Buffalo Grove will pay $342,842 next year for the removal of infested ash trees, officials decided this week.
The cost is lower than the village was prepared to spend earlier this month. Officials were prepared to award the contract to another company when a Clean Cut Tree Service representative objected, stating that the company could complete the work for a more competitive price.
Buffalo Grove then invited Clean Cut and the other company, Central Forestree, to negotiate with the village, which would award the contract to the lower of the two offers.
Central Forestree, which the village originally declared the winning bidder, was outbid by Clean Cut by just under $3,000.
Buffalo Grove will continue its ash tree removal program in 2014 and 2015. It will consider bids for those years — Clean Cut bid $699,397.68 for the second year and $1,049,096.52 for the third year — at a later date.
By negotiating a lower price, Buffalo Grove is expected to save about 8 percent over the next three years, Village Manager Dane Bragg said.
