Report Prepared by: Juan Olmos, Acting Public Works Manager - Tax Services
Title
SUBJECT: Approving a First Amendment to the Professional Services Contract with Davey Resource Group, Inc., Reducing the Tree Inventory and Management Plan Services Contract Cost by $118,805.59, Approving Three Separate Grant Amendments for the Tree Inventory and Management Plan California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE) Grant No. 8GG16430, Extending the Grant Term to March 30, 2021, and Allowing for the Planting of an Additional 300 Trees Throughout Merced by Utilizing the Reallocation of Funds within the Grant Budget
REPORT IN BRIEF
Considers approving an amendment with Davey Resource Group, Inc., to reduce the contract total by $118,805.59, and approving three grant amendments including the reallocation of various budget line items of the $475,000 CalFIRE grant and to utilize the $118,805.59 savings to plant an additional 300 trees throughout Merced, and extending the grant term through March 30, 2021.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion:
A. Approving a First Amendment to Professional Services Contract with Davey Resource Group, Inc., Reducing the Agreement Cost by $118,805.59 for Tree Inventory and Management Plan Services; and,
B. Approving Grant Amendment No. 1 with CalFIRE for the Tree Inventory and Management Plan to allow for the movement of $13,335 from budget item G - Outreach/Education to budget item C - Contractual to cover the cost of the Davey Resource contract for tree inventory and management plan services (as executed on October 19, 2018); and,
C. Approving Grant Amendment No. 2 with CalFIRE for the Tree Inventory and Management Plan to extend the grant term through March 30, 2021; and,
D. Approving Grant Amendment No. 3 with CalFIRE for the Tree Inventory and Management Plan to allow for the movement of $64,064 from budget item C - Contractual to budget item E - Supplies for the purchase of trees and planting materials, as well as reallocation $54,741.59 within budget item C for the purposes of contracting out labor for the additional plantings; and,
E. Authorizing the Interim City Manager to execute the necessary documents.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve, as recommended by staff; or,
2. Refer to staff for reconsideration of specific findings; or,
3. Continue to a future meeting; or,
4. Deny.
AUTHORITY
Charter of the City of Merced, Section 200 - Powers.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
As provided for in the 2020-21 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION
The City of Merced was previously awarded a $475,000 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE) grant for the completion of a Tree Inventory and Urban Forest Management Plan. As part of the grant budget, the City was to provide the local match of $309,642.20 by means of purchasing and planting 720 trees over the original 3-year grant term. The match included cash and in-kind expenses for the purchase of trees and planting materials, as well as labor and equipment costs for staff. To date, staff has planted 702 trees. The remaining 18 trees to be planted will be surpassed by the end date of the grant.
Davey Resource Group, Inc., (Davey) was contracted to perform the actual tree inventory data collection and to draft the Urban Forest Management Plan. For data collection, the City anticipated approximately 90,000 trees would be collected. Based on this number of trees, Davey estimated the cost for the inventory services to be $366,833. The total contract amount for both inventory and management plan services came in at $461,085. As the originally proposed grant budget included contractual costs at $447,750, a Grant Amendment No. 1 was executed to move $13,335 from outreach/education to contractual services to allow for the Council-approved contract with Davey.
Work on the data collection, management plan, and tree plantings progressed and staff began working on plans for a large-scale Arbor Day celebration to be held in April 2020. The original grant term was to end March 30, 2020; staff reached out to CalFIRE to inquire into extending the grant term by one year to allow for the April celebration. CalFIRE was supportive in this community event, and a Grant Amendment No. 2 was executed extending the grant term to March 30, 2021. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the community event was cancelled.
Davey ultimately collected data for 44,107 trees, 9,962 planting sites, and 1,048 stump removal locations. The tree inventory services final cost came in at $248,027.41, which was $118,805.59 under budget. A First Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Davey has been drafted to reduce the inventory services budget to align with the actual cost of services.
With such a significant savings from the tree inventory, staff reached out to CalFIRE to discuss the possibility of using this money to hire a contractor to plant a sizeable number of trees throughout Merced. CalFIRE was supportive of this endeavor and staff proceeded with soliciting quotes from vendors for the purchase of trees and supplies, as well as the estimated cost of labor. With the available budget, staff determined an additional 300 trees could be planted.
A draft budget was prepared and submitted to CalFIRE requesting to move funding between budget lines for the planting of 300 additional trees. A Grant Amendment No. 3 was prepared by CalFIRE; this amendment does not change the City’s grant award or required match.
Staff is requesting Council approve the First Amendment with Davey and the three Grant Amendments with CalFIRE to allow for the planting of an additional 300 trees throughout Merced.
History and Past Actions
On May 1, 2017, City Council approved the submission of a grant application to CalFIRE for the Tree Inventory and Management Plan.
On July 19, 2017, City Council accepted and appropriated $475,000 from CalFIRE for a Tree Inventory and Management Plan.
On December 18, 2017, City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement with Davey Resource Group, in the amount of $461,085, for the collection of tree inventory data and creation of an Urban Forest Management Plan.
On July 6, 2020, City Council adopted the 2020 Urban Forest Management Plan.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
No appropriation of funds is needed. Funding for these services has been provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program.
ATTACHMENTS
1. First Amendment to Professional Services Contract
2. Grant Amendment No. 1
3. Grant Amendment No. 2
4. Grant Amendment No. 3