Search for Siesta Village maintenance contractor stalls

The Siesta Key Village is in need of a new contractor to manage landscaping and maintenance services in the commercial district, but the county is having difficulty finding a company that can do the job.

Two service providers attended a mandatory site visit on June 19 at the beginning of the bidding process for a new vendor, but by late July, the bid was closed and the county had no applicants.

With the county’s current contract with Buccaneer Landscape Management Inc. ending Aug. 26, former Siesta Key Village Association President Wendall Jacobsen is worried.

“I am concerned that we don’t have a bid, that no one is bidding on the contract,” said Jacobsen, general manager of Beach Bazaar in the Village. “And the last couple years, we have been getting pretty good service with the help of the county ... so I hate losing that.”

Helen Reed, a senior procurement analyst for the county, said the two interested companies would have been unable to complete the work needed.

“The feedback we got from them is that it was beyond their ability to fulfill the scope of service,” she said. “It is a pretty broad spectrum. It’s not just one type of work.”

According to the invitation for bids published last month, the county was looking for “a supplier to provide property maintenance and environmental landscaping services of streetscapes, landscapes, hardscapes, and other improvements to the area in the Siesta Key Village.”

Jacobsen said the contractor and the county have done a great job “helping the Village look like a resort-style village, like it should look like.”

Reed was unable to say why Buccaneer won’t be renewing its contract. The company, which to date has been paid $326,000 for its services since August 2014, couldn’t be reached for comment. Jacobsen said the contractor before Buccaneer also didn’t renew when its contract ended.

Reed was unable to say what steps the county might take to find a contractor moving forward.