After 2nd debate this month, Hillsboro City Council passes mowing services legislation

After a 20-minute debate during a special meeting Thursday, April 27, Hillsboro City Council members changed their position on a municipal mowing contract, this time voting unanimously to approve the emergency legislation.

As previously reported, the emergency resolution for municipal mowing services failed by a rare 1-5 vote two weeks earlier, during the regular city council meeting April 13.

Council was told at that meeting that Weber Lawn Care and Landscaping submitted the lowest and best bid for mowing — which, according to public works superintendent Shawn Adkins, was $49,530 — for all of Liberty Park, the Railroad Street Park, Crossroads Park and the Rotary Park behind the firehouse, for 26 mowings from May 1-Oct. 31.

Council member Jason Brown spoke out against the proposal at the April 13 meeting, saying it’s an “awful lot of money to mow for six months.” Adkins fielded questions from Brown and other council members during that meeting, regarding how the city has handled mowing in the past and the duties performed by city public works employees.

Those questions continued Thursday night. Prior to the vote, council president Tom Eichinger invited Adkins to speak and share “data concerning his request.”

Adkins began by sharing the cost breakdown between using city employees versus a mowing service.

“For every mowing the city does, it is $3,426.04, so for 26 weeks, that's $89,077.04,” Adkins said. “For the bid that came in, it is $1,905 a week, with a total of $49,530 for the entire year, for 26 weeks.”

Council member Greg Maurer asked if that includes “hourly wages.” Adkins said that due to guidance from state auditors, they have to fill out a “form for forced accounts” that includes “the wages, the hours that it takes, the fuel and the equipment you use.” The form already “has the benefits and stuff already figured in,” he said.

Adkins shared copies of the data with council members.

Council member Don Storer asked for background on how mowing has been done in the past. Adkins said that 2018 was the last time the city contracted with a mowing service, and Storer asked “what happened” the past four summers.

“COVID happened,” Adkins said. “We tried to cut. We tried to save money, as far as actually going out. We quit working on our sewer right-of-ways, our water right-of-ways. We were taking my employees off of tasks that should have been taken care of.”

Storer asked if having a mowing service this year would “free up your other employees.”

“It will, for more than just mowing of our right-of-ways,” Adkins said. He said they are “trying to catch up on stuff we've let go since ’18.”

Adkins explained that the EPA requires the city to have a “valve-turning exercise program,” so “every year, we have to turn at least a quarter of our valves.”

“All of our water mains are in the street, so you've got two guys trying to operate a valve, but if the water valve’s in the intersection, I have to have four people for flagging because I’ve got to stop traffic in all directions,” Adkins said. “That takes six people.

“Our water mains were put in during the WPA days. When we operate these valves, we’re going to be working on these valves, because every time we operate a valve, it leaks.”

Storer asked how the city would pay for the mowing contract.

“It is budgeted,” Adkins said. “I budgeted $40,000 to mow. I also budgeted $25 something [thousand] for an extra employee. The bids came in a little bit higher than I anticipated, so I’m going to take $21,000 out of the wage line item, because we’re not going to hire somebody for parks, and move it over for professional services. I have to leave some in there because we've already mowed three times.”

Adkins said that city auditor Patty Day had advised him in January that the state auditors want public works employees to “work out of their job titles and pay them out of those funds.”

“Actually, this started back when Todd Wilkin was the safety and service director,” Adkins said. “He took everybody out of their jobs and put them in public works. The water plant and sewer plant used to help mow the parks. We've done parks, we've done the dilapidated properties, but since January, I have remedied that issue.”

Adkins said now he has dedicated employees to specific areas — three for streets, three for sanitary sewer, two for storm sewer and two for water — but “did not justify $89,000 in the parks budget to pay” for public works employees to mow.

“If you pass it, fine,” Adkins said. “If you don't, then I'm going to have to go back and ask for reappropriation of wages for the parks to pay the employees that we have now.”

