EDWARD R. MURROW TRANSMITTING STATION Grounds Maintenance, Lawn Care and Landscaping Services

The Contractor shall furnish grounds maintenance, lawn care, and additional landscaping services, and all equipment and supplies to accomplish the tasks and activities as specified here within. Services shall be performed at the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station located at 3919 VOA Site B Road, Grimesland, NC 27837. The services required under the base period of this contract will commence on the first day of March, 2020 and end on the last business day of December, 2020, and will commence on or about the first day of January and end on the last business day of December of each option year. All work performed by the contractor shall be performed on a regularly scheduled basis, Monday through Friday between the hours of 0700-1530, excluding federal holidays. The schedule may need to be adjusted for reasons to include inclement weather, conflicting maintenance work, or other circumstances and may be rescheduled at the request of the Government. Work may be rescheduled outside the regular Monday through Friday schedule, but shall not be performed at any time outside of daylight hours. 1. Compound Maintenance (See services prescribed in Paragraphs (b)-(f) below. i. Compound Maintenance activities shall be commence on or about the first day of March and end on or about the last day of November of each year. ii. During this time period of lawn maintenance, services will be provided once a week unless precluded by inclement weather conditions whereby lawn mowing would damage the turf. iii. The grass will be cut to a minimum height of 1.5 inches. If weather conditions are such that grass needs less frequent cutting, the Facilities Manager will contact the contractor to arrange an alternate schedule. iv. Grass clippings, to the extent that they do not cover the lawn or look unsightly may be left where they fall. If sufficient to affect the growth of the grass or look unsightly, they shall be removed as needed. Acceptable level of clippings shall be at the sole discretion of the appointed COR. Clippings that are removed from the lawn must be removed from the site for proper disposal. v. Discharge from all mowing shall be away from all cooling system heat exchangers, both air conditioning and transmitters. Professional cleaning of heat exchangers shall be the responsibility of the contractor should proper discharge procedures not be followed and subsequent clogging of said heat exchangers occurs. 2. Additional Landscaping Services (refer Paragraph (g) i. Additional Landscaping activities shall be performed commencing on the first day of March and end on the last day of February of each year. ii. The Additional Landscaping work defined in this contract is recurring work that is required annually, and shall be performed based on the needs identified by the COR up to the established not to exceed amounts for each contract period. iii. All Landscaping activities shall be negotiated as firm fixed price activities by the Contractor, COR and Contracting Officer using the fixed unit prices prescribed in the Contractor's Schedule B proposal plus the costs for any required shrubs, trees, or other landscaping features. (b) Lawn Maintenance (1) Weekly Mowing Requirements i. All grass areas within fenced building compound. This area consist of approximate 8.2 acres inclusive of building and roadway areas. ii. A strip five feet wide along outside edge of building compound fence. iii. A strip five feet wide or the distance from the access road to the bottom of the drainage ditch along both shoulders of site access road between compound gate and state public road. iv. An area extending ten feet out from the sewage disposal building and sand leaching bed. v. An area extending ten feet out from the microwave building and five feet from each edge of the road leading to the microwave building vi. The area extending at least ten feet around the guardhouse and visitor parking area. vii. The area extending at least ten feet around the sign at the entrance. (2) Sidewalks and Compound Edging/Trimming i. Sidewalks and all roadways and parking lots inside the fenced compound and the visitors parking area by the guardhouse, shall be edged/trimmed in conjunction with weekly mowing activities. Sidewalk edges shall be edged to a depth of 1-1/2" below surface grade. ii. Contractor shall edge/trim around all buildings, light posts and other appurtenances, e.g., hydrants, building skirts, etc. during each weekly mowing activity. iii. Sidewalks and other designated areas shall be cleaned of grass clippings or lawn debris each time the grass is cut. No tire marks on sidewalks from lawn care tractors or mowers are permissible. All marks are to be removed by contractor prior to departing the work site. iv. Sidewalk cracks; concrete patios and any area that has grass and/or weeds growing up through it may be sprayed with the herbicide. The debris will be removed on a weekly basis. (c) Access Road Trimming (1) Contractor shall edge/trim along the entrance access road to remove any overgrowth on the asphalt three times a year during the growth season from 1 March to the last week in November. (2) Contractor shall perform initial edging in March and final activity at the time of the last mowing in November. (3) Contractor shall remove and dispose of all silage to ensure aesthetic appearance along the entrance road. (d) Fence Line (1) The grass under the fence around the inner compound will be trimmed each time that the compound grass is cut. Use of herbicide is permissible along the fence line provided that the control area does not exceed 2.5 inches into the compound perimeter. (2) The outer compound fence line shall be trimmed three times per year. Use of herbicide is permissible along the fence line provided that the control area does not exceed 2.5 inches into the compound perimeter nor extend more than 6 inches beyond the outer fence perimeter. (e) Hedges & Shrubs Hedges and shrubs shall be trimmed and maintained for symmetrical appearance. Trimming shall be done on a 90 day interval during the performance period of each contract year. Maintenance shall be performed in the months of April, July, and October. (f) Planters with Borders Planters with borders shall be kept clean of all weeds and grass. In order to accomplish this task, the contractor will be permitted to use pre-approved herbicide. (Roundup or the Generic). The contractor will be responsible for replacing any plant material destroyed by the herbicide. The contractor shall replace with the same type and size of any of the destroyed material. Unwanted growth and material shall be removed each time the 1awn is mowed. Areas without borders shall be checked each time the lawn is mowed. Grass or weeds in these areas shall be removed and the cover material raked to maintain the definition of the area. (g) Additional Landscaping Services Additional Landscaping Services shall address recurring annual maintenance, including but not be limited to, the provision of vegetation (flora, bushes, shrubs, trees, etc.) and bed materials (stone, mulch, straw, etc.), design, ground excavation and implementation. The Contractor shall provide all materials and labor unless GFE materials are specified and provided for the specific task. Additional Landscaping activities shall consist of work required annually to repair, replace or upgrade dead or damaged vegetation, shrubs, trees and other landscaping structures/features as determined necessary by the Contracting Officer's Representative to maintain the compound area, up to the not to exceed amount stated in Section B. The COR will communicate needed work to the Contractor, who will evaluate and provide recommendations based on the conditions found as to selection of materials, and maintenance requirements. Once a final assessment is agreed upon by the COR and the Contractor, the Contractor will prepare a quote for implementing the work to include all materials and labor. The COR will provide written approval prior to the Contractor commencing any work. (h) Alternate Maintenance Options The contractor may propose alternate solutions to mowing intervals and practices, i.e., application of growth inhibitors to reduce frequency of mowing events, etc., provided that the proposed alternative meets traditional aesthetic results and poses no environmental hazards to humans and/or wildlife at the station. Alternate solutions shall be addressed in the contractor's proposal with identification and description of all proposed products and application techniques as well as predicted results.