Task Force Member Plauzoles led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Transcription

1 URBAN FOREST TASK FORCE REG U LA R ME E T ING MINUTES Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 6:30 pm Multi-Purpose Room, Main Library 601 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica CA A regular meeting of the Urban Forest Task Force was called to order by Chair Phillips at 6:36pm on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in the Multi-Purpose Room, Main Library. Task Force Member Plauzoles led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. Roll Call: Present: Chair Grace Phillips Vice Chair Linda Piera-Avila Task Force Member Gloria Garvin Task Force Member John C. Smith Task Force Member Lu Plauzoles Absent: Task Force Member David Zuckerman Task Force Member Tom Cleys Also Present: Rod Gould, City Manager Elaine Polachek, Assistant City Manager Marsha Moutrie, City Attorney Karen Ginsberg, Director, Community & Cultural Services Susan Cline, Assistant Director, Public Works Peter James, Senior Planner, Planning & Community Development Heidi Said, Staff Assistant III, Community & Cultural Services Change in agenda order Item 4 Presentation of Findings from Urban Forest Maintenance Contract Administration Assessment, prepared by Management Partners, and Root Condition Assessment of Newly Planted Trees, prepared by HortScience, Inc. was heard before Item 2 Approval of Minutes from March 27, Presentation of Findings from Urban Forest Maintenance Contract Administration Assessment, prepared by Management Partners, and Root Condition Assessment of Newly Planted Trees, prepared by HortScience, Inc., was presented by Rod Gould, City Manager, Elaine Polachek, Assistant City Manager, and Marsha Moutrie, City Attorney. City Manager Rod Gould introduced the agenda item by reminding the Task Force of the City s commitment to fully understand the issues and take corrective action where necessary related to the administration of the contract with West Coast Arborists (WCA). Mr. Gould explained that the management audit of the WCA contract had been completed and that two independent arborists were consulted to review the condition of a selected sample portion of the City s urban forest. City Attorney Moutrie explained that the City contracted with Management Partners to conduct the management audit. Mr. Ken Murray from Management Partners conducted the audit. He was selected by the firm to do this work based on his qualifications and expertise in the oversight of public contracts. Ms. Moutrie presented an overview of the methodology used by Mr. Murray and explained that it included an extensive document review, interviews with key city staff, three task force members, representatives from WCA, representatives from firms who had attended the pre-bid conference but did not submit bids and community members and that he also arranged for an independent arborist to review the reports prepared by Don Hodel for WCA and the HortScience Report procured by the City. The arborist also reviewed the bid 1

2 documents, the WCA contract and conducted a field examination of the City s urban forest. Documents reviewed by Mr. Murray included the bid documents for the tree maintenance contract; the West Coast Arborist contract; city policies and procedures related to the contract administration, work management reports, contract invoices and s related to the contract s oversight. Mr. Murray also reviewed the Urban Forest Master Plan. Ms. Moutrie reported that based on the level of work that was done by Mr. Murray he observed that there was no indication of possible fraud or malfeasance. Ms. Moutrie explained that Mr. Murray did not conduct a forensic audit. Ms. Moutrie reported that Mr. Murray reported that the independent arborists reports do not indicate any public safety risk from failing trees beyond the normal risk inherent in forestry services and that the City contractor s work appears to meet industry standards, but that invoicing practices could be improved. Furthermore, Ms. Moutrie summarized the report s findings by indicating that the City s urban forestry program would benefit from improved contract management and accountability. Ms. Moutrie indicated in her remarks that the study findings indicate that the City s urban forestry program is driven largely by a high level of public involvement and that forestry management by City staff has relied primarily on informal processes as a means of being responsive to public requests and complaints, that the recent, rapid turnover of management personnel and a reduction in the workforce has contributed to the current lack of program continuity, and that management practices meet fundamental technical requirements which can be improved by applying reasonable industry best practices. Assistant City Manager, Elaine Polachek, provided an overview of the eight recommendations from the management audit as identified below. 1. Institute industry-standard contract management techniques. Use written work orders maintained in a database to track work; verify field work done by the contractor by randomly inspecting work in progress and ensure that work is completed and invoices contain attached documentation to. New trees should be inspected and tagged by the City prior to planting and that the City should conduct an annual compliance audit of the contract. 2. Transfer the Public Landscape Division to the Public Works Department. Ms. Polachek explained that the Public Works Department manages many large contracts with contract management systems in place and handles field operations throughout the City. She also explained that Martin Pastucha, Public Works Director, has experience managing public works departments that included urban forests in Pasadena, La Habra, Tustin, and Upland. 3. Acquire and implement a tree inventory system independent of any tree maintenance provider. Ms. Polachek explained that the audit found that the current contract provisions renders the City susceptible to the possibility of data manipulation by the contractor and that other potential vendors cited in their interviews that this contract provision grants the current contractor an undue advantage. She also indicated that the study states that it is preferable for the City to acquire and populate its own inventory system but that if the City decides to instead retain the current contractor provided inventory, at a minimum, it should require unlimited access to the contractor system, daily back up of all data in a format readable by other applications, the ability to generate custom reports using a stand alone report writer, and creating limits to data entry so that all data is subject to City verification. 4. Revise the current contract to insert missing requirements, remove excess or unenforceable requirements, clarify relevant language, and confirm rate structure. Ms. Polachek indicated that the study recommends that the City Attorney, Public Works Department, Purchasing Department, and an independent arborist review the existing contract to identify areas of deficiency and that City and the vendor should renegotiate the existing contract to correct the identified deficiencies with the purpose of allowing the current contract to run through its initial fiveyear term. 5. Conduct a full compliance audit of invoicing and seek recovery of potential contract overpayment. 2

