CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
September 14, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita D. Scott, City Manager
Submitted By: Meg McWade, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: CITY COUNCIL DIRECTION REGARDING THE PROCUREMENT OF CITYWIDE TREE MAINTENANCE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE SERVICES RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take one of the following actions:
Reject all proposals received in response to the City’s Request for Proposals (RFP #2026-17) for Citywide Tree Maintenance and Emergency Response Services and direct Staff to re-solicit the services; or Award a two-year contract with three optional one-year extensions, subject to Council approval, to Mariposa Tree Management, Inc., at prices bid and terms within the RFP; and authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the agreement, including extra work, subject to review by the City Attorney.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Staff seeks City Council direction regarding the procurement of citywide tree maintenance and emergency response services. The services include routine tree trimming and maintenance to preserve the health, safety, and structure of the City’s urban forest, while as-needed emergency response addresses hazardous tree conditions caused by storms, disease, or other public safety concerns.
SB1439/GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLICABILITY:
☒ When this box is checked, it indicates the agenda item is subject to the Levine Act SB1439 requirements. Councilmembers are reminded to check their campaign contributions and determine whether they have received a campaign contribution of $500 or more that would require disclosure and/or recusal from discussing or acting on this agenda item. Campaign contributions of $500 or more made 1) by any person or entity who is identified in the agenda report as the applicant or proposer or 2) on behalf of the applicant or participant, including a parent, subsidiary or otherwise related business entity, or 3) by any person who has a financial interest in the agenda item requires a councilmember to comply with SB1439.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Funding in the amount of $1,499,680 was budgeted for tree trimming, maintenance, and emergency response services in the Adopted FY 2026-27 Operating Budget.
Worktags
Adopted
FY 26-27 Budget
FD101 General Fund | CC4011 Parks Maintenance | Tree Services $354,000
FD101 General Fund | CC4011 Parks Maintenance | Contingency Tree Trimming Citywide Extraordinary $250,000
FD128 Measure R | CC4021 Street Tree Maintenance | Contingency Tree Trimming Citywide Extraordinary $154,680
FD208 State Gas Tax | CC4021 Street Tree Maintenance | Tree Services $630,000
FD254 Assessment District – University Corporate Center #4 | CC4073 University Corporate Center MD#4 Zone H | Tree Services $1,000
FD256 Assessment District – Phillips Ranch Maintenance | CC4073 Phillips Ranch Zones A and B | Tree Services $110,000
Total
$1,499,680
Funds for subsequent fiscal years of the agreement will be requested in the annual budget process. Should the City continue without a tree contractor, regular tree trimming cycles will be delayed, potentially impacting claims.
PUBLIC NOTICING REQUIREMENTS:
In accordance with Section 2-993.1(4)a of the City’s Purchasing Ordinance, a Public Notice inviting bids was posted on the City’s electronic bidding platform, PlanetBids, on April 29, 2026, with bids due on June 10, 2026.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
On July 20, 2026, City Council considered the item and chose not to move forward with an award.
On July 15, 2026, Staff responded to a bid protest and letter from bidder, Golden West Arbor Services, Inc. (Golden West) (Attachment No. 4) On July 6, 2026, the City Council continued the consideration of award of a three-year contract to Mariposa Tree Management Inc. (Mariposa) to the July 20, 2026, City Council meeting due to the bid protest submitted by West Coast Arborist.
On July 6, 2026, Staff responded to a bid protest and letter from bidder, West Coast Arborists, Inc (WCA). (Attachment No. 3).
On December 15, 2025, the City Council rejected the bids received for Invitation For Bids (IFB) No. 2025-29 after Staff review with the City Attorney determined that a Request for Proposals (RFP) was a more appropriate bid approach. The Scope of Work was modified to include a separate proposal for the Phillips Ranch area, as well as updated models and pricing for multiple service levels to ensure tree maintenance remains within budget.
