S--Ground Maintenance/Landscaping Service

MARKET RESEARCH This is a Sources Sought Synopsis; THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE. The South Texas Veterans Health Care System has a requirement to procure a Grounds Maintenance/Landscaping service for Audie L. Murphy Medical Center (ALMD) and Villa Serena Domiciliary. This Sources Sought Synopsis is published for market research purposes. This market research will be used to determine if a set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Set Aside. SDVOSB must be Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) certified for set-aside purposes. No exceptions – must be listed in VETBIZ by close of announcement date. Please review this announcement, including all attachments, in their entirety. Request that prospective small business offerors complete and return a Capabilities Statement to identify firms who possess both the capability and experience to provide Grounds Maintenance/Landscaping Services. The Government is in no way obligated to do business with or to enter into any form of contract with any person, firm or other entity that receives or responds to this announcement. The government proposes to award a single award contract with 1 base year and (4) one year options for renewal. The solicitation will result in a firm fixed-price purchase order with an anticipated base award date on or about Jan 1, 2011 - September 30, 2011. This solicitation is issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 12 – Commercial Items, Part 13-Simplified Acquisition procedures and with Part 15, Best Value continuum. The Government anticipates a competitive acquisition for this award. The contractor shall provide all personnel and materials needed to perform Grounds Maintenance/Landscaping Services in accordance with the DRAFT Scope of Work included in this announcement. In addition to the information requested in the paragraph below, entitled "Capabilities Statement", responding parties must also indicate their size in relation to the applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The NAICS Code is 561730 with a Size Standard of $&.7 M. The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions therefore; the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The government intends to award a single award contract, however reserves the right to make a multiple award. Facsimile and telephonic requests are not acceptable. Solicitation will be available on or about 12/15/2010. All potential offerors must respond to this announcement no later than 1:00pm CST, December 14, 2010. Send email responses “Titled- Ground Maintenance/Landscaping Service, RFQ VA-257-11-RQ-0046? to contact@example.gov. Successful offerors must be registered with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) to be awarded a contract. Interest parties must submit a Capabilities Statement, with the cover sheet provided completed, BRIEF and CONCISE, yet clearly demonstrates ability to meet the stated requirements. The Capabilities Statement should clearly present evidence that the interested party feels is relevant. Capabilities Statements are to be presented in accordance with the attachment to this sources sought synopsis entitled "CAPABILITIES STATEMENT". ALMD HOSPITAL GROUNDS MAINTENANCE/LANDSCAPING SERVICE SCOPE OF WORK A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS A.1. Background: The Engineering Service, Grounds Section has an ongoing requirement to provide grounds maintenance service for the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital (ALMD). A.2. Purpose: To provide grounds maintenance to the VA Medical Center grounds to include a detached parking lot (P-9) located across the street from the main hospital on Wurzbach Road. A.3. Contractor Requirements: Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the contractor will furnish all necessary services, qualified personnel, equipment and supplies, not otherwise provided by the Government, to perform and maintain the maintenance of the ALMD Grounds. The Contractor will be obligated to provide services at the current rate. A.3.1. Overall Performance Requirements: It shall be the contractor s responsibility to design a method and system of how best to deliver the services to meet the Government s quality and performance requirements. The requirements contained herein are all performance-based with a focus on desired result and outcome. This represents a challenge to the contractor to develop and apply innovative and efficient approaches to the contract requirements. Performance-based contracting is a result of the overall shift in government management toward commercial business practices. The contractor will respond to comments and complaints from patrons and the Contracting Officer (CO) or the Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) immediately. In the case of equipment malfunctioning, the contractor will make every effort to immediately correct the problem to ensure patron satisfaction. If the problem is systemic, the contractor will submit a plan of correction to the CO and or COTR. The contractor must have all materials; equipment and labor in possession before beginning work in any of the areas designated in this contract. It is the contractor s responsibility to obtain required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for each of their employees and ensures that they are wearing, using, maintaining and storing equipment properly. All refuse generated by work shall be removed at the end of the working day. a. Affected Areas: All areas affected