REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director
Public Works Department
BY: BRIAN E. RUSSELL, Assistant Director
Public Works Department, Streets, Landscape, and Graffiti Divisions
ERIKA PELAYO-LOPEZ, Community Coordinator
Public Works Department, Landscape Maintenance Division
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the Second Amendment to the Consultant Services Agreement with Dudek extending the consultants performance period by three months to June 30, 2024, to continue professional services related to the development of the Urban Forest Management Plan. (Citywide)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council approve the Second Amendment to the Consultant Services Agreement with Dudek extending the consultants performance period by three months to June 30, 2024, to continue professional services related to the development of the Urban Forest Management Plan, and to authorize the Public Works Director or designee to sign the second amendment to the Agreement on behalf of the City of Fresno.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On July 21, 2022, Council approved the award of a Consultant Services Agreement with Dudek to create an Urban Forest Management Plan. This project will create a forty-year Urban Forest Management Plan that will provide guidance, direction, and recommend improvements to the City’s current processes and policy.
On December 7, 2023, the First Amendment to the Consultant Services Agreement with Dudek was approved by Council extending the agreement through March 31, 2024. Staff are finalizing the draft Urban Forest Management Plan and preparing for a two-week public review period. The final version of the plan will then be presented to the Council for adoption, in consideration of comments from the public review period.
Additional time is needed to thoroughly complete this project. The final draft report from Dudek required a significant number of modifications prior to public review and for this reason staff recommends that Council extend the Consultant Services Agreement with Dudek by three months to June 30, 2024.
BACKGROUND
On June 25, 2020, the City was awarded a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) grant that provided funding to hire a contractor that would assess the City’s current urban forest, tree inventory, green canopy, along with City policies. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Urban Forest Management Plan was published on June 12, 2021, in the Fresno Business Journal and Planet Bids. A public bid opening was held on June 24, 2021, and two bids were received. Staff conducted interviews with both companies and Dudek was selected as the most qualified and experienced. The original project scope was expected to take approximately 16 months to complete and originally scheduled to conclude with a presentation to the Mayor and City Council in December 2023. The project is currently at 90% of completion and beginning the public review phase.
The project scope included community outreach which consisted of a community online survey, community meetings, and two Urban Forest Summits. Dudek conducted a series of interviews which included City staff that are involved in design and management activities that may also affect tree preservation and green infrastructure design or planning efforts within the City. The goal during these interviews was to identify and build upon the following:
• Existing tree management and protection policies and regulations in comparison to model tree ordinances.
• Internal protocol and processes for design, tree removal requests, pruning, use of inventory database and GIS tools. Along with reviews of other maintenance and tree planting activities being conducted by all City departments.
• Financial and human resources dedicated to urban forestry management, plan review, and permitting.
• Potential future tree management or planting activities.
• City ordinances, regulations, and permits in place that affect tree management, tree protection, tree removal, or tree planting.
• Goals, policies, and priorities of each department that relate to tree management, tree protection, or tree planting.
• Urban forest program funding.
On December 7, 2023, the First Amendment to the Consultant Services Agreement with Dudek was approved extending the agreement through March 31, 2024.
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the second amendment to the consultant services agreement with Dudek extending the performance period by three months. This additional time is needed to properly notice and integrate the public and stakeholder comments and input and route the final draft to Council for consideration and approval. This project remains on budget, however additional time is needed to complete the draft plan. This second amendment to the consultant services agreement adds an additional three months to the contract’s duration.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines section 15378, this is not a project as defined by CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because this is an existing contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
This project is funded by a CalFire grant and is included in the adopted FY2024 budget. This grant expires on March 31, 2024, but the remaining minor costs for the public review period and final presentation to Council can be accommodated within the adopted FY24 operating budget of the Public Works Department.
Attachment(s):
Original Contract
First Amendment to the Agreement
Second Amendment to the Agreement