HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-12-12 - AGENDA REPORTS - TREE TRIMMING CONTR (2)CONSENT CALENDAR
DATE:
SUBJECT:
DEPARTMENT:
Agenda Item:
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
City Manager Approval:
Item to be presented by:
December 12, 2006
Robert Sartain
AWARD OF TREE TRIMMING CONTRACT
Public Works
RECOMMENDED ACTION
!P
City Council award a tree trimming contract to United Pacific Services in an amount not to
exceed $450,000; and authorize the City Manager or designee to execute the contract and
contract extensions, subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
The Urban Forestry staff of the General Services Division is responsible for the maintenance and
care of City trees located in the City parks,, trails, and facilities, including the transit and
Metrolink facilities, as well as City trees in the public right-of-way that are not maintained by the
City's Landscape Maintenance District.
The City has historically maintained trees using both in-house staff and by the services provided
by a tree trimming contract. A contractor is required to maintain the larger trees, as the City does
not have the capital resources required to maintain those trees. The contractor has also assisted
staff with other associated maintenance, including tree planting, pest control, weed control, tree
removal, stump grinding, and irrigation installation. The combination of existing staff and use of
the contractor has been an effective method to care for the 50,000 trees in the City's inventory.
As part of the Fiscal Year 2006-2007 budget, the City Council appropriated $450,000 to Urban
Forestry for the purpose of Citywide tree trimming. This annual allocation allowed for the
procurement of a contractor to trim approximately 9,000 of the City's trees per year at a five- to
six-year trim cycle. The allocation of $450,000 to the Urban Forestry budget has been based on
past tree trimming contract costs, and the number of trees in the City's tree inventory.
APPROVED
The existing contract for tree trimming services was awarded to TruGreen LandCare on
June 12, 2001 as part of the Fiscal Year 2001-2002 budget. The contract amount at that time was
$470,643. The original contract performance period was one year, ending on June 30, 2002, with
an option of four one-year renewals. TruGreen and the City agreed to additional renewals, with
the current and last renewal to expire on December 31, 2006.
An Invitation to Bid was published three times on October 8, October 11, and October 15, 2006,
and was conducted in compliance with the support of the Santa Clarita Businesses program.
Notifications were sent to the Chamber of Commerce, Valley Industrial Association, and four
vendors on file. Additionally, 24 vendors downloaded the bid package from the City's website.
The following bid responses were opened by the Purchasing Division on November 2, 2006:
Vendor
Location
Bid
United Pacific Services
La Habra, CA
$819,000
TruGreen Landcare
Canoga Park, CA
$828,950
West Coast Arborists
Anaheim, CA
$1,083,950
The bids submitted by the vendors were much higher than the approved budget, which was
anticipated due to the five-year-old bids. This will result in the trimming of fewer trees than
originally anticipated. United Pacific Services, the lowest qualified bidder, has agreed to
maintain the cost per tree as provided in their bid package, but reduce the scope of work,
allowing staff to stay within the budget parameters. Given the existing $450,000 budget, 2,550
trees will be trimmed via the new tree trimming contract. This is a two-thirds reduction of the
original estimate of 9,000 trees for the Fiscal Year 2006-2007 trim cycle.
ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for the award of this contract were appropriated in the Fiscal Year 2006-2007 budget in
the amount of $450,000 in Account No. 4810-8001.
ATTACHMENTS
None