by refuse removal shall be restored to their original condition after the completion of all work. B. LAWN MAINTENANCE: Contractor is required to mow, trim, edge and blow, the VA Medical Center grounds, parking areas and detached (P-9) parking lot. Grounds will be mowed to a height of 4 to 5 inches (whichever is more applicable). All clumps, piles and windrows will be scattered, blown or otherwise removed. The grounds will be trimmed using string trimmers, edgers or other apparatus. All concrete abutments, sidewalks and curbs will be edged. Trees, signs, poles and other free- standing objects will be trimmed so as not to damage the object. The grounds will be blown with back- pack blowers so as to remove all clippings from sidewalks, streets and pedestrian ways. Grass areas will be free from clumps and windrows. The contractor will remove all debris generated as a result of this effort from VA Medical Center grounds. B.1. Hours of work: Work will be accomplished twice a month, Monday - Friday during normal duty hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Any work that must be completed outside of normal hours will be coordinated between contractor and building representatives with no less than a five (5) working day notice. Services will be required once a week preferably on Thursday or Friday, during normal duty hours (8:00am to 4:30pm). C. SHRUB MAINTENANCE: Contractor will trim shrubs at the Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital grounds, parking lot areas and detached parking lot areas in accordance with standard practices of the trade. In general, overgrown shrubs along the main entrance and surrounding the exterior of the main parking lot, to include the shrubs adjacent to all buildings will be trimmed to a height of approximately 4 feet. (This will be evaluated on a section- by- section basis, keeping the natural shape of the shrub intact.). All other shrubs will be trimmed to applicable heights so as not to block windows or obstruct pedestrian traffic flow. Clippings from shrub trimming will be promptly bagged or otherwise loaded and removed from VA Medical Center grounds. Old and newly cut leaves from underneath the shrubs, along with debris and other foreign matter will be raked and removed from the VA Medical Center grounds. Services to be provided include, but are not limited to: i. Weekly Interval 1. Mowing 2. Trimming trees and shrubs 3. Edging and blowing walkways and paths ii. As needed / As requested - Quarterly, Small Scale 1. Installing sod 2. Planting trees and shrubs 3. Aerating soil 4. Planting bedding areas 5. Removal of plants 6. Fertilizing and adding soil 7. Spraying islands with roundup for weeds Contractor will remove and replace selected shrubs from the VA Medical Center grounds. Specifically, the shrub rows immediately adjacent to and on both sides of the main entrance will be removed and the resulting soils will be tilled and/or amended in preparation for new shrub replacement. Gaps in the shrub rows along the exterior of the parking lot will be filled with like species. C.1. Hours of work: Work will be accomplished between Mondays - Fridays during normal duty hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Any work that must be completed outside of normal hours will be coordinated between contractor and building representatives with no less than a five (5) working day notice. D. SWEEP/VACUUM PARKING LOTS Contractor will provide all necessary barriers, cones and equipment to block parking lot scheduled for cleaning. Work will not be accomplished during periods of rain and / or wet weather. Contractor is responsible for sweeping all paved parking lots, roadways and warehouse loading dock areas, to include the parking lot P-9 (across the street from main hospital on Wurzbach Road). Contractor is to blow out all corners, curbs, sidewalks, car stops and parking lot islands of leaves and trash. All trash and debris picked up by the contractor will be disposed of in an open top container (dumpster), provided by the VA Hospital. Contractor will make sure any rocks, on all paved surfaces, are picked up and disposed of, either by returning rocks to rock area or in a designated dumpster. D.1. Hours of work: Work will not be accomplished on weekends, or government / national holidays unless coordinated between contractor and building representatives. Once a week interval every Wednesday (if not possible on Wednesday, then on Thursday) 1. Week one (a) Mow and trim front entrance area of hospital from Merton Minter Blvd to include: (1) Under canopy, (2) Audie L. Murphy statute island, (3) Front triangle area, (4) Both sides of road as you enter and exit the main entrance of hospital (b) Mow and trim all around Audie L. Murphy to include: (1) Parking lot #3 (2) Parking lot #6 (3) Front of ECTC (4) ECTC patio (5) GLA/GLB patio (6) AMM patio (7) Outside perimeter (Merton Minter Blvd, Melrose Holmgreen, Wurzbach Rd.) 2. Week two (a) Mow and trim front entrance area of hospital from Merton Minter Blvd to include: (1) Under canopy, (2) Audie L. Murphy statute island, (3) Front triangle area, (4) Both sides of road as you enter and exit the main entrance of hospital (b) Mow and trim Parking lot #9 (1) Ensure no debris is blown on any vehicles parked (c) Mow and trim Villa Serena E. STANDARD OF CONDUCTS AND APPEARANCE OF EMPLOYEES E.1. Conduct: The contractor will be responsible for controlling the employee s conduct and insure that employee and visitors of the ALMD hospital are treated with discretion, respect and courtesy at all times. The Government reserves the right