Speaker 2: Motion carries. Next item report from Public Works and Financial Management. Recommendation to award a contract to West Coast Arborists for as needed tree trimming services in an annual mountain not to exceed 1.8 million citywide.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I got a motion in a second. Any public comment? Okay. Please come forward.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Scott Griffiths. I'm the owner, founder and owner of Great Scott Tree Service and we currently have the Parks and Rec and Marina contract and we had the opportunity to bid on this contract as well. But I wanted to commend you. We about a year and a half ago, you guys had the opportunity to just do a piggyback on this contract, and the council's wisdom said, let's not do that.
Speaker 3: It's go out to bid.
Speaker 4: If you guys had gone with the piggyback off of testing, the the cost to the city would have been about $11 million to do this job. When you guys when you guys rebid the contract to our competitor that's getting the job, when it came about 15 million and we had bid at about eight and a half million , there was a little glitch in the bid and there was an opportunity to have it rebid. So in throughout the whole situation, the city was able to save about six and a half million dollars.
Speaker 3: From what the.
Speaker 4: Original bid were bid. So I want to commend you for a great job of putting the bid together, and I look forward to.
Speaker 3: Serving you guys in the future. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: And Cantrell. And I am glad to hear that this is the. The company that does the parks and parks trees. A few years ago, Parks and Recreation passed an ordinance, not an ordinance for them, but a law for them, that there would be no unnecessary tree trimming during breeding season in the parks. Occasionally there are trees that have to be trimmed because of danger to the public, but otherwise from between. The last of August till the last of. January is the time that trees can be trimmed because this isn't breeding season for the birds. I would think that this would be a wonderful thing for the city to do. Also, when you had city workers trimming the trees, the argument was, well, we have to keep them busy all year long. That's why we have to trim during breeding season. But if you're contracting out, you could put this in your contract that they only. Trim during certain times of the year. City of Los Angeles does this so it is possible. Maybe you don't want to compare Long Beach to Los Angeles, but it is possible to do this. And I would urge you to consider when you. The next time that you have a contract come up that you include this in the contract. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Any other public comment saying nonpublic comment is now closed? I have a motion in a second and I count some bruises. You want to speak to that?
Speaker 3: Sure. I just want to encourage our support on this. Our tree trimming contract has been delayed for far too long and we are far behind. There is a lot of need in our in our neighborhoods and residents would appreciate getting that service as soon as possible. So I encourage you support.
Speaker 1: Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: I do think that this has been far too long for a question to the city staff. When do we think now that this is approved, the backlog of stamp removals will be completed?
Speaker 4: Craig Beck. Stuffed animals are high on our priority list. We have roughly 900 stumps that need to be addressed. Many trees that we lost over the course of the heavy windstorms that we had this winter and early in February. So they'll start concurrently with the grid trimming program as soon as we get the contract in place. I would say in less than 30 days.
Speaker 2: And will residential be prioritized above the community locations such as in the park?
Speaker 4: This particular contract does not include Park.
Speaker 2: Okay, wonderful. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Hooper now.
Speaker 8: Thank you. I just wanted to mention a couple of things we could look at in a future contract if it comes up again in less than two years. Number one would be using the model, the Cal State line, which uses Jeep's identification of tree locations along with data on the trees. That is when was the last time was trimmed diameter species, all those types of things. And I and I believe most vendors could provide that but that that I'd like to see in a future contract also kind of piggybacking on what one of the speakers said, we have a times of the year when because of dangerous situations , we need to do trimming. I'd like to see the staff for the the contract be certified, trained and certified in like nest identity identification and those types of things because in these emergency situations, you have to go out there and move quickly. So those are just a couple of items I'd like to see moving forward.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion in a second note. The public comment. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. ITB PW15-119 and award a contract to West Coast Arborists, Inc., of Anaheim, CA for providing as-needed tree trimming services, in an annual amount not to exceed $1,860,000, for a period of two years, with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager; and authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into a contract, including any necessary amendments thereto regarding the term and/or scope of services.  (Citywide)