This is a combined Synopsis/Solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Firm, fixed-price quotes are requested under Request for Quotation (RFQ) Solicitation number F14PS01125. This document incorporates provisions and clauses which are in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-72. This solicitation is full and open under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 115112 "Soil Preparation, Planting and Cultivating", The Small Business Size Standard for this NAICS is $7 Million (average annual receipts). TREE PLANTING Tree Planting at Julia Butler Hansen and Ridgefield Refuges Estimated Start Date: November 1, 2014 Estimated Period of Performance: November 1, 2014 April 15, 2014 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. General The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Willapa National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 3888 SR 101, Ilwaco, WA 98624-9707, has a requirement to plant approximately 30,000 native trees on the Mainland Unit of the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge (JBH NWR) near Cathlamet, Washington and 15,000 native trees and shrubs on the Ridgefield NWR near Ridgefield, Washington. 2. Scope The contractor will provide labor, planting tools and temporary cold storage as needed to plant native riparian vegetation on the Mainland Unit of the Julia Butler Hansen NWR and at Ridgefield NWR. The contract calls for a total of 45,000 (30,000 at JBH and 15,000 at Ridgefield) native bare root stock trees and live stakes to be planted on approximately 75 acres of the refuges (50 acres at JBH and 25 acres at Ridgefield) between November 1, 2014 and April, 2015 (November to February at Ridgefield, March to April at JBH). At JBH, species will consist of the following bare root stock and live stakes: 4,500 Sitka Spruce (2-3), 3,000 Black Cottonwood (4-5), 3,000 Red Alder (3-4), 3,000 Sitka Willow (3) 3,000 Pacific Willow (3-4), 4,500 Red-Osier Dogwood (2-3), 3,000 Snowberry, 3,000 Pacific Ninebark (2-3), and 3,000 Bitter Cherry (2-3). Sizes and species may vary depending on availability. At Ridgefield the species will consist of 4,500 black cottonwood and 300 Pacific willow 4-5live stake cuttings; 4,400 red-osier dogwood, 4,100 common snowberry, 400 Oregon ash, and 1300 Indian plum 18-30 bare rootstock/rooted cuttings. Live stake cuttings may be substituted for rooted cuttings for red-osier dogwood depending on availability. Planting shall begin at JBH no later than the third week of March (March 14th) and be completed no later than the third week of April (April 15), 2015. Note: Depending on availability of plants and field conditions, planting may be started prior to the third week of March at JBH. Planting at Ridgefield NWR shall occur as one event to be scheduled between November 1, 2014 and February 28, 2015. Planting will be conducted by hand in previously tilled and untilled refuge pastures. The contractor will need to provide temporary cold storage for the plants either on-site or at a nearby location. The contractor may need to coordinate with the plant suppliers in order to pick up trees prior to planting at JBH. Ridgefield will arrange deliver of planting materials to the planting sites. Conditions may be muddy and wet and accessibility will likely be limited to foot or ATV traffic in order to access many of the planting sites. A map of the planting locations will be provided and site visits can be arranged prior to bidding. The areas selected for planting at JBH will be either mowed, tilled, and/or sprayed with a herbicide in late summer 2014. Ridgefield sites will be mowed. It is likely that some of these sites may have dense grass re-growth by March 2015. Monitoring will be conducted by the Refuges during early fall 2015 to determine survivorship. The contractor will be required to replace plants if less than 70% survival is determined. The following specifications will be followed when planting trees. 1) Prune off all broken, bruised damaged or badly kinked roots. 2) Dig the plant hole twice as wide and only as deep as the root system. Roots should fit easily into the hole without bending. The depth of the planting hole should just accommodate the depth of the plants root system. 3) Set the plant in the hole so roots are completely buried and stems remain completely above ground. 4) Live stakes should be pushed into the ground so that (18-24) of the plant is below ground. Grasse sod will need to be scalped at live stake sites to provide a smooth surface for tree protector fit. 5) Backfill the hole with native soil and tamp down gently to eliminate air pockets. Live stake pockets should be pinched closed.. 6) Install tree protectors (24-36 biodegradable mesh tree protectors) with bamboo stakes and plastic ties or steel landscape staples around each individual tree or cutting. The base of the tree protectors should be flush with the ground. 7) Bare root stock trees/cuttings will be planted at a rate of approximately 600 per acre over approximately 50 acres. Row spacing should be 10 feet and 7 feet within the rows. 8) Fruit trees will be fenced. 9) Plant trees 10 from all fences. 3. Government Furnished Items Government will supply bare root trees and/or live stakes, 24-36 biodegradable mesh tree protectors, bamboo stakes, and/or plastic ties or steel landscape staples. Julia Butler Hansen will provide fencing materials for fruit trees. Ridgefield NWR will mark 10 rows with flagged stakes at 200 intervals on planting sites and provide a planting mix row pattern. Ridgefield will deliver to the edge of the planting site all trees and shrubs, and planting materials (36 mesh tubes, landscape staples, and 36 bamboo stakes as needed). 