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Mailing Address

Development Services Dept
Code Enforcement Unit
P.O. Box 839966
San Antonio, Texas
78283-3966

Request for Code Services

Residents: 311
Outside: (210) 207 6000

Office Phone Numbers

Phone: (210) 207 7881
FAX: (210) 207 0199

Vacant Lot Cleanup Information

EFFECTIVE 8/3/12, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING ANY NEW CONTRACTORS FOR VACANT LOT CLEANUP. PLEASE CONTINUE TO CHECK THIS SITE FOR UPDATES REGARDING THIS PROCESS.

Information to contractors.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
When a vacant lot becomes a public nuisance, the City of San Antonio may have the lot cleaned at it's own expense, pending further action aimed at recovery of its costs. The city is soliciting bids for such cleaning and any person(s) or firm(s) who wishes to participate in the clean up of vacant lots may submit bids providing they meet the specifications and requirements described herein.

DEFINITIONS
CITY: shall mean the City of San Antonio.
BIDDER: shall mean the person(s) or firm(s) who submits a bid.
CONTRACTOR: shall mean the person(s) or firm(s) awarded contracts by the City.

LOT: shall include, in addition to land within it's respective boundaries, all land adjacent to and extending beyond the property line and any lot or parcel of land to the curb line or adjacent streets and shall also include all land lying between the property line of any lot or parcel of land and the center of adjacent alleys.

WEEDS: shall include all rank and uncultivated vegetation growth or matter which has grown to more than one foot (12 inches) in height, or which regardless of height is unsightly.

BRUSH: shall include all trees and shrubbery under seven (7) feet in height and less than three (3) inches in diameter, not cultivated and cared for by the person owning or controlling the premises.

RUBBISH: shall include all trash, refuse, tin cans, tires, old vessels of all sorts, useless articles, discarded clothing and textiles of all sorts, and in general, all litter and other things usually included in the meaning of the term.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Vacant Lot Clean-up Work Orders are issued on a per Lot basis. The Work Order amount is determined by the Department (see Vacant Lot Rate Table attached) and approved by the Code Supervisor. Work Order amounts exceeding $500.00 must be pre-approved by the Assistant Director. In the event the Vacant Lot Rate Table is not applicable for the vacant lot clean-up due to the size of the lot, special bids are to be solicited from eligible contractors. These special bids are to be submitted on a per Lot or per item basis. It is possible that the owner may clear Lot(s) after the time of advertisement. The City may withdraw any Lot(s) from a Work Order or bid, at any time, prior to start of cleaning without liability to the City.

The Contractor shall obtain and pay for any permits, licenses, etc. required in the clean up of Lot(s) and shall produce receipts as required by the City. For instance, payment of landfill fees may be required for disposal of rubbish, etc. The Contractor will be required to accomplish clean up of Lot(s) within the allotted time, as per the contract after receiving authorization from the City; however, if the Contractor is awarded a large number of Lots, clean up time may be extended at the option of the City. If bad weather prevents clean up, the Contractor shall request approval from the City for an extension to the contracted cleaning days and will be granted an extension only upon written approval.

The Contractor will provide a telephone number to be contacted during normal working hours. An invoice, in duplicate and with a copy of the completed work order, itemizing each Lot cleaned shall be submitted to the City within two (2) days after the work is completed. Only after inspection by the City and acceptance of the work performed, will payment be made. Unsatisfactory work shall be redone at the Contractor's expense. Continued unacceptable work is cause for the Code Enforcement Services Department to suspend the Contractor or permanently remove the Contractor from the eligibility list.

Failure of a Contractor to complete a work order within the allotted time or failure to perform satisfactory work shall be sufficient cause to suspend the Contractor from the eligibility list.

If a Contractor deletes a work order (or work order item) or unsatisfactorily completes a work order (or work order item) three (3) times within a three (3) month period, the Contractor shall be permanently removed from the eligibility list.

The Contractor shall complete outstanding work orders before being issued another bid list.

The City shall be the sole judge of contractor performance and its decision shall be final.

CITY CHARTER, SECTION 141: "INTEREST IN CITY CONTRACTS PROHIBITED"
Section 141 of the City Charter entitled "Interest in City Contracts Prohibited" states "No Officer or employee of the City shall have a financial interest direct or indirect, in the sale to the City of any land, materials, supplies, or service, except on behalf of the City as an officer or employee. Any willful violation of this section, with knowledge, expressed or implied, of the person or corporation contracting with the Council shall render the contract involved voidable by the City Manager or the Council."

INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
The Contractor shall provide and maintain the following type and amount of insurance for the duration of the contract:

1. Commercial General Liability — Coverage will be in the amount of $100,000 coverage for bodily injury and property damage (or its equivalent) per occurrence. Public Liability, to include, but not limited to:

a) Premise/Operation

b) Independent Contractors

c) Personal injury

d) Products/completed operations

e) Contract liability

2. Commercial Automobile Liability — Coverage will be $100,000 combined single limit, to include coverage for:

a) Owned/leased automobiles

b) Non-owned automobiles

c) Hired cars

ALL CERTIFICATES OF INSURANCE MUST LIST THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AS AN ADDITIONAL INSURED UNDER EACH POLICY OF LIABILITY (ENDORSEMENT PAGE MUST ALSO BE PROVIDED).

LASTLY, ALL CONTRACTS ARE TO HAVE AN INSURANCE AND INDEMNITY SECTION WITHIN THE BODY OF THE DOCUMENT.

In the event that a Contractor does not have current insurance with the City, the Contractor will be given a time limit of two (2) days to comply with the statue provision. At the end of the time period, the contract will be forwarded to the next qualified contactor.

PROCEDURE FOR SPECIAL BIDS ON VACANT LOT(S) (when applicable)
Once a person(s) or firm(s) has met the requirements of eligibility, the Contractor shall be placed on the eligibility list. The eligible Contractor will be called to pick up the bid specification sheet. The Contractor shall review the bid specification sheet and will be responsible to survey the Lot(s) prior to placing a bid(s). The Contractor shall clearly itemize as indicated the bid sheet (e.g., dollar and cents) and return the bid by the scheduled date and time. If awarded the bid, the Contractor shall be responsible to complete the items on the bid list at the amount awarded. It is, therefore, imperative that all Lots are physically surveyed prior to the placing of bids.

After the bid list is awarded, an approved work order is prepared. The Contractor will commence cleaning, ONLY AFTER THE WORK ORDER IS RELEASED FROM THE CITY. The City will not be liable for any payment for any work done prior to release and may withdraw any item from the work order at any time without liability to the City.

SPECIFICATIONS
The manner of this work includes the mowing and cutting of Grass and Weeds to not more than three (3) inches in height. All litter, rubbish, debris, brush cuttings, and garbage must be hauled away and disposed of in a landfill or in some other appropriate and acceptable manner. No part of the Lot or its contents shall be buried or bulldozed or in any other way pushed to any part of any adjacent parcel or City right of way. All plastic and waste paper products shall be removed from the Lot prior to cutting and not shredded. The area cut and cleaned shall include the entire Lot.

THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO MUST FIRST APPROVE ANY MODIFICATIONS TO THESE SPECIFICATIONS IN WRITING. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE SPECIFICATIONS WITHOUT WRITTEN APPROVAL WILL RESULT IN NON-PAYMENT.

NOTE: If any problem arises, please forward information in writing to Marc Castro, Assistant Director.

ADDRESS ENVELOPE:
City of San Antonio
Code Enforcement Division
Marc A. Castro
P. O. Box 839966
San Antonio, Texas 78283-3966