26-SWU06 RFQ.PDF

CITY OF SUN PRAIRIE

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

RFQ# 26-SWU06

Stormwater Facility Vegetation Management

Date Issued: Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 2:00 PM

SUBMIT RFQ TO

City of Sun Prairie

Public Works Department

300 E Main St

Sun Prairie, WI 53590

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 2:00 PM

TABLE OF CONTENT

I. INTRODUCTION

II. REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS DEFINITIONS

III. CONTACT INFORMATION

IV. RESPONDING TO THIS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

V. INTERPRETATIONS AND ADDENDA

VI. SELECTION SCHEDULE

VII. REVIEW AND SELECTION

VIII. INSURANCE AND INDEMNIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

ATTACHMENT A: SELECTION CRITERIA

ATTACHMENT B: DRAFT CONTRACT

I. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to maintain our stormwater outlots and facilities to; site specific and MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) permit compliance, we will need the assistance of Ecological Land Management Contractors. Contractors who make our list of qualified contractors will be tasked with maintaining designed native plantings, eradicating invasive and noxious weed species, soil stabilization, wetland management, site restorations, shoreline stabilization, planning assistance, and prescribed fire operations.

A. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Native Species Vegetation Management Services at our city owned stormwater facilities.

Duties include but are not limited to; native vegetation management, invasive, noxious, and non-desirable weed control, prescribed fire, native seed and plug installation, mowing operations, and erosion control as necessary

B. SCOPE OF SERVICES

City staff is currently responsible for 180 City-owned stormwater facilities contained within 190 stormwater outlots. Facility types include Wet Detention Basins (120), Wetland (18), Infiltration Basins (17), Dry Basins (13), Wet Detention / Dry Detention (6), and Bioretention Systems (4). One stormwater outlet may contain multiple facilities. The City of Sun Prairie is requesting proposals from qualified Ecological Land Management Contractors for the purpose of developing a list of qualified contractors who will be utilized for various land management tasks throughout the duration of the 3–5-year contract. Work will involve the management of existing native vegetation areas within stormwater facilities under the control and responsibility of the City of Sun Prairie Public Works Department. The City is looking for a 3-year contract with the ability for a one 2-year extension. The management of these facilities must follow and maintain compliance with City of Sun Prairie MS4, WDNR, and Dane County Stormwater Permit Requirements. Contractors will be requested to perform management actions on multiple agreed-upon facilities and outlots on degraded sites throughout the duration of the contracts.

Other duties may include the complete restoration of specific sites. Sites requiring prescribed fire will be determined on an annual basis. Contractors will log activities performed at each site through GIS/Survey 123 methods daily. Each contractor will be expected to provide a single staff member for communication purposes.

The number of contractors selected through this process will be based on the number and quality of respondents. After selection, bid packages will be created and provided to all selected vendors for the ability to bid. Individual bid packages will be awarded to the lowest responsive bidder.

Currently, we will be targeting multiple facilities or outlots requiring general native species management. Sites will require invasive, noxious weed, non-desirable weed, and woody plant control at a minimum. We are also expecting to perform complete restorations on 10-20 facilities over the next 2-3 years. Once the qualified contractor list is established, those contractors will have the opportunity to bid on city stormwater native vegetation management projects.

Examples of tasks the City of Sun Prairie is looking to have completed are:

Proper identification of native and invasive species

Communication with City Staff regarding work plans and site-specific needs

Cattail Herbicide Treatment

Woody Plant Removal

Woody Re-Sprout Herbicide Treatment - work may include winter operations

Total Kill Herbicide Treatment

Broadleaf Weed Control

Spot Herbicide Treatment

Dormant Herbicide Treatment Cool Season and woody species

Grass Selective Herbicide Treatment

Mowing - Spot mowing, area mowing, fire break mowing

Cattail cutting during the winter months

Mowing Of Established Native Planting Areas

Goose Deterrent Treatment as necessary

Safety / Construction fence installation

Additional Seed and/or Plant Plug Installation

Installation of erosion control products as necessary

Seed bed preparation as necessary

Prescribed Fire Services

The ability to communicate with our GIS team as necessary for activity recording purposes.

