TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Stephanie Katsouleas, Public Works Director
Ernest Area, Urban Forester
SUBJECT:Title
Consider Approving Amendment No. 4 with West Coast Arborist, Inc. for $30,000 to the Existing $160,000 Agreement for Additional Tree Maintenance and Replacement Services, and Approve Appropriation of $30,000 from the General Fund (Public Works Director Katsouleas).
a) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 19-0089
b) APPROPRIATE FROM THE GENERAL FUND
Line
_________________________________________________________
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council adopt Resolution No. 19-0089 approving Amendment No. 4 with West Coast Arborist, Inc. (WCA) for additional tree maintenance and replacement services in the Downtown Business Improvement District and appropriate $30,000 from the General Fund to complete the work.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The West Coast Arborist, Inc. contract allocates $130,000 annually for citywide tree services, including trimming, removal, installation, and emergency services. Due to the amount of tree maintenance services required this calendar year, the existing budget only has approximately $3,000 remaining. To ensure there are sufficient funds available for emergencies and other needs as directed through the end of 2019, and to proactively replace eight dying and diseased palm trees in the downtown business district, a contract amendment and budget appropriation from the General Fund for $30,000 is requested.
BACKGROUND:
In April 2013, the City of Manhattan Beach entered into a three-year agreement with WCA to provide tree maintenance services, including tree trimming, pruning, stump grinding, tree planting, watering of young trees, repair of irrigation systems, grading, traffic control, and identification of trees that are dying or could pose a threat to public safety. The WCA scope of work also includes maintaining a GIS database of the City’s tree canopy for inventory purposes. The agreement authorized the City Manager to exercised three one-year extensions for a final contract term that expires on December 31, 2019 (Amendments 1, 2, and 3). The annual rate of the agreement has held steady over the past six years at $130,000 per calendar year.
The agreement does not call for a specific scope of work, but rather identifies a bid schedule for the type of work that may be needed throughout the year, which often depends on the health and age of the City’s trees, variable growth and pruning needs, and unforeseen environmental conditions (e.g. wind, insects, storms) that may impact the tree canopy. A rate sheet governs the cost of the services requested by staff and provided by WCA. Staff uses the annual $130,000 budget both for proactive maintenance as well as for responding to unplanned tree-related services.
DISCUSSION:
Staff recently prepared and released a Request for Proposals to procure trees maintenance services, with an anticipated new contract start date of January 1, 2020.
However, there are still four months remaining under the existing agreement with WCA and the budget available to address emergencies and unforeseen environmental issues is nearly depleted, with approximately $3,000 remaining. Because the start of the rainy season is ahead of us, which could trigger fallen trees, and because there is a strong desire to replace dying palm trees in the downtown area sooner than next year, staff would like have in place sufficient funding to respond accordingly. The cost of removing and stump grinding seven palm trees, and then replacing them with trees of sufficient size and height to minimize store front and pedestrian impacts, is approximately $2,000 per tree, for a total of approximately $14,000. The remaining $19,000 would be used to respond to emergencies and address other unforeseen issues that may arise. Any funds not spent will be returned to the General Fund.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
No public outreach was conducted for this issue.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 19-0089
2. Amendment No. 4 - West Coast Arborist, Inc.
3. Agreement - West Coast Arborist, Inc. (2013)