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Sarasota News Leader December 21, 2012 ��� From an Oct. 17 email: ���University Parkway hasn���t been mowed in quite some time. I imagine other areas in the County are in similar condition. The grass must be over 2 [feet] high in places. Isn���t that a code violation? ��� Those medians/sidewalks should be cleaned up on a [weekly] basis. I���d fire my gardener if he didn���t show up weekly.��� EARLIER DISCUSSIONS A little more than a month ago ��� on Nov. 6 ��� the commissioners vented frustrations about the ongoing mowing debacle. ���The county looks like hell,��� Commissioner Joe Barbetta said in underscoring the level of dissatisfaction. The discussion was prompted by the release of an audit of the county���s mowing contract with one vendor, Bloomings Landscape & Turf Management, going back to October 2011. The audit was undertaken by the Office of the Clerk of Circuit Court at the request of County Administrator Randall Reid. Page 33 for overseeing the contract compliance; work orders for additional services that were approved by county staff without any formal amendment to the contract; waiving of re-inspection fees for a period without any amendment to the contract; and documents submitted by the contractor that ���were inconsistent, inaccurate, and did not provide adequate information on the work performed.��� The commissioners peppered Thiele during their Jan. 10 meeting about his recommendation that the contract for the north zone be awarded to Bloomings this year. The firm���s bid was about half what the second-lowest bidder in each zone had proposed. Nonetheless, Thiele insisted he and his staff were satisfied with the reasons Bloomings had provided for the low figure. On May 22, Thiele appeared before the commission to tell them the county would be dismissing Bloomings. His recommendation was for the commission to allow staff to secure quotes for the work through the end of the year ��� but no longer than six months ��� until new bids could be secured. The audit pointed out a series of problems with Bloomings trying to handle the work. On May 5, the firm stopped performing under the agreement; Bloomings was formally notified of the contract���s termination on May 11, effecThiele turned in his resignation on June 19, tive May 14, the audit said. allegedly in the aftermath of questions raised Among its findings, the audit cited a blurring regarding a separate matter. He had been on of lines of responsibility among county staff the job less than 10 months. % For The Best Reading Experience Try The Sarasota News Leader On Your Tablet SarasotaNewsLeader.com/webapp