City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: JANUARY 6, 2026 FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: RATIFY PURCHASE ORDER NO. 262421 WITH WEST COAST ARBORISTS, INC. OF ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, IN THE AMOUNT OF $600,500 TO INCLUDE EMERGENCY MUNICIPAL TREE MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR A TOTAL COMPENSATION OF $700,000 AND APPROVE THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE INTERIM TREE AND LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR MUNICIPAL TREE MANAGEMENT SERVICES WITH WEST COAST ARBORISTS, INC. TO INCREASE COMPENSATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,383,296 FOR A REVISED TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $4,482,796 FOR MUNICIPAL TREE MANAGEMENT AND LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE SERVICES INCLUDING A TERM AMENDMENT OF NINE MONTHS FOR A TERM ENDING JUNE 30, 2026 ISSUE:
Ratify Purchase Order No. 262421 with West Coast Arborists, Inc. of Anaheim, California in the amount of $600,500 to include emergency municipal tree management services for a total compensation of $700,000 and approve the First Amendment to the Interim Tree and Landscape Maintenance Services Agreement for Municipal Tree Management Services with West Coast Arborists, Inc. to increase compensation in the amount of $4,383,296 for a revised total contract amount of $4,482,796 for Municipal Tree Management and Landscape Maintenance Services including a term amendment of nine months for a term ending June 30, 2026.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Ratify Purchase Order No. 262421 with West Coast Arborists, Inc. of Anaheim, California in the amount of $600,500 to include emergency municipal tree management services for a total compensation of $700,000; Approve the First Amendment to the Interim Tree and Landscape Maintenance Services Agreement for Municipal Tree Management Services with West Coast Arborists, Inc. to increase compensation in the amount of $4,383,296 for a revised total contract amount of $4,482,796 including a term amendment of nine months for a term ending June 30, 2026; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the First Amendment to the Interim Tree and Landscape Maintenance Services Agreement with West Coast Arborists, Inc., including making minor and non-substantive changes.
BACKGROUND:
The City has approximately 450 acres of City maintained landscapes, approximately 150,000 City maintained Street Trees with over 300 different species spread over 81 square miles and has been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a “Tree City USA” since 1987. The street trees are primarily located within parkways and along the front or side of homes and businesses, with approximately 15,000 located within medians and other areas maintained by the Public Works Department (Public Works). The City’s street trees have an estimated value of over $449 million.
Grid Trim Cycle
In 2017, $1 million in annual Measure Z funding was allocated to Urban Forestry to improve the 11-year tree trimming frequency cycle. In the years since the initial Measure Z funding was provided, staff have been able to improve the cycle to approximately 5-6 years. However, increases to tree trimming costs have resulted with fewer tree trims each year impacting the trimming cycle.
Trimming trees on a long grid cycle results in increased service requests, more emergency calls, and more claims (e.g., tree limbs falling on private property such as houses or vehicles). Increased tree trimming funding allows Public Works to be more proactive which results in fewer dollars spent on reactive measures. It also helps inspectors to identify diseased or dying trees before they become a real problem because the tree contractors will visit the trees more often and report concerns to the inspectors for further follow-up.
On June 21, 2022, City Council approved an additional $2,250,000 in Measure Z funding for trimming of City-owned palm trees during FY 2022/23 and to plant additional trees throughout the City. This additional funding enables palm tree trimming every 2 years and helps retain a shorter trim cycle for the remaining City-owned trees.
On May 7, 2024, City Council approved a Fifth Amendment to the agreement for Municipal Tree Maintenance Services with West Coast Arborists, Inc. in the amount of $4,306,389 through June 30, 2025, for a total contract amount of $21,692,407.
Proper long-term care is essential to maximize the benefits of the City’s urban forest. A shortened grid trimming cycle and more visits to City-owned trees contribute to the community’s quality of life. Trees increase property values, filter the air we breathe by removing dust and other particles, cool the environment by reducing the urban heat islands, reduce storm water runoff, and bring natural elements and wildlife habitats into the urban area. Additionally, increased frequency of palm tree trimming has reduced fallen branches and palm fronds which may damage property and have historically required a great deal of staff time to clean-up following wind and storm events.
