CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Option Year Two to Contract 17-169, Parkway Tree Trimming, to Steve Piper and Sons for an amount not to exceed $150,000
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DEPARTMENT: Department of Public Works
SUBMITTED BY: Richard Dublinski, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The Department of Public Works (DPW) is responsible for maintaining a healthy urban forest within the City. Industry best practices recommend a six-year trimming cycle, which currently equates to more than 11,500 trees per year. As the City has grown and additional trees have been planted in the City's right-of-way, DPW was unable to perform all of the tree trimming services in-house and began using outside contractors to supplement the in-house tree trimming program about 20 years ago.
In response to the 2008 recession and the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer, DPW reduced the number of trees trimmed annually putting the City on an eight-year tree trimming cycle. This resulted in more than 1,100 service requests for trimming and downed branches per year. The department's goal is to return to trimming parkway trees on a six to seven-year cycle by using a more systematic approach to tree trimming to reduce service requests for trimming and downed branches as well as tree related liability claims for property damage.
The most recent tree trimming contract (17-169) was awarded by the City Council in August 2017 to Steve Piper and Sons for a one-year term from December 1, 2017 to November 30, 2018, with four one-year options to extend. The first option year was approved by the City Council in October 2018. In general, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 trees are trimmed by the contract each year depending on the size of the trees.
DISCUSSION:
During the first extension of the contract, Steve Piper and Sons trimmed approximately 5,000 parkway trees in the following subdivisions: Crestview Knolls, Clow Creek, Saddle Creek, Harmony Grove, High...
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