4. Contractor Furnished Items Contractor will provide planting labor, planting tools, transportation, and cold storage for trees/live stakes (if needed). 5. PLACE/DELIVERY AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE A. Place of Performance: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mainland Unit, Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 566, Cathlamet, Washington 98612 and Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge 28908 NW Main Ave, Ridgefield, WA 98642 B. Period of Performance: November 1, 2014, through April 15th, 2015. The dates of the work window may be modified slightly depending on weather and site conditions. Any modification to the period of performance will be mutually agreed upon between the Refuge and the Contractor. 6. EVALUATION AND ACCEPTANCE All tree planting operations will be monitored and approved by the refuge manager prior to payment. Acceptance of work will be determined by the Contractor's compliance with the specifications of this contract, as observed by the Project Inspector, and determined by an inspection of the planted area. Quotes will be evaluated as a Best Value for the Government (Price and Past Performance). Please list 2-3 past jobs that are similar in scope to this requirement and include a point of contact name and phone number. 7. TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Julia Butler Hansen Refuge Keely Lopez, 360-795-3915
[email protected] Ridgefield NWR Alex Chmielewski, 360-887-3883
[email protected] 8. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE 1. 52.252-02 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (JUN 1988) This contract incorporates the following clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (48 CFR CHAPTER 1) CLAUSES 52.246-01 Contractor Inspection Requirements (Apr 1984) 52.246-4 Inspection of Services--Fixed-Price (Aug 1996) 9. ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1 Tree Planting SOW Attachment 2 Service Contract Act Wage Determination The following provisions and clauses apply to this procurement: FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items is applicable, and the following shall be included in paragraph (a) of this provision. Quotes will be evaluated on past performance, and price listed in descending order of importance. Past performance will be based on the Contracting Officers knowledge, contacting provided references, and other reasonable sources. FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items (paragraph (b) following clauses apply; FAR 52.219-6; FAR 52.222-3; FAR 52.222-21; FAR 52.222-22; FAR 52.222-26; FAR 52.222-36; FAR 52.232-33); (paragraph (c) following clauses apply; FAR 52.222-41; FAR 52.222-42); FAR 52.204-7 System for Award Management; FAR 52.223-6 Drug-Free Workplace; FAR 52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving; FAR 52.236-2 Differing Site Conditions; FAR 52.237-1 Site Visit; FAR 52.242-15 Stop-Work Order. The full text of these provisions and clauses may be accessed electronically at http://www.acquisition.gov/far or upon request to the Contracting Officer. SAMS Registration Requirements: Interested contractors must be registered in and must complete the annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) at http://www.sam.gov in order to be eligible for award. For information regarding registration visit www.sam.gov. ELECTRONIC INVOICING AND PAYMENT REQUIREMENTS - INVOICE PROCESSING PLATFORM (IPP) (APRIL 2013) Payment requests must be submitted electronically through the U. S. Department of the Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform System (IPP). "Payment request" means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment by the Contractor. To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in the applicable Prompt Payment clause included in the contract, or the clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items included in commercial item contracts. The IPP website address is: https://www.ipp.gov. Under this contract, the following documents are required to be submitted as an attachment to the IPP invoice: (a) Copy of Company Generated Invoice. The Contractor must use the IPP website to register access and use IPP for submitting requests for payment. The Contractor Government Business Point of Contact (as listed in SAM) will receive enrollment instructions via email from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB) prior to the contract award date, but no more than 3 -5 business days of the contract award date. Contractor assistance with enrollment can be obtained by contacting the IPP Production Helpdesk via email ipp&,
[email protected] or phone (866) 973-3131. If the Contractor is unable to comply with the requirement to use IPP tor submitting invoices for payment, the Contractor must submit a waiver request in writing to the Contracting Officer with its proposal or quotation. (End of Local Clause) Quotes shall be submitted in writing on company letterhead and must include the RFQ number, the company name, point of contact, address, phone number, fax number, DUNS number, the unit price, and the extended price. All proposals must be submitted to the contracting officer via email by 12 pm PST on August 26, 2014 to
[email protected]