A001_West Crystal IRSC Site Visit Notes Q and A 07312024.pdf

West Crystal IRSC Site Visit Solicitation 12363N24R4010

July 31, 2024 at 0800

Contractors and Forest Service met at Canyon Lakes Ranger District office, 2150 Centre Ave, Building E, Fort Collins CO 80526. At 0805 the group left the district office and headed to the project area. Arrived on the project area at 0910 and reviewed line items and contract specifications.

See attached sign in sheet for potential offeror attendance The following Forest Service personnel attended.

Michael Montgomery ARNF-CLRD FSR/COR Janna Osofsky ARNF-CLRD SA/COR Gabe Henry ARNF-CLRD SA/COR Sean Frey ARNF-CLRD Pre-Sale Lead

Group drove through the contract area and stopped in the following locations:

• Larimer County Road 86 (Deadman Road). Location of temporary road access and required culvert install. Treatment units 120 and 199

• Treatment units 168 and 169

• Treatment units 163 and 164, and temporary road location with no culvert required

• Treatment Units 166 and 195

• Treatment Unit 182 and second culvert required location by Larimer County

• National Forest System Road (NFSR) 169 stopped at the break of Subdivision G

• Treatment Units 141 and 146

• NFSR 171.D, Treatment Unit 96, 95, 44, 51, and 43

• NFSR 171.D walked proposed temporary road location into Treatment Units 38B and 36

• NFSR 169 at the break of Subdivision D and optional units

• NFSR 195 Treatment Units 23, 22C, 106, and 98

• NFSR 169 Treatment Units 76, 25, 17, 13, 18, and 11B.

Forest Service concluded the site visit at 15:47 and left the project area.

Questions and Forest Service answers are documented below.

Question:

Why is there not product removal in the no product removal units (Line Item 2 units)?

Answer:

Reviewed Solicitation Schedule of items. The units without required product removal were determined to be mostly advanced regeneration or such a small amount of sawtimber as not to be economical to require the contractor to remove product. There will be no extra consideration given for any proposals to remove product in these Line item 2 or Line item 6 optional units.

Question:

Contractor stated that the lower gate on Deadman Road (LCR 86) is not in a safe location to stop trucks when the gate is closed during the winter season. Can the Contractor put a gate in a new location that is safer for stopping trucks in the winter?

Answer:

Forest Service responded to the group to address this concern in each individual proposal if they were concerned with the County Gate location and hauling impacts to operations in winter operations. Proposals related to installing a temporary gate to address this issue would be at contractor’s expense. Consultation with the County will be required.

Question:

What piece of equipment does the Forest Service expect to be used for the piling of designated material in the first 66’ of the units? Dozer with a brush rake? Excavator with a thumb? Loader?

Answer:

These are thinning treatment units and the residual trees should be protected. Many different types of equipment could be used to meet the desired result for the contract. Material could be skidded to landing during felling and skidding ops or use of other equipment to pick up and move material. Unit wide piling with a bulldozer and brush rake would not be acceptable to the Forest Service due to the damage to residual stand structure and other resource concerns.

Question:

There are a lot of prescriptions in this contract, it is a lot to keep track of. How much time will be dedicated to field inspection by the COR or administrator?

Answer:

Group reviewed Appendix A Section II- Requirements pursuant to all Item. Sufficient government oversight will be provided to this project. The project is high priority for the Forest and the COR/Inspector team will be accessible. The contract admin team will be out frequently at the start of operations to ensure that everyone is on the same page. The government is estimating 1-2 day per week due to the complexity of the contract and virtual boundaries.

Question:

Can machine piles be located throughout the treatment units?

Answer:

Prior to operations in each treatment unit, Forest Service will agree to pile locations with the contractor. The preference will be for the piled material to be at the landing when possible. Additional locations within the treatment unit may be agreed to.

Question:

Can trucks be loaded on the Deadman Road (LCR 86)?

Answer:

No. No log truck loading shall occur on Country Road LCR 86.

Question:

Pertaining to the traffic control requirements on the county road, is the flagging company or the contractor liable for the flagging company’s liability insurance?

Answer:

Contract award is between the government and prime contractor who is required to show proof of liability insurance. If the prime chooses to subcontract out this work, those specific terms and conditions are between the prime and the subcontractor.

When does the 30-day requirement for closing the temporary roads off of the county road start?

Answer:

The 30-day requirement starts after all work has been completed within the unit that the temporary road accesses. Solicitation 27 -Protection of Improvements not Owned by the Forest Service and Appendix B C5.34# Obliteration of Temporary Roads, Skid Trails and Landings.

Question:

Can rubber tired equipment without chains be operated on the county road?

Answer:

The intent is to protect the surface and integrity of the county road. Mats or other protective measures shall be used for tracked equipment or rubber tires with chains. If rubber tired equipment without chains is used it shall be done in a way to protect the road surface. Review Solicitation 27 - Protection of Improvements not Owned by the Forest Service.