Stormwater Management Contractor Services and Expectations:

General Tasks: Pre and Post Season Preparation Dates: Mid-November – March

Specific Task Requirements: Pre and post-season activities are designed to prepare, plan, and train for the upcoming management season. Tasks include, but are not limited to:

~ Review of previous season's work, compare costs to budget allotments ~ Update plans and schedules for sites that will continue to receive maintenance in the coming year ~ Review next year's budgets and city priorities ~ Review of new stormwater facilities slated for improvements in the coming year ~ Develop work plans showing work to be completed with City Resources ~ Plans will include Vegetation Management, Erosion Control, and Invasive Species Control ~ Plans will include specific tasks, timelines, seed and plant mixes, and task responsibilities

~ Review and carry out winter work, such as brush clearing and debris removal from sites ~ Develop work budgets which align with budgets and task expectations for the following season

General Tasks: Maintenance Season Dates: April - Early November

Specific Task Requirements: The maintenance season is similar to the growing season; there are approximately 20 days on either side of the growing season added to the timeline. During the maintenance season, work will be carried out by the contractor and city crew staff. The contractor will continue to monitor stormwater sites throughout the season while maintenance is taking place and make recommendations as necessary. The maintenance season will include the following, but is not limited to this list:

~ Contractor will lay out/flag all sites at the beginning of the season ~ Contractor will work hand in hand with City Crews to ensure that joint projects are streamlined ~ Contractor will carry out tasks, specifically assigned to them, ~ Contractor will be on call to answer questions raised by City personnel ~ Contractor will review neighboring lands while working in the field to assess negative inputs ~ Contractor will carry out aquatic herbicide applications ~ Contractor will complete all reporting and record keeping associated with aquatic herbicide applications ~ Contractor will maintain records of all herbicides applied throughout the maintenance season ~ Contractor will review work completed by City Crews to ensure completion of work during combined projects ~ Contractor will advise City Crews on additional work needs or methods ~ Contractor will communicate with City Crews before arrival on site, and invite City Crews ~ Contractor will maintain a clean work site and remove all debris from all work locations ~ Contractor will continuously work with City Crews to ensure the most cost-effective methods are followed ~ Contractor will ask the City for assistance to maintain timelines or potentially reduce costs ~ Contractor works within predetermined budgets unless authorized to exceed budgets ~ All costs saved on any task will be saved to expand the scope of work on additional sites ~ Contractor will be available to meet with City Crews and community members as requested ~ Contractor will provide scope and cost estimates for any new maintenance needs that may arise ~ Contractor will provide contact information for all crew leaders and consultants to the city and its crews

General Tasks: Invoicing and Reporting Dates: Throughout the year

Specific Task Requirements: Invoicing and record keeping are very important in keeping budgets organized. Record keeping is also important as requests may be made by WDNR or the County to confirm herbicide usage and or request permit compliance records. Some invoicing and record-keeping items are as follows:

~ Invoices for pre-and-post-season activities will be lump sum invoices with notations of work performed

~ Invoices for maintenance activities will be issued for each specific work site ~ Invoices will contain specifics of work performed: hours worked, equipment used, input costs ~ Invoices can be accompanied by supporting documents to aid is clarification of invoice costs ~ Herbicide use will be recorded and supplied with all invoices ~ Herbicide records will be held by the contractor should they be requested by Agencies ~ Invoices will be timely to ensure up-to-date budget availability ~At the end of the maintenance season, workload may be adjusted for the purpose of maintaining budgets ~ All invoices will be submitted before the end of the fiscal year

General Tasks: Staffing Requirements Dates: All times

Specific Task Requirements: As stormwater management is an arena that requires multiple facets of knowledge, all contractors and consultants will have strong backgrounds and tenure in the following

~ Stormwater Management Experience ~ Ecology - Degree Ecologist ~ Biology - Degree Biologist ~ Plant Scientist - Degreed Plant Scientist / Horticulture - Specialized in Native Species and Invasive Species ~ Erosion Control ~ Licensed Certified Pesticide Applicator ~ GIS / Survey 123 Capacity for communication with the City GIS system

C. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Technical Proposal including approach to providing a variety of general engineering and qualifications of key staff.

o Including a summary of equipment and manpower available to carry out land management tasks throughout the duration of the contract.

Forms A – G (Form F to be submitted separately) Your 2026 rate form is to be sent separately from the proposal. Please include any escalators in the 3-year term.