to request the removal of any of the Contractor s employees assigned to the Grounds Maintenance or permit operations for reasonable cause (i.e., disorderly conduct). The CO or COTR will make such a request only to the Contractor s manager and/or designated representative. The CO will make all determinations regarding the removal of any employee(s) from the work site. In the event of a dispute, the employee shall be removed from the contract until there is a resolution of the facts and the CO renders a final decision. When the reason for the removal is due solely to misconduct or security on the part of the employee, replacement shall be at the Contractor’s expense and not chargeable to the Government. A determination of "unfit for duty may be made from, but not limited to, incidents involving the following types of misconduct: Neglect of official duty; including sleeping while on duty, unreasonable delays or failure to carry out assigned tasks, and or conducting personal affairs during official time. Falsification or unlawful concealment, removal mutilation, or destruction of Government property, official records or documents, or concealment of material facts by willful omissions from official records or documents. Disorderly conduct, use of abusive or offensive language, flirting or sexually suggestive language or actions in any form of discrimination or sexual harassment, quarreling, intimidation by words, action or fighting. Also, participation in disruptive activities, which interfere with the normal and efficient operations of the Government. Theft, vandalism, immoral conduct and or any other criminal actions. Selling, consuming or being under the influence of intoxicant, drugs or substances, which produce similar effects. Unauthorized use of Government communication equipment or other Government property including, but not limited to telephones, copying/fax machines, etc. E.2. Criminal Action: Contractor employees may be subject to criminal actions as allowed by law in certain circumstances. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Falsification or unlawful concealment, removal, mutilation, or destruction of Government property, official records or documents, or concealment of material facts by willful omission from official records or documents. Unauthorized use of Government equipment, property, theft, vandalism or immoral conduct. Unethical, improper use or misrepresentation of official authority or credentials. Contractor employees must conform to all local and other applicable regulations. The Contractor shall take appropriate action in the event an employee(s) become involved with civilian authorities as a result of misconduct or any other investigation, and immediately notify the Government Project Officer. Upon notification by civilian authorities of a pending investigation of a Contractor employee(s) the Contractor s Project Manager shall immediately notify the Government Project Officer. If the Project Officer is not available, notification must be relayed as soon as possible thereafter. The Government shall not exercise any direct supervision or control over the Contractor employees performing these services under this contract. Such Contractor personnel shall be accountable to the Contractor, who, in turn. Shall be accountable to the Government. E.3. Employee Requirements, ALMD hospital Identification and Parking: Employees hired to work under this contract will be citizens of the United States or, if aliens have the appropriate permits to work. Employees must be fluent in the English language. It is the contractor s responsibility to perform past performance reference checks in order to insure a secure and safe work environment to the ALMD hospital. The Contractor must perform a Public Trust Background Investigation on all employees working on this contract. The cost(s) of the background investigation will be at the contractor s expense. This back ground investigation will include the following items and will be conducted prior to the employee reporting to duty on the ALMD hospital. A. Wants/Warrants Check B. Criminal History Check C. Credit History Check D. Reference Check E. Past Employee History Check Those employees failing to receive a favorable background investigation will not be permitted to perform any duties or responsibilities under this contract. A summary of the background investigation on each employee assigned to this contract will be provided to the Contracting Officer or his/her designee prior to employee reporting to duty. Within one week upon award of the contract, the contractor must provide a list of all employees names, areas and duties assigned. This list shall be revised and given to the CO and or the COTR as turnovers of employees occur within two days. In order to comply with the ALMD hospital ID badge process the contractor shall so the following: Completed request card and return it to the Contracting Officer for processing. On the AM&M Coordinator returns the request card to the CO, the CO will then provide the card to the Contractor. The Contractor will insure that each employee obtains timely renewals of ID badges. The Contractor will return the ALMD hospital ID badges with two working days upon dismissal of an employee. The ALMDA hospital ID badge is the property of the United States Government. Upon expiration of the contract, the Contractor shall account for all the ALMD hospital ID badges on the last day of the contract. Parking on the employee parking area is limited. The Government reserves the right to change parking privileges for contractor