Less than one month after the Collinsville Area Recreation District agreed to outsource grass cutting in the district, the deal has fallen apart.

On May 20, Altered Grounds Outdoor Services LLC, of Pontoon Beach, was awarded the mowing contract with a bid of $2,600 per mow. The other five bids received were “about $4,770” and higher per mow, the Board of Commissioners said at the time. The contract, however, was never signed.

When the Board was voting on the item during their May 20 meeting, Commissioner Mary Ann Bitzer questioned how the company could bid at a price about one-half of their competitors price. She asked if anyone had researched the issue.

Commissioner Mark Achenbach said it was because Altered Grounds had not reached its customer capacity for the year, so their bid reflected a fair price, one that still allowed the company to make money. The price from the other companies was an attempt by the companies to have CARD help fund the purchase of new equipment and hiring of new people.

Bitzer challenged the statement, saying Achenbach was engaged in speculation and presenting it as fact to those in the crowd that night. It turns out, Bitzer was correct.

After the bid was awarded to Altered Grounds, someone with the company reviewed the amount of grass to be cut and determined that the $2,600 per mow had to be raised to $3,300 per mow, CARD commissioner Patrick Collins said.

“With about 20 mows left in the season, it became financially a better decision to have the existing employees do it,” Collins said.

The board unanimously voted Tuesday to reject Altered Grounds adjusted bid. Grass cutting at CARD facilities will not be outsourced, yet. The decision will be revisited, possibly as early as later this year, Interim Executive Director Susan Zaber said.

Achenbach called the moment the biggest disappointment of his year on the board.

“We had a chance to save the taxpayers some money,” Achenbach said. The Board had estimated a savings of $49,200 with the previous price.

For now, the job of two Parks Department employees have been saved. The full-time employees were very likely to be let go when the contract to outsource grass cutting in the district was signed. They will now remain with the district, at least until grass cutting season is complete.

“We haven’t discussed anything beyond that,” Collins said.

The May 1, 2014 to April 30,2015 budget approved by the Board on Tuesday reflected that mowing will be handled by district employees. In addition to the two full-time employees retaining their jobs, a seasonal employee will be added to assist with trimming, edging and, potentially, grass cutting, Collins said.