Proposal for Weekly Mowing Agreement in the Town of Augusta, Oregon for the Section Route

24 median, Willoughby Park, and Augusta Memorial Golf Course.

Prepared For: Meredith Mayes, City Planner Augusta, Oregon

Prepared By: Rebecca Tiller Garden of Eden Landscaping Company CEO/ Owner

Date: April 15, 2010

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Garden Of EdenLandscapingCompany

Table of Contents

I. Overview pg. 3

II. Hours pg. 4

II.II Schedule pg. 5

III. Company Rates and Charges pg. 6

III.II Contracts pg. 6

IV. Ability of Our Staff pg. 7

IV.II Training pg. 7

IV.III Uniform pg. 8

V. Equipment pg. 9

VI. Experience and Qualifications of Company pg. 10

VI.II Reviews pg. 10

Example Contract pg. 11

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I. Overview

This proposal is in response to the request for a proposal published in the Augusta Journal. This proposal is in personalized for the town of Augusta and the three proposed projects they are seeking services for. The projects are the Route 24 median, the Willoughby Park ten acres, and the Augusta Memorial Golf Course.

Garden of Eden Landscaping Company is a locally owned family business. We were established in 1987 by former city councilman, Billy Tiller. In 2008 his daughter, Rebecca Tiller, became the CEO and owner of the company. We currently are doing business with 28 clients in Augusta, as well as, twelve others in the surrounding areas of Bluffdale and Boerne. Our staff of 30 is highly trained to handle all types of jobs. They are trained to work with all of our new environmentally friendly lawn mowers.

We would complete the projects during the week. The Route 24 would be completed on Monday afternoons. The Augusta Memorial Golf Course would be scheduled for Tuesday mornings. Willoughby Park would be completed on mid-day Thursdays. Friday mornings would be the “Rainy Day Make-Up” for any services that are not completed due to conflicts due to weather on originally scheduled days.

We maintain some of the lowest prices and some of the fastest project completion times in Augusta area. For the three proposed city projects we estimated a total of only $15,000. The city could potential of $650 a week per week by selecting Garden of Eden compared to competitive companies.

The Route 24 median would cost $160 per week for wages and base fees. Sixteen weeks of work is $2,560 plus $200 for signing, totaling $2,760.

The Willoughby Park would cost $240 per week in wages and base fees. Totaling $4,040 for sixteen weeks plus signing fee.

Augusta Memorial Golf Course would cost $8,200 for sixteen weeks and signing fees. The cost per week in wages and base fees per lawn mower is $500.

Garden of Eden guarantees our time management skills. We make a promise to our short-term mowing customers that they will not be charged higher then estimated costs per job stated below. A short-term job is any first time customers signing for less than five months. So the city of Augusta should not worry about any increasing prices or outrageous hours for a job site.

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II. Number of Hours Expected to Complete Job

Garden of Eden is a quick and efficient company who understands the importance of getting the job done. We understand the distraction and inconvenience of lawn care to the public. That is why we work diligently for our customers and promise some of the fastest project completion times in the business. We average around 1.1 acre per hour.

For the five mile track of Route 24 median and siding we estimate a total of four hours. We will use two tractor mowers for the job. The two tractor mowers would be side by side down the median allowing full coverage in one trip taking one hour. Then each mower would take one of the sidings. Two trips, once up and once down, would be required for both sidings to cover the full area of grass. This job will require three hours of actual mowing. The other hour will require the loading and unloading of equipment, as well as, the moving equipment from median to the sidings.

Picture here

Figure 2.A. Mowing plan for Route 24 five mile median and siding

The Willoughby Park is a fairly simple and quick project. Since, Willoughby Park is mostly an open grass area with minimal trees; the project is estimated to be completed in four hours. Three mowers would be required. The 10 acre park will be divided in to three sections of roughly 3.33 acres. Each section would take three hours plus an hour to load and unload equipment. All sections would be mowed at the same time to allow the park to be undisturbed sooner.

Picture here

Figure 2.B. Willoughby Park Mowing sections

Although Augusta Memorial Golf Course has the most volume of the three projects we estimated it to take 5.75 hours of mowing based on our average of 1.1 acre per hour. This would require four mowers dividing up the 23 acres and completing up the four sections of 5.75 acres at the same time. In order to complete this without interfering with the course’s business we would come in on Tuesdays when the course is closed. The total time needed to complete the course

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would be seven hours. Since the job is longer than four hours the workers are required by the state to receive a thirty minute break. The total of seven hours comes from 5.75 hours of mowing, a thirty minute break, and forty five minutes of loading and unloading of equipment.

