SARASOTA COUNTY — Sarasota County has restructured its mowing program by dividing the county into four mowing areas with separate contracts to assure that roadsides and medians are maintained to county standards.

“We’re committed to maintaining our roadways and medians to the standard citizens expect,” said Christine Robinson, Sarasota County Commission chairwoman. “We appreciate their patience as we’ve worked to address the mowing problems. We expect the new mowing contracts to provide the best mowing performance for taxpayers’ dollars.” The county focused the contracts on mowing and created districts to increase performance and contract accountability, according to Dave Cash, director of Operations and Maintenance. The county previously awarded a single contract countywide, which included numerous non-mowing requirements. The contracts are for six-month periods and will be resolicited for three-year agreements. The four areas are: Rural North - Storm Tech Inc., Sarasota; Urban North - contract is expected to be awarded next week; Rural South - Reynold’s Mowing Inc., Venice; and Urban South - Rightmire’s Land Services, North Port. A mowing schedule will be available on the Sarasota County website at www.scgov.net. During the next two weeks, South County residents can expect to see mowing in the following areas: Rural South - Border Road area, East Laurel area, River Road, Winchester Boulevard and Warm Mineral Springs; Urban South - South River Road, Pine Street, State Road 776, Venice Avenue, Venice E. Boulevard, Englewood area residential streets, Center Road, Jacaranda Boulevard., Shamrock Boulevard, Venice Bypass, U.S. 41 S., Harbor Drive, Pinebrook Road and South Venice residential streets. The mowing backlog is expected to be eliminated within 30 days.