3 6. Rebid the forestry management contract at the end of the initial contract term or immediately if the City is unable to secure corrective amendments from recommendations four and five. 7. Establish a performance management system for urban forestry. Ms. Polachek summarized that relevant performance measures should reflect the most important work activities of forestry, be quantifiable and objective, leaving little or no room for interpretation, be easily and frequently captured, reported, analyzed, and used as a basis for correction plans. 8. Revisit the Urban Forest Master Plan in the near future. Mr. Gould indicated that Management Partners first recommendation to step up contract management is being done. The City has developed a better paper trail and electronic communication trail and staff have implemented tightened controls to track work requests, invoices and work orders. Mr. Gould reported that the second recommendation to transfer the Public Landscape Division to Public Works is going to be implemented effective July 1, This will align this field work with the department that is responsible for the majority of field work in the City and will also enable the Community and Cultural Services Department to focus on the development of the City s Wellbeing project with funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies. Mr. Gould indicated that recruitment for both the Public Landscape Manager and the Community Forester will begin with the goal of selecting personnel for these two positions who have expertise and a background in urban landscape management, urban forestry, and are top-notch contract managers. Mr. Gould explained that policies and practices will be thoroughly reviewed including everything from tree selection practices to the inspection of the new trees, making sure they are properly planted and maintained. City staff, with the assistance of the City Attorney s office, will review the current contract with WCA to determine if there are changes that need to be made to the contract. If so, the City will meet with the contractor and attempt to negotiate the changes to the contract. Additionally, the City will begin an audit of invoices going back several years to determine whether or not there has been any overcharging. If overcharging has occurred, the City will seek repayment. The City will also move to control its own tree inventory. Mr. Gould assured the Task Force that staff will support them. Mr. Gould also stated that the Task Force will be updated as these steps are taken. Task Force members asked questions and commented as follows. Task Force member Plauzoles asked if WCA was independently paid for developing the Santa Monica tree inventory or was that part of the current maintenance contract. In response, Victor Gonzalez, Vice President of WCA, stated that development of the inventory was a separate project that was funded as part of the preparation of the Urban Forest Master Plan and that WCA was a subcontractor to Artecho, the lead consultant for the preparation of the Master Plan. Task Force member Plauzoles asked who the database belongs to and if the City has it. Mr. Gonzalez stated that it belongs to the City of Santa Monica and the City does have it. Task Force member Plauzoles asked if the Public Works Department will be able to have the same level of responsiveness to the various complaints from residents about trees. He expressed concern regarding timely responsiveness based upon his experience in the past. Mr. Gould responded by saying that under the direction of Martin Pastucha service levels in all of divisions of the Public Works Department have improved through the implementation of management and performance measurement systems that Mr. Pastucha has put in place to drive better customer service. Mr. Gould further stated that complaints that come through the City Manager s Office are quickly attended to and that many compliments have been received about the service that the Public Works Department is providing. 3

