City Council
July 15, 2025
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Joe DeVries
City Administrator Deputy City Administrator
SUBJECT: As-Needed Emergency Tree Services
Contracts
DATE: June 9, 2025
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution (A) Awarding Contracts For On-Call Emergency Tree Services To (1) West Coast Arborists, Incorporated, And (2) The Professional Tree Care Company, The Lowest Responsive And Responsible Bidders, In An Amount Not To Exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) Per Contract And For Three Years With An Option To Extend Each Contract Up To Two Additional Years; And (B) Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Oakland Public Works Department (OPW), Bureau of Environment (BOE), Parks & Tree Division (PTD) needs contractors to respond to and abate hazardous trees and tree-related emergencies on city streets, city property, and the public right of way, as the city lacks sufficient in-house resources to provide those services. As such, the City of Oakland (City) conducted a Request for Proposals for as-needed emergency tree services. Scope of work includes, but is not limited to, tree removal, stump removal, pruning, crane and truck rental, and emergency response. Due to the unpredictable details, timing, and urgency of tree-related emergencies, as- needed emergency contracts are necessary for quickly restoring roads, sidewalks, and infrastructure after being impacted by trees.
Approval of the proposed resolution will allow OPW to continue abating tree hazards on city streets, city property, and the public right of way. Staff recommends that the City Council award the contracts to West Coast Arborists, Inc. (WCA), and The Professional Tree Care Company, as they were the lowest responsive and responsible bidders who met or exceeded the contract eligibility criteria. It is necessary to have more than one contract for the sake of quickly and substantially scaling up capacity during storm events and other occasions of peak demand.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The Oakland Municipal Code section 12.32.020 “Power and authority over trees” cites the City’s power and authority to trim or remove any tree or shrub upon any public street or public grounds that is diseased or is endangering or which may endanger the security or usefulness of any public street, sidewalk, or sewer.
Jestin Johnson (Jun 30, 2025 14:47 PDT)
Jun 30, 2025
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: As-Needed Emergency Tree Services Contracts
Date: June 9, 2025 Page 2
City Council
July 15, 2025
In 2024, the Oakland City Council adopted the City’s Urban Forest Plan (Resolution No. 90547 C.M.S.), which cites mitigating tree-related hazards as one of the strategies for proactively managing the urban forest.
PTD has had two simultaneous cooperative contract agreements for as-needed emergency tree services since at least 2018. These contracts have been used as-needed when demand for emergency tree services exceeds City staff and equipment capacity. Annual contract expenditures have ranged from $100,000 to over $1,500,000 due to the unpredictable nature of storms and the availability of funding sources (for example, tree-related emergency expenses related to extreme weather events may be reimbursable by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)). It is in the department’s best interest to create and award its own contracts rather than continue to renew cooperative agreements according to terms set by other cities.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The as-needed emergency tree services contract will complement City staffing to deliver a range of time-sensitive work. Services include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Tree and stump removal
- Hazardous tree branch removal
- 24-hour emergency response
- Removal and hauling of woody debris
- Rental of heavy-duty equipment
- Traffic control
On October 25, 2024, the City issued a Request for Qualifications advertising a contract not to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) over three years, with the opportunity for two (2) one- year (1) extensions. Statements of Qualification were due on December 5, 2024. The RFQ had a requirement to use 20% Small/Local Small Business Enterprises (S/LSBE), but none of the firms included this in their proposals. Upon closer review, there were no S/LSBE firms eligible to perform this type of work, and the RFQ was re-issued on February 14, 2025, with a 0% S/LSBE requirement. Statements of Qualification for the re-bid were due on March 27, 2025.
Bids were received from WCA, The Professional Tree Care Company, Davey Tree Experts, Evergreen Tree Care, and Julian Tree Care (See Attachment 1. Bid Summary – Emergency Tree Services).
Upon evaluation, staff recommends awarding contracts to WCA and The Professional Tree Care Company, in the amount of $1,000,000.00 each, as these firms are the lowest responsive and responsible bidders who meet the bidding eligibility criteria with bids closest to the dollar amount of the engineer’s estimate. These firms have demonstrated experience working on similar-sized (or larger) contracts for many years among various Bay Area municipalities and have a deep staffing capacity that can be drawn upon in times of peak demand.
