RFP for Tree Inventory & Urban Forestry Management Plan Professional Services

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
TREE INVENTORY AND URBAN FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PLAN
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The City of St. Cloud is a community of 72,500 persons covering more than 41 square
miles in central Minnesota. The City is situated at the convergence of Interstate 94, US
Highway 10, Minnesota Trunk Highways 15 and 23, and the Mississippi River,
approximately 73 miles northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The urbanized area of the
St. Cloud metropolitan community is comprised of three counties (Benton, Sherburne,
and Stearns), six townships (Minden, Haven, Lynden, St. Joseph, Clear Lake, and Le
Sauk), and five cities (St. Cloud, Waite Park, Sartell, Sauk Rapids and St. Augusta).
St. Cloud is the core city of the St. Cloud metropolitan statistical area of more than
230,000 residents. The City of St. Cloud and metropolitan area has experienced
significant growth in recent decades, which is expected to continue.
2. REQUESTED SERVICES
The City of St. Cloud Park & Recreation is requesting proposals from qualified urban
forestry consulting firms to collect comprehensive data on all City - owned trees. This
data, including exact location by way of geo locating, will be compiled by the
selected firm and used to create a tree inventory and develop an Urban Forest
Management Plan.
The City anticipates an inventory of approximately 30,000 trees and stumps located
within public right-of-way, and maintained park areas.
The final deliverable products and services will support proactive maintenance, risk
reduction, budgeting, planting, and long-term urban forest management.
This project is funded through a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources grant
and is subject to all applicable grant requirements, laws and regulations. Including any

prevailing wage requirements per Minnesota Statute 177.41 - 177.50.
3. SCOPE OF WORK
The consultant shall provide all professional services, qualified personnel, field
equipment, software, project management, quality control, data analysis, reports, and
presentations necessary to complete the project. The project deliverables shall
include:
A GIS-field based physical inventory of approximately 30,000 public trees and
stumps within City-defined project areas.
Ground-based inspection of each tree by qualified arborists or urban foresters
Collection of required tree attributes, condition information, risk ratings, defects,
and maintenance recommendations.
Quality control and quality assurance review of all collected inventory data.
Delivery of final inventory data in GIS-compatible shapefile or geodatabase format
and Microsoft Excel format.
Development of an Urban Forest Management Plan, including prioritized
maintenance recommendations and a five-year projected maintenance schedule
and budgets.
The selected consultant will coordinate final project limits and data fields with City staff
before fieldwork begins.
4. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
The professional services firm hired shall:
Conduct a virtual or in-person project kick-off meeting and maintain regular
communication with City staff throughout the project.
Use geo locating technology capable of meeting the proposed location accuracy
requirements.
Identify tree species, measure diameter at breast height (DBH), evaluate condition,
and assign recommended maintenance.
Complete a 360-degree ground-based visual tree risk assessment consistent with
current ISA Best Management Practices.
Record, at minimum, location, species, DBH, condition, primary maintenance, risk
rating, observed defects, utilities conflicts, further inspection needs, comments, and
inventory date.
Provide a documented quality-control process and correct identified errors before
final data delivery.
Coordinate fieldwork, stakeholder engagement, draft review, and final deliverables
with City staff.
City of St. Cloud, Minnesota 2026 2
Request for Proposals - Tree Inventory and Urban Forestry Management Plan

5. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TIMELINES
Every effort will be made to adhere to the following schedule:
Distribute RFP July 28, 2026
Proposal Submission Deadline August 18, 2026 (by 4:00 p.m.)
Selection (on or before) August 31, 2026
6. SELECTION PROCESS
The City will take into account such matters it considers appropriate in selecting the
successful professional services firm. The City reserves the right to contract with and/or
to reject, for any reason, any, or all proposals. Evaluation criteria will include:
The firms understanding and ability to follow bidding instructions.
The vendor's formal annual lease rate bid for each year of operation
The vendor's document submission.
7. BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS AND PROPOSALS
The City requires that professional services firms interested in submitting proposals
submit forms that:
1. Clearly outline, on the provided proposal bid form on page #5, the fee proposal
prices for tree inventory, urban forestry management plan and optional tree
inventory software.
2. Submit a detailed project schedule outlining project start date, all deliverables
including city review/approvals and final completion date. All work shall be
completed and delivered on or before June 30, 2027.
3. Submit a summary of your experience, project team and qualifications. Outline
who is the primary contact.
4. Submit three municipal business references that can speak to your company's
abilities.
5. Submit proof of liability insurance (Note: The successful firm will need to name the
City as additional insured and meet required liability limits if awarded a contract.
6. Submit a copy of your business license or articles of incorporation (to prove that
you are a legitimate business in Minnesota).
7. Specify any technical data and information within your proposal
8. Submit proof of International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist credentials
for the project team members (one minimum to be submitted).
City of St. Cloud, Minnesota 2026 3
Request for Proposals - Tree Inventory and Urban Forestry Management Plan

8. GENERAL
Firms submitting proposals should be aware of the following:
Firms may only submit one proposal.
Firms may not sub-contract.
Submission of a proposal confirms that neither the vendor nor any employee would
be in a conflict of interest with respect to the proposal if the vendor were selected
to be awarded a contract.
All proposals will become the property of the City of St. Cloud.
The highest overall monetary proposal will not necessarily be accepted. The City
reserves the right to accept or reject all bids, any pricing, award the agreement,
interview vendors, negotiate the specific terms of the agreement, and make other
adjustments as required in consultation with the successful professional services firm.
All proposals will be emailed to Christopher Zabinski, Park Operations Manager
chris.zabinski@ci.stcloud.mn.us. prior to 4:00 p.m. on August 18, 2026. Emailed
proposals may be accepted if special arrangements are made in advance.
9. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you have any questions regarding this RFP, please contact Christopher Zabinski, Park
Operations Manager, at (320)257-5966, or via email at chris.zabinski@ci.stcloud.mn.us
City of St. Cloud, Minnesota 2026 4
Request for Proposals - Tree Inventory and Urban Forestry Management Plan

TREE INVENTORY AND URBAN FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PLAN 2026
BID FORM FOR SUBMITTAL
Task #1 Tree Inventory Price:
Task #2 Urban Forestry Management Plan Price:
Task #3 Optional Tree Inventory Software Price:
Name:
Company:
Date:
Phone:
Email:
Signature:
By signing this bid form, the vendor agrees that the proposed bid is valid for 60 days.
City of St. Cloud, Minnesota 2026 5
Request for Proposals - Tree Inventory and Urban Forestry Management Plan