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Cottonwood Heights is taking the next step in transitioning out of its contract with a private company providing snow removal and other services and bringing its public works in house.
The City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on closing out the contract with Terracare, the company providing services since 2013. This closeout will entail a transition period from July 1 through Sept. 30 during which the city takes on an increasingly bigger share of the public-works responsibility. By Oct. 1, all of those services — snowplowing, landscaping, paving and street maintenance — will be provided by the city.
Despite the fact the city is canceling the contract a year early, "there are no penalties or anything of that nature," said Bryce Haderlie, assistant city manager. "Terracare has been so good to work with."
City officials believe they can provide the services for the same amount of money and, at the same time, "be more responsive," said Haderlie.
He said that wasn't a criticism of the company but a recognition that in-house services should have a quicker turnaround.
The winter before last the city was bombarded with complaints from residents who didn't have their streets plowed in a timely fashion after a big snowstorm. Terracare later beefed up the number of plows and operators available.
The city now spends just under $1.5 million annually on its Terracare contract. It also spends about the same amount for public-works services already handled by the city. When the Terracare contract is fully ended Sept. 30, the city projects its current public-works budget of about $2.9 million will cover all expenses, including annual payments on more than a dozen plows the city plans to purchase.
City Council members on Tuesday also are scheduled to take up a proposal for a citywide survey to gauge resident satisfaction with the city.
The company Y2 Analytics is offering several options for a survey, including a 50-question survey of between 600 and 1,000 residents for $13,600.
Haderlie said the last citywide survey conducted by Cottonwood Heights was in 2009.