta County’s cleanest highway last year.We are proud that Route 24 now looks like this:

Figure 7: Route 24 (after)

Route 24 includes 5 miles of median and sidings, and will be mowed weekly, starting May 30, and ending September 30. Because this is an area with high traffic, Augusta Lawn Care would do mowing between the hours of 8am and 11am every Saturday. Many people in the community use this route to commute to work, so Augusta feels that it is best to perform the weekly mowing over the weekend, when traffic is lighter. The safety of our employees, and the community as a whole, is important to us, so our employees will wear bright orange vests and post signs warning motorists of their presence.

This job will require 3 hours of time from 4 employees, and will be performed once a week. Each employee of Augusta Lawn Care receives $15 an hour. The mowing fee for Route 24 is $10,000 per month. Gas usage will be charged at a rate of $4 per gallon, regardless of market rates during the contract dates. We expect that approximately 12 gallons of gas will be used every week. A simple breakdown of the cost is detailed below.

Mowing fee: $10,000/month+Employee rates: 4 employees * $15/hour * 3 hours/week * 4 weeks per month = $720/month+Estimated gas usage: $4/gallon * 12 gallons per week * 4 weeks per month = $192/month=Route 24: $10,912/month

This charge will apply to each month that Augusta Lawn Care is contracted to perform mowing services.

May 30 – June 30: $10,912July 1 – July 31: $10,912August 1 – August 31: $10,912September 1 – September 30: $10,912Route 24 total estimated* contract price: $43,648*Actual total price may vary depending on number of gallons of gas actually used. Monthly invoice will reflect these differences.

2.) Willoughby Park

Below are two pictures of how Willoughby Park looked at the end of Augusta Lawn Care’s contract last year.

Figure 8: Willoughby Park Figure 9: Willoughby Park

Willoughby Park is 10 acres, and will be mowed weekly, starting May 30, and ending September 30. Augusta Lawn Care would mow the park on Tuesday mornings, from 7am to 11am. We feel that this is the best time to mow the park, because kids are more likely to be in school, and park events are rarely scheduled on Tuesdays. Should an event be scheduled in the park on a Tuesday morning, Augusta Lawn Care will mow either the day before the event, or the day after, whichever happens to be more convenient. This will be handled on a case-by-case basis. The same safety procedures discussed for Route 24 will be applied in the park.

This job will require 4 hours of time from 6 employees, and will be performed once a week. As stated above, each employee of Augusta Lawn Care receives $15 an hour. The mowing fee for Willoughby Park is $20,000 per month. Gas usage will be charged at a rate of $4 per gallon, regardless of market rates during the contract dates. We expect that approximately 20 gallons of gas will be used every week. A simple breakdown of the cost is detailed below.

Mowing fee: $20,000/month+Employee rates: 6 employees * $15/hour * 4 hours/week * 4 weeks per month = $1440/month+Estimated gas usage: $4/gallon * 20 gallons per week * 4 weeks per month = $320/month=Willoughby Park: $21,760/month

This charge will apply to each month that Augusta Lawn Care is contracted to perform mowing services.

May 30 – June 30: $21,760July 1 – July 31: $21,760August 1 – August 31: $21,760September 1 – September 30: $21,760 Willoughby Park total estimated* contract price: $87,040*Actual total price may vary depending on number of gallons of gas actually used. Monthly invoice will reflect these differences.

3.) Augusta Memorial Golf CourseAugusta Lawn Care is particularly proud of its work at the Augusta Memorial Golf Course over the past several years. Augusta Memorial Golf Course has been awarded as Augusta’s Best Maintained Golf Course since 2007, when the award was first awarded. For each year that the course has received the award, Augusta Lawn Care has been the service provider. Below is a picture taken of the course at the end of our last contract.

Figure 10: Augusta Memorial Golf Course

Augusta Memorial Golf Course is 23 acres, and will be mowed weekly, starting May 30, and ending September 30. Augusta Lawn Care plans to take advantage of the fact that the golf course is closed on Mondays, and use this day to perform mowing services. With the use of extra employees, Augusta Lawn Care can complete this job between 8am and noon.

This job will require 4 hours of time from 9 employees, and will be performed once a week. As stated above, each employee of Augusta Lawn Care receives $15 an hour. The mowing fee for Augusta Memorial Golf Course is $30,000 per month. Gas usage will be charged at a rate of $4 per gallon, regardless of market rates during the contract dates. We expect that approximately 30 gallons of gas will be used every week. A simple breakdown of the cost is detailed below.

Mowing fee: $30,000/month+Employee rates: 9 employees * $15/hour * 4 hours/week * 4 weeks per month = $2160/month+Estimated gas usage: $4/gallon * 30 gallons per week * 4 weeks per month = $480/month=Augusta Memorial Golf Course: $32,640/month

This charge will apply to each month that Augusta Lawn Care is contracted to perform mowing services.

May 30 – June 30: $32,640July 1 – July 31: $32,640August 1 – August 31: $32,640September 1 – September 30: $32,640Augusta Memorial Golf Course total estimated* contract price: $130,560*Actual total price may vary depending on number of gallons of gas actually used. Monthly invoice will reflect these differences.

TOTAL CONTRACT PRICE: $261,248

ConclusionTotal number of labor hoursRoute 24 will require 192 total hours of work during the contract, Willoughby Park will require 384 hours of work during the contract, and Augusta Memorial Golf Course will require 576 hours of work during the life of the contract.

Work scheduleWork on Route 24 would be performed Saturday mornings between 8am and 11am. Work in Willoughby Park would be performed Tuesday morning from 7am to 11am. Work at Augusta Memorial Golf Course would be performed Monday mornings between 8am and noon. If poor weather or a certain event renders Augusta Lawn Care unable to perform work on schedule, the work will be rescheduled for the closest convenient date. These issues will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

In summary, the estimated overall contract price is $261,248. This price includes mowing work to be done on Route 24, at an estimated cost of $43,648, Willoughby Park, at an estimated cost of $87,040, and Augusta Memorial Golf Course, at an estimated cost of $130,560. The price includes mowing fees, employee rates, and estimated gas usage (charged at a set rate of $4 per gallon). Separate monthly invoices will indicate actual gas usage, and bills will be priced accordingly.

We feel confident that we have offered a very competitive proposal. As the city’s vendor for the past five years, we are certain that you will feel secure choosing Augusta Lawn Care to provide for your needs. We are extremely proud of our safety record and high achievements, and hope that your jobs continue to be on our lists of award winning projects.

If you have any questions, please call us at (555) 555-5555. We look forward to your decision, and are eager to continue our long relationship.