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Benicia council approves higher ceiling for tree‑care contract after questions about bidding
Summary
Council approved raising the tree‑care contract ceiling from about $300,000 to a not‑to‑exceed $800,000 limit after staff said the funds were reallocated in the midyear budget and an RFP was conducted; council members asked for clarity about bid weighting and why the ceiling rose.
Councilmember Scott asked staff to pull consent item 14b to explain how the tree‑care contract limit rose from about $300,000 to a proposed $800,000 not‑to‑exceed figure.
Danielle, a city staff member working on procurement, told the council that four bids were received for the RFP (one deemed nonresponsive), that bid categories were weighted with removal (on‑call tree removal) given the most weight, and that cost proposals were ranked accordingly. She said the additional funds were already moved in the midyear budget and are allocated within landscape and lighting district (LLND) zones; the requested action was to increase the contract limit, not to add new dollars to the city budget.
Councilmembers pressed for clarity on unit costs—examples cited during the discussion showed wide spreads between bidders’ per‑tree prices—and on whether the city should run another procurement process. City Manager Mario Giuliani and staff said an RFP was conducted, Julian Tree Care (the incumbent) was the selected contractor and the amount reflects anticipated demand and the fact that the city has been behind on managing its tree inventory. After discussion the council moved and approved the consent item authorizing the increased contract limit.
Councilmembers and staff agreed the limit is a not‑to‑exceed cap and that expenditures will remain tied to the LLND zones specified in the request.
