F--PERI Mechanized Hazardous Wood Fuels Reduction - T

PRESOLICITATION NOTICE for RFP 140P6218R0018 DESCRIPTION: On or about July 23, 2018, the National Park Service (NPS), Midwest Region, Missouri Major Acquisition Buying Office, intends to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) 140P6218R0018 to solicit proposals for hazardous wood fuels reduction / mechanized tree thinning throughout seven (7) locations, totaling approximately 186 acres, at Pea Ridge National Military Park, National Park Service, Garfield, Arkansas. The work will consist of providing all labor, qualified supervision, materials, tools, equipment, supplies, transportation, incidentals, other services and expertise necessary to perform Hazardous Fuels Management Services at Pea Ridge National Military Park. The Contractor will be responsible for the entire scope of the project. All work required by the project documents shall be accomplished to the satisfaction of the Government even though incidental items or services that may be required to complete the work in its entirety may not be specifically mentioned in the project documents. The objective of this project is for the mechanized reduction of hazardous wood fuels - tree thinning for the prevention and control of wildfires. OVERVIEW DESCRIPTION. The following is an overview of the work to be performed. The full details and specifications will be posted in the forthcoming solicitation. 1. Total estimated acreage to thin is approximately 186 acres throughout seven (7) prioritized areas at Pea Ridge National Military Park, Garfield, AR. All areas are made up of cedar thinning operations. Priority #1 Approximately 55 acres Priority #2 Approximately 29 acres Priority #3 Approximately 18 acres Priority #4 Approximately 42 acres Priority #5 Approximately 21 acres Priority #6 Approximately 8 acres Priority #7 Approximately 13 acres 2. Areas involve the removal of cedar trees only, with exceptions identified in the "Specifications" section of the Project Document. 3. The sites are generally flat to steeply sloping, and are made up of eastern hardwood forest and shrubs. Species composition is primarily oak, hickory, locust and cedar. Trees range in height from 5 to 60 feet. Trees are both scattered and also densely grouped throughout the areas. Diameters average from approximately 6 to 22 inches. 4. The Contractor shall thin (cut, remove and/or mulch) eastern red cedar trees in Priorities #1 through #7 as follows: (a) All cedar trees, regardless of size, unless identified otherwise. (b) Completely cut and sever from the base of the tree. (c) Maximum stump height of not more than 3.0 inches. (d) Minimum stump height of no less than 1.0 inch above ground. (e) The removal of trees by Contractor, from Park property, will be allowed. Trees that are not removed will be chipped by Contractor. As such, brush piles are NOT guaranteed but may be established on a case-by-case extremely limited basis and will only occur in approved areas designated by the Park. Authorization will only be given for the construction of brush piles if trees are too big to mulch safely, as determined by the Park Project Inspector. If brush piles are allowed, then they must be piled into tight, burnable piles. The piles should be no larger than 8 feet in diameter, and no taller than 6 feet. Piles are not to be placed near "leave / save" trees (any hardwood or species other than cedar, unless marked) so that when burned, damage will not result to any adjacent standing live trees. When possible, piles shall be placed on open or rocky areas or previous burn areas. Piles are to be placed in locations where they are not visible to the public. (f) After completion of a project area, Contractor is to pull mulch 4 feet away from around the base of all hardwood, saved, and understory trees, and 4 feet away from fences. (g) There may be trees in work area locations that may be identified for leave trees. The Park will clearly mark those trees in those locations. Marked leave trees are to remain untouched and left in place by the Contractor. The Park's Project Inspector retains the right throughout contract performance to mark additional leave trees or unmark previously marked leave trees. (h) Non-target trees of any species are to be felled and mulched (or removed from the Park by the Contractor) if they become entangled in cut cedar trees, are identified by the Park to be cut, or the Contractor and Government considers they pose a threat to the Contractor. Diameter at breast height (DBH) must not exceed 12 inches. 5. ALLOWABLE EQUIPMENT a. No motor vehicle access is allowed in the forested areas. Parking of Contractor's motor vehicles at the contract site will be at locations as designated by the Park. b. Hand felling with chainsaws or similar equipment will be needed. Use of chainsaws in all areas can be expected, with heavier use in some areas than others. c. Dependent upon terrain and ground moisture content, any low impact rubber tracked skid steer, or similar type of equipment, can be utilized as long as it exerts no more than 11 lbs. per square inch on the ground and has no more impact at the worksite(s), or during ingress or egress than a T300 rubber tracked skid steer loader with a tree cutting/mulching attachment, such as a forester blade. An absence of this type or similar equipment will require the work be restricted to chainsaws or other hand tools. d. Ground disturbances shall be kept to a minimum. Ground disturbance deeper than 3 inches anywhere on the Park is not acceptable. Contractor shall be responsible for rehabilitation to National Park Service standards if this occurs. If ground disturbance occurs, work shall be immediately stopped and appropriate NPS