The City of Charles City will contract with a different company for Phase 3 of ash tree removal in City right-of-ways.
In 2015, the City estimated some 900 ash trees, either dead or dying from the Emerald Ash Borer, needed to come down. After spending about $40,000 a year to remove the trees themselves, the City barely made a dent in the issue and decided to speed up the process.
Contracts for the first two phases of ash tree removal were awarded last year to GDB and Sons of Charles City, at $200,000 and $133,000 respectively, to take down some 600 trees.
Monday (04.01) night, the City Council looked to award a contract for Phase 3 to bring down another 260 ash trees. City Engineer-in-Training Brian Sullivan said the bidding for the project was highly competitive.
The next closest bid was $55,000 more than Wilson’s, the Cresco-based company that the City of New Hampton also contracted with to remove about 200 ash trees last year.
City Administrator Steve Diers noted that with Wilson’s cost-saving bid, the City will have some money left over from the $550,000 they borrowed for the project to possibly take down more trees.
The contract with Wilson’s has a completion date of December 20th for tree removal and April 25, 2025 for stump removal and site restoration.