Council member Jo Sanborn asked if “everybody will be in the right category” in the 2024 budget. Adkins said they already are, but they would need to “put more money in wages” to cover park expenses if they are responsible for mowing.

“Instead of paying $49,530, it’ll be $89 [thousand] something,” Adkins said.

Brown pointed out that the $89,000 would “be paid regardless” because the city employees are “still working the same hours” no matter what duties they’re doing on a given day. “There’s no more hours going into the year,” Brown said.

“For the parks, no,” Adkins said.

“The budget in general,” Brown said. “It can’t cost us an extra $89,000 because all the hours are already figured into the year.

“They're going to work Monday through Friday, eight hours or whatever a day, whether they're patching potholes or mowing. Despite moving around in the budget, as a general impact upon budget total, it’s not going to cost any more.”

Adkins disagreed, saying it “will” cost more.

“I can't pay the guys out of the water, sewer and storm out of the general fund,” Adkins said. “I can’t move money out of water, sewer and storm into parks. It has to come out of the general fund money.”

Day said that Adkins can “move the $21,000” he had in the wage line item for the parks, but Adkins said he will “still have to come up with the remainder.”

“I won’t have to ask for any money for parks for the $49,530 at all,” Adkins said.

Brown asked if it was “illegal” for the city employees to keep mowing. “I can’t pay them the way I’m paying them,” Adkins said.

“When the auditors come, they're saying they're going to be looking at all manpower and looking to make sure that they're being paid according to the job they’re doing,” Day said. “It’s not illegal. It's just that you’ve got to have a paper trail to show them what you're doing.”

“So I could have left it alone?” Adkins asked. “The way I’ve been doing it the last five years is OK to keep doing?”

Day said that Adkins had been “splitting all salaries year-round.”

“Do you use them at the parks year-round?” she asked. “What does the parks need in the winter?”

“Yes,” Adkins said. “We actually clean up right-of-ways. We cut the trees out there that's down. We clean up the fields for the people who rent it out. We plow all the streets that go back through there.”

Brown again asked Day if they could continue “like we’ve done for five years or not.”

“We have to account for the money out of that,” Day said. “For 2022, we’re going to get the same citation, but for 2023, we fixed it in that they’re assigned.”

Day said the employees were given the option to “carry a clipboard and account for … whatever they're doing that day.” She added that Adkins “didn't want them to have to do that,” so instead he assigned workers to cover each department as he mentioned.

Therefore, Adkins said, he has to “pay them out of the parks department” for the three mows they’ve already completed.

“There’s not enough budgeted in parks to pay for the mowing for the rest of the year,” city code enforcement officer Lauren Walker said. “That’s what [Brown is] asking. There's not enough money in the parks fund to pay for the mowing service for the city guys to mow it for the rest of the year. That's what we can't do.”

“Yes,” Day said.

Brown asked if that meant the city will “have to hire someone to mow every year” in perpetuity.

“Not unless you budget in wages for me to cover my guys for that year,” Adkins said.

“Which would make sense,” Brown said.

“But how am I getting the rest of my work done?” Adkins asked. “I’ll take you on any right-of-way you want to go on with me, Jason, to show you what has been left since 2018.”

That sparked a debate about how mowing has been done historically. As he mentioned at the regular April council meeting, Adkins said that at one point, the city had four employees dedicated to mowing.

Day said she found a contract with Highco in the system from 2012 for “mowing and cleaning restrooms” at the U.S. Route 50 rest area. Adkins said that Weber Lawn Care and Landscaping had also done the mowing in 2018.

Brown said he found out that another contractor had mowed “eight to 10 years ago” for the city. Adkins said he “couldn’t remember,” and Day confirmed to The Highland County Press Friday that the contractor had done mowing services and restroom cleanup for Liberty Park in 2012.

“He had a guy that worked for him,” Brown said. “I met that guy Sunday at Liberty Park. You got down here it takes six guys eight hours to mow Liberty Park. This man said he would get there at seven in the morning and was done by six in the evening by himself with one 72-inch zero-turn [mower].”