personnel shall be notified to assess possible damage to the area. e. Tractors with chippers will only be allowed in designated areas. f. The use of bulldozers or similar types of equipment is not allowed. g. Only that type of heavy equipment which is acceptable to the Park for the Contractor's use may be utilized. h. When requested by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor shall provide copies of the maintenance and repair records of the equipment that the Contractor is employing at the contract site and/or requesting to be used at the contract site. i. Pea Ridge National Military Park reserves the right to suspend Contractor's use of any equipment or tools, at no cost to the Government, which appear to be causing damage to, or having a negative impact on the Park's resource or surrounding areas, regardless of its previous acceptance by the Park to be used in the performance of the contract. 6. QUALITY CONTROL AND MONITORING - The Contractor shall be soley and fully responsible for compliance to the work to be performed and its specifications, performance timeliness, and the terms and conditions of this contract through Contractor-provided quality control and monitoring. END OF DESCRIPTION OVERVIEW--------------- TYPE OF CONTRACT: This will be a single firm-fixed price services contract and is expected to be awarded in late-August, early-September 2018 timeframe. Award will be made to only one successful offeror. Wages are subject to the Service Contract Act. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Work is estimated to begin in late September to mid-October 2017 with a completion date of not later than March 29, 2019. Work performance shall not begin until a post-award conference has been conducted, and the Contractor has received the Notice to Proceed issued by the Contracting Officer. NAICS CODE: The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code assigned to this procurement is 115310, Support Activities for Forestry / Fuels Management Services. SET ASIDE: Total small-business set-aside. SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARD: $19 million. SITE VISIT: Only one organized pre-proposal site visit will be scheduled. The site visit shall be held on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. central time at the Pea Ridge National Military Park, 15930 Highway 62, Resource Management Bldg., Garfield, Arkansas 72732. Offerors are encouraged and expected to attend the scheduled pre-proposal site visit, to inspect the site, and to satisfy themselves regarding the conditions that may affect the cost of the performance, to include verification of acreage stated in the solicitation. In no event shall failure to inspect the site or report discrepancies in acreage prior to the date and time questions from offerors are due, constitute grounds for a claim after contract award. Offerors planning to attend the site visit are to notify the Contracting Officer, Kathryn Logsdon by e-mail at contact@example.gov of their intentions prior to Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. central time. Offerors are also advised to bring the solicitation documents with them to the site visit. PUBLICIZING: The official solicitation package (RFP) and its attachments will be issued and available on or about July 23, 2018 and will be posted to the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website at https://www.fbo.gov, and on the FedConnect website at https://www.fedconnect.net. The contracting officer will not provide hardcopies or email copies of the solicitation. It is the responsibility of the offerors to monitor the FBO and FedConnect websites to download the solicitation, its attachments, and all amendments issued against the solicitation. This Presolicitation Notice does not constitute a solicitation; it is advance notification only that a solicitation for proposals will be forthcoming. All contract specification documents, along with the method in which proposals are to be submitted and the criteria used to evaluate proposals shall be included in the forthcoming solicitation. RESPONSE TIME AND AWARD: Response time for submission of all proposals will be Friday, August 17, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. central time. The method in which proposals are to be submitted and the criteria used to evaluate them will be posted in the forthcoming solicitation. REGISTRATION: All offerors are to have a Unique Entity Identifier (aka DUNS number), be registered and active in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov, have completed their Representations and Certifications (Reps & Certs) and be represented as a small business under the NAICS Code of 115310, in order to be awarded a contract; therefore, if you are not already registered and active in SAM, or have not completed your Representations and Certifications at https://www.sam.gov, it is strongly advised that you do so at this time. Failure on the part of the successful offeror to fulfill these requirements by the time the Contracting Officer makes award may result in award of the contract being made to the next otherwise successful offeror. If you require assistance with acquiring a UEI (DUNS) number, completing your SAM Registration, Representations and Certifications, adding the assigned NAICS Code to your Reps & Certs, or accessing the solicitation and its attachments, please contact the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) closest to you. PTAC locations can be found at http://www.aptac-us.org/new/. POINT OF CONTACT: The point of contact for this Presolicitation Notice is Kathryn M. Logsdon, Contracting Officer, and can be reached by phone at +1 (555) 000-0000, or by e-mail at contact@example.gov.