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City Council Meeting: November 9, 2010
Agenda Item: j -~
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Barbara Stinchfield, Director, Community and Cultural Services
Subject: Urban Forest Master Plan and Web Based Forest Management System
Contract Modification
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a First Modification for Agreement No. 9064 (CCS} with Artecho Architecture +
Landscape Architecture, in the amount of $100,839 for additional services related to the
development of a Long Range Urban Forest Master Plan and Web Based Forest
Management System, resulting in a total amended contract amount of $304,630
Executive Summary
The City is in the process of preparing a Long Range Urban Forest Master Plan and
Web Based Forest Management System. A First Modification for Agreement No. 9064
(CCS) with Artecho Architecture + Landscape Architecture is requested for additional
services related to development of the master plan and additional enhancements to the
electronic management system. The expanded scope includes attendance at additional
meetings of the Urban Forest Master Plan Task Force, development of detailed street
segment drawings to address the provision of multiple tree species in response to
community input for incorporation into the master plan; and development of a
component of the electronic forest management system to track the growth of 1,000
trees as part of a grant condition for funds recently received from the Air Quality
Management District.
Background
On April 7 2009, following a competitive process, Council authorized the execution of a
contract in the amount of $203,791 with Artecho Architecture and Landscape
Architecture to develop the Urban Forest Master Plan and Forest Management System.
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On May 12, 2009, Council approved the establishment of an Urban Forest Master Plan
Task Force to advise staff on the development of a long-range urban forest master plan,
review specific urban forest issues, and serve in an advisory capacity to City Gouncil on
the master plan.
On September 22, 2009, Council appointed seven members to the. Urban Forest
Master Plan Task Force: Judy Abdo, Tom Cleys, Peter Jensen, Susan McCarthy, Grace
Phillips, Linda Piera-Avila and Doris Sosin
Discussion
Since its first meeting on October 25, 2009, the Urban Forest Master Plan Task Force
has held 14 meetings including three broadly noticed community workshops and aCity-
wide bus tour of the urban forest. With consultant and staff support, the Task Force has
invested significant time in educating themselves in modern urban forestry practices,
the history of Santa Monica's urban forest and its current needs. The work done to date
by the Task Force, consultant and City staff has elevated community interest in the
urban forest and established long range goals for the Urban Forest Master Plan. The
Task Force and members of the community have requested that the original timeline of
nine months for development of the master plan be extended by 12 months to enable
them to work closely with the consultant in developing a plan that is reflective of broad
community input and is a valuable implementation tool for the long term.
The original contract with Artecho Architecture + Landscape Architecture in the amount
of $203,701 was approved by Council prior to the Task Force appointments. Pursuant
to the original scope of work, Artecho has completed the tree inventory which serves as
the basis for areal-time electronic forest management system that includes the GIS
locations of all trees, size of tree and canopy width, overall health of each tree, and
estimated lifespan. Guiding principles of the plan have been established and suggested
street tree themes have been presented to the community. An overall outline of the plan
has been presented and approved by the Task Force. However, the original scope of
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work and corresponding fee did not anticipate the level of involvement of the Task Force
or the intense community interest in the plan. The proposed contract modification will
extend the timeline for preparation of the master plan by an additional 12 months in
order to enable the consultant to work with the Task Force to incorporate detailed street
segment designs to address the design complexity of planting multiple species on
individual street segments as requested by the community; additional graphic design
work to provide detailed information on tree growth space, canopy coverage, parkway
and median sizes in user-friendly diagrams not covered in the initial contract amount;
and revisions to the master plan after staff presentations to Environmental Task Force,
Recreation and Parks Commission, Landmarks Commission, Planning Commission,
and astaff/consultant presentation to the City Council. Additionally, the City has
recently received a grant from the Air Quality Management District in the amount of
$198,280 to fund the purchase and planting of 1,000 native trees throughout the City.
As part of the master plan, Artecho Architecture + Landscape Architecture will create a
growth tracking system for these trees to enable staff to monitor their growth separate
from the rest of the forest for reporting purposes to the US Forest Service pursuant to
the grant conditions. The web based forest management system allows staff to access
all inventory information, planting and trimming history, publish maps and schedules
and generate forest work orders. Residents will be able to access the inventory to
determine the species of trees by address, overall health of the tree, estimated lifespan,
estimated water requirements and size of tree. Staff will publish trim and
removal/replacement schedules on the Public Landscape website for residents to view.
Task Force Action
At its regular meeting on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, the Urban Forest Master Plan
Task Force voted unanimously to recommend support for the proposed contract
modification to complete the City of Santa Monica's Urban Forest Master Plan.
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Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Funds for the proposed modification to the Artecho Architecture and Landscape
Architecture contract in the amount of $100,839 are available in the FY10111 Public
Landscape and Community Forest division accounts referenced below:
Amount Funding Source Description
$45,000 01576.522130 Utilities- Water
$55,839 01576.555010 40073-W Contractual Services
Prepared by: Randy Little, Public Landscape Manager
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
a LSE-C~¢~. .4!-tom, _ %~~Pr , n
Name
Barbara Stinchfield, Director,
Community and Cultural Services
~~ ~~
Rod Gould
City Manager
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Reference Amended
Contract No. 9064 (CCS).