4 Task Force member Garvin stated that she would like time to review the reports following the meeting and then provide staff with comments and any questions in writing. Task Force member Garvin asked what went wrong if policies were already in place. Ms. Moutrie responded by stating that Mr. Murray found that the management protocols were incredibly informal and that a lot of communication with WCA was handled verbally, that invoicing procedures weren t sufficiently formal enough to keep track of what work was done and this would make it difficult for anyone in upper management to figure out how the level of performance under the contract was being met. Task Force member Smith asked how far behind the City is on the maintenance schedule and if WCA continues as the contractor, what assurances will be put in place to rectify the problems so that they will not continue. Task Force member Smith also asked who will be responsible for ensuring that best practices will be followed. Mr. Gould stated that once the new Public Landscape Manager and Community Forester are hired, they will oversee the contract. The City halted all tree maintenance while the audit was being conducted, which took a little over two months and plans to resume work now that the audit has been completed. The City recognizes that they must tighten up policies and procedures and are committed to doing so. Task Force member Smith asked the WCA representatives who were present to explain the assurances that they can give the City so that the practices that have occurred in the past months, such as an improper tree being planted improperly, won t continue to occur and that better work will be done in the future. Andy Trotter, Vice President, WCA, stated that company representatives would like to meet with City representatives to understand all of the concerns and work cooperatively towards solutions. In response to some discussion regarding the Torrey Pines planted at the beach, Dave Cooper, Area Manager, WCA indicated that WCA worked with volunteers to plant Torrey Pines at this location initially and that these trees did not survive and that the second planting also didn t work well. He acknowledged that these trees were not good specimens to begin with and that WCA is willing to replant trees at this location at no charge to the City and that the City should consider an alternate species. Task Force member Smith asked the WCA representatives to grade their effort over the past year with A being the best and F as failure. Mr. Cooper responded by saying that while they were not 100% perfect, and will strive to improve. he feels that they do pretty well on a day to day basis and would give the company a B/B+. Vice Chair Piera-Avila expressed concern about the existing trees and asked the WCA representatives if recently planted trees are found to be in poor condition due to root girdling, will WCA be accountable for the these trees and rectify the situation by planting new trees at their expense. Mr. Trotter responded by stating that that WCA warrantees its workmanship and the tree stock with the caveat that the girdled root condition is a long standing nursery industry challenge, especially in southern California, and that when unique or rare species are chosen it can impact the quality of the stock that is available. Mr. Trotter indicated that he feels that it is important to discuss nursery availability when making species designations and suggested that the nursery operators be included in the discussion. Vice Chair Piera-Avila asked staff to explain Public Landscape employees Judy Dragon and Patrick Balfe s qualifications in terms of urban forestry. Karen Ginsberg, Director of Community and Cultural Services, indicated that both Ms. Dragon and Mr. Balfe are Park Maintenance Supervisors who are certified arborists and that they are helping to manage the forest in the interim given the staff vacancies. Ms. Ginsberg also explained that Robin Beaudry, Community Forest Supervisor, was hired to fill John Aguila s position following his retirement. 4

5 Vice Chair Piera-Avila asked how arborist, John Davis, reached the conclusion that the trees in the Colorado Yard that he inspected were a small percentage of the total trees planted, as stated in his report. Chair Phillips stated that she had this same question as well and that the trees in the Colorado Yard were pulled out of the ground, in a possibly over enthusiastic moment, by Mr. Beaudry as a representative sample of recently planted trees. She indicated that they were not failing prior to being pulled out of the ground. Ms. Moutrie said that she will attempt to obtain additional information to answer that question. Ms. Moutrie stated that one of her regrets about this audit and report is that Mr. Beaudry did not accept any invitation to be interviewed and, therefore, we do not have all of the information about how he chose to remove the trees he removed nor could Mr. Davis have answered the question because Mr. Beaudry wouldn t speak to anyone. Vice Chair Piera-Avila asked why Mr. Davis stated that some had root systems that were too small for the size of the plant which would indicate or make the tree unstable, yet the conclusion of the report was that they are all safe. She said that she is uneasy about the conclusion that the trees are safe. Task Force member Garvin is concerned about the accuracy of the inventory and who will be in control of it. Ms. Moutrie replied saying that the City is committed to having an accurate inventory that we control. Task Force member Smith asked the representatives from WCA to explain who updates and is in charge of the inventory for their company. Mr. Gonzalez said that the initial inventory is created by WCA using WCA employees who are fulltime data collectors. They are all college graduates a, horticultural science certified arborists. He further explained that as tree maintenance is done, the inventory is updated and therefore evolves over time. WCA records changes in tree size, removals, new plantings, etc. WCA is not responsible for updating the inventory related to work done by other vendors, contractors, or city staff. City staff is responsible for inputting those updates. Task Force member Smith asked the representatives from WCA to explain why their staff would plant a tree if they identify that it has girdled roots. Mr. Trotter replied that he supports the recommendation from Management Partners to have City staff tag trees and that WCA should be more proactive to let city staff know in advance if species quality is limited or poor based upon the nursery stock that is available. He suggested that species be chosen that are commonly available Chair Phillips expressed that the recommendation by Management Partners to revisit the Urban Forest Master Plan in the near future to clearly define the policy role of the Urban Forest Task Force seemed a bit backwards and whether it was true that City Council would be the body who defines the role of the Urban Forest Task Force. Ms. Moutrie replied that it would be the City Council who ultimately defines the Task Force s role. Chair Phillips mentioned that while studies indicate that Santa Monica does not have an unusual public safety risk, she feels like there is a certain circular reasoning happening which is that, we don t have to worry because Santa Monica s urban forest is similar to the character of other cities and that tree defects are reflective of poor nursery standards. Chair Phillips further expressed her belief that the language in the WCA contract was included in an attempt to protect the City from bad nursery practices. Chair Phillips expressed her dislike for falling back on the nursery supply chain as the ultimate guilty party. She expressed her belief that we have language in the contract to protect the City and therefore the contractor is responsible. She also expressed that City staff should not be responsible for checking all stock but that the contractor is paid for this work. 5