Question:

When can contractor put in the required culverts for the temporary roads from Deadman Road LCR

86 to treatment units?

Answer:

Culverts may be installed as soon as the contract is awarded and prior to operations starting in those units that the temporary road accesses.

Question:

What if some but not all of the Forest Service road reconstruction segments are completed by September 30, 2024?

Answer:

Contractor will receive a day for a day in contract time for each day that the Forest Service has not completed all of the roads listed. It is not dependent on subdivisions or partial road completion by the Forest Service.

Question:

What are the requirements related to virtual boundaries designation?

Answer:

Review Appendix B- C2.30# Cutting Unit Boundaries-Contractor shall have equipment capable of identifying geo-fence boundary line with a 30’ tolerance. This tolerance is the capability/specifications of the equipment, it is not a plus/minus allowance on the virtual boundary line.

Question:

What is the pink painted boundaries located within the contract area?

Answer:

Reviewed Appendix B- Cutting Unit Boundaries. Contract area contain additional paint for future proposed contracts. Refer contract area map for this solicitation on which units are included in this project.

Can we walk equipment on LCR 86 to move between units with protective measure such as mats?

Answer:

The intent is to protect the road surface of the county roads. If using mats protects the road surface while mobilizing from one unit to another then equipment may be walked on the road. Forest Service may also agree to walk the equipment cross country between units if feasible and if other resource concerns are protected. This agreement would be on a unit by unit basis.

Question:

Can skidding operations occur on National Forest System Roads?

Answer:

Skidding on National Forest System roads (NFSR) will be considered where appropriate with agreements and protections in place. Agreement to skid on NFSR roads shall be agreed to prior to operations on each road segment that skidding will occur. Reviewed Appendix B 6.423 Skidding on Roads.

Is equipment cleaning required between the units?

Answer:

No. Equipment will be required to be cleaned and free of weeds and debris prior to entry into contract area, but not in between each unit or subdivision. Solicitation Item 31- Equipment Cleaning/Noxious Weed Control

Question:

What is a POD?

Answer:

POD is a Potential Operational Delineation. Essentially it is an area predefined as a potential fire line or control area where we are doing fuels treatments. See Appendix A-Section VI-Definitions.

Question:

Proposed contract is 5 years in length and many costs are unknown for this length of time. Would the

Forest Service consider a scheduled pricing adjustment, or a fuel adjustment to this contract to address changing costs?

Answer:

This is a firm fixed price contract and as such no scheduled pricing adjustment will be given.

Question:

Under Road maintenance requirements, is the contractor required to open plugged culverts?

Answer:

Review Appendix C- Road Maintenance Requirements- Road maintenance is commensurate with use. Forest Service and Contractor both have maintenance responsibilities. Water trucks or excavators are not required to blow out or replace culverts that are plugged solid under the road.

Contractor would be required to clean out inlets and outlets and clear out partially blocked culverts as part of maintenance requirements. Contractor is responsible to meet all other T specifications requirements. Contract contains pre, during and post haul maintenance.

Question:

Will we have to rake pine needles and pinecones off the road to meet road maintenance requirement?

No. National Forest System Roads may be used to skid on during operations for subdivisions that are closed to the public by written agreement. These roads shall be kept reasonably free of logging debris and slash during operations, and returned to original condition after skidding is complete.

This means drivable condition for traffic and functioning drainage; it does not require sweeping or raking needles and cones.

Question:

Will mastication of material be allowed?

Answer:

No. Proposals containing mastication as a slash treatment option will not be considered. Forest Plan and NEPA document do not allow for mastication on this project.

When proposals are being evaluated by the Forest Service, will the mandatory and optional line items pricing be evaluated separately or as a whole?

The Government will evaluate pricing for ALL items, both mandatory and optional, and will award based on best value to the government. Pricing is evaluated on a line item by line item basis, but also as a sum of all mandatory and optional items (project as a whole). Technical approach will be approximately equal to cost or price. Solicitation 52-Evaluation-Commercial Products and Commercial Services.

Question:

When is the deadline for questions to be submitted?

Answer:

All questions must be submitted to Contracting Officer in writing by 12 pm MST on August 19, 2024.

Allow sufficient time for the Government to respond.

Forest Service Clarification:

Any questions pertaining to the Road Use Liability Insurance requirements shall be put in writing to CO Ingrid Anderson.

Forest Service Clarification:

Forest Service clarified that optional line items will not be awarded on an individual unit-by-unit basis, but rather in a logical group of units or by subdivision, if not as a whole.

Forest Service Clarification:

Solicitation allows for hand or mechanical operations. The Forest preference is for mechanical piling of material. Government award will be based on best value to the government.

There is an error in the solicitation regarding Limber Pine treatment. Limber pine is to be thinned, treated as slash and not removed from the contract area. This is addressed in Amendment 001.

There is an error in the solicitation regarding non-sawtimber utilization standards. This is corrected in Amendment 001.