employees any time during the contract period. As a general rule, only contractors with assigned office space and report to the office space on a daily basis will be permitted to obtain parking permits. All other employees should make every attempt to use alternative or public transportation. Villa Serena Domiciliary GROUNDS MAINTENANCE/LANDSCAPING SERVICE SCOPE OF WORK A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS A.1. Purpose: To provide grounds maintenance to the Villa Serena Domiciliary grounds. A.2. Contractor Requirements: Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the contractor will furnish all necessary services, qualified personnel, equipment and supplies, not otherwise provided by the Government, to perform and maintain the maintenance of the Villa Serena Domiciliary grounds. The Contractor will be obligated to provide services at the current rate. A.2.1. Overall Performance Requirements: It shall be the contractor s responsibility to design a method and system of how best to deliver the services to meet the Government s quality and performance requirements. The requirements contained herein are all performance-based with a focus on desired result and outcome. This represents a challenge to the contractor to develop and apply innovative and efficient approaches to the contract requirements. Performance-based contracting is a result of the overall shift in government management toward commercial business practices. The contractor will respond to comments and complaints from patrons and the Contracting Officer (CO) or the Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) immediately. In the case of equipment malfunctioning, the contractor will make every effort to immediately correct the problem to ensure patron satisfaction. If the problem is systemic, the contractor will submit a plan of correction to the CO and or COTR. The contractor must have all materials; equipment and labor in possession before beginning work in any of the areas designated in this contract. It is the contractor s responsibility to obtain required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for each of their employees and ensures that they are wearing, using, maintaining and storing equipment properly. All refuse generated by work shall be removed at the end of the working day. a. Affected Areas: All areas affected by refuse removal shall be restored to their original condition after the completion of all work. B. LAWN MAINTENANCE: Contractor is required to mow, trim, edge and blow all turf areas of the Villa Serena Domiciliary grounds. The grounds will be mowed to a height of 3 to 4 inches (whichever is more applicable). All clumps, piles and windrows will be scattered, blown or otherwise removed. The grounds will be trimmed using string trimmers, edgers or other apparatus. Lawn and grounds must present a smooth even appearance after mowing, trimming and or edging. All concrete abutments, sidewalks and curbs will be edged. Trees, signs, poles and other free- standing objects will be trimmed so as not to damage the object. The grounds will be blown with back- pack blowers so as to remove all clippings from sidewalks, streets and pedestrian ways. Grass areas will be free from clumps and windrows. The contractor will remove all debris generated as a result of this effort from the Villa Serena Domiciliary grounds, and will not use the facilities dumpsters, trash receptacles, etc. The week or weeks that mowing is not required, due to dry weather or extremely wet weather, hedges may be pruned instead of mowing at the discretion of the COTR appointed by the Contracting Officer. B.1. Hours of work: Work will be accomplished twice a month, Monday - Friday during normal duty hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Any work that must be completed outside of normal hours will be coordinated between contractor and building representatives with no less than a five (5) working day notice. C. SHRUB MAINTENANCE: Contractor will trim shrubs at the Villa Serena Domiciliary grounds in accordance with standard practices of the trade. In general, overgrown shrubs will be trimmed to a height of approximately 4 feet. (This will be evaluated on a section- by- section basis, keeping the natural shape of the shrub intact.). All other shrubs will be trimmed to applicable heights so as not to block windows or obstruct pedestrian traffic flow. Clippings from shrub trimming will be promptly bagged or otherwise loaded and removed from the Villa Serena Domiciliary grounds. Old and newly cut leaves from underneath the shrubs, along with debris and other foreign matter will be raked and removed from the grounds. C.1. Hours of work: Work will be accomplished twice a month, Monday - Friday during normal duty hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Any work that must be completed outside of normal hours will be coordinated between contractor and building representatives with no less than a five (5) working day notice. D. STANDARD OF CONDUCTS AND APPEARANCE OF EMPLOYEES D.1. Conduct: The contractor will be responsible for controlling the employee s conduct and insure that employee and visitors of the Villa Serena Domiciliary are treated with discretion, respect and courtesy at all times. The Government reserves the right to request the removal of any of the Contractor s employees assigned to the Grounds Maintenance or permit operations for reasonable cause (i.e., disorderly conduct). The CO or COTR will make such a request only to the Contractor s manager and/or designated representative. The CO will make all