The Miami Springs City Council knows well the cost of running the city-owned golf course and country club: Each year taxpayers subsidize the property by tens of thousands of dollars.
The council got another reality check this week.
Dan Bradley, general manager of the golf and country club, came to the podium asking for money that was not allocated in the 2004-05 budget to purchase new equipment to get the course ready for winter.
Bradley asked for specialized lawn mowers: three Toro Greenmasters for $26,210 each and a Progressive Rough Unit for $39,165 -- a total of $117,795.
''The [current] machines are so old you cannot sharpen the blade anymore and, if they are used, they will grab and rip out the rye overseed,'' Bradley said.
Councilman Eric Elza, wanting to keep within budget, asked Bradley to make the existing equipment work, especially since the city is planning to award a bid to operate the facility.
''Get another opinion if we can rent or fix them,'' he told Bradley. ''By the time we get the mowers, we will only be able to use them for about a month and a half.''
Mayor Billy Bain acknowledged the greens need to be improved and was leaning toward making the money available. But his support disappeared when Bradley explained the old equipment would probably be sold to a company that refurbishes old equipment and sells it to golf courses in South America.
The possibility of buying the equipment through the request for proposals route was discussed but also discarded. Councilman Peter Pacheco said maybe a bidder for the contract will have his own equipment.
The council also refused to award a contract to DCR Engineering of Mulberry for $216,836 to conduct a peak flow study of the city's sewer pump stations by Feb. 8, 2006. The study, requested by the county's Department of Environmental Resources Management, will determine whether the capacity of the lift stations is adequate to to pump sewerage out of the city during a rain storm.
The selection committee recommended the bid from DCR Engineering, but John D. Cattel, president of Digital Control Corp. objected, saying his company was the low qualifying bidder, submitting a quote of $180,500.
In a Sept. 30 letter to the city, Cattel wrote, 'In the case of DCC, the evaluation score was partly based on inaccurate information, unfounded rumor and innuendo. Much subjective weight was apparently applied to DCC's present financial status using a Dunn & Bradstreet rating and 'word on the street.' ''
The council said it wanted time to review the selection process to see if there was merit to Cattel's argument.
The council instructed the selection committee to provide a copy of all necessary information on DERM's requirements. The mayor asked for a copy of all the bid documents for his review.
Source: Miami Herald