Agenda Item Wording:
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Authorize the City Manager to award RFP #20-21-49 Annual Community Forest Maintenance Contract to West Coast Arborist, Inc. of Fresno, CA in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000 per year to perform tree maintenance services per specifications of RFP #20-21-49.
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Deadline for Action: 1/18/2022
Submitting Department: Community Services
Contact Name and Phone Number: Joel Hooyer, Parks and Urban Forestry Supervisor, 713-4295, joel.hooyer@visalia.city <mailto:joel.hooyer@visalia.city> Alvin Dias, Parks and Facilities Manager, 713-4564, alvin.dias@visalia.city <mailto:alvin.dias@visalia.city> Jeremy Rogers, Community Services Director, 713-4340, Jeremy.rogers@visalia.city <mailto:Jeremy.rogers@visalia.city>
Department Recommendation:
That the City Council authorize the City Manager to award an annual contract for tree maintenance services to West Coast Arborist, Inc. of Fresno, CA in the amount of and not to exceed $1,000,000.00 annually, per specifications of RFP #20-21-49.
Background Discussion:
City wide growth, Visalia’s planting program of new trees, and the citywide use by multiple departments has increased the tree inventory (community forest) to more than 50,000 trees that are owned and/or maintained by the City. The most significant growth is in the new subdivisions where the maintenance is covered by lighting and landscape maintenance districts. West Coast Arborist Incorporated has been contracted with the City for the last fifteen years to maintain Visalia’s community forest, and for each of their contracted five-year terms, West Coast Arborist has never requested any CPI adjustments during their contractual periods, therefore the contract pricing remained the same each year, only seeing an increase each time a Request for Proposals was solicited. Their contract ended August 18, 2021, and in accordance with the City’s Purchasing Policy, the contract was re-bid after the fifth year.
On July 27, 2021, proposals were solicited and on August 10, 2021, and August 12, 2021, two mandatory pre-bid meetings were held in the City Hall West Conference Room. Seven (7) tree maintenance companies attended these meetings, Avila’s Tree Service, Rising Green, Inc., West Coast Arborists, Visalia Tree Service, General Tree, JC’s Lawn Service, and Rancho Tree Service. On August 31, 2021, West Coast Arborist Incorporated was the only contractor to submit a proposal.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) had many different job task costs that were requested in the proposed fee structure with only a hand full that are used on a regular basis. Several of the tasks are not used or expected to be used during the contract term but were added if the need arose and there was adequate funding staff would have contracted costs to perform the work. The tasks that are used on a regular basis and have increased from the previous contract are crew rental and tree removal. Much of the work done for the City is based on the hourly rate for crew rental with West Coast Arborist, Inc. Crew rental includes either a three (3) person, two (2) person, or one (1) person crew and equipment. Staff has found it to be more cost effective to use the crew rental, as opposed to pruning based on individual tree D.B.H. (Diameter at Breast Height). Other areas that crew rental is used is the removal of playground shade tarps for repair, and a one (1) person crew rental for the hand watering of approximately 900 trees in the Downtown area. These cost increases are associated with prevailing wage increases, fuel costs and consumer price index. (Please see attachment with frequency of use for each area in the proposed fee structure)
Bid Analysis
Before the proposals were opened, staff developed evaluation criteria for the submitted proposals. Because this is a service contract, State law does not require the City to award a contract solely on low bid. The criteria were developed to ensure that the bidder that is selected by the City is the “best value” for the community. Staff identified eight categories by which the proposals would be evaluated. The categories along with assigned value for each are:
Criteria Maximum West Coast Value Arborist
1. Quality and Completeness of proposal 10 pts. 10 pts.
2. Corporate Capability 20 pts. 20 pts.
3. Reference Evaluation 20 pts. 20 pts.
4. Customer Service Evaluation 5 pts. 5 pts.
5. Information Management 15 pts. 15 pts.
6. Pruning Program 10 pts. 10 pts.
7. Community Forest Study 5 pts. 5 pts.
8. Fee Schedules 10 pts. 10 pts.
9. Local Vendor 5 pts. 0 pts.
100 pts. 95 pts.
1. Quality and Completeness of proposal: (a) - Relevance & Conciseness of Bid Proposal and Statement of Qualifications. (b) - Work Statement and Quality Control Plan.
