67T0S164002-Question-Answers-v1.docx

AG-67T0-S-16-4002 – Swampou Stewardship Pre-Proposal Meeting – August 23, 2016 0930 MDT at Canyon Lakes District Office Attendees: Brenda Anderson, Jared McNeil, Jana Osofsky, Mike Montgomery – FS; Karen Morgan – Morgan Timber Products; Patrick Gayner – Market ! Forestry.

General Notes:

· Stewardship contracts are an exchange of goods for services. The value of the timber will be used to offset the cost of the service work. Specific service items will be identified to be performed for Stewardship credits to cover the cost of the timber sale.

· Proposals are due September 12, 2016 by 4:00 pm MDT. With a proposal, the proposal are evaluated against the evaluation criteria listed in Section M. Please review Sections K, L, and M for how to submit your proposal. Ensure you provide the requested information. Missing information may cause your proposal to be non-responsive. Non-responsive proposals will not be considered.

· All Questions must be submitted to the Contracting Officer –answers to any questions received will be posted on Federal Business Opportunities website. No questions will be accepted after August 24, 2016 at noon MDT.

· Contractors are encouraged to visit the job site on their own – the scheduled Site Visit today is the only authorized visit with Government personnel.

· Scope of work: Stand clearing/thinning, mechanical fuels reduction, snag and down wood management, piling of fuels, and removal of timber or other products.

· There are five documents that make up the entire solicitation package. The base solicitation has the majority of the terms and conditions, Appendix A lists the service work (which is performance based), Appendix B lists the timber sale requirements, Appendix C is the road maintenance requirements for the timber sale, and final document is the project map. All of these components make up the project. You must bid on all requirements.

· Wage Rates that cover the program of work is covered under 1976-1351 Rev 47 dated 12/29/2015.

· Safety is of highest concern on all Government projects. Contractors are responsible for their own safety program – see the OSHA site for logging safety requirements.

· Amendment One – Issued to make any changes to the solicitation – clarifications are addressed in the question and answers following:

· Change of Minimum Acceptable Offer of Non-Sawtimber from $1.00 to $8.25 per CCF and correct terminology for biomass line item 2.

· Treatment of biomass material. Appendix A Page 3 – change wording in Table B requirements and Page 4 Task 3-Slash (c) –“ pile in landing locations or Lop and Scatter to a depth not to exceed 18 inches”

· Replace Camping wording in Appendix A page 6, 3.4 Camping to read: “A Camping permit is required, locations will be agreed upon. See example of camping permit.”

· Add to Section J – Attachment 5 – Sample Camping Permit (3 Pages) – example provided with amendment.

· Add to Section J – Attachment 6 – Temporary Road Gate Installation Diagram (1 Page) – example provided with amendment

· Appendix B, WO-K-C.3# - Reserve Trees.(9/04) – Replace the second sentence with: “Reserve trees are identified by pink painted ‘x’s or pink painted ‘W’s at 4.5 foot and pink stump marks and shall be protected.”

· Question and Answers from meeting Questions/Answers:

Q. Can you post the cruise information for this project?

b. Yes, it will be posted on Federal Business Opportunities website when the question and answers are posted. This is for information purposes only and does not become part of the solicitation and resulting contract.

Q. Are the site visits mandatory? If you attend the site visit will you be rated higher? Since there are several site visits schedule for similar type of work this week, can we attend one site visit for all the projects?

c. The site visits are not mandatory, it is the contractor’s responsibility to visit the site to ensure they are familiar with the work and location to protect themselves when submitting a proposal.

d. There is nothing in the evaluation criteria requiring the contractor to attend the site visit, so contractors will not be rated either positively or negatively for attendance.

e. This is a contractor’s decision. Each Meeting/Site Visit will address the specific project requirements. The meeting portion will cover general information and project specific information. The Site Visit will only visit the specific site locations of that project. The meeting notes will be posted on the FBO website within a couple business days after the meeting.

Q Bonds – Base package Page 3 – states that bonds are not required but further in the package – under G.5 it talks about “Blanket Payment Bond”?

a. These are actually two different type of bonding that is being discussed. Page 3 is talking about bid bonds, payment and performance bonds on the performance and completion based on the value of the award of a contract. This type of bonding is not required under this contract. Page 15&16 under G.5 Product Payment Guarantee is required for the payment of the value of the trees (saw logs and non-saw timber) under product removal (timber sale – Appendix B) portion of the requirements for cut and removed from the Forest – this product value must be paid for in advance of any cutting of included timber. The product can be paid for through any approved means described in Section G.5 of the base package; examples: cash deposit, Stewardship Credit earned through the completion of service work, or through the use of blanket bid bond – this is the normal product removal requirement for paying for the product prior to cutting and removal.

Q Road Maintenance what are the distances of this work? There is no bid item for this work.

a. Road Maintenance under Appendix C is a requirement of the sawtimber removal (Appendix B) portion of the contract. The required maintenance work is based on your pre/during/post hauling of product. . This cost is part of the product removal (sawtimber) portion of the contract.

