Editor’s Note: Jason Beishir of Beishir Landscape Maintenance told The Call on April 29 that MACC Contracting is expected to come that day to remove the city of Green Park’s salt from his property. The story was also updated to include a comment from city clerk Theresa Pfyl on the requested restoration fee.
Green Park’s Board of Aldermen has selected MACC Contracting as the new contractor for landscaping and snow removal services in the city. The city received two bids for service — one from MACC for both landscaping and snow removal services, and another only offering snow removal.
MACC Contracting is based in St. Louis, but they serve various communities across Missouri, focusing on the central and northeast regions of the state. Green Park aldermen approved the contract at their April 20 meeting.
The selection of a new contractor has put an end to the approximately 12-year long agreement between the city of Green Park and Beishir Landscape Maintenance. At the board’s Feb. 17 meeting, city clerk Theresa Pfyl cited billing issues and high pricing as the city’s reasoning for soliciting new bids.
Pfyl said that Jason Beishir — the president of Beishir Landscape Maintenance — was still welcome to bid for Green Park, but Beishir did not choose to submit a new bid in March. Beishir says he had a heated meeting in March with Mayor Joe Monteleone and Pfyl about recent issues in their time working together.
Beishir says that he has been accused of billing Green Park for hours doing landscaping at Bartolino’s South, located next to city hall, and that the city has “harrassed” his employees. He felt that his integrity was being questioned.
This was a particularly sore subject due to the roughly $20,000 that Green Park mistakenly overpaid Beishir on various invoices, he says — money that he returned to the city.
“I’m not going to be harassed, bullied or pushed around anymore, and that is why I am not bidding on Green Park,” Beishir said. “I think it’s just repulsive and disgusting. Nobody needs to be treated like that for any amount of money. I gave and I gave to this city, worked tirelessly, did a phenomenal job. … I don’t like that my integrity is being questioned when I returned almost $23,000 in overpayments.”
At the April meeting, Beishir also brought up concerns about the city’s reserve of roughly 325 tons of salt for street treatment, which has been stored at his business’ property as part of their contract. He values the salt to be worth around $30,000. Beishir sent a letter to the city on March 30 asking for the salt to be removed or for a new storage agreement to be signed to continue storing it.
Either way, Beishir is seeking a $10,000 site restoration fee to be paid at the end of the city’s lease — either by April 30, when the current agreement ends, or by May 1, 2027, if they sign an agreement to store the salt at his property for another year.
Beishir brought up the letter at the Board of Aldermen’s April 20 meeting, at which point he said he had not received a response from Mayor Joe Monteleone. Later, the board discussed that MACC would remove the salt from Beishir’s property and store it, but aldermen did not make mention of the site restoration fee. On the restoration fee, Pfyl said, “There is no agreement requiring the City of Green Park to pay a restoration fee. The current agreement contains no provision for any such payment.”
As of The Call’s press time, Beishir says that he has still not heard back about the plans for the salt or his property. He says that city attorney Paul Rost seemed “cordial” and mentioned that they could possibly discuss the restoration fee at a later date.
“Like I said in that letter, they are welcome to sign a one-year lease or tick-tock, the clock is running,” Beishir said.
He added, “I appreciate the citizens of Green Park. They’ve been real gracious to us.”
