The Centralia City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a professional services agreement with The F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company for on-call arborist services.
The city solicited proposals for on-call arborist services to provide expertise in urban tree risk management but did not receive any proposals. Instead, city staff recommended that the city contact Bartlett as they offer services including tree risk assessments, reviewing the draft city tree policy, finalizing downtown tree selection, urban planning consultation, plant health care and emergency response.
The city aims to take better care of its trees and ensure a vibrant tree canopy. City staff believe Bartlett’s services are essential for proactively maintaining the health of the city’s tree canopy, reducing damage to public infrastructure, such as sidewalks and utilities, and ensuring public safety, which has become a growing priority.
Bartlett will provide professional arboricultural services on an as-needed basis. The contract term concludes on Dec. 31, 2028, and is in the amount of $75,000, funded by city light, stormwater, wastewater and water department.
In Bartlett’s Oct. 15 letter to the city, signed by Executive Vice President Matt Farin and Arborist Representative Matt Brown, the company has a Seattle/Olympia office that has been serving the surrounding area since 1937.
“Bartlett Tree Experts looks forward to the opportunity of working with the City of Centralia to provide arboriculture services…We believe we are the best firm for this job for a variety of reasons,” they wrote. “Our arborists’ local knowledge of plants, pests and diseases has been developed over years of experience working with trees in Washington. A partnership opportunity serving the City of Centralia is important to Bartlett Tree Experts as we endeavor to serve our communities as cooperating stewards of urban forest canopies.”