6 Chair Phillips asked that given that the three arborists have said that we shouldn t worry about the trees since they are similar to other cities, would we be accepting this position moving forward. She expressed concern that she was not hearing a lot of proactive language about preventing the planting of bad product and didn t see any language in the report that about correcting what is currently in the ground that is defective. Chair Phillips said that almost every tree in the HortScience report had a planting or root or stability issue and doesn t understand how the conclusion that everything is ok was made. Ms. Moutrie replied that WCA s responsibility should be enforced fully. Ms. Moutrie said that part of her job is to defend the City if there is a limb failure or a tree failure and that in the 19 years she has worked for the City of Santa Monica, there have been less than six cases where people have been injured. Ms. Moutrie does not think that everything is fine and will look at what to do about the trees in the ground based upon the reports and will provide a response to the Task Force. Chair Phillips said that she doesn t believe this problem was occurring for the entire time WCA has been contracted with the City. She is most worried about the trees planted after 2007/2008. Chair Phillips also said that she agrees with Vice Chair Piera-Avila that the HortScience report conservatively states that 20% of the samples that they looked at seemed to have problems and believes that it is actually closer to 50%. Chair Phillips said that WCA just suggested that the City plant commonly available species but that former Community Forester and the former Urban Forest Master Plan Task Force believed that diversity would create a much more resilient forest over time. Chair Phillips asked for direction about whether or not we should plant the 15 species that are readily available in nurseries and risk a disease afflicting one of those species and wiping out a large portion of our forest or if we should continue to diversify. Mr. Gould replied that the adopted Urban Forest Master Plan focuses on the diversity of species. He further indicated that what he believes the representatives from WCA are trying to say, is that some species might not be readily available and we should be a little more flexible when it comes to those few species. Chair Phillips asked if we could be flexible with the time frame of planting in order to request that the tree wells be left empty so that the species may be contract grown and planted two or so years down the line. Mr. Gould said that he didn t think that would be possible and that it would be a long time to wait to fill vacancies. He also said that this is the kind of thing about which the Task Force can provide suggestions to Council. Chair Phillips said that she believes that we are in a vulnerable position right now because we don t have really qualified staff to oversee WCA and there is a backlog of work. She asked if the City had thought about hiring an independent, experienced arborist to oversee the work that is going to happen between now and the end of the fiscal year as an interim measure until permanent staff is hired. Mr. Gould replied that we could examine that option and that they had just made the decision a week and a half ago to move the division to the Public Works Department and now need to integrate the Division into the Department. Ms. Ginsberg and Mr. Pastucha have been meeting with Human Resources to figure out how best to transition the Division. Member of the public, Gillian Ware, spoke in regards to her concern that WCA is still employed by the City. Member of the public, Frank Gruber, spoke in regards to his concern about the condition of the trees that are currently planted. Member of the public, Harry Rumack, spoke in regards to his concern about the relationship of the former Public Landscape Manager and Community Forester to WCA. 6

