Ash Tree Removal

Town of Wardsboro - REQUEST FOR BIDS and BID FORM Ash Tree Removal – 2025 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: To remove Ash trees within the rights-of-way along Main Street & South Wardsboro Road. The town has a budget of $22,000 for tree removal and is asking for proposals to remove the greatest number of compromised trees as indicated on the maps below, with work beginning at the north end of South Wardsboro Road (top of map #1) and continuing with adjacent trees. The town is able to provide traffic control for one site in coordination with the contractor. DEADLINE FOR BID SUBMISSION: Sealed bids for the project known as “Wardsboro Ash Tree Removal – 2025” from contractors must be received by 5pm, prevailing time on August 12, 2025. Bids may be submitted electronically as a PDF to the Town Clerk at contact@example.gov. Alternately, bids may be submitted to the Wardsboro Selectboard, 71 Main St., P.O. Box 48, Wardsboro, Vermont 05355 and marked in the lower lefthand corner: “Wardsboro Ash Tree Removal – 2025.” Bid opening will occur at the selectboard meeting on August 12, 2025. TAX EXEMPT STATUS: The Town of Wardsboro is exempt from State of Vermont Sales Tax PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: The contractor is responsible for the removal of Ash trees within the Town road rights-of-way following guidelines defined as below: - As of 2018, emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, has been confirmed within Vermont’s borders and in 2024 was confirmed in Wardsboro. To provide an assurance of compliance with state and federal EAB laws the contractor shall adhere to the following. O ALL tree material, regardless of species, within the project area shall be handled in accordance with a document developed by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture titled “Recommendations to SLOW THE SPREAD of Emerald Ash Borer When Moving Ash from the Infested Area”, (https://vtinvasives.org/sites/default/files/images/SlowSpreadWoodVT.pdf ). Tree material shall not be moved out of state. The contractor shall have an Arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture or Licensed Forester on staff to identify Ash trees in the bid areas identified above. Those identified ash trees would be subject to the above referenced recommendations, however other tree species would not. A few trees may have barbed wire or fencing material embedded in their trunks and some have poison ivy vines. Tree fellers need to take these hazards into consideration. - The town will be responsible for traffic control for one site and must be on duty at the time of cutting. Safe felling of trees will require the contractor to periodically block traffic. Traffic blockage should be minimized. Please indicate on bid sheet number of days/hours traffic control will be utilized. - The Town of Wardsboro will be responsible for contacting landowners and advising them of the cutting. - Native trees and shrubs in the cutting area must be protected from damage as much as reasonably possible. The Town will rely primarily on natural regeneration to replace ash trees. To that end native trees and shrubs within the cutting area will be preserved through directional felling and careful positioning of harvesting equipment. The Town recognizes that some loss of regeneration is unavoidable, but this loss should be minimized. - Incidental removal of invasive woody plants such as buckthorn and honeysuckle are allowed and encouraged, but not required. - Felled trees and woody debris must be removed with the exception of instances where the landowner has requested to keep wood and/or chips (see below). Felled trees may either be chipped and/or bucked into logs for removal. Chips and logs may be transported to alternate locations at the discretion of the contractor, conditional on those locations being legal and subject to the permission of the owner of the site. - Affected landowners have first claim to chips and wood and some may exercise their option to keep this material. Landowner requests for chips and wood will be processed through the Town Clerk or Road Foreman and the approved requests will be communicated to the contractor. If landowners request woody material from felled trees, this material must be set out of the roadway so as not to impede passage or create a safety issue for motorists, pedestrians, or bicyclists. The contractor must ensure that no debris is left on site where it might block ditches or in any way impede road crews from regular maintenance practices such as ditch clearing or grading of gravel roads. - The contractor shall work with the Road Foreman to identify the staging area, if needed. - Chipped material can also be taken by truckload to nearby landowners who are not necessarily affected landowners, if requested by a nearby landowner. Such requests will also be processed through the Town Clerk or Road Foreman. Stumps must be cut to less than 6” from the ground as a safety measure to minimize damage in case of vehicle collision. All work shall be completed Monday through Saturday only and actual date / time will need to be reviewed and approved by the Road Foreman. Ash trees less than 6” DBH are generally not part of this contract but may be removed at the discretion of the contractor. This may be desirable to clear a felling area, to clear a zone for chain saw operators, to create space for stacking logs, or other purposes. - Acceptable damage threshold(s) will be minimal (i.e. to town roads, shoulders, private property within town ROW, etc.). Contractor will be responsible for road damage and remediation of damage to private property beyond those thresholds. - Per OSHA. 10’ minimum approach distance from powerlines will be required or timeline will allow for contractor to work with GMP to gain such clearances if any part of any marked trees are within 10’ of energized conductors INSURANCE: Prior to starting work the selected bidder will be required to provide a Certificate of Insurance with general liability coverage of no less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 per aggregate, naming the Town of Wardsboro as an additional insured. The selected bidder will also be required to provide a Certificate of Insurance with excess liability coverage of no less than $2,000,000. Additionally, the selected bidder will be required to submit a Certificate of Insurance with Workers Compensation coverage, unless the selected bidder has no employees, in which case a Non-Employee Work Agreement and a Liability Hold-Harmless Agreement will need to be signed. BID: The Bid Form must be submitted along with any other information the bidder wishes to include. CONTRACT COMPLETION DATE: The Contract shall be completed on or before September 15, 2025. SITE VISIT: No site visit is planned. If interested contractors would like to do a site visit, they should contact Mark Fernandes, Tree Warden, at contact@example.gov. SELECTION CRITERIA The contract will be awarded by the Town of Wardsboro Selectboard based on the following criteria: 1. Volume of work to be completed will be a priority, but not the only criterion. 2. Professional Competence: This will be based on known reputation, references, available equipment, staff levels and skills, relevant professional certifications, and memberships. 3. Traffic Control Proposal: Minimizing traffic disruption is an important part of the project. 4. Total Time Required: Related to the requirement to minimize traffic disruption is the need to accomplish the task within the shortest amount of time. QUESTIONS: During the advertisement phase of this project, all questions shall be addressed solely to: Mark Fernandes, Tree Warden at contact@example.gov. The Town reserves the right to waive formalities, modify bids in a mutually agreeable manner, or to accept or reject any bids at its sole discretion. Issuing this RFP does not in any way commit the Town to accepting any proposal. Bidders bear all costs in preparing and delivering their proposals. BID AREA: South Wardsboro Road and Main Street All trees are marked with red spray paint for easy identification. The maps below approximate where the Ash trees are. Any questions about specific trees should be directed to the Wardsboro Tree Warden, Mark Fernandes at contact@example.gov. MAP #1: MAP #2: MAP #3: BID FORM Wardsboro Ash Tree Removal – 2025 Due August 12, 2025 Please provide the following information: Name of Contractor: _________________________________________________________ Contractor’s mailing address: __________________________________________________ Contractor’s phone number: ____________________________________________________ Contractor’s e-mail address: ____________________________________________________ INDICATE NUMBER AND LOCATION OF TREES (BEGINNING WITH MAP #1) INCLUDED IN PROPOSAL _____________________________________ Number of working days required to complete the job: _______________ Plan for traffic control (may use separate page)_____________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Signature of Contractor: By signing this Bid Form, you are certifying that the bid is made in good faith without fraud, collusion, or connection of any kind with any other bidder for the same work, and that you are competing solely on your or your firm’s own behalf without connection with or obligation to any other person or firm. Signature: ______________________________________ Date: ______________________