TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Nicky Petroff, Senior Management Analyst
Ernest Area, Urban Forester
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving a Three-Year Maintenance Services Agreement with West Coast Arborists for Tree Management Services in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $3,102,425 (Continued from the April 15, 2025, City Council Meeting) (Budgeted) (Public Works Director Lee).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 25-0038
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt Resolution No. 25-0038 approving a Three-Year Maintenance Services Agreement with West Coast Arborists for Tree Management Services in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $3,102,425; and
2. Authorize the City Manager and/or her designee to extend the agreements for up to two additional one-year terms.
3. Reject all other proposals submitted in response to the Request for Proposals.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The maintenance services agreement under consideration with West Coast Arborists (WCA) is to provide tree management services for an initial three-year term and two optional one-year extensions. Staff anticipates expenditures for the services should not surpass $570,485 for the initial year of the three-year agreement. The contingency is set annually at $50,000 for a total of $250,000 over the five years. The estimated cost of the initial three-year term, and two optional one-year extensions, including contingency, is for a total amount not to exceed $3,102,425.
Annual price adjustments may not exceed the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Area for the most recent 12-month period. These adjustments are limited to a maximum of three percent (3.0%) per year. Funding for such adjustments will be allocated through the annual budget process.
The proposed agreement’s effective date will be July 1, 2025. Funds in the amount of $418,860 are currently budgeted within the General, State Pier/Parking Lot, and the Building & Grounds Maintenance funds Public Works Department budget for these Tree Management services. Future years, including Fiscal Year 2025-2026 which is the first year of this new agreement, will be budgeted accordingly.
BACKGROUND:
The City routinely contracts tree management services to care for and maintain approximately 5,400 trees. The care and maintenance include an annual/biannual pruning program, inspections, a City-wide tree risk survey, and an annual GPS tree inventory.
DISCUSSION:
On November 6, 2024, staff solicited Tree Management Services Request for Proposals (RFP) #1329-25 through OpenGov, an electronic public notification system for advertisement of competitive proposals and bidding opportunities available with the City. The RFP provided that any proposals submitted would be evaluated under specified criteria set forth in the RFP. Five proposal responses were received on December 5, 2024.
The scope of work encompasses comprehensive tree management services for the City, expanding beyond the services provided under the existing contract. The updated scope introduces several key service enhancements, including but not limited to:
• Increased tree maintenance pruning services from 3,700 trees to 5,400 trees annually;
• Increased tree maintenance frequencies in the City Medians, Parks, and Facilities;
• Install 100 trees annually to increase canopy density (Urban Forest Master Plan Goal);
• Annual Plant Health Care (PHC) services for the King Palms in the Downtown and North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement Districts; and
• A sidewalk inventory will be conducted annually. The inventory will identify tree root intrusions into lifted sidewalks for repairs.
Unlike a formal bidding process, in which cost is the deciding factor and a contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, the selection of a successful awardee through the competitive proposal process is based upon the City’s consideration of which proposed services contract will be the best value to the City, as determined in light of criteria set forth in the RFP. The evaluation criteria for this service contract and contractor selection include several factors, including but not limited to:
• Contractor’s qualifications and experience in providing services;
• Availability of trained staff in the Los Angeles area;
• References; and
• Costs, quality, proposer’s ability to deliver services, and other factors relating to the City's particular needs.
|
Contractor |
Total Annual Proposal Amount |
|
United Pacific Services Inc. |
$494,032 |
|
West Coast Arborists |
$570,485 |
|
Great Scott Tree Services, Inc. |
$593,736 |
|
SGD Enterprises |
$623,525 |
|
Mariposa Tree Management Inc. |
$125,940 (disqualified - incomplete proposal) |
The City evaluated each submitted proposal thoroughly under the evaluation criteria and advanced the top three scoring proposers to the interview phase.
United Pacific Services, Inc. (UPS) submitted the lowest-cost proposal and was invited to the interview phase. However, following a comprehensive evaluation of all criteria outlined in the RFP, staff ultimately recommended against awarding the contract to UPS. During the interview, staff identified several concerns about the proposer’s ability to effectively deliver the required services. In particular, their operational approach revealed gaps that raised concerns about their capacity to consistently meet the performance standards specified in the RFP.
In contrast, WCA demonstrated a thorough understanding of the service requirements and presented a well-structured operational plan that gave staff greater confidence in their ability to fulfill the contract's obligations. Although UPS offered a lower price, the overall qualifications and demonstrated capabilities of WCA were determined to be a better fit for the City's needs. As noted above, cost is only one factor for consideration in evaluating proposals submitted in response to an RFP for services.
Additionally, WCA has over 52 years of experience providing tree management services and is currently providing services to more than 200 municipal and county agencies across California. The WCA Manager assigned to Manhattan Beach is both a Certified Arborist and Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ)-certified, ensuring expert oversight over the City’s trees. Unlike the other proposals submitted that relied on subcontractors, WCA performs all specialized services in-house, including pest control advisory, biological assessments, and tree risk evaluations. Their highly qualified workforce includes 114 ISA Certified Arborists, over 170 ISA Certified Tree Workers, and multiple Board-Certified Master Arborists. Additionally, WCA maintains a fleet of over 1,700 pieces of equipment, ensuring reliability and efficiency for large-scale operations.
On April 14, 2025, after the proposals were opened, the City received a protest from UPC, who submitted a proposal with the lowest cost. After a thorough review, City staff issued a formal response to UPC on May 5, 2025, denying the protest. UPC submitted an appeal of that decision on May 11, 2025. The City Manager reviewed the appeal and issued a final decision to deny the appeal on June 5, 2025. As such, the City will proceed with its original recommendation.
Following a complete analysis of the proposals submitted, the evaluation criteria, and the protest and appeal, staff recommends that the City enter into a three-year agreement with West Coast Arborists for tree management services not to exceed $3,102,425, including an annual contingency amount of $50,000 for unforeseen services and/or emergencies. Additionally, staff recommends that the City Manager be given the authority to administratively exercise the two, one-year options to extend the term of the agreement if deemed in the City’s best interest. Staff also recommends that the Council reject all other proposals.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
This RFP was advertised on the City’s website and OpenGov, an electronic public notification system for advertisement of competitive proposals and bidding opportunities available with the City.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The agreement has been reviewed by the City Attorney and is approved as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 25-0038
2. Agreement - West Coast Arborists