City Council
July 15, 2025
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Joe DeVries
City Administrator Deputy City Administrator
SUBJECT: Tree Maintenance Contract Award DATE: June 9, 2025
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution (A) Awarding A Contract For Tree Maintenance Services To West Coast Arborists, Incorporated, The Lowest Responsive And Responsible Bidder, In An Amount Not To Exceed Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($3,500,000) For Three Years With An Option To Extend The Contract For Up To Two Additional Years; And (B) Adopt Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adoption of this proposed resolution will authorize the City Administrator to execute a contract with West Coast Arborists, Inc. (WCA), the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, for an amount not to exceed three million five hundred thousand dollars ($3,500,000) to maintain City street trees. Through this contract, WCA will implement grid pruning and maintenance services on street trees as funded by an $8 million Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) grant awarded to the City of Oakland by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service) in 2024. The City Council adopted the IRA grant agreement with the Forest Service on May 7, 2024 (Resolution No. 90216
C.M.S.). This project supports the goals and objectives of the adopted Urban Forest Plan.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
In May 2024, the City Council authorized the City Administrator to apply for, accept, and appropriate an eight-million-dollar ($8,000,000) IRA grant from the Forest Service ( Resolution
No. 90216 C.M.S.) f or the project titled “Oakland: Equity through Urban Forestry” (Project). The Project partially fulfills the goals of the Urban Forest Plan (adopted in December 2024) by 1) equitably increasing the tree canopy on public and private land, 2) preserving the current tree canopy by addressing deferred maintenance, 3) increasing engagement through public outreach, and 4) providing job opportunities to increase the green sector workforce. The execution of this contract with WCA will address item number two by systematically maintaining all street trees (approximately 9,000) in Oakland’s highest-priority frontline communities (per the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) Geographic Equity Toolbox map).
Jestin Johnson (Jul 3, 2025 08:39 PDT)
Jul 3, 2025
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Tree Maintenance Contract Award
Date: June 9, 2025 Page 2
City Council
July 15, 2025
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Number 345532 for NTB – 1007512 – Tree Maintenance Services was posted on April 4, 2025. The Office of the City Clerk received four bids by the May 1, 2025, deadline (See Attachment 1. Bid Summary – Tree Maintenance Services). Four bids were received from P31 Enterprises, Inc., Arboricultural Specialties, Inc., doing business as The Professional Tree Care Company, Mariposa Tree Management, Inc., and WCA, Inc. (see Table 1 below).
Table 1: Bids Received
Bidder Bid
P31 Enterprises, Inc. $4,274,884.85
Arboricultural Specialties, Inc., dba The Professional Tree Care Company $9,776,025.00 Mariposa Tree Management, Inc. $3,084,625.00
West Coast Arborists, Inc. $2,464,750.00
WCA’s bid of $2,464,750.00 is the lowest bid received and has been deemed the lowest responsive and responsible bidder; therefore, WCA is recommended for the award. Their pricing will help stretch the grant funding further, allowing more trees to be maintained in Oakland’s disadvantaged census tracts and delivering greater benefits to both the City and the community.
WCA is headquartered in Anaheim, California, and has locations throughout the western states, including an office at 2744 East 11
th Street in Oakland. WCA meets all requirements in the solicitation, including being accredited by the Tree Care Industry Association, and having both International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborists and Caltrans-authorized Certified Flaggers (for traffic control) on staff.
The bids were reviewed by the Department of Workforce and Employment Standards (DWES), but the Local/Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) requirements do not apply because the Project is federally funded. DWES performed an availability analysis and found that no L/SLBE were able to do the work described in the solicitation. L/SLBEs were encouraged to be included as subcontractors, but none of the bids received included any L/SLBE subcontractors.
