High Bids Force County to Put Off Trimming Trees

County officials have decided to postpone trimming about 2,700 trees along several mountain roads because the price tag for the work proved too high.

As a stopgap measure to clear branches obstructing roadways, the county plans to trim as many as 200 trees on Old Topanga Canyon Road, Cold Canyon Road, Encinal Canyon Road, Lake Vista Drive and Mulholland Highway.

“What we are doing right now is trimming the trees that are interfering with the safe passage of trucks,” said Bjorn Evensen, a district engineer at the county Department of Public Works.

Last week, the county received three bids for the larger trimming job, which is done every five years. Officials had estimated the work would cost $137,000, Evensen said, and the bids were rejected because they were “significantly higher than what we normally get.”

Dennis Morefield, a DPW spokesman, said the bids ranged from $210,000 to $384,860.

The postponement of the contract is the latest wrinkle in the county’s tree-trimming efforts. The county had already agreed last month to scale back the scope of the contract to address the concerns of some residents in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Residents from Old Topanga to the Ventura County line had expressed concern that the trimming, if done as the weather warmed this spring, would interfere with tree growth and bird nesting.

The county agreed to trim fewer trees in a more limited area and to finish the work by March 15. Now, that work will be put off until about December, Evensen said.

Roger Pugliese, chairman of the Topanga Assn. for a Scenic Community, took the change in stride.

“The work that was going to be done was modified,” said Pugliese, adding that the DPW had cooperated nicely with the residents. “If they don’t want to touch the trees, that’s fine too.”