SAN CLEMENTE : Private Contractors Take on City Services

The City Council turned over operation of four city services to the private contractors on Wednesday in a move that will affect 22 employees.

The city hopes to save $2.45 million over five years by contracting with private companies to perform jobs like landscape maintenance and water meter reading. The firms were given one-year contracts that will be reviewed next year.

“We’re not contracting the whole city,” said Councilman Tom Lorch. “We have a year to work on these and see how they turn out.”

The council also approved a severance package for most employees involved in the changeover. Six of the city workers will be transferred to other city jobs; two employees have applied for early retirement.

The rest will either work for one of the new contractors or find employment elsewhere. The severance package includes six weeks pay. The city also is dividing $10,000 equally among the employees released from city service.

“We tried to make the transition from public to private as painless as possible,” said Linda Kulp, city human resources manager.

Besides landscape maintenance and meter reading, the council authorized contractors for fleet services, and to stripe and mark city streets. The estimate for first-year savings is $487,174.

The contractors will begin work on May 1 with the exception of meter reading, which will start July 1.

The four city services were awarded to:

* Landscape West Inc., $260,306 to provide park and beach maintenance.

* Ryder/Managed Logistic Systems Inc., $445,285 to provide fleet services.

* J&S; Sign Co., $91,186 to provide street striping and pavement marking.

* San Diego Gas & Electric, $104,000 for water meter reading.

San Clemente utility customers will see their water and utility bills switch from bimonthly to monthly to conform with the power company’s accounting system.