City Council Agenda Report
Meeting Date: April 1, 2025
From: Daniel S. Wall, P.E., Director of Public Works
Department: Public Works
Submitted by: Rosemary Lozada, Management Analyst
Subject
Labor and Materials Contract with West Coast Arborist, Inc. for Urban Forest Management Recommendation
A. Find that the proposed action is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review, in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, because the project consists of only minor alterations in vegetation that does not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees; and
B. Approve and authorize the City Administrator to execute a three (3) year contract with West Coast Arborist, Inc., in substantially the same form as submitted, for Urban Forest Management Services in an amount not-to-exceed $360,000, with an effective date of April 1, 2025.
Background
The Urban Forest Management contract provides annual services for maintenance, removal, and replacement of trees, as required by the City’s urban forest. The City has approximately 1,361 mature trees that comprise its urban forest and new trees are routinely added. As part of this project, the entire inventory of parkway trees will be scheduled for trimming. Additionally, the scope of work will include trimming all trees located at City government facilities, City-owned housing (front and back yards), and City-owned apartments annually.
For this contract, the City intends to piggyback on a current contract between the City of Beaumont (Beaumont) and West Coast Arborist, Inc. (West Coast) from Anaheim, California.
Piggybacking is expressly authorized by Vernon Municipal Code (VMC) Section 3.32.110(A)(5), which exempts a contract from competitive bidding and selection so long as services can be purchased from a vendor offering the same prices, terms, and conditions as in a previous award from another public agency by competitive bid. Beaumont used a competitive bid process to obtain labor and material costs from West Coast, which are at reasonable rates. By leveraging the West Coast negotiated terms and prices, Vernon will save time and resources that would otherwise be used for a separate vendor selection process. The agreement between Beaumont and West Coast includes set costs for pruning and the removal and replacement of trees within the City’s urban forest. Pursuant to the VMC Section noted above, the Finance Department agrees that it is to the advantage of the City to award a contract to West Coast based on their existing competitively bid contract with Beaumont. The cost for routine services is $333,923 over the three-year term. The contract also includes additional funds of $26,077 to cover any additional services on an as-needed basis.
The City Attorney’s office has reviewed and approved the contract as to form.
City Council approval of the proposed agreement is needed pursuant to VMC Section 3.32.030 (A) which states that all contracts shall be approved only by the City Council except contracts with a total value over the lifetime of the contract of up to $100,000.
Fiscal Impact
The fiscal impact is not-to-exceed $360,000 for the three-year term Sufficient funds are available in the FY2024-25 General Fund, Public Works Department, Street Operations Division, Repairs and Maintenance Account No. 011-040-430-529000 for the current fiscal year. Sufficient funds will be budgeted accordingly in subsequent years.
Attachments
1. Labor and Materials Contract with West Coast Arborist, Inc.