Attachment A - Statment of Work.docx

SOW FOR LAWN CARE MAINTENANCE SERVICES

USDA FOREST SERVICE, Oxford, MS

STATEMENT OF WORK

LAWN CARE MAINTENANCE SERVICES

FOR

USDA FOREST SERVICE, STREAM ECOLOGY LABORATORY, OXFORD, MS

1.0 SCOPE

The service in this contract will consist of all jobs necessary to maintain and meet the technical specifications. This needs to be consistent with what normally is expected around commercial buildings.

The Contractor shall provide all labor, supplies, supervision, tools, materials, equipment, and transportation necessary to provide grounds maintenance.

The Contractor is responsible for and will replace within 24 hours, any damage caused by mowing or trimming or by flying rocks or debris. This includes but not limited to HVAC & blower units, sewer caps/lines, in ground lighting, meter or valve boxes or other structures. Damage to plants/hedges/trees caused by Contractor will be replaced with 24 hours.

All areas shall be kept clean, neat, free of fire and safety hazards, and unsanitary conditions.

2.0 PERFORMANCE BASED SERVICE CONTACT

This work is being solicited as a performance based contract. Performance based means the Contractor is responsible for a quality end product. If a quality end product is not provided, an adjustment to the payment will be made. Payment will be made upon acceptance of job performance.

3.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Grounds maintenance services are required for the USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Oxford Lab, Oxford, MS. The area to be maintained includes the entire grounds located at the Forest Service building located at 1000 Front St., Oxford, MS 38655.

4.0 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

4.1 GROUNDS MAINTENANCE AS NEEDED (MARCH THROUGH OCTOBER)).

4.2 Prior to mowing, the Contractor shall remove all rubbish, debris, and trash. (This includes but not to limited to fallen limbs, rocks, paper or other objects.) Disposal of rubbish, debris, etc. is to be at an offsite location in accordance the existing local, state and federal regulations at no additional cost to customer.

4.3 The Contractor will mow the grasses in a manner to continually maintain a height range of a minimum of 2.5 inches and maximum of 4 inches. Clippings on lawn areas shall be removed when there is such a concentration of clippings the life of the plants are in danger (no clumping). Grass cutting shall be accomplished in a manner such that it is free of scalping rutting, bruising, and uneven and rough cutting. Contractor mower blades are to be sharp to provide a high quality cut.

4.4 Trim bushes two times per year. Dispose of trimming. Remove weeds from among bushes. Includes bushes around flagpole, along North and South sides of Building and in parking lot median.

4.5 Pressure wash front porch, sidewalks and curbs two times per year. Contractor shall furnish his/her own equipment to perform the above tasks.

4.6 Edging and trimming shall be accomplished concurrently with grass cutting operations. Edging of sidewalks and other paved surfaces, and around other cultivated areas is to be accomplished to match the height and appearance of surrounding vegetation. Edging is to be accomplished in a manner such that it is free of scalping, rutting, bruising, uneven and rough cutting. Edging shall include removal of vegetation from cracks in sidewalks, driveways, parking areas, and curbs. Trees, plants, and shrubs shall not be damaged by any trimming operations. If damaged the Contractor will replace or repair within 24 hours at no additional cost to the customer.

4.7 Mow entire front, back and side lawn, every other week during growing season. All grass clippings shall be removed when clippings are not mulched on initial mowing. Mowing area very roughly estimated to be around 4.2 acres. Tree trunks must not be damaged (i.e. no cuts in bark) by lawn maintenance equipment. Includes mowing and weed eating inside of fence around experimental tanks, mowing trails through trees to northeast of building, mowing area where bamboo is currently piled (west of building) once bamboo is removed, and mowing completely around experimental tank fence. The COR will provide a guided tour of this specific site and the extreme importance to follow the instructions, as to not disrupt Stream Ecology Lab area.