Completed W-9 Form

II. REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS DEFINITIONS

Throughout this Request for Qualifications, the following definitions will be used:

“City” means City of Sun Prairie;

“Contract” means a written contract executed by the City and the Contractor as a result of an RFQ;

“Contractor” means a Qualified Respondent who is the successful Proponent to an RFQ who enters into a Contract with the City;

“Must” or “mandatory” means a requirement that must be met in order for a Response to receive consideration;

“Qualified Respondent” means a Respondent possessing the qualifications described in this RFQ;

“Respondent” means an individual or a company that submits, or intends to submit, a Response;

“Response” means a statement of qualifications submitted in reply to this RFQ;

“RFP” means a Request for Proposals for provision of the services described in Section 4 that may be issued to all Qualified Respondents;

III. CONTACT INFORMATION

Kristy Thao, Public Services Business Manager

City of Sun Prairie

Phone: 608-825-0707

Email: kthao@cityofsunprairie.com

IV. RESPONDING TO THIS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

A. FORMAT

1. Submittal materials shall be in an 8 ½ “x 11” format, otherwise identical to the electronic version (if applicable). Electronic materials in a PDF format stored on a common media (CD, DVD or USB), identical in content and sequence to hardcopy proposal.

2. All submittals must be clearly labeled Respondent’s Name and Address, RFQ#, Title, and Due Date.

Delivery One (1) electronic copy to:

via email to purchase@cityofsunprairie.com or on a commonly used media.

B. RESPONSE ITEMS

The qualifications submittal should contain the following items:

Cover: Include the project name Stormwater Facility Vegetation Management , identify that the submittal is a statement of qualifications, and identify the firm submitting the response (with contract information provided either on the cover, or letter of interest, or both).

mailto:purchase@cityofsunprairie.com

Letter of Interest: Provide a concise, preferably one-page letter expressing the prospective interest in the project and appropriate qualifications. The letter of interest should be bound into the proposal, not loose. The letter of interest, cover, or both should provide contact information for the firm, including a contract email address for the principal of the firm.

Table of Contents: In front of the first tab, following the letter of interest.

[Tab 1] Project Team Identify the project principal, the project manager, key staff and sub-consultants. Present a brief discussion regarding how the team's qualifications and experience relate to the specific project.

Qualifications and relevant individual experience.

Unique knowledge of key team members relating to the project.

Experience on projects as a team.

Key staff involved in project management and on-site presence.

Time commitment of key staff.

Note: Organization charts and graphs depicting your capacity may be included.

[Tab 2] Prior Experience Use this portion of your submittal to describe relevant experiences with the project type described in this RFQ document and various services to be provided.

Experience of the key staff and firm with projects of similar scope and complexity Demonstrated success on past projects of similar scope and complexity.

References.

Note 1: Include the name, current telephone number, and email address of the owner’s project manager for every project listed.

Note 2: Include the name, current telephone number, and email address of the general contractor’s project manager for every project listed.

[Tab 3] Project Approach Describe your project approach for this project.

V. INTERPRETATIONS AND ADDENDA

Respondents are to raise any questions they have about the RFP document without delay. Direct all questions, in writing, to the department contact listed above in section III.

Respondents finding any significant ambiguity, error, conflict, discrepancy, omission, or other deficiency in this RFQ document shall immediately notify the buyer and request clarification. In the event that it is necessary to provide additional clarification or revision to the RFQ, the City will post addenda – see Addenda below. Respondents are strongly encouraged to check for addenda regularly.

Proposals should be as responsive as possible to the provisions stated herein. A prospective vendor may take “exception” to bid terms, conditions, specifications and dates stated within the bid package. However, the City of Sun Prairie reserves the right to disqualify any and all bids submitted which include exceptions, if deemed not in the City’s best interests.

VI. SELECTION SCHEDULE

Wednesday, March 25, 2026 : The complete request for qualifications (RFQ) packet will be available at:

DemandStar: https://network.demandstar.com/ VendorNet: https://vendornet.wi.gov/

Thursday April 3, 2026: Questions on the RFQ to be submitted by.

Friday April 10, 2026: Answers to the RFQ will be posted online by.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 : RFQ submittals due at the City of Sun Prairie Finance

Office, no later than 2:00 P.M.

Monday, May 4, 2026 : Notification of Pre-qualification

VII. REVIEW AND SELECTION

The qualifications review committee will check proposals against the Selection Criteria (Attachment A). Responses not meeting all mandatory criteria will not be considered for review.

Qualified respondents will be provided with a copy of the RFP if one is issued.

VIII. INSURANCE AND INDEMNIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Insurance coverage shall be in place prior to commencing work and shall remain in force until the entire project is completed or the length of time that is specified in the contract. See form E for requirements.

ATTACHMENT A: SELECTION CRITERIA

ATTACHMENT B: DRAFT CONTRACT

https://network.demandstar.com/ https://vendornet.wi.gov/