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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-06-12 - AGENDA REPORTS - TREE SERVICE CONTRACT (2)CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT CONSENT CALENDAR DATE: June 12, 2001 City Manager ApproN Item to be presented SUBJECT: AWARD OF TREE SERVICE CONTRACT DEPARTMENT: Field Services RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council find the bid from Tip Top Arborist non-responsive. City Council approve the use of "multiple criteria" in the selection of the successful bidder for tree maintenance services. Award contract to TruGreen Landcare in the amount of $470,643. for monthly services, tree pruning, and associated required work, subject to approval of the Fiscal Year 2001/2002 budget. These funds have been requested to be budgeted in Fiscal Year 2001/2002 in Account No. 5600-8001. Authorize City Manager or designee to execute all documents, subject to City Attorney approval. BACKGROUND To ensure bidders would be capable of performing the contract as specified, the solicitation required bidders to include information to be used to make a finding of responsibility. Staff evaluated Tip Top Arborist as non-responsive because they failed to include information on the following: • Current Safety Manual • Documentation of qualified line clearance personnel • Quality Control Plan • Proof of Certified Arborist and Tree Workers • Proof of Pest Control Applicators License • Method of Green Waste disposal The City's purchasing policy requires a formal bid process for general services when the contract is over $10,000. The City's Municipal Code requires that contracts be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. As a result of increasingly frequent problems with the lowest bidder, public agencies recognized the need for an improved bid evaluation process. Over time, many government agencies adopted a process that incorporated additional selection criteria. Previous evaluation procedures only recognized a pass/fail score for non -monetary criteria. This precluded evaluators from recognizing higher quality, better service, or early delivery, and was a disincentive to vendors to do more than the minimum. With multiple criteria evaluations, a score is assigned to vendor's submissions on the required criteria. The score reflects a AInirpr�Q��O Agenda Item,.—OL AWARD OF TREE SERVICE CONTRACT June 12, 2001 — Page 2 comparison of the vendor's qualifications compared to a standard of their peers. When combined with criteria weightings, this allows a value to be assigned and compared to cost. A superior rating in other criteria may then offset a slightly higher price, reflecting the value of the higher levels of quality or service of the vendor, in essence, the best combination of cost, quality, service, and timeliness. The Urban Forestry Division used multiple award criteria to obtain the best possible contractor to act on the City's behalf. Rather than solely looking at price as the determining factor, City staff intends to evaluate several items before selecting a contractor. These factors include: • Cost of proposal • Experience and qualifications of contractors and their staff • Resources available to the City • Quality Control and Safety Plan • Contractor's plan to report greenwaste generated and method of disposal Although the cost of the proposals will not be the sole determining factor, this element must be examined. Experience and qualifications of the contractors and their staff is a critical factor, as it is essential that the selected contractor employs knowledgeable workers who will perform work to the City's high standards. Resources such as equipment and size of workforce were also reviewed, as the selected contractor must have the equipment and technical ability to handle the multiple Urban Forestry needs. The selected contractor must also have a thorough quality and safety control plan. Finally, the contractor's plan to report greenwaste generated, and their method of disposal, was reviewed to determine how greenwaste will be diverted from the waste stream and utilized effectively. Based on this criterion staff determined the contractor with the best overall rating to be TruGreen Landcare. In addition, because Tip Top Arborist were found to be non-responsive, TruGreen Landcare was the low bidder for this solicitation. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS Direct staff to use lowest cost criteria for awarding the contract for tree maintenance services. Other action as determined by Council. FISCAL IMPACT Funds for this expenditure in the amount of $470,643. have been requested to be budgeted in Fiscal Year 2001/2002 in Account No. 5600-8001, subject to adoption of the Fiscal Year 2001/2002 budget by City Council. ATTACHMENTS Scope of Work TREE MAINTENANCE SERVICES SCOPE OF WORK The City maintains over 40,000 trees. The current pruning cycle varies depending on the type of tree and location. Newly planted trees receive pruning once per year. High -maintenance trees receive pruning every two years. Park and facility trees are pruned every four years, and the remaining residential trees are pruned every five years. In order to maintain this schedule, 12,000 trees must be pruned every year. The contractor will prune approximately 9,000 trees annually, and provide associated required work as called for in the specifications. In-house staff provides small tree pruning. The following is a description of contact tree services as provided for in the specifications: • Monthly Services — $246,073 Approximately 5,000 trees to be completely pruned or receive various maintenance needs as outlined in the specifications. • Associated Required Work Services — $224,570 • Pruning Tree planting Pest control • Tree removal • Stump removal TruGreen Landeare West Coast Arborist Monthly Service $246,073 $348,000 Associated Required Work 224,570 224,570 Yearly Total $470,643 $572.570