Due to the City Council rejection of bids for citywide tree trimming, maintenance and emergency response services, Council authorized a six-month extension to the Agreement with WCA to allow time to complete a competitive RFP for long-term tree trimming and maintenance services. The six-month extension expired on June 30, 2025.
On September 22, 2025, the City issued Invitation for Bid No. 2025-29 for Citywide Tree Maintenance and Emergency Response Services.
On June 16, 2025, the City Council authorized a six-month extension to the agreement with WCA to allow time to complete a competitive IFB for long-term tree maintenance services.
On September 20, 2021, the City Council approved a three-year base term piggyback contract with WCA, with two optional one-year extensions for tree related services, not to exceed the annual budgeted amount.
DISCUSSION:
The Public Works Department, through its Parks and Facilities Division, is responsible for maintaining city trees in parks, streets, and public facilities as part of its commitment to sustaining a healthy and resilient urban forest. Routine tree maintenance is essential to promote tree health, reduce long-term maintenance costs, and mitigate risks associated with falling limbs or tree failures. Emergency response services are also a critical component, ensuring the City can respond quickly to storm damage, disease, or other urgent tree-related safety hazards.
The procurement process for a new citywide tree maintenance and emergency response services agreement began in early 2025, when Staff initially proposed utilizing a cooperative agreement with WCA. Following direction from the City Manager to competitively solicit the services, Staff prepared an IFB and recommended extending the existing WCA agreement for six months to allow sufficient time to complete the solicitation process. The extension was approved by City Council on June 16, 2025, and extended the agreement through December 31, 2025.
IFB No. 2025-29 was subsequently posted on PlanetBids on September 22, 2025, and closed on October 20, 2025. Following Staff’s review, several issues were identified with the bid documents submitted by proposers, and WCA submitted a bid protest. As a result, Staff recommended that the City Council reject all bids and authorize an additional six-month extension of the WCA agreement to allow Staff to reassess and complete the procurement process. The City Council considered this matter on December 15, 2025, and the WCA agreement was extended through June 30, 2026.
In January 2026, Staff pivoted to a qualifications-based RFP process, which by design enables the City to select highest rank, best value proposer. Staff revised the scope of work from the original IFB to reflect a qualifications-based RFP process, and RFP No. 2026-17 was posted on April 29, 2026, and closed on June 4, 2026. The City’s three-member evaluation panel, comprised of professional Staff completed its evaluation and ranked Mariposa highest on the totality of the published criteria.
Staff presented the original award recommendation of Mariposa to the City Council on July 6, 2026. The item was continued to the July 20, 2026 City Council meeting, to address questions by the City Council. City Council did not reach consensus on proceeding with a contract award. Staff is therefore returning to Council to seek direction regarding the procurement process and options for moving forward. Additionally, it’s important to note that the City has now been engaged in the procurement of a long-term tree maintenance agreement for well over twelve months. If Council rejects all proposals and directs Staff to re-solicit the services, the City would begin another procurement cycle after the previous IFB process and the subsequent RFP process, further delaying implementation of a comprehensive citywide tree maintenance program. Based on the anticipated time required to develop, advertise, evaluate, and award a new solicitation, this could result in approximately another nine to 12-months without a long-term contract, during which the City would continue to rely on limited interim emergency services rather than an established citywide tree maintenance program.
Following the July 20, 2026, City Council meeting, Staff identified additional omissions and calculation errors in several cost proposals submitted by proposers. These discrepancies were not identified during the initial evaluation because, to preserve the integrity and impartiality of the procurement process, the evaluation committee ranks the proposals based on RFP criteria and the Purchasing Division provides the cost proposal for only the highest-ranked proposer after the process is complete. As a result, the Evaluation Committee did not review or verify the cost proposals submitted by other proposers. During Staff’s subsequent review, discrepancies were identified in the cost proposals submitted by WCA, Great Scott Tree Service, and Tiger Tree Services.
