12445023Q0023_Attachment_1_Bent Creek Mowing Statement of Work_SOW.pdf

SRS Bent Creek, Asheville, NC Lawn Maintenance

STATEMENT OF WORK

LAWN CARE MAINTENANCE SERVICES

FOR

USDA FOREST SERVICE, BENT CREEK EXPERIMENTAL FOREST, ASHEVILLE, NC

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. Special caution is needed around the historical buildings and rock walls, scientific instruments and weather station. Damage to plants, hedges, or trees caused by Contractor will be replaced within 24 hours. All areas shall be kept clean, neat, free of fire and safety hazards, and unsanitary conditions.

2.0 MANAGEMENT

The Contractor must manage the total work effort associated with the ground’s maintenance services required herein to assure fully adequate and timely completion of these services.

Included in this function will be a full range of management duties including, but not limited to, planning, scheduling, report preparation, and quality control. The Contractor must provide an adequate staff of personnel with the necessary management expertise to assure the performance of the work in accordance with sound and efficient management practices.

3.0 WORK CONTROL

The Contractor must implement all necessary work control procedures to ensure timely accomplishment of work requirements, as well as to permit tracking of work in progress. The Contractor must plan and schedule work to assure labor, equipment, and material are available to complete work requirements within the specified time limits and in conformance with the quality standards established herein. Written schedules and status reports must be provided when requested by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

4.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Grounds maintenance services are required for the USDA Forest Service, Southern Research

Station, Bent Creek Experimental Forest campus site, 1577 Brevard Road, Asheville, NC 28806. The area to be maintained is highlighted in the map provided. The Bent Creek Campus is on the National Register of Historic Places.

5.0 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

5.1 GROUNDS MAINTENANCE AS NEEDED (APRIL THROUGH NOVEMBER) BUT

NOT MORE THAN EVERY 10 DAYS. SEE SECTION 5.3 FOR SPECIFICATIONS.

5.2 Prior to mowing, the Contractor shall remove all rubbish, debris, and trash. (This includes but not limited to fallen limbs, rocks, paper, or other objects.) Historical rock paths cannot be altered or removed.

5.3 The Contractor will mow the grass in a manner to continually maintain a height range of a minimum of 3.5 inches and maximum of 4.5 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, uneven, and rough cutting. Contractor mower blades are to be sharp to provide a high-quality cut.

5.4 Mowing equipment for all areas shall utilize mulching blades.

5.5 Edging and Trimming. All sidewalks, driveways, street edges, curbs, other paved areas, and shrubbery areas located must be edged each time mowing occurs. Edging must create a l/2 inch wide and l inch deep clear zone immediately adjacent to the paved surface. All edging must be by mechanical means. The edging operation must include removal of grass and other vegetation which has encroached onto street and other paved surfaces from adjoining grassed areas. Where driveway or street pavement edge is not discernable due to grass encroachment, a straight and even line approximating the edge of pavement must be established and maintained. The edging operation must produce neat, clean lines along the sides of sidewalks and other areas edged, and must be accomplished free of scalping, rutting, bruising, uneven and rough cutting. If damaged the Contractor will replace or repair within 24 hours at no additional cost to the customer. All vegetation growing in the following areas must be removed during the edging operation:

1. Sidewalk and driveway expansion joints and cracks.

2. Street/driveway curbing expansion joints.

3. Cracks between curbing and street/driveway pavement.

For continued maintenance of vegetation growing in cracks and expansion joints, herbicide treatment (see Section 5.8) may be utilized to reduce the amount of mechanical work. The use of herbicides must not be allowed for the purpose of eliminating or reducing normal mechanical edging along straight paved edges (sidewalks, etc.). Debris generated by edging operations, which falls on or is thrown on sidewalks, on curbs, in gutters, streets, or is thrown on nearby sod, causing an unsightly appearance, must be removed from the site the day of the edging operation and disposed offsite.

5.6 Mowing around the weather stations, scientific instruments, raised plant beds in fenced area behind Training Center, and historic buildings MUST NOT have any blown materials thrown towards the basement windows and instrument panels. In addition, do not mow or weed eat flowerbeds.

5.7 Weed eat weeds coming through juniper groundcover to same level with junipers at training center and resistance screening center in front of greenhouses and hill side.

5.8 Herbicides No herbicides or pesticides will be applied without COR approval. The Contractor should manage invasive and noxious weeds via mechanical or hand removal.

