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CC - Award of a Five-Year Professional Services Agreement with West Coast Arborists to Provide Citywide Tree Maintenance Services in the Amounts of $790,000.00 (FY 2017/18); $894,705.00 (FY 2018/19); $919,920.00 (FY 2019/20); $943,707.50 (FY 2020/21); and $969,620.00 (FY 2021/22).
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Meeting Date: July 24, 2017
Contact Person/Dept: Eric Mirzaian/Public Works
Phone Number: 310-253-6444
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (07/1817);
Department Approval: Charles D. Herbertson (07/14/17)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council approve a five-year professional services agreement with West Coast Arborists (WCA) to provide citywide tree maintenance services for the following annual amounts:
Fiscal Year 2017/18: $790,000.00
Fiscal Year 2018/19: $894,705.00
Fiscal Year 2019/20: $919,920.00
Fiscal Year 2020/21: $943,707.50
Fiscal Year 2021/22: $969,620.00
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Since 1996, the City has maintained a contract with WCA for citywide tree maintenance services which includes trimming of approximately 4,000 trees annually, tree plantings, tree/stump removals, emergency response and watering. Contract extensions were approved by prior City Councils in 2006 and 2011 (for five years each) and most recently in 2016 for one additional year which expired on June 30, 2017 to allow Staff time to conduct a Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
In May 2017, Staff released and advertised an RFP to tree maintenance firms soliciting competitive proposals on a new contract for citywide tree maintenance services. On June 15, 2017, the City received proposals from 3 firms: WCA, Thrifty Tree Service and Mariposa Landscaping. The RFP required that each firm complete an attached bid form/pricing sheet that identified a unit price for each type of service. The proposal submitted by Mariposa Landscaping was deemed incomplete and unresponsive due to the fact they did not submit a completed bid form with the applicable pricing rates as required in the RFP and messages left with the company for clarification were not returned. The completed bid forms of WCA and Thrifty Tree Service have been included as attachments to this staff report to show the pricing comparisons of each firm.
After reviewing the proposals for both firms, Staff determined that the proposal submitted by WCA to be the lowest and most responsive. The pricing submitted by WCA is considerably lower than that of Thrifty Tree Service; in some categories by as much as fifty percent. Staff then negotiated with WCA to reduce the annual contract costs that are being presented for consideration in this staff report. The proposed schedule of compensation being presented in this staff report assumes the projected requirement to maintain the City’s urban forest annually and allows for unforeseen circumstances such as emergency situations and services outside the scope of work. Additionally, with the recent drought conditions and anticipated introduction of potentially new pests into the ecosystem, the proposed schedule of compensation will allow the City to remain proactive in ensuring the viability of its urban forest. The proposed schedule of compensation also factors in cost increases throughout the five-year term due to inflation and adjustments in the Consumer Price Index.
For the past several fiscal years, WCA has provided tree maintenance services while keeping cost levels low and competitive. With the recent State mandated prevailing wage laws, as well as the need for additional attention to some of our trees resulting from new potential pests as mentioned and effects of the recent drought, there is a significant increase in the proposed costs between FY 2016/17 and FY 2017/18, as well as, FY 2017/18 and FY 2018/19. The proposed schedule of compensation can be viewed as “not to exceed” amounts as they factor in unforeseen circumstances so it is possible the full proposed annual amount may not be expended in any given fiscal year. As a comparison, during FY 2016/17, the annual contract amount with WCA was $691,685. The rates being proposed by WCA as part of this contract are in line and competitive with those of our neighboring agencies. As an example, though every agency varies in terms of frequency of trimming and specific standards unique to those agencies, the proposed unit costs on the schedule of compensation for Culver City is significantly lower in most categories than that of the cities of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.
With all the factors described above, Staff feels the proposed schedule of compensation presented by WCA represents the best value to the City to provide the services described and is recommending approval of this agreement.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
Sufficient funding has been allocated in the current Fiscal Year 2017/18 for the first year of this proposed contract in Tree Maintenance-Other Contractual Services (10160220.619800). Budget enhancements will be prepared for subsequent year’s budgets to cover the future annual amounts.
ATTACHMENTS
1. WCA Five-Year Schedule of Compensation
2. WCA Bid Form
3. Thrifty Tree Service Bid Form
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Approve a five-year professional services agreement with West Coast Arborists in the amounts of $790,000.00 (FY 2017/18), $894,705.00 (FY 2018/19), $919,920.00 (FY 2019/20), $943,707.50 (FY 2020/21), $969,620.00 (FY 2021/22); and,
2. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and,
3. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.