WCA modified the City’s bid sheet by pricing out-of-cycle crew rental services on a per-person, per-hour basis rather than on the requested per-crew basis. Because the RFP defines a crew as three personnel, the applicable crew rental costs would be three times the hourly amount listed for each affected line item. Staff also found that WCA omitted the “Extra Work” subtotal from its total Level A Service cost calculation, resulting in an understated proposal total. Because WCA did not use the pricing format required by the RFP, its out-of-cycle crew rental pricing cannot be directly compared with proposals that complied with the solicitation requirements.
Similarly, Great Scott Tree Service priced out-of-cycle crew rentals on a per-crew-hour basis rather than as a per-crew unit, as requested in the RFP. Because the proposal did not follow the required pricing format, the submitted crew rental pricing could not be directly compared with proposals that complied with the RFP requirements.
Staff also determined that Tiger Tree Services incorrectly calculated its Level A Service base cost by omitting the Phillips Ranch grid subtotal from its total annual cost calculation.
The “RFP #2026-17 Section 7.C.b. Price Proposal Scoring Methodology” is the automated cost component of the evaluation process as shown in Attachment No. 12. Through the Planet Bids portal, proposers are responsible for completing and certifying their own cost proposal calculations which are then used in the automated process. Staff corrected the calculations to include the omitted subtotal, and the scoring and cost tables have been updated accordingly:
Citywide Tree Maintenance and Emergency Response Services RFP No: 2026-17
Rank
Firm
Original Score – Based on Proposers Incorrect Calculation Score – Includes Revised Cost Score*
1 Mariposa Tree Management, Inc.
211.20
218.61
2 West Coast Arborists, Inc.
200.01
207.14
3 Great Scott Tree Service
177.01
183.70
4 North Star Land Care
154.73
164.29
5 Golden West Arbor Services Inc.
149.58
160.88
6 Tiger Tree Services, Inc.
140.00
140.00
*All other technical / qualification scores remained unchanged. While the overall points changed, the ranking of the vendors remained as presented at the July 6 and July 20, 2026 Meeting materials.
The table below reflects the corrected pricing for the grid maintenance program, plus a cumulative total for the per-unit costs for out-of-cycle and emergency tree maintenance requests:
Rank
Firm
Five-Year Base Cost
1 Mariposa Tree Management, Inc.
$4,444,076.00
2 West Coast Arborists, Inc.
$4,553,899.00
3 Great Scott Tree Service
$4,923,557.72
4 North Star Land Care
$3,446,347.00
5 Golden West Arbor Services Inc.
$2,917,669.00
6 Tiger Tree Services, Inc.
$2,905,540.00
The RFP analysis was previously presented to the City Council as part of the July 20, 2026, Council Report. To provide the relevant information for the Council’s consideration without reproducing the full July 20, 2026, Council Report, the applicable excerpt of the RFP analysis has been included in this report (Attachment No. 6).
Although three proposers submitted lower total pricing than Mariposa, the RFP was structured as a qualifications-based procurement in which project approach, qualifications, experience, and demonstrated understanding of the City’s maintenance objectives to the RFP requirements were evaluated in addition to cost. Mariposa received the highest overall technical evaluation because its proposal most completely addressed the City’s desired level of service, demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the City’s Urban Forestry Program, and provided the strongest project approach for implementing the expanded maintenance standards established in the RFP.
While lower-priced proposals were received, they did not achieve comparable technical scores under the evaluation criteria established in the solicitation. In fact, North Star Land Care ranked over 50 points lower than Mariposa. This is important to note because the City of Pomona has limited staffing resources. The section responsible is comprised of one Manager (who also oversees Facilities/Projects) and two front-line team members who oversee maintenance of all of the City’s parks, open space areas, Phillips Ranch Assessment District areas, medians, as well as the City’s entire urban forest, including responding to resident and business concerns for these areas of responsibility. It is imperative that our contractor fully understands the scope of work being requested and has robust experience with similarly sized agencies/urban forests to successfully implement a program independently on behalf of the City.