7 Chair Phillips said that in December or January she had previously asked for an accounting of how many trees had been planted multiple times and never received a response. She asked if WCA could provide this information by the next Task Force meeting. Task Force member Garvin asked if Mr. Beaudry is employed by the City of Santa Monica. Mr. Gould replied that Mr. Beaudry is a City employee. Vice Chair Piera-Avila introduced Susan Cline, Assistant Director, Public Works. Task Force member Smith expressed his appreciation to Mr. Gould for conducting the audit in a comprehensive and timely manner. He also expressed concern about filling the vacant positions in the Public Landscape Division and would like it to be done quickly but without sacrificing getting the right people for the jobs. Task Force member Smith said that he would like WCA to attend the June Task Force meeting to provide an update on the actions that have occurred. Mr. Trotter indicated that WCA would like the opportunity to come to the June meeting. Ms. Moutrie said that this time frame might be possible in terms of achieving some of the requests that WCA has told you they would do such as replanting the trees in the beach parking lot, providing a list of trees that have been replaced multiple times over the last five years, and the turnover of the inventory and data. Chair Phillips stated that she doesn t believe the problems are restricted to the beach parking lot. Ms. Moutrie said that she did not mean that those requests were the only thing that WCA needs to do but wanted to make sure that WCA actually does what they ve already committed to doing. Chair Phillips said that she disagrees with Management Partners suggestion that the WCA contract includes excess or unenforceable language for the standards of preparation of pruning equipment and doesn t believe that a City inspector should have to be onsite at all times. Chair Phillips expressed concern about WCA adhering to the requirement in the Urban Forest Master Plan that states that no more than 25% of the live foliage should be removed when pruning and asked the WCA representatives if they would be able to adhere to this standard. Mr. Trotter replied that WCA would be happy to prune less but there have been multiple occasions where they have been asked to prune more, such as to provide view clearance for police helicopters. The ficus, for example, need to be pruned for the site they are in so that the roots do not become too disruptive. Chair Phillips asked if root pruning responsibilities will be moved into Public Works. Ms. Polachek indicated that Public Works and Public Landscape staff already work together to conduct directive root pruning. Chair Phillips expressed her concern about competing priorities for streets to satisfy many needs and wanted to know how Public Works will work out these priorities and whether there is an equation for working out what the greatest need is at any given site at any given time. Mr. Gould replied that there is no equation because every situation is quite different. In regards to the urban forest, there is an adopted policy document to guide decisions. Chair Phillips asked if the decision making process for what is a priority in the street will be transparent. 7

8 Mr. Gould said that the Task Force is charged with evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of the Urban Forest Master Plan and to propose any additional policy changes necessary for the stewardship of the urban forest. That is something that the Task Force advises on. The Public Works Department will not consult with the Task Force about every decision that it makes, but will be at the Task Force meetings to take part in the discussions. Task Force member Garvin expressed concern that the Coral trees within the portion of the median of San Vicente Blvd. in Santa Monica look worse than the trees in Brentwood, which seems to be caused by over pruning. Task Force member Plauzoles responded by stating that the Corals in Santa Monica are years older than the ones in Brentwood. Vice Chair Piera-Avila expressed concern about pruning in the springtime with nesting birds and other wildlife. Mr. Cooper said that WCA follows protocols related to birds and wildlife when pruning trees. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MARCH 27, 2013: The minutes for the February 27, 2013, regular meeting were approved with Vice Chair Piera-Avila abstaining and Task Force members Cleys and Zuckerman absent. 3. REPORT FROM CHAIRPERSON: Chair Phillips said that the Lincoln Blvd Cleanup took place on Earth Day and asked Ms. Ginsberg why business aren t required to maintain the sidewalk in front of their businesses but homeowners are. Ms. Ginsberg indicated that she understands that code enforcement initiatives are underway to address these types of situations. Chair Phillips said that the pollarded sycamores in front of City Hall have turf right up to the base of the tree which could cause damage at the base of the tree when the grass is trimmed. Staff will look into this issue. Chair Phillips reported that she received a complaint from a concerned resident about hedges on private property and is concerned about the definition of a hedge which might cause the removal of trees with contiguous canopies. She has asked staff to pursue this issue with Planning staff. 5. ACTION ITEMS: A. Report from the Species Selection Subcommittee and City Planning Staff regarding proposed tree species for the Bergamot Area Plan for discussion and possible action was presented by Peter James, Senior Planner, Strategic and Transportation Planning, Planning and Community Development. Motion by Task Force member Plauzoles, seconded by Vice Chair Piera-Avila, to approve the proposed tree species for the Bergamot Area Plan as presented with Street A and Michigan Avenue to be determined at such time as development is proposed. AYES: Chair Phillips, Vice Chair Piera-Avila, Task Force members Garvin, Plauzoles, and Smith. NOES: None. ABSTAIN: None. ABSENT: Task Force members Cleys and Zuckerman. Chair Phillips continued Item 5B Presentation by Ad Hoc Education & Heritage Tree Subcommittee regarding proposed Heritage Tree Program for Task Force input and possible action Task Force Members Garvin, Smith, and Zuckerman and Item 6A Discussion of the meaning of the terms biennial reporting and living document as they relate to refining the Urban Forest Master Plan Chair Phillips until the meeting on May 22. 8

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