One of the Town's goals is to become the most uniformly beautiful municipality in South Florida. An essential part of this goal is the management of the Town's urban tree canopy through quality tree trimming services and ongoing canopy management. With an estimated 17,000 trees, the Town's urban tree canopy is one of its signature features and largest assets and requires continuous care to maintain it at a high standard.

In July 2014, the Town contracted with Davey Resource Group for the development of the Tree Management Plan, which identified several opportunities for improvement in the management of Town Trees. A few suggested improvements included the development of Pruning Cycles and an increase in the frequency with which we prune Palm and Aesthetic Trees along the Town's major corridors, which ultimately improves the health and appearance of the Town's Trees. These improvements were factored into the solicitation process to deliver an increased level of service to our residents. An additional $60,000 is included in the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 to cover the increased level of service.

The Town issued Request for Proposals (“RFP”) 2017-25 for Tree Trimming Services on June 13, 2017. To be eligible for award, Proposers must show it meets the following minimum qualifications:

1. Proposer specializes in tree trimming work or has crews who specialize in tree trimming work;
2. Proposer has employed an ISA or ANSI certified Field Supervisor, or a Field Supervisor with a minimum of three (3) years field supervisory experience on work of a similar size, scope, and complexity;
3. Proposer has employed a full-time ISA Certified Arborist, with a minimum of three (3) years field experience on work of a similar size, scope, and complexity;
4. Proposer is capable of maintaining weekly averages of 150 trees trimmed per week for a sustained period of at least six (6) months;
5. Proposer is capable of self-performing all the work provided for under the Contract, except pest control services;
6. Own or possess under a rental/lease contract, specific equipment for use in performance of the Work (Refer to Article B7.02 of Attachment A for the required equipment);
7. Possess a minimum of three (3) years of experience performing tree trimming services under its current business name and ownership under contracts of similar size, scope, and complexity; and
8. Have completed at least three (3) contracts of similar size, scope, and complexity in the last five (5) years.

On the due date, July 7, 2017, we received three (3) Proposals from the following Proposers:

1. BrightView Tree Care Services, Inc.
2. SFM Services, Inc.
3. Superior Landscaping & Lawn Services, Inc. (“Superior”)

An Evaluation Committee was appointed, which was comprised of the following individuals:

1. Tony Lopez, Chief of Operations
2. Steve Poulson, Town Arborist
3. Daniel Angel, Business Operations Supervisor
4. Armando Munoz, Park Superintendent and City Arborist, City of South Miami

Procurement, in its due diligence review, determined that one Proposal, submitted by Superior, was non-responsive to the solicitation and was withheld from the Evaluation Committee. Superior's Proposal did not include projects of similar size, scope, and complexity as was required to be eligible for award. Because the information included in the Proposal was insufficient to show Superior met the minimum qualifications for award, Procurement deemed the Proposal non-responsive.

The remaining Proposals were submitted to the Evaluation Committee for ranking and received the following scores:

1. SFM – 725
2. BrightView – 626.52

The Evaluation Committee agreed that both firms were qualified to perform the required services. Both vendors are very experienced in landscaping services, and with specific experience in tree trimming services. The Committee was impressed with the number of municipal contracts that both vendors had been awarded in the last few years and felt this more than evidenced their ability to perform under this contract.

During the Evaluation, on average, BrightView received a higher score on the technical component of the solicitation. While both firms were qualified, the Committee felt that BrightView's Proposal offered more specialized crew and equipment. BrightView's crew included two field arborists that would be performing the pruning, while the account manager, a Certified Master Arborist, would oversee and inspect the work. BrightView's Proposal also included a 2011 Swift Lift (Polecat), which the Committee viewed as advantageous for performing the work. However, despite its strong technical score, BrightView's Price Proposal was $530,193.59 more than SFM's for the term of the contract, which resulted in a lower price score.

Although SFM's technical score may have been less than BrightView's, the Evaluation Committee felt the firm was still qualified to perform the work. The Town has an extensive work history with SFM and has found that SFM is very responsive to the Town's requests. Furthermore, SFM proposed the lowest price, which allotted it the full 125 points available for the price component.

As this contract is performance-based, the Evaluation Committee recommended the Town award multiple contracts to ensure there is a secondary contractor available in the event of a failure to perform or default. Therefore, based on the Evaluation Committee's ranking, it is recommended that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to execute contracts with SFM Services, Inc. as the primary contractor and BrightView Tree Care Services, Inc. as the secondary contractor in an amount not to exceed $1,800,000.

This award does not impact the current year's Budget as most of the work has been completed. The Fiscal Year 2017-18 Proposed Budget allocates $260,000 for these services in the General Fund, which provides for the base services and a 5% contingency for additional service awards.