2. Corporate Capability: (a) - Qualifications and experience of staff. (b) - Quantity and types of equipment. (c) - The ability of the firm to provide the proper insurance coverage. (d) - Financial ability of the firm to provide services to the City of Visalia. (e) - Experience in the management of electronic tree inventory databases. (f) - Internal training program for employees. (g) - Green waste recycling capabilities and the firm’ plan to recycle generated green waste from tree maintenance activities.
3. Reference Evaluation: (a) - Customer Service Record. (b) Performance record of the firm relating to the Project Schedule of similar scale. (c) - Quantity and Quality of work previously performed. (d) - References.
4. Customer Service Evaluation: (a) - The firm’s customer service program and response to Citizen Complaints.
5. Information Management: (a) - Inventory software provided to the City. (b) - Technical support for software and data management. (c) - Quantity and types of inventory equipment. (d) - The ability to provide accurate inventory updates, for all trees serviced, compatible with the City’s tree inventory database. (e) - Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities.
6. Pruning Program: (a) - Ability to recommend and meet Project Schedules. (b) - Pruning ability.
7. Community Forest Study: (a) - An evaluation of the firm’s ability to conduct a comprehensive study of the current condition of Visalia’s Community Forest.
8. Fee Schedule: (a) - An evaluation of the firm’s Fee Schedule.
9. Local Vendor Preference: (a) - Proposals submitted by Businesses with a business address in Tulare Count, CA will receive 5 percentage points.
Request for Proposals (RFP):
On July 27, 2021, proposals were solicited by advertising in the Visalia Times delta and by mailing RFP notices to several contractors. In addition, the RFP was posted on Bid-Net.
On August 10, 2021, and August 12, 2021, two mandatory pre-bid meetings were held in the City Hall West Conference Room. Contractors that did not attend at least one of these meetings were ineligible to submit proposals for this contract. A total of seven tree maintenance companies attended these meetings, Avila’s Tree Service, Rising Green, Inc., West Coast Arborists, Visalia Tree Service, General Tree, JC’s Lawn Service, and Rancho Tree Service.
During the pre-bid meetings, staff reviewed the bid specifications, the Community Forest Maintenance Program, tree inventory, Arborist requirements, the mandatory requirements imposed by the State of California Department of Industrial Relations, evaluation criteria, and answered questions.
Request of Proposals, Response:
On August 31, 2021, West Coast Arborist Incorporated was the only contractor to submit a proposal. Their proposal was reviewed, and the current bid pricing reflected increases due to prevailing wage and consumer price index.
After careful review and evaluation, we recommend that the contract be awarded to West Coast Arborist Incorporated. The contractual agreement is for a one-year period but can be extended annually thereafter for four (4) one-year periods with the consent of the Contractor provided satisfactory performance is provided by West Coast Arborist Incorporated.
West Coast Arborist Incorporated, an Anaheim based tree service, with a regional office in Fresno are experienced in pruning, tree inventory, GIS capabilities, safety training and safety documentation of their personnel. They provide Certified Arborists as project managers and require that all tree trimming staff be certified tree workers. They specialize in municipal right of way tree maintenance and the employees of West Coast Arborist fulfilling this contract all live in the Tulare County area.
While West Coast Arborist Incorporated provides a broad spectrum of tree related services, the City will be using the company primarily for tree trimming services and maintaining our citywide Urban Forest. With staff ideally maintaining Parks, Trails, and L&L Districts on a 4 to 5 year pruning cycle, or as funding allows, while other areas are pruned on as needed basis.
Fiscal Impact:
The fiscal impact for RFP #20-21-49 Annual Contract for Community Forest Maintenance will be allocated to several City Departments that use the services of the forest maintenance contract. With each Department using their approved operational budgeted amount in each division’s tree maintenance budget line. The budget funding sources for the Community Forest Maintenance Contract are mainly, but not limited to 001 General Fund (Parks, Streets, and Trails), 1412 Measure N, 2530 Waterways Riparian, 4881 Storm and Sewer Maintenance, and 2731 Landscape and Lighting Districts. (Please see attachment with previous fiscal year expenditures by division.)
Prior Council Action: None
Other: N/A
Alternatives: Do not award contract and re-bid.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
Move to authorize the award of an Annual Contract for annual tree maintenance, to West Coast Arborist, Inc. of Fresno, CA not to exceed $1,000,000.00 annually per specifications of RFP #20-21-49.
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Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
Attachments: RFP #20-21-49, Previous Fiscal Costs Citywide, West Coast Arborist Proposal, Frequency of use