RECORVERY-Award: Vegetative Aerial Spraying (ARRA)FFS Project # R4MDTAS::14 1610::TAS

RECOVERY (ARRA)Contract # 40181RM053Awarded to: Summit Helicopters Inc. DUNs # 054816616Cloverdale, VAAward amount: $105,000.00Date of Award: March 17, 2010 The goal of this project is to restore wetland swales on approximately 690 acres within Florida Scrub Jay Habitat Reserves at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Previous fire suppression actions allowed grass swales to become invaded by woody vegetation. This project will remove the woody vegetation, allowing the emergent grasses to return. The project includes aerial application of herbicides to treat hardwood trees and shrubs within wetland swale marshes. The contractor will use a helicopter to accurately treat vegetation in narrow linear marshes within the scrub landscape. A Time & Material contract was awarded due to the work area being large and difficult to access, which was difficult to accurately map treatment sites. Contractors would have a difficult time visually assessing the amount of vegetation which would need to be treated. If this contract were fixed price, many contractors would be discouraged from bidding due to inability to fully assess what work is actually required, or alternatively, they may have significantly increased their prices to take into consideration potential risk (of underbidding). A Time & Materials contract will provide the flexibility to maximize the use of available funds and allow treatment of the most problematic areas.