DISCUSSION:
On February 13, 2025, the City issued a new Request for Proposal (RFP 2446) for Municipal Tree Management Services. The City of Riverside did not host a pre-proposal meeting, provided 96 responses by the questions and answer deadline, and had 46 prospective bidders. On March 18, 2025, the City received 7 proposals in response to the RFP 2446, two (2) were deemed non-responsive; one (1) due to a suspended CSLB license and the other due to lack of possession of a C-27 CSLB license.
The City evaluated five (5) proposals for responsiveness to the scope of work which are listed in Table 1 below.
Table 1 – Proposal Rankings
Vendor
Vendor City
Evaluation Scores
Great Scott Tree Service, Inc
Stanton, CA
971.79
West Coast Arborists, Inc.
Anaheim, CA
956.37
P31 Enterprises, Inc.
Oroville, CA
737.42
Rolling Green Inc.
San Bernardino, CA
693.35
Golden West Arbor Services Inc.
Pomona, CA
527.1
A three-member panel comprised of staff from General Services, Riverside Public Utilities, and the Office of Sustainability evaluated the proposals and Great Scott Tree Service, Inc. (Great Scott) was selected as the most qualified company to perform the requirements of the RFP.
This item, originally scheduled for Council consideration on September 16, 2025, was rescheduled to the October 28, 2025 Council meeting to allow for administrative adjustments to the bid proposal documentation. To ensure an accurate and fair bidding process, the item will be readvertised later this fiscal year.
To prevent a lapse in grid trimming services and ensure emergency services were provided from July 1, 2025, through September 30, 2025, an interim agreement was signed with the previous contractor, West Coast Arborists, Inc., for a prorated amount of $99,500. However, due to unforeseen weather conditions that necessitated a significant increase in emergency services over the summer, and to ensure tree trimming remained consistent in preparation for the Festival of Lights, a total amount of $700,000 was needed to compensate West Coast Arborists, Inc. for the work performed during this three-month term.
Additionally, an amendment to the interim agreement is needed to increase both the compensation and the term through June 30, 2026. This will allow the City to continue receiving essential tree-trimming services while a new bidding process is conducted for a contract beginning in Fiscal Year 2026/2027.
Purchasing Resolution No. 24101, Section 702, “Exceptions”, states that, “Competitive Procurement through the Informal Procurement and Formal Procurement process shall not be required… (h) When Services, except for Professional Services, can be Procured from a Contractor who offers the same or better price, terms and conditions as the Contractor previously offered as the Lowest Responsive Bidder under Competitive Procurement or negotiations conducted by the City or another public agency, provided that, in the opinion of the Manager, it is in the best interest of the City to do so.” Purchasing Resolution 24101 Section 1104 “Change Orders” states that “Modifications to a Purchase Order shall be made only by Change Order. Subject to the availability of funds, Change Orders may be utilized for purposes of…(2) modifying unit prices, [or]…(5) modifying contract completion time or the term of a Contract. Unless otherwise specifically authorized by the Awarding Entity, Change Orders which cumulatively exceed the following will require Awarding Entity approval: (b) Any Change Order which causes the contract price to exceed the authorization in section 203 hereof, if the Contract and/or Purchase Order was not previously approved by the Awarding Entity, and (c) 10% of the original contract price for Contracts and/or Purchase Orders previously approved by the Awarding Entity and the total Change Order amount will not exceed $150,000.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended actions comply with Purchasing Resolution 24101.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of the increase of the contract compensation is $99,500 for a term ending June 30, 2026. Sufficient funds for the contract increase and term extension for FY 2025/26 are budgeted and available in General Fund, Public Works-Forestry & Landscape-Tree Maintenance Contract account number 4110110-421205 and in Measure Z Fund, Forestry & Landscape-Tree Maintenance Contract account number 8003001-421205.
Prepared by: Robert Filiar, Urban Forestry Manager
Approved by: Gilbert Hernandez, Public Works Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
Interim Agreement for Municipal Tree Maintenance Services Bond Rider
Interim Agreement for Municipal Tree Management ● Page 2