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Home My WebLink AboutStaff Report 2505-4621CITY OF PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL Tuesday, June 17, 2025 Council Chambers & Hybrid 5:30 PM Agenda Item 7.Approval of General Services Contract No. C25193659 With Community Tree Service LLC for Utility Line Clearance Services in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $16,500,000 for a Period of Five Years; CEQA Status – Exempt Under Section 15301(h) City Council Staff Report From: City Manager Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR Lead Department: Public Works Meeting Date: June 17, 2025 Report #:2505-4621 TITLE Approval of General Services Contract No. C25193659 With Community Tree Service LLC for Utility Line Clearance Services in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $16,500,000 for a Period of Five Years; CEQA Status – Exempt Under Section 15301(h) RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute Contract No. C25193659, with Community Tree Service LLC for utility line clearing services in an amount not to exceed $16,500,000 over a five-year term. BACKGROUND The City has contracted services for utility vegetation management since the mid-1980s to ensure the clearing of trees and other vegetation from electrical conductors, poles, substations, fiber optic lines, traffic signals, streetlights and other relevant electrical facilities throughout Palo Alto. The most recent utility vegetation management contract was with Davey Tree Surgery, Inc. for a five-year term ending on May 31, 2025, with a not-to-exceed total of $14,486,057 1. The work to be performed under the contract includes the resolution of utility-related vegetation conflicts: mainly the clearing of trees and other vegetation from the overhead electric system throughout the City. Clearing vegetation from power lines is an on-going operation necessary to ensure that the City provides safe, reliable power to the City’s utility customers. Clearance requirements have been established by the California Public Utilities Commission for Investor-Owned Utilities and these requirements have been accepted as the applicable standard for vegetation clearance in the City of Palo Alto. All tree work must conform to the techniques and standards specified in the Tree Care Industry Association 1 City Council, June 1, 2020; Agenda Item #3; SR #10883; https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/Weblink/DocView.aspx?id=80658 standard of care (ANSI A300 – Tree, Shrub and Other Woody Plant Maintenance – Standard Practices). As a utility operator, the City of Palo Alto is subject to thorough regulatory requirements to keep all vegetation away from utility infrastructure regardless of ownership of said vegetation. This contract for vegetation management is separate from the City’s overall tree trimming contract in that it specifically addresses utility line clearance. Utility line clearance work requires additional personnel certifications and equipment requirements not needed for standard tree trimming. The proposed contract with Community Tree Service LLC requires adherence to these standards and equipment requirements for utility line clearing. Grid Modernization and Fiber to the Premise projects are currently underway and are supported by the line clearance contract. Continuing to support these projects will require additional line clearance resources and coordination. For Fiber to the Premise, much of the communication space in the overhead system has been historically under-maintained from a vegetation perspective by the communication companies who lease that space. This vegetation overgrowth encroaches into the City’s utility space. This has led to additional work assigned to the line clearance contractor so the equipment can be safely and efficiently installed. For grid modernization, additional resources are also needed from the line clearance contractor, mostly through vegetation clearing for personnel and equipment access. In the past few years, the Foothills Undergrounding project has also been supported by the line clearance contract. Line clearance resources will continue to be utilized in support of this project until its completion. For example, vegetation clearing of the right of way (ROW) has been key in supporting the undergrounding of electrical lines in elevated fire threat areas of the service territory. While much of the electrical lines in the elevated fire threat areas have been undergrounded, the project will continue and is likely to expand as the areas considered to have elevated fire risks become more expansive. ANALYSIS 2 Staff has found that a multi-year contract is advantageous to the City as it allows a contractor to better amortize major equipment purchases and retain highly qualified workers, and in turn lower prices are offered for the work. Familiarity with the trees in the City also improves efficiency as areas are returned to by the same contractor within that five-year time frame. Tree growth is highly dependent on precipitation and other conditions; therefore, the actual work levels and costs in each work item may be higher or lower than the estimated quantities in the contract documents. The rate schedule establishes the unit, hourly and span unit rates for each type of work included in the contract scope. 2 Community Tree Service LLC, Utility Line Clearance Contract, C25193659; https://www.paloalto.gov//files/assets/public/v/1/public-works/tree-section/new-folder/contracts/community- tree-service-llc-utility-line-clearing-contract-c25193659-partially-executed.pdf Summary of RFP Process The Request for Proposals (RFP) for utility vegetation management services was distributed to potential contractors via opengov.com and a competitive solicitation notification was sent directly to companies on February 20, 2025. A pre-proposal meeting was held on March 5, 2025. The proposal period was 43 days and proposals were received from 9 contractors. RFP Name/Number 193659 Utility Line Clearing Services RFP Issued February 20, 2025 Proposals Due April 4, 2025  # of Tree Industry Firms Notified 1144 RFP views, 54 Tree Firms Downloaded RFP Total Days to Respond to RFP 43 # of Proposals Received 9 Non-responsive bidders/ Responsive bidders 0 / 9 Public Link to Solicitation  https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/palo-alto- ca/projects/148575 Proposals Price Range $12,741,910 - $33,153,181 Year Five hourly crew rate for the previous contract was $252.00 per hour, while the CTS proposal’s average hourly crew rate is $240.00 per hour, a reduction of 4.8%. Staff confirmed with the Contractor’s State License Board that CTS has an active license on file. CTS has performed satisfactory work for other utilities and agencies on a similar multi-year contract basis. FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT FY2026 FY2027 FY2028 FY2029 FY2030 5 YR TOTAL Base Amount $2,828,075 $2,909,419 $2,996,728 $3,086,582 $3,179,196 $15,000,000 Contingency $282,808 $290,942 $299,673 $308,658 $317,920 $1,500,000 Annual Contract Total $3,110,883 $3,200,361 $3,296,401 $3,395,239 $3,497,116 $16,500,000 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW ATTACHMENTS APPROVED BY: