LAGUNA HILLS : Lack of Bond Kills Lowest Landscape Bid

Although Chaparral Creek Inc. underbid several other companies for the city’s annual landscape maintenance contract, it was disqualified this week for not submitting a bid bond.

Instead, the City Council awarded the contract to S.C. Yamamoto Inc., which proposed doing the job for $214,656.

Chaparral Creek had bid $161,969 but failed to post the bond. Laguna Hills requires that companies seeking contracts put up 10% of the value of the bid to guarantee that, if the firm is chosen, it will complete the work.

The winning bid, though not the lowest, was still about $85,000 below what the city had budgeted for landscape maintenance next year.

S.C. Yamamoto Inc. also has contracts with Irvine, Placentia and Glendora.