“There’s no way,” Adkins said. “I’m telling you, there’s no possible way.”

Brown cited manufacturer information for a 72-inch zero-turn mower that says “at seven miles per hour,” it can “mow nine acres an hour. That’s six hours to mow 65 acres, which is about what you guys are mowing out there” at Liberty Park.

“Have you ever ridden on a zero-turn wide open and tried to mow?” Adkins asked. “That’s at wide-open speed.”

“No, that’s not at wide open,” Brown said.

“Guys, anybody wants to go out there and mow with me, you can,” Adkins said. “You can go out and mow with me any day of the week.”

Eichinger then interrupted as the exchange between Brown and Adkins grew more heated. Brown said, “I’ve been out there. There’s not that much mowing to do,” and Adkins responded, “So you’re calling me a liar?”

“Hey, guys,” Eichinger said, raising his voice. “Let’s talk about the facts.”

Brown said it shouldn’t take “48 hours” for city workers to mow. Adkins said “it’s taking six guys eight hours.” Brown said, “That’s 48 man-hours.”

“I'm telling you what it takes,” Adkins said. “We get here at 7:30. By the time the guys fill the mowers up with gas, check the oil, they start mowing, they go to lunch, they go back, that’s a whole day spent. We spend the whole day out there.”

In response to questions and comments from Day and Sanborn, Adkins said there was “maybe a little more than four acres total” on Railroad Street Park and the Rotary Park behind the firehouse that are also mowed.

“Jason, I’m out there the whole time these guys are mowing,” Adkins said. “I’m out there the whole time.”

Council member Mary Stanforth said that she is often at Liberty Park walking and see the city employees them mowing, “and they don’t stop.”

“Harmony Lake is so nice now,” she said. “The walking paths are nice. [Rick] Tipton [parks maintenance supervisor] has done a wonderful job landscaping. It's a beautiful place to walk, and I see a lot of people out there. When you go out there, you don't want to see grass all up

“I hate to see that split, when our employees should be working at their job in town here.”

Storer agreed, saying, “There’s things that should be done that we’re not getting here because of mowing.”

“Guys, I really don't care if you pass it or not,” Adkins said. “We’ll get it mowed, but it probably will only be mowed every other week, because I’m going to start sending my guys cleaning my right-of-ways.”

Brown then asked about the city’s bidding process. Council clerk Whitney Aliff said that they followed all Ohio Revised Code requirements to obtain bids for mowing.

Finally, Sanborn asked, “Just to clarify, if we do pass it, you won't have to ask for more money, but if we don't pass it, you will have to ask for money?”

“I will definitely have to ask for more money in recreation,” Adkins said.

With the debate dying down, Eichinger called for a motion to suspend the three-reading rule. The motion passed, 7-0.

A subsequent motion to pass the resolution as an emergency also passed, 7-0.

After that was approved, council voted 7-0 to approve an ordinance making the aforementioned $21,000 appropriations transfer in order to pay for mowing services.

Before council adjourned, Adkins asked if he could address them again.

As the city is making plans for the 2024 budget, he said he needed to know if he should plan for city workers or for a contract for mowing next summer.

“How do you guys want me to do it next year?” Adkins asked council members. “No matter what, I’ve got to do a forced account, guys, because we do not have a parks department.”

Maurer asked “which way is cheaper.”

“It’s cheaper to bid it,” Adkins said.

Maurer said he was in favor of going with the “cheapest” option.

“As long as we use our other men very efficiently so we make up for that time,” Storer added.

Stanforth said she also was in favor of bidding the project out.

“I really do think the city ought to look at a recreation department,” Adkins said. “There could be a lot of money at Shaffer Park. There could be a lot of money at the soccer fields, with youth football, but you're going to have the department with four or five guys to take care of Shaffer Park and all the other parks. I'm sure the walking trails could be added to the parks once they're completed, to maintain.”

“That’s probably something we ought to look into in the future,” Storer said. “Hopefully our city’s going to continue to grow.”