CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Change Order #1 to Option Year #2 of Contract 21-382.2-01, Parkway Tree Trimming Services, to NJ Ryan Tree & Landscape and Steve Piper and Sons, Inc., for an amount not to exceed $220,000 and a total award of $420,000
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DEPARTMENT: Department of Public Works
SUBMITTED BY: Richard Dublinski, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The City Council awarded Contract 21-283 to NJ Ryan Tree & Landscape and Steve Piper and Sons on January 4, 2022, for a one-year term from through December 1, 2022, with four, one-year options to extend. On November 15, 2022, the City Council approved the first option year. On November 21, 2023, the City Council approved the second option year. The term of the second option year is from December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024, with two, one-year options remaining.
The Department of Public Works (DPW) is responsible for the care and maintenance of more than 70,000 parkway trees throughout the City. Industry best practices recommend a seven-year trimming cycle, which equates to maintenance on more than 10,000 trees per year. With the City’s growth and the planting of additional right-of-way trees, DPW has been unable to perform all of the tree trimming services in-house. As such, the City uses outside contractors to supplement the in-house tree-trimming program.
Since 2012, the parkway tree canopy has increased by 37%. Over the past few years, DPW’s Forestry Division has not been able to complete tree trimming as planned because of frequent storm clean-ups such as the Father’s Day tornado in 2021, an increase in the number of tree removals, stump grinding and additional leaf pick-up cycles. Due to a reduction in the number of trees trimmed by both the contractor and in-house crews over the past years, DPW is now on a nine- to 10-year tree trimming cycle. This has resulted in more than 1,100 service requests for trimming and downed branches per year. DPW’s goal is to return to trimming the parkway trees on a seven-year cycle in hopes of reducing the service calls and safety issues that arise from not getting to this more frequent trimming cycle.
During the second option year, the contractors have trimmed parkway trees in the following neighborhoods: Westgate, Laird Woods, Napers Addition, Woodlawn Addition, Sleights Additions, Declara Heights, Fontenaix, and Barclay Manor. According to our seven-year tree trimming cycle, these areas should have been completed in 2023.
DISCUSSION:
This Change Order is requested to add $220,000 to trim more than 3,500 additional trees in 2024 in the following neighborhoods: Miledge Farm, Park Addition, Columbia Estates, Saybrook, Naperville Heights, Indian Hill, and Eagle Chase. These neighborhoods are scheduled to be completed in 2024, and without the additional funding, they would not be completed until 2025. The in-house forestry crews will trim trees in the following neighborhoods: Cress Creek, Century Farms, Spring Hill, Yorkshire Manor, and Danada Woods. Attached is a map of the areas that will be completed by both in-house crews and contractors. Due to the mild winter, staff has identified savings that could be used for the additional trimming areas.
As part of the upcoming budget process for 2025, DPW will be analyzing what funding will be needed to complete all the areas for 2025 to maintain a seven-year trimming cycle.
FISCAL IMPACT:
CIP #: N/A
Parkway tree trimming is expensed to the Operational Service account listed below. A total of $200,000 has been budgeted for contracted tree trimming in the General Fund account below in 2024. The requested change order of $220,000 exceeds the budgeted amount for this expense. However, it is anticipated that the Change Order can be accommodated within the budget due to savings in other areas such as contractual services and overtime due to a lack of snow events this winter.
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Account Number |
Fund Description |
Total Budget Amount |
|
31251100-531308 |
General Fund |
$2,164,965 |