determinations regarding the removal of any employee(s) from the work site. In the event of a dispute, the employee shall be removed from the contract until there is a resolution of the facts and the CO renders a final decision. When the reason for the removal is due solely to misconduct or security on the part of the employee, replacement shall be at the Contractor s expense and not chargeable to the Government. A determination of "unfit for duty may be made from, but not limited to, incidents involving the following types of misconduct: Neglect of official duty; including sleeping while on duty, unreasonable delays or failure to carry out assigned tasks, and or conducting personal affairs during official time. Falsification or unlawful concealment, removal mutilation, or destruction of Government property, official records or documents, or concealment of material facts by willful omissions from official records or documents. Disorderly conduct, use of abusive or offensive language, flirting or sexually suggestive language or actions in any form of discrimination or sexual harassment, quarreling, intimidation by words, action or fighting. Also, participation in disruptive activities, which interfere with the normal and efficient operations of the Government. Theft, vandalism, immoral conduct and or any other criminal actions. Selling, consuming or being under the influence of intoxicant, drugs or substances, which produce similar effects. Unauthorized use of Government communication equipment or other Government property including, but not limited to telephones, copying/fax machines, etc. D.2. Criminal Action: Contractor employees may be subject to criminal actions as allowed by law in certain circumstances. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Falsification or unlawful concealment, removal, mutilation, or destruction of Government property, official records or documents, or concealment of material facts by willful omission from official records or documents. Unauthorized use of Government equipment, property, theft, vandalism or immoral conduct. Unethical, improper use or misrepresentation of official authority or credentials. Contractor employees must conform to all local and other applicable regulations. The Contractor shall take appropriate action in the event an employee(s) become involved with civilian authorities as a result of misconduct or any other investigation, and immediately notify the Government Project Officer. Upon notification by civilian authorities of a pending investigation of a Contractor employee(s) the Contractor s Project Manager shall immediately notify the Government Project Officer. If the Project Officer is not available, notification must be relayed as soon as possible thereafter. The Government shall not exercise any direct supervision or control over the Contractor employees performing these services under this contract. Such Contractor personnel shall be accountable to the Contractor, who, in turn. Shall be accountable to the Government. D.3. Employee Requirements, Identification and Parking: Employees hired to work under this contract will be citizens of the United States or, if aliens have the appropriate permits to work. Employees must be fluent in the English language. It is the contractor s responsibility to perform past performance reference checks in order to insure a secure and safe work environment to the Villa Serena Domiciliary. The Contractor must perform a Public Trust Background Investigation on all employees working on this contract. The cost(s) of the background investigation will be at the contractor s expense. This back ground investigation will include the following items and will be conducted prior to the employee reporting to duty on the Villa Serena Domiciliary. A. Wants/Warrants Check B. Criminal History Check C. Credit History Check D. Reference Check E. Past Employee History Check Those employees failing to receive a favorable background investigation will not be permitted to perform any duties or responsibilities under this contract. A summary of the background investigation on each employee assigned to this contract will be provided to the Contracting Officer or his/her designee prior to employee reporting to duty. Within one week upon award of the contract, the contractor must provide a list of all employees names, areas and duties assigned. This list shall be revised and given to the CO and or the COTR as turnovers of employees occur within two days. Parking on the employee parking area is limited. The Government reserves the right to change parking privileges for contractor employees any time during the contract period. As a general rule, only contractors with assigned office space and report to the office space on a daily basis will be permitted to obtain parking permits. All other employees should make every attempt to use alternative or public transportation. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GROUNDS MAINTENANCE /LANDSCAPING SERVICE (CAPABILITIES STATEMENT) Business Name: DUNS Number: CAGE Code: Company Size: • Annual revenue: Brief Description of Products or Services Sold: Physical Address: Mailing Address (If different from Physical Address): Web Page URL: Name(s) of Point(s) of Contact (POC): E-mail Address(es) of POC(s): Phone Number(s) of POC(s): Printed Name and Title of Person Submitting Capabilities Statement ___________________________________ _____________________ Signature Date Please submit a BRIEF capability statement explaining your company’s ability to provide the product described in the Statement of Work: