Resolutions 2024-054, 2024-055, and 2024-056, approving Change Orders #4 and #5 for each of the City’s On-Call Tree Service Contractors to balance spending in Fiscal Year 2023/24, to allocate tree contracts for Fiscal Year 2024/25, and to allocate funds for the City’s On-Call Landscape Maintenance Services contract, respectively.

• Adopt Resolutions 2024-054 and 2024-055, approving Change Orders #4 and #5 for each of the City’s On-Call Tree Service Contractors to balance $925,000 of spending in Fiscal Year 2023/24, and to allocate tree contracts totaling $999,000 for Fiscal Year 2024/25.

• Adopt Resolution 2024-056 approving Change Order #1 for the City’s On-Call Landscape Maintenance Services contract with Town & Country, with a not-to-exceed fee of $229,200 for Fiscal Year 2024/25.

On-Call Tree Services Contracts:

In April 2024, Change Orders #3 allocated the remaining Forestry funding for Fiscal Year 2023/24 to bring the contracts of our tree service companies (Community Tree Service, Tope’s, and West Coast Arborists) to $325,000, $350,000, and $250,000, respectively. The overall tree services budget totaled $925,000.

Change Orders #4, FY 2023/24:

In order to balance expected invoices to close out the FY 2023/24, while leaving the overall tree services budget unchanged, the following Change Orders #4 are proposed. Upon Council approval:

·         Tope’s Tree Service’s FY 23-24 contract for FY 23-24 will decrease by $40,000 (from $350,000 to $310,000).

·         Community Tree Service’s contract for FY 23-24 will increase by $35,000 (from $325,000 to $360,000).

·         West Coast Arborists FY 23-24 contract for FY 23-24 will increase by $5,000 (from $250,000 to $255,000).

Change Orders #5, FY 2024/25:

In June 2024, Council approved a budget of $1,197,000 for tree services for FY 2024/25. The Forestry Division is proposing Change Orders #5 to allocate $999,000 of the tree services budget, which would be dispersed equally among the 3 tree contractors ($333,000 each).

By allocating $999,000 of the approved $1,197,000, this would allow for $198,000 of flexibility in the coming year due to natural uncertainties, such as possible future winter storms, the differing timeframes within which companies are able to complete task orders, and forthcoming performance assessments of each tree contractor. A future Change Order will be brought to Council to allocate the remaining $198,000.

With Council approval, the following chart incorporates Change Orders #4 and #5:

In FY 2023/24, the City received a comprehensive inventory of our City trees from Davey Resource Group, our consulting partners in the Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) process. This inventory data, summarized below, has illuminated the need for an extensive “catch-up” plan to maintain the trees we have, remove those which are aged or in poor condition, and replace those which are removed with a priority for native species of Monterey pines, coast live oaks, and cypresses, to ensure a thriving city in a forest by the sea. The City tree crew is capable and able to perform this work, however the sheer amount of work in addition to specialized equipment needed (crane, large bucket truck, masticator, etc.) requires outside contractors to meet the current needs of the forest.

The $1,197,000 for FY 2024/25 will be well used. It represents the beginning of what the City anticipates will likely be a three-year catch-up plan. Once the UFMP is complete, Davey Resource Group will include a calculation of the total funding needed to catch up on the deferred maintenance as well as a recommended schedule. In the meantime, Forestry Staff estimated this amount to be over $3,000,000 relative to current prices projected for FY 2024/25.

On-Call Landscape Maintenance Services Contract:

In October 2022, Council awarded a $175,000 On-Call Landscape Maintenance Services contract to Town and Country Gardening and Landscaping. In FY 2022/23, $141,000 was allocated to Town and Country contract work, and in FY 2023/24, the full $175,000 was allocated, matching the contract limit.

In June 2024, Council approved $229,200 for landscape services for FY 2024/25, which incorporates roughly $40,000 in expected costs for landscaping and irrigation work along the Scenic Pathway.

With Council approval, the following chart details Change Order #1:

Our contractor performs work that our City personnel would be otherwise unable to, given the extent of the 23 locations the contractor currently maintains. The City employs one Gardener/landscaper who continues to contribute to landscaping in the City, however this Maintenance Worker is also a critical member of the City’s tree crew. Given the extensive needs of Forestry staff at this time, the City is allocating appropriate funds to landscaping services to allow for our tree crew to focus primarily on maintaining trees in the public rights of way, while balancing landscaping work as needed.

The following is a list of the 23 locations our contractor maintains, with the supervision and input of our City Forester and gardener/Maintenance Worker, respectively:

Environmental Evaluation

This action does not constitute a project within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act under Public Resources Code Section 21065. It has no potential to cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and, therefore, does not require environmental review.

Sufficient funding is available in the Forestry Contractual Services Account #101-119-45-42001 to cover the amounts described above, in both Fiscal Years 2023/24 and 2024/25.

On-Call Tree Services Contracts:

In March 2023, Council awarded three multi-year On-Call Tree Service Contracts to Community Tree Service, Tope’s, and West Coast Arborists.

In June 2023, Council approved Change Orders Resolutions 2023-058 and 2023-059, resulting in the increase of each of the three tree service contracts to $175,000 for the FY 2023/24.

In April 2024, Council approved Change Orders Resolution 2024-023 allocating $400,000 to increase each of the tree contracts, $200,000 of which was previously approved in the original fiscal year budget and an additional $200,000 in mid-year budget adjustments.

On-Call Landscape Maintenance Services Contract:

In October 2022, Council awarded a three-year, $175,000 On-Call Landscape Maintenance Services contract to Town and Country Gardening and Landscaping. In FY 2022/23, $141,000 was allocated to Town and Country contract work, and in FY 2023/24, the full $175,000 was allocated.