The Contractor must also use USDA Certified Biobased Weed Control Products listed in Attachment 2. Herbicide controls must be formulated to target specific plants and must be implemented only when pests have reached aesthetic or health thresholds verified by the CO. The Contractor must not perform regularly scheduled, periodic herbicide applications except in situations where no other approach or technology is available to protect personnel or property of high value. If herbicides are to be used, the application must occur during unoccupied hours and the Contractor must be licensed by the applicable State agency to provide pesticide application in the categories specified in this contract. All work must be under the superintendence of a certified, responsible individual, and in accordance with Federal, State, local laws and requirements. The Contractor must submit Material Safety Data Sheets meeting the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1200(g) and the latest version of Federal Standard No. 313 for all hazardous chemicals to be used.

5.9 Control Methods. The Contractor must utilize only herbicides registered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Use must be in strict compliance with label directions for the control of the target weeds. Herbicides selected, application rates, and application techniques must have the prior approval of the COR. Additionally, the Contractor must control pests using integrated pest management principles (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/ipm.htm).Contractor is responsible for any damaged to HVAC units, coils or blower units caused by trimming or blowers and shall be replace or repair within 24 hours at no additional cost to the customer.

5.10 Contractor shall blow all clippings from sidewalks, parking areas, curbs, and all entrances to buildings following any mowing, trimming, and edging. Contractor shall never blow clippings into the raised plant beds in fenced area behind the Training Center, towards historical buildings, scientific instruments, and weather station. Blow all debris and insects off porch area at training center.

6.0 SAFETY

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

7.0 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS

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

8.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The base period for this contract is from May 15, 2023 to March 31, 2024. Four potential option year periods are also included in this requirement.

Option 1 Lawn Care Maintenance at Bent Creek Experimental Forest campus site Period of Performance: April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025

Option 2 Lawn Care Maintenance at Bent Creek Experimental Forest campus site Period of Performance: April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026

Option 3 Lawn Care Maintenance at Bent Creek Experimental Forest campus site Period of Performance: April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027

Option 4 Lawn Care Maintenance at Bent Creek Experimental Forest campus site Period of Performance: April 1, 2027 to March 31, 2028

9.0 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

9.1 Additional Inspection Requirements. The Government will make periodic random inspections to determine that Contractor complies with the specifications of this contract.

The Contractor is encouraged to observe these inspections.

9.2 Acceptance of the work will be made only after the Government has determined the work complies with the contract.

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 Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA), Executive Order (EO) 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management," and the Federal Acquisition Regulation to provide biobased products.

The Contractor shall utilize products and material made from biobased materials (e.g., biobased greases, biobased hydraulic fluids, biobased absorbents) to the maximum extent possible without jeopardizing the intended end use' or detracting from the overall quality delivered to the end user. All supplies and materials shall be of a type and quality that conform to applicable Federal specifications and standards.

All supplies and materials to be used in the performance of work described herein are subject to the approval of the CO.

The following are examples of products that may be used in this contract for which biobased products are available. The list is not all inclusive. It is desirable that vendors be able to supply the greatest number of biobased products listed meeting the health and environmental specifications.

Herbicides Mulch and Compost Gardening Supplies and Accessories

Biobased products that are designated for preferred procurement under USDA's Bio-Preferred program must meet the required minimum biobased content as stated at www.biopreferred.gov The Contractor shall provide data for their biobased products such as biobased content. ·

In addition to the biobased products designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Bio- Preferred Program, the Contractor is encouraged to use other biobased products.

The Contractor shall comply with the provision at FAR 52.223-1, Biobased Product Certification.

The Contractor shall comply with the clause at FAR 52.223-2, Affirmative Procurement of Biobased Products Under Service and Construction Contracts.

A Contractor may propose more than one product within a product category and/or propose a product or products addressing more than one product category.

https://www.ipp.gov/index.htm https://www.ipp.gov/vendors/enrollment-vendors.htm mailto:IPPCustomerSupport@fms.treas.gov mailto:cod.help@usda.gov http://www.biopreferred.gov/

7.0 Deliverables

Deliverable Objective Due Deliver -To Biobased Report (copy)

Report purchases of Biobased products in the System for Award Management (SAM)

By Oct 30 for prior fiscal year (Oct. 1 - Sep. 30) ending the performance period of the contract base period and for each option year, if exercised

Contracting Officer

TASK FREQUENCY SCHEDULE

TASK/SERVICE FREQUENCY

Mow/cut grass maintain a height range of a minimum of

3.5 inches and maximum of 4.5 inches

Edging and Trimming Same day as mowing as needed to maintain a manicured look

Weed eat weeds in junipers groundcover down level with junipers at training center and greenhouse area.

Same day as mowing as needed to maintain a manicured look

Blowing of grass clippings. Contractor shall blow all clippings from sidewalks, parking areas, curbs, and away from all entrances of buildings and under porch at the training center

Same day as mowing, following any mowing, trimming, edging

Removal of all rubbish, debris and trash

Same day as mowing

Weed free sidewalks, driveways, parking areas. Control weed growth in cracks in parking areas and sidewalks. As needed to maintain a manicured look