NEWPORT BEACH : City May Lop Off Tree-Trimming Crew

The City Council on Monday directed its staff to begin negotiating with a contractor to take over the job of pruning the city’s more than 20,000 trees.

Based on an analysis of the municipal tree-trimming crew completed this summer, city officials concluded that West Coast Arborists, a private company that is retained by 60 cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, could trim foliage more quickly and cheaply than do city workers.

The move is designed to save at least $123,000 and would force the layoff of at least seven city employees.

Without taking a formal vote, the seven-member council asked that exclusive contract talks begin with West Coast Arborists. In November, the council may vote to notify the city’s tree trimmers that they will lose their jobs in February, 1994.

For their part, some of nine tree trimmers who on Monday protested the proposed move said that a private contractor would not be welcome in Newport Beach.

“This won’t work in this town,” said Rex Dickerson, who has been trimming trees for 12 years, adding that the trimmers are experts on city trees and listen to residents who have specific requests.

A private contractor who is not familiar with the city, Dickerson said, will simply “cut and move” in order to finish the job quickly and cheaply.

“You have to have somebody who knows what they are doing if you need to cut a tree over a million-dollar house in Corona del Mar,” said Dickerson, who lives in El Toro with his wife and two children. “You won’t find a better quality of work anywhere.”

Officials said they may retain four of the city’s 11 tree trimmers to handle emergency work. Others might be hired into new positions within the city and others might be able to join the private contractor hired to do city work, the officials said.