CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Option Year #4 to Contract 21-382, Parkway Tree Trimming Services, to NJ Ryan Tree & Landscape and Steve Piper and Sons, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $500,000 and for a one-year term
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DEPARTMENT: Department of Public Works
SUBMITTED BY: John Rutkowski, Interim Director of Public Works
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
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 six-year trimming cycle, which equates to maintenance on more than 11,500 trees per year. With the City's growth and the planting of additional right-of-way trees, DPW has been unable to perform all the tree trimming services in-house. In 2000, the City began using outside contractors to supplement the in-house tree trimming program.
On January 4, 2022, the City Council approved the award of Bid 21-382, Parkway Tree Trimming Services, to NJ Ryan Tree & Landscape and Steve Piper and Sons for a one-year term from date of award through December 1, 2022 with four, one-year options to extend.
On November 21, 2023, the City Council approved the second option year with a term of December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024, with two one-year options available. On April 16, 2024, the City Council approved Change Order #1 for additional cycle trimming. On August 20, 2024, the City Council approved Change Order #2 for storm damage clean-up assistance and trimming along Naper Boulevard from Ogden Avenue to Chicago Avenue. On December 3, 2024, the City Council approved the third option year with a term of December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025.
Due to a reduction in the number of trees trimmed by both the contractor and in-house staff since 2010, DPW is now on an eight-year tree trimming cycle. This has resulted in more than 1,100 service requests for trimming and downed branches per year.
DPW's go...
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