Staff appreciates WCA’s subsequent clarification and confirmation that it would adhere to the maintenance standards established in the RFP. However, the evaluation committee’s role was to independently and impartially evaluate the proposal submitted in response to the solicitation. Committee members completed Conflict of Interest Statements and were tasked with evaluating each proposal based on the information provided, the established evaluation criteria, and the proposer’s demonstrated approach to meeting the City’s requirements, rather than prior working relationships, existing contracts, or historical performance with the City.
As noted previously, Mariposa’s proposal demonstrated the strongest overall understanding of the City’s Urban Forestry objectives, maintenance standards, and the specific requirements established in the RFP. The evaluation committee recognized Mariposa’s extensive municipal tree maintenance experience, qualified personnel, safety culture, and operational resources, including a fleet capable of supporting a citywide grid-based maintenance program. Evaluators noted that Mariposa provided a comprehensive proposal that directly addressed the City’s specifications, including the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) pruning standards, full trim requirements, tree inventory management, grid maintenance approach, quality control processes, and emergency response services. Mariposa submitted a detailed work plan demonstrating a clear understanding of the City’s existing Urban Forest and the transition to the expanded maintenance standards established in the RFP. Evaluators specifically noted Mariposa’s approach to the Phillips Ranch Assessment District trees, including recognition of the unique funding constraints and a proposed strategy prioritizing fuel modification areas, rights-of-way, and paseo/common areas. Staff reviewed Mariposa’s proposed grid cycle cost and unit pricing for out-of-cycle and emergency services and determined prices bid as reasonable. Based on the evaluation criteria established in the RFP, Mariposa received the highest overall score and was identified as the finalist.
The annual cost of the Citywide Level A grid trim maintenance program with Mariposa is $962,899 for year one of the agreement, leaving sufficient funding within the approved budget to address emergency storm response, hazardous tree removals, tree planting and watering, out-of-cycle pruning, and other unforeseen tree maintenance needs. This approach expands proactive tree maintenance coverage, while preserving flexibility to address priority and emergency services throughout the year.
The agreement with WCA for Citywide Tree Trimming, Maintenance and Emergency Response Services expired on June 30, 2026. Following the expiration of the City’s agreement with WCA, the City Manager authorized an emergency-only purchase order with Mariposa in an amount not to exceed $100,000, to provide as-needed emergency tree services until a long-term contract can be awarded. The purchase order is limited to emergency and urgent tree-related needs and is intended to address public safety needs in the short-term.
Since issuance of the emergency-only purchase order, Mariposa has been responsive to the City’s service requests and has demonstrated timely coordination and effective response to urgent tree maintenance needs and has honored the prices bid in their proposal during this interim period. Staff’s experience with Mariposa during this interim period has been positive and has demonstrated the company’s ability to respond to the City’s operational needs.
The absence of a long-term tree maintenance agreement increases the City’s operational and public safety risk because routine tree maintenance, hazard identification, and timely corrective work cannot be performed under an established citywide maintenance program. As part of the City’s tree maintenance program, the City’s tree maintenance contractor is responsible for identifying and notifying Staff when an apparent hazardous or otherwise concerning tree condition requires further review by the City. Staff can then evaluate the condition and determine the appropriate course of action, including additional pruning, removal, or other corrective measures. Without a contractor performing routine citywide tree maintenance, this additional layer of hazard identification and notification is not occurring on a systematic basis. This may increase the likelihood that potentially hazardous tree conditions remain unidentified or are not addressed as timely as they would be under an active maintenance program.
