Dewey Beach commissioners voted unanimously March 15 to approve beach raking and landscaping contracts.
ReBeach Surf Raking of Rehoboth was the only vendor to bid for that project, said Town Manager Bill Zolper. The contract is effective from May 2024 through October 2029, and services will be provided from the Friday before Memorial Day weekend through Sept. 15.
The amount billed to the town cannot exceed $40,480 annually for the 2024 contract year and will increase 3% per contract year.
The beach will be raked from areas east of the dune line in town and west of the water line of the Atlantic, south of the drainage pipe from Silver Lake to the ocean and north of Collins Avenue. Work hours are limited to 3:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Work will be conducted in three different service terms. From the Friday of Memorial Day weekend to July 1, raking will take place three times a week at a daily rate of $736, equating to a $2,208 weekly rate and $11,040 for the five-week total.
In service term two, raking will take place four times a week from July 1 through the Monday of Labor Day weekend at a daily rate of $736, equating to a $2,944 weekly rate and $26,496 total for the nine-week period.
In the third service term, raking will take place two times a week from the Tuesday after Labor Day weekend to Sept. 15 at a daily rate of $736, equating to a $1,472 weekly rate and $2,944 for the two-week period.
Three businesses bid for the landscape contract, said Zolper, who nominated Dreamscapes Pools and Patios of Harbeson for the award.
The service term is April 1 through Sept. 30 annually, for which the town will pay $5,800 per year, with 50% of the total paid by April 1, and the remaining half due by July 1. The contract can be extended for successive one-year periods upon mutual agreement by both parties at least 30 days before its expiration.
Services include mowing all grass areas, trimming around obstacles, air sweeping all curbs and sidewalks, and weeding grounds of the lifesaving station. The contract also stipulates weeding of rock beds, center island medians and around structures on an as-needed basis at town hall and the center island beds on Coastal Highway from Clayton Street to Collins Avenue.
Additional service areas include both sides of King Charles Avenue to the gully, beginning just before the intersection with Houston to Chesapeake streets; Bayard Avenue and the grass around the pump station; Bellevue Memorial Park; Coastal Highway northbound at Fifer’s Market, including medians from Fifer’s to Clayton Street; and the corner of Coastal Highway southbound and north of Clayton Street.