Common Grounds Mowing and Landcare Services

Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners is conducting a competitive sealed bid solicitation (ITB-26-00186) for ongoing and as-needed all-inclusive common grounds mowing and landcare services at 173 facilities distributed across twelve zones throughout Hillsborough County, Florida. The three-year contract, with an estimated project value of $9,010,694.17, encompasses services at recreation and neighborhood parks, regional parks, preserves, boat ramps, athletic complexes, and community centers, totaling approximately 85,000 acres of parkland. Contractors must provide comprehensive mowing services, tree trimming and pruning, line trimming and edging, weeding and shrub trimming, palm trimming in compliance with ANSI A300 and ISA standards, and trash removal across all designated sites. Required qualifications include active Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Limited Urban Commercial Fertilizer Applicator Certification, appropriate heavy equipment including tractor-mounted bush hogs for wetland areas, sufficient staffing capacity to manage a minimum of four concurrent mowing projects, and Level II background screening clearance for all employees. Pricing shall be submitted on an all-inclusive basis per site location covering all labor, equipment, materials, and incidentals, with annual price adjustments permitted based on Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) calculations. Sealed bids must be submitted electronically through the Euna Procurement system by April 1, 2026, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, with no pre-bid conferences or mandatory site visits scheduled. Bid, performance, and payment surety bonds are not required.

Zones 1 through 11 constitute a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Set-Aside contract, restricting awards to firms registered with Hillsborough County's SBE Division as of the bid deadline, with the County potentially limiting awards to no more than three zones per contractor. Based on historical contracting patterns reflected in the previous contract award (RFQ 23684.6), successful vendors included small business firms such as Mendez All Services LLC, Martinez Frank LLC, Bella Luna Services LLC, Ramos Top Pro-Services LLC, and Phinazee Construction & Consulting Services, Inc., which collectively received awards totaling $5,594,712.14 for the prior three-year period. All contractors must maintain Certificates of Liability Insurance with limits ranging from $500,000 to $2,000,000 depending on coverage category, name Hillsborough County as an Additional Insured, comply with Florida drug-free workplace certification requirements, and execute Direct Deposit Authorization Forms for electronic payment processing. The contract includes a $250,000 allowance for additional or ancillary services that cannot be precisely defined at the time of contract execution, and the County reserves the right to add or remove sites during the contract period. All work must be performed directly by the awarded contractor with limited subcontracting exceptions permitted only for specialized palm tree trimming services exceeding 12 feet in height.