4.8 Weed free (spray) all sidewalks and driveway, parking areas as needed. Contractor will remove and control weed growth in hedges, and plants around buildings, and parking areas; utilizing an approved and safe herbicide or other eradiation treatment, physical removal by hand, or with garden tools. Herbicides should follow all local, state and federal regulations and are to be followed when applying pesticides. NEVER SPRAY OR USE HERBICIDES along or inside of the fence around the experimental tanks.

4.9 Trim/hedge bushes around all heating and air conditioning units at each building, as needed. Contractor is responsible for any damaged to HVAC units, coils or blower units caused by trimming or hedging and shall replace or repair within 24 hours at no additional cost to the customer.

4.10 Trim shrubs as needed with the standard commercial landscaping guidelines.

4.11 Contractor shall blow all clippings from sidewalks, parking areas, curbs, and all entrances to buildings immediately following any mowing, trimming, edging, pruning or weeding.

5.0 SAFETY

The Contractor will be responsible for conducting appropriate safety measures. No one under the age of 18 is allowed on the worksite due to safety reasons.

6.0 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS

All equipment and supplies necessary to perform the statement of work.

7.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The base period for this contract is from June 1, 2024 to October 31, 2024.

Four potential option year periods are also included in this requirement.

Option 1 Lawn Care Maintenance at Oxford Laboratory Period of Performance: March 1, 2025 to October 31, 2025

Option 2 Lawn Care Maintenance at Oxford Laboratory Period of Performance: March 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026

Option 3 Lawn Care Maintenance at Oxford Laboratory Period of Performance: March 1, 2027 to October 31, 2027

Option 4 Lawn Care Maintenance at Oxford Laboratory Period of Performance: March 1, 2028 to October 31, 2028

8.0 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

8.1 Additional Inspection Requirements. The Government will make periodic random inspections to determine that Contractor is in compliance with the specifications of this contract. The Contractor is encouraged to observe these inspections.

8.2 Acceptance. Acceptance of the work will be made only after the Government has determined the work to be in compliance with the contract.

9.0 MEASUREMENT AND PAYMENT

This contract is a performance based service contract. Payment will be processed monthly on completion of services and receipt of a properly executed invoice in the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP.gov) system.

10.0 DELIVERIES AND PERFORMANCE

Hours of Performance. Grounds maintenance services shall be performed Monday through Friday with the exception of U.S. Government holidays. Hours of services to be performed shall be coordinated with the COR.

11.0 INVOICING AND PAYMENTS: All payments are processed using the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). This is a mandatory requirement initiated by the U.S. Department of Treasury and you can find more information at this website: https://www.ipp.gov/index.htm . Please make sure that your company has registered at https://www.ipp.gov/vendors/enrollment-vendors.htm to establish your account.

The IPP Customer Support Desk is available to assist users Monday through Friday (excluding Federal holidays) from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET, to answer questions related to accessing IPP or completing the registration process. Their toll free number is 1-866-973-3131 or they can be reached at IPPCustomerSupport@fms.treas.gov . If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact the Controller Operations Division Help Desk at 1-877-243-3072 or cod.help@usda.gov

12.0 BIOBASED PRODUCT: The Contractor must comply with the Agriculture Act of 2014; the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA), 7 U.S.C. 8102; the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 9FSRIA), 7 U.S.C. 8102; the Federal Acquisition Regulations; Executive Order (EO) 13514, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance”, dated October 2, 2009; EO 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management;, dated January 24, 2007; and Presidential Memorandum, “Driving Innovation and Creating Jobs in Rural America through Bio based and Sustainable Product Procurement,” dated February , 2012 to provide bio based products.

All supplies and materials shall be of a type and quantity that conform to applicable Federal specifications and standards, and to the extent feasible and reasonable; include the exclusive use of bio based and recycled products.