In addition, trees that are not maintained in accordance with the City’s established maintenance standards and pruning cycles may increase the City’s exposure to claims if a tree or tree limb causes damage to vehicles, infrastructure, or other property, or otherwise creates a condition resulting in injury or loss. A comprehensive tree maintenance contract provides a consistent mechanism for maintaining trees to the City’s established standards, documenting maintenance activities, and identifying conditions that may require corrective action. Without such a contract, the City may have less consistent documentation and oversight demonstrating that trees within the public right-of-way are being routinely inspected and maintained. This creates an additional liability and risk-management concern, particularly when damage or injury occurs, and the City must demonstrate that reasonable steps were taken to identify and address foreseeable tree hazards.
The City’s Risk Management team reviewed tree-related claims submitted during the past five years to provide additional context regarding the City’s exposure to tree-related incidents. Importantly, these claims occurred during a period when the City’s trees were being maintained under an active tree maintenance contract with established grid cycle trimming. During this period, the City received 171 tree-related claims, resulting in approximately $240,000 in claim payments. These claims demonstrate the potential financial exposure associated with tree-related incidents and underscore the importance of proactive tree maintenance, timely identification of hazardous conditions, and prompt corrective action. While individual claims may arise from circumstances that cannot be entirely prevented through routine maintenance, maintaining an established citywide tree maintenance program provides the City with a structured approach to reducing hazards and mitigating associated risks.
With the increased service levels included in the RFP, it is anticipated that tree-related risks will be reduced significantly, further strengthening the City’s ability to proactively manage tree conditions, reduce hazards, and mitigate the potential for associated claims.
The tree maintenance contractor also provides ongoing updates to the City’s tree inventory based on conditions observed during maintenance activities. These updates are important for documenting changes in tree condition, maintenance performed, removals, hazards, and other relevant information that Staff uses to manage the City’s Urban Forest. In the absence of a long-term contractor performing routine maintenance, the City’s tree inventory is not being updated on a comprehensive, ongoing basis, which limits Staff’s ability to maintain current information regarding individual tree conditions and respond to changing maintenance needs.
The City Council has discretion in acting on the proposals received in response to RFP No. 2026-17 (Attachments Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11).
Council may:
Reject all proposals and direct Staff to re-solicit the services; Award a contract to Mariposa – the highest ranked, best value proposer based on established criteria and recommended by professional staff with an initial two-year contract with up to three one-year extensions with approval by City Council; or Award to another proposer based on the proposals received, authorizing staff to clarify terms and execute the agreement.
The actions presented in the recommendation are provided for Council’s consideration and do not limit the City Council’s authority to take other action.
Staff recommends the City Council either reject all bids and direct Staff to re-solicit tree maintenance services, or authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the attached retroactive agreement with Mariposa to start on September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028, with the option to extend for up to three additional one-year periods, subject to Council approval.
COUNCIL PRIORITIES AND GOALS:
This item supports the FY 2026-27 City Council Priority #2: Dedication to Infrastructure and Enhancement of Community Assets – Goal #E: Enhance streetscapes and public spaces.
Prepared by:
Lindsay McElwain
Acting Public Works Fiscal and Project Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment No. 1 – Mariposa Tree Management Agreement
Attachment No. 2 – Tree Contract Options Slide Deck 9 14 2026 Attachment No. 3 – WCA Protest and Staff Response
Attachment No. 4 – Golden West Arbor Services, Inc. Protest and Staff Response Attachment No. 5 – Evaluation Committee Individual Scoring and Comments Attachment No. 6 – RFP Analysis Excerpt from July 20, 2026 Staff Report Attachment No. 7 – WCA Proposal and Bid Sheet
Attachment No. 8 – Great Scott Proposal and Bid Sheet
Attachment No. 9 – North Star Land Scare Proposal and Bid Sheet Attachment No. 10 – GWAS Proposal and Bid Sheet
Attachment No. 11 – Tiger Tree Services Proposal and Bid Sheet Attachment No. 12 – RFP #2026-17 – Price Proposal Scoring Methodology Consideration of Proposals for Citywide Tree Maintenance and Emergency Response Services in Response to the City’s Request for Proposals