Awarding a contract to WCA advances the citywide priority of vibrant, sustainable infrastructure. Canopy coverage in these communities is as low as 1.3%, which is significantly less than the citywide average of 21.5% and substantially lower than Oakland’s more affluent communities, where canopy cover can be as high as 68%. Maintaining existing trees is an important step in increasing tree canopy. Properly maintained trees live longer, are healthier, and provide more long-term benefits.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Tree Maintenance Contract Award
Date: June 9, 2025 Page 3
City Council
July 15, 2025
FISCAL IMPACT
The contract with WCA will not impact the General Purpose Fund. Funding is provided through the $8,000,000 federal IRA grant from the Forest Service (see Table 2 below). The total contract amount will be utilized over the three-year period, and the two optional one-year extensions will not increase the contract not-to-exceed amount of $3,500,000.
Table 2: Funding Source
FUND ORG ACCOUNT PROJECT PROGRAM AMOUNT
2102 30654 54911 1007512 NB.09 $3,500,000
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Following the protocol for conducting a competitive solicitation, the labor unions and others were notified of the solicitation on February 4, 2025, before RFQ No. 345532 was posted on April 4, 2025, and advertised in the City’s official newspaper. An optional pre-bid meeting was held on April 15, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. No additional public outreach was required.
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. This solicitation is exempt from the City’s Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) program because it is federally funded. 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 resolution have been reviewed by the Budget Bureau of the Finance Department and for form and legality by the Office of the City Attorney.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
WCA has performed well and met its contractual obligations in previous contracts with the City of Oakland.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Healthy trees provide many economic benefits for the community. Shade from their canopies reduces energy costs for buildings, the heat island effect, and the deterioration of infrastructure by ultraviolet rays. Studies show that trees increase business in shopping districts by making the environment more inviting. Trees also provide jobs because trees in urban environments require regular pruning to stay healthy. Additionally, regularly pruned trees are significantly less likely to fail or lose branches during weather events, thereby reducing the need for costly emergency response and costs from damage to public and private property.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Tree Maintenance Contract Award
Date: June 9, 2025 Page 4
City Council
July 15, 2025
Environmental: Maintaining trees is an essential activity for a healthy urban forest, and this project contributes towards the goals of the adopted Urban Forest Plan. Maintenance is required for trees in public municipal spaces to grow to their full potential in both size and age.
Trees provide numerous environmental benefits that positively impact people and wildlife. Trees help improve air quality by producing oxygen and reducing air pollution by collecting dust and particulate matter on leaf surfaces. They mitigate stormwater runoff, which reduces water pollution and flooding. Their roots improve soil structure and reduce erosion. Trees are a powerful natural solution to combating climate change because they remove carbon dioxide from the air and store carbon. They are especially helpful in urban environments by providing visual screening, reducing noise, and lowering ambient temperatures – making them a valuable tool to lower energy use for heating and cooling homes as well as abating the heat island effect in cities. Healthy, mature trees provide the most benefits, so it is imperative to maintain our current trees for future generations.
Race & Equity: Per the grant agreement adopted by the City Council, all work will focus on Oakland’s frontline communities, as identified by OakDOT’s Geographic Equity Toolbox.
Maintaining existing trees in Oakland’s frontline communities will increase the tree canopy cover in these neighborhoods, which can be as low as 1.3%. The city average is 21.5% canopy cover and is as high as 68% in parts of the Oakland Hills.
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 the removal of healthy, mature, or scenic trees.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Tree Maintenance Contract Award
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 A Contract For Tree Maintenance Services To West Coast Arborists, Incorporated, The Lowest Responsive And Responsible Bidder, In An Amount Not To Exceed Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($3,500,000) For Three Years With An Option To Extend The Contract For Up To Two Additional Years; And (B) Adopt Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Kristin Hathaway, Assistant Director, at 510- 238-7571.
Respectfully submitted,
JOE DEVRIES
Deputy City Administrator
Reviewed by:
Kristin Hathaway, Assistant Director, OPW
Prepared by:
Gordon Matassa, Arboricultural Inspector
Parks & Tree Division, OPW
Attachments (2):
1. Bid Summary – Tree Maintenance Services
2. Availability Analysis