The following is a list of categories for bio-preferred products that are required for performance of this contract:

Disposable Containers (oil & lubricants) For more information regarding the Department of Agriculture Bio based Program go to: https://www.biopreferred.gov

TASK FREQUENCY SCHEDULE

SERVICE DELIVERY SUMMARY

The Contractor service requirements are summarized as performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement. These thresholds are critical to the mission success.

GOVERNMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN FOR GROUNDS MAINTENANCE SERVICES

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) has been developed to evaluate Contractor actions with implementing this Statement of Work. It is designed to provide an effective surveillance method of monitoring Contractor performance for each listed objective on the Service Delivery Summary (SDS) in the maintenance contract.

The QASP provides a systematic method to evaluate the services the Contractor is required to furnish.

The Contractor and not the Government is responsible for management and quality control actions to meet the terms of the contract. The role of the government is quality assurance to ensure contract standards are achieved.

In this contract the quality control program is the driver for service quality. The Contractor is required to develop a QUALITY CONTROL PLAN for inspections and monitoring actions. The first major step to ensuring a “self-correcting” contract is to ensure that the quality control program approved at the beginning of the contract provides the measures needed to lead the Contractor to success.

Once the quality control program is approved, careful application of the process and standards presented in the remainder of this document will ensure a high quality assurance program.

SURVEILLANCE: The government quality assurance (QA) person will receive complaints from Station personnel and pass them to the Contractor’s quality control inspector (QCI) for correction.

STANDARD: 95% of all facilities are without customer complaints for the month or service period. For example, the QA should receive no more than 5 customer complaints during the service period. The QA shall notify the contracting officer for appropriate action in accordance with FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items or the appropriate Inspection of Services clauses, if any of the above exceed five customer complaints.

PROCEDURES: Any Stream Ecology Lab or Holly Springs Ranger District Forest Service employee that observes unacceptable services, either incomplete or not performed for any of the above performance objectives will notify the COR on site, and the COR shall immediately contact the Station QA personnel, and the QA will complete appropriate documentation to record the compliant. The QA will consider the customer complaint valid upon receipt from the COR on site. The QA will inform the customer of the approximate time the unacceptable performance will be corrected and advise the COR/customer. The COR/customer will notify the station QA if not corrected in the acceptable timeframe. The QA will consider complaints as resolved unless otherwise notified by the COR/customer. The QA shall verbally notify the Contractor’s Quality Control Inspector (QCI) and will be given 24 hours after verbal notification to correct the unacceptable performance. If the Contractor QCI disagrees with the compliant after investigation of the site and challenges the validity of the compliant, the Contractor will notify the stations QA. If the station QA determines the complaint as invalid, they will document the written complaint of the findings and notify the COR/customer on-site. The QA will retain the annotated copy of the written complaint for his/her files. If after investigation the QA determines the complaint is valid, the QA will inform the Contractors QCI and the QCI will be given an additional hour to correct the defect. A defect will not be recorded if properly and timely corrected the unacceptable condition(s) is accomplished. The Contractors QCI shall return the written customer complaint document, properly completed with actions taken, to the station QA. Recurring customer complaints are not permitted for any of the above service items. If a repeat customer complaint is received indicating the same deficiency during the service period (month, quarter, etc.) the QA will contact the Contracting Officer (CO).

POLICY ON PREVENTION OF WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

The Forest Service is committed to creating and maintaining a work environment in which all people are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect, and are free from harassment. This commitment extends to all Forest Service employees, contractors, and anyone who does business with us. We will hold any employee who engages in harassing behavior accountable. We can only take action when we are aware of the behavior, and encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses harassment by a Forest Service employee to immediately report it. Reports can be made to any Forest Service management official or by calling our Harassment Reporting Center toll free at (844) 815-8943. For more information, read the full Anti-Harassment Policy.

The Harassment Reporting Center was established in November 2017 to provide a dedicated resource to report harassment within the Forest Service. The Harassment Reporting Center is available 7 days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern by calling their toll-free number – (844) 815-8943.

Attachment 02