Q What is the required completion date of the contract?

a. See F.2 page 11 of base package the solicitation. Completion date 9/1/2018 Q You have so many different closures required– when can we work?

a. See F.3 Period of Performance, and F.4 Special Contract Time and Performance Restrictions, page 12 of base package of the solicitation Q Where is the switch back on the Manhattan Road? Very hard to traverse with loaded trucks.

a. Switchbacks are not within the contract area. There are multiple routes to remove products without traversing the switchbacks. Haul routes are defined by the contractor and normally agreed to by the Forest Service if they do not contradict the contract. See Appendix B, G.8.4.1 Route of Haul on page 13.

Q What is the conversion factor from CCF to board feet?

a. The Contract is listed in CCF for our tracking needs. There are several conversion programs available on the web – google conversion from CCF to board feet.

Note: The value of Non-Saw timber of $1.00 is being replaced by $8.25/CCF in amendment one to the solicitation.

a. See page 12 of Appendix B, G.8.3 – Scaling of Other Products. By written agreement with Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer can agree to removal in another product form.

a. Look at conversion table in Appendix B, page 22 RO-K-G-8.2.5# Scaling as presented (sales by load count.) This is the estimate utilized by the FS. You may have a different method for determining the material to be removed.

Q How much volume is live vs dead?

a. Follow up on Cruise data which is posted with the Amendment and question/answer. Volume is an estimate. We do not guarantee volume. Could potentially have add on volume. Based on cruise data 83% of the sawtimber is dead or dying, 69% of non-sawtimber is dead/dying.

Comment: Front Range timber is of such poor quality. Having a hard time removing the biomass and non-saw logs, there is no market.

Items covered:

OHV Barriers – Appendix A Task 5. 4 Acres – Map – Unit 8, 7, 10, 11 – See legend. 50 feet in.

Q. Are there rocks in the area to be used or do we have to bring in Rocks?

a. Use the rocks in the area, contractors are not required to bring in additional rocks.

Covered Felling instructions. Trees to be removed are not marked.

Q. Tree over 1 foot in height?

a. Reviewed Appendix A 2.2.3 Cut Tree Characteristics for biomass trees to be cut. Example was given that this is similar to sanitation work, TSI work, or KV type work that is the service component to this stewardship contract.

Q. What are reserve trees?

a. See provisions in Appendix B – Page 15 WO-K-C.3# and Page 18 WO-K-G.3.2# Protection of Reserve Trees. See Amendment to Solicitation for clarification of identification of Reserve Trees. See picture of wildlife tree. Photo #4.

Q. Are there wet areas in this project, i.e. SMZs?

a. The meadows and wetlands are outside the unit boundaries. If there are streamcourses to cross it will be by agreement as noted on page 29 of solicitation in H.19 – Streamcourse Protection.

Comment on authority for contract: Contracting Officer will delegate authority in writing to a COR and SA (for product removal portion).

Page 5 – protected improvements – Treatment Unit 4 – Contractor may remove enough of the fence for access into the unit if needed. Contractor is responsible to restore the fence to pre-use condition. See attached picture of fence location.

FIELD PORTION OF SITE VISIT

12:20 pm Unit 14.

· Identified Protected Improvement Fence, discussed if need to cut to access unit must repair when finished. See pictures of fence. Photo# 1

· Identified biomass-sized trees with mistletoe to be cut. See picture of biomass tree. Photo # 2

· Observed old blue boundary paint, does not apply to this contract. Boundaries are marked in Orange paint facing into unit see Appendix B page 15 RO-K-C.3.0.1# Cutting Unit Boundaries. See picture of old blue paint. Photo# 3

· Reviewed requirement for Coarse Woody Debris, Appendix A page 3, Table A.

1:30pm Treatment Unit 10

· Discussed OHV barrier, reviewed requirement on page 4 of Appendix A, Task 5 – Off Highway Vehicle Barrier Specifications.

· Reviewed Road Maintenance Specifications in Appendix C.

2:00 Treatment Units 8, 7, 5, & 6.

· Identified an exclusion area within Treatment Unit 8 per RO-K-C.3.0.1# Cutting Unit Boundaries in Appendix B page 15.

· Identified Temporary Road and location for required temporary gate per RO-K-F_4.1# Closure to Use by Others, Appendix B page 17 & 18.

Q Can contractor provide their own gate and not use Government Furnished Property?

a. Contractor may put in their proposal their plan to use their own gate at contractor’s expense. See Amendment One, Attachment 6 –Temporary Road Gate Installation Diagram.

3:10 Ended Site Visit.

Q: Will a list of people who attended the field meetings for the red feather 4, deadhorse, and swampou stewardship be posted online, along with their questions?

a. Yes, each individual project will respond with the questions and answers specific to the project.

Photo 1 - Identified Protected Improvement Fence, discussed if need to cut to access unit must repair when finished.

