REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Award a Contract in the Amount of $1,190,000 to Utility Tree Service, LLC for Street Tree Maintenance Services
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approval is requested to award a contract to Utility Tree Service, LLC of Pennsylvania in an amount not to exceed $1,190,000 for street tree maintenance services.
Approval is requested to authorize the City Manager to increase the quantities included in the contract and renew the contract for one (1) additional one-year period, subject to available budget and if pricing and services remain acceptable to the City.
EXISTING POLICY
Pursuant to Section 2.08.040(d) of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC), Council approval is required for the procurement of goods and/or services greater than $250,000 in any one transaction.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301(h) for the maintenance of existing landscaping.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
During the COVID-19 pandemic, contracted tree pruning was suspended in order to conserve expenditures for anticipated revenue reductions due to potential economic decline. Consequently, there was no contracted routine street pruning in fiscal years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. The current structural tree pruning contract provides for pruning of 5,500 street trees each fiscal year.
During the pandemic years, the city urban forestry staff maintained the street trees in Sunnyvale on a priority, hazard reduction basis. The backlog of trees scheduled for routine structural pruning remained. In January 2023, Council authorized $1,190,000 to fund an independent tree structural tree pruning contract to prune 15,000 street trees that required scheduled structural pruning (RTC No. 23-0444). Staff prepared an Invitation for Bids (IFB) to contract out pruning services consisting of five geographic zones at 3,000 street trees per group, for a total o...
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