Awarding these emergency tree contracts advances the policy directive of responsive, trustworthy government. The City needs to react quickly during storms or other emergencies to ensure that public rights of way are clear of fallen trees or other tree debris that could hinder traffic and the passage of emergency response vehicles. The number of service requests for Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: As-Needed Emergency Tree Services Contracts
Date: June 9, 2025 Page 3
City Council
July 15, 2025
fallen trees can quickly exceed PTD’s staff and equipment capacity, and require the assistance of tree contractors.
FISCAL IMPACT
Each contract will be executed in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000 for a three-year period with an opportunity to renew for two one-year periods. Contract expenditure allocations shall be expensed from PTD’s existing budgets and a one-time grant from the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) previously accepted by the City Council on September 12, 2024 (Resolution Number 90439 C.M.S.). This grant is specifically for tree work within the Shepherd Canyon to Grass Valley Evacuation Route Area until March 15, 2030.
There is no impact on the General Purpose Fund, and no additional funding is requested. There is no minimum commitment to this contract, and funding will be identified prior to commitment.
The eligible sources of available funding in FY 2024-25 are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Emergency Tree Services FY24-25 Funding Sources
FUND ORG ACCOUNT PROJECT PROGRAM AMOUNT TYPE
2159 30654 54919 1007686 NB.09 $800,000 CAL FIRE Grant
1720 30654 54919 1000010 NB.09 $90,000 Annual Budgeted
2218 30654 54011 1000010 NB.09 $75,000 Annual Budgeted
2244 30654 54919 TBD NB.09 $500,000 One-time Council
Amendment Funding
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Following the protocol for conducting a competitive solicitation, the labor unions and others were notified of the solicitation on August 5, 2024, and the rebid RFQ No.337531 was advertised on February 14, 2025. An optional pre-bid meeting was held on February 24, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.
No additional public outreach was deemed relevant to the bid process.
COORDINATION
The Public Works Capital Contracts Division and the Parks & Tree Division coordinated with the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to develop the solicitation and review the bids received. DWES conducted an availability analysis and determined that no current certified local or small local business enterprises can do the required work (See Attachment 2. Availability Analysis).
This report and the resolution have been reviewed for form and legality by the Office of the City Attorney and the Budget Bureau of the Finance Department.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: As-Needed Emergency Tree Services Contracts
Date: June 9, 2025 Page 4
City Council
July 15, 2025
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
WCA has performed well and met its contractual obligations in previous contracts with the City of Oakland. The City has not contracted with The Professional Tree Care Company previously, but this contractor has a history of performing the same type of work for other Bay Area cities.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Emergency response to fallen trees or tree debris is necessary for keeping the public rights of way accessible. Additionally, fallen trees that damage structures or infrastructure must be removed with care and expediency to allow for necessary repairs. Delays in access to public rights of way or repairs to structures and infrastructure can cause further problems and costs, including economic hardships for community members.
Environmental: Trees are a necessary and important City asset that contribute to innumerable environmental benefits. One aspect of a comprehensive tree management program includes removing trees that are considered dead, diseased, hazardous, or otherwise at the end of their useful lifespan. Additionally, removing dead or unhealthy trees growing in natural settings (such as wildland parks or unimproved public rights of way) can provide space for other healthy trees to grow larger and stronger, thereby improving the overall health of the urban forest.
Race & Equity: Emergency tree service resources are especially important for people with disabilities, seniors, and people traveling with children. Tree emergencies can occur anywhere in the City, and having two on-call tree contractors to assist can allow for expedient cleanup and restore access to the public right of way, thereby minimizing the length of time that the community may be impacted.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
Public tree maintenance is exempt from CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, Class 4 (Minor Alterations to Land), because the work involves minor public or private alterations to the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation that do not involve removal of healthy, mature, or scenic trees.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: As-Needed Emergency Tree Services Contracts
Date: June 9, 2025 Page 5
City Council
July 15, 2025
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution (A) Awarding Contracts For On- Call Emergency Tree Services To (1) West Coast Arborists, Incorporated, And (2) The Professional Tree Care Company, The Lowest Responsive And Responsible Bidders, In An Amount Not To Exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) Per Contract And For Three Years With An Option To Extend Each Contract Up To Two Additional Years; And (B) Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Isaac Harvey, Acting Tree Supervisor II, at 510-615-5568.
Respectfully submitted,
Joe DeVries
Deputy City Administrator
Reviewed by:
Kristin Hathaway
Assistant Director
Oakland Public Works
Prepared by:
Isaac Harvey
Acting Tree Supervisor II
Parks & Tree Division
Attachments (2):
1. Bid Summary – Emergency Tree Services
2. Availability Analysis