Figure 2.C. Augusta Memorial Golf Course mowing sections.

The total number of hours required for the three projects requested will be fifteen hours per week.

We guarantee that promised will be completed each week regardless of weather conditions. Fridays will be designated for “Rainy Day Make-Up”. If work is not completed due to the weather then workers will come out Friday morning to mow.

II.II ScheduleDay Project TimeMonday Route 24 1 p.m.- 5 p.m.Tuesday Golf Course 8 a.m.- 1:45 p.m.Wednesday Off OffThursday Park 10 a.m.-2p.m.Friday Rainy Day Make-Up 7a.m.-12 p.m.Saturday Off OffSunday Off Off

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III. Company Rates and Charges

Our company has highly competitive rates compared to other landscaping companies in Augusta, Oregon. We have base rate of $20 per lawn mower at each project for the expense of gas, wear and tear of equipment, and transportation. The total base fee for the three projects is $200 per week. Compared to other companies who charge a base fee up to five dollars per acre, which means the city of Augusta, could potentially save $650 per week by selecting Garden of Eden Landscaping.

As well as our base rate we charge $10/hr. per worker and a four month, May 30th through September 30th, contractual signing fee of $200 per project. The $200 dollar fee is set as $50 a month paid at signing in liability reasons by broken contract for any reason by client. We have never had any contracts broken due to service dissatisfaction, but instances of faulty payment by consumer have occurred causing lose to our company.

Garden of Eden guarantees our time management skills. We make a promise to our short-term mowing customers that they will not be charged higher then estimated costs per job stated below. A short-term job is any first time customers signing for less than five months. So the city of Augusta should not worry about any increasing prices or outrageous hours for a job site.

Applied to estimated project hours, rates and fees for each individual project are as follow:

The Route 24 median would cost $160 per week for wages and base fees. Sixteen weeks of work is $2,560 plus $200 for signing, totaling $2,760.

The Willoughby Park would cost $240 per week in wages and base fees. Totaling $4,040 for sixteen weeks plus signing fee.

Augusta Memorial Golf Course would cost $8,200 for sixteen weeks and signing fees. The cost per week in wages and base fees per lawn mower is $500.

The total cost to the city would total $15,000 for the three proposed projects.

III.II. Contracts

Each of our clients has a contract with us for each project we perform for them. It is a simple contract between the customer and the company to insure that both parties get what they entitled. Our company charges a $50 fee per month a project for a contractual signing fee, due at signing. Our company charges this fee for liability reason in case the client breaches contract by faulty payment or canceling services.

In the contract, there is also a section which states that if we do not do our job, such as not completing a job by agreed date, we are obligated to reimburse the total amount of the signing fee to the client. An example contract is attached to the back of the proposal.

IV. The Ability of the Staff

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Garden of Eden Landscaping Comp. takes pride in our staff. We stand by our belief that our workers are the best in the landscaping business. We nearly have a zero percent turnover rate and have workers still with us that were hired when we were established in 1987 by Billy Tiller. Our team consists of 30 Augusta citizens both men and women of all ages.

When every single one of employees was hired they all went through an extensive background check and training process. Each background check proved that our employees are upstanding citizens of Augusta. None have committed any felonies and represented themselves honestly in the hiring process.

IV.II. TrainingWhen hired we require extensive training programs for landscaping skills, safety

procedures, and customer satisfaction. We adapted a training program from the award-winning program, Mike Fisher’s Top Quality Employees, which is used by large landscaping companies all over the United States. This insures that our employees are to Garden of Eden quality and provided our customers with the best services in the industries.

The landscaping skill training taught the employees the fundamental expertise for the complex project to the simplest. Some of the skills include; shaping shrubbery, identifying proper plants for any type of soil, and mowing grass.

The safety portion of the training teaches employees that safety as their main priority. We would never want to put our clients in danger physically or legally due to our mistakes. When on a job site they are required to stop ten feet from any bystanders when mowing to avoid injury from debris or propellers. When machinery is not occupied it must be turned off and the key must be removed. Also, the employee must lock up any tools that are not in use to avoid any mishaps with children and injury.

All our machinery is extremely safe and we have never had any fault or injury in the history of the company. We are merely overly cautious about our safety procedures because it better to safe than sorry.

All of our employees take management class during training. The management classes teach them company procedures and leadership communication skills. By educating our employees with this knowledge they will be able to help our customers and handle any situation while on site. This makes jobs run as smoothly as possible and eliminates any stress the customer may have.

IV.III. Uniform

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All employees are required to wear uniform on job site. The uniform required to wear kaki bottoms and the company logo green collared shirt.

Figure 3.A. Some of the Garden of Eden team modeling our company uniform.

V. Equipment

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Garden of Eden Landscaping has the latest technology in the lawn mowing equipment. Not only are they most efficient technology, but also environmentally friendly. They are a new line of equipment that uses a third less gas then older models. We keep our equipment to the highest quality to reduce the number of break downs and increase the safety of our employees. We have a variety of lawn mowers to cover all types of terrains. We have three types of lawn mowers: the tractor mower, the riding mower, and the course mower.

The Tractor MowerThe Tractor Mower would be the best option for the Route 24 project. It is designed to

cover large areas and rough terrain. It has an air-conditioned cab for hot days and un-shaded areas. It has extension arm to reach areas that would not be accessible to a front runner mower. Due to its size, the mower can only reach a max speed five m.p.h.

The Riding MowerThe Riding Mower looks more like your traditional mower you would see in someone

yard. It is easily maneuverable and relatively fast. The top speed is fifteen miles per hour for the mower allowing for quick performance. The Riding Mover can weave in and out of obstacles effortlessly. It is able to reach hard to reach terrain. For Willoughby Park, the riding mower will cover the weaving terrain and curved paths effectively.

The Course MowerThe Course Mower is specialty mower for golf courses that is made for mowing the

special requirements of golf without killing the grass. The mower can be adjusted to cut different lengths of grass for fairway and greens. How you adjust the settings is simply switching a tab next to the steering wheel while the mower is idling. The Course Mower is perfect for jobs like the Augusta Memorial Golf Course.

VI. Experience and Qualifications of the Company

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Figure 5.A. Our safe top of the line lawn mowers. From left: The Tractor Mower, the Riding Mower, and the Course Mower.

Garden of Eden Landscaping Company has been serving Augusta and the surrounding areas for 23 years. We hire loyal upstanding citizens and train them to produce quality services. Our founder, Billy Tiller, was born and raised in Augusta and served on the city council from 1978-1985. Since we are a local company we understand the area and the landscape. We currently have 40 clients in Augusta and the surrounding areas.

Our company has won 17 awards for our services and customer satisfaction since we opened in 1987. For the city for Bluffdale we have been landscaping their city hall for the past ten years. For five years in a row we won the Bluffdale City Beautification Award. In 2007, the Hunters Creek Neighborhood Associations awarded us for outstanding customer satisfaction for the work we did on their public areas.

VI.II Reviews

Some reviews from our customers:

“Good genuine people. They are never late to clean my yard!”- Mary Grace Skillern, age 67

“I have had them work on my yard for 7 years now and I have never been disappointed. My yard always looks amazing and needless to say all my neighbors are jealous.”- Emily Sneed, age 38

“Garden of Eden is a company that stands by their word. They produce a quality service and love what they do. That is why we continue to hire them to work for our town.”- Mayor John Thomas, Mayor of Bluffdale

Example Contract:

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Garden of Eden Landscaping Company3327 57th Street, Augusta, OR(830) 555-8340

Client Name:_________________ Location:________________ Service Date:_______Client Phone:_________________ Size:_________

Service:Days: Mon: ____ Tues: ____ Wed: ____ Thurs: ____ Fri: ____ Sat: ____

Expected Services:___: Mowing___: Planting___: Trimming___: Raking___: Other_____________________________________

For every hour of service there is wage rate of $10/hr per worker. For mowing services there will be a $20 charge for every lawn mower used at site each day of service. If any plants or trees are planted the client is expected to reimburse company.

Estimated hours needed: ___________Number of workers: ____ @ $10/hr =$________Number of lawn mowers: _____@ $20 = $_________

Wages Total____________Number of days contracted per month X wages PMT=$_____________

Months Contracted x $50= Amount Due Today $_________

Client Section:I hereby agree to make payment of services stated above. I will pay the non refundable contractual signing fee of $50 for every month of services received from Garden of Eden Landscaping Company.

X__________________________ Date: ______________(Client)

Company Section:Garden of Eden hereby recognizes that they are contractually required to complete all the services agreed upon above. If services are not completed by agreed dates they are required to pay client full amount of contract signing fee due at signing and the client is legally allowed to cancel the contract regardless of time left.

X__________________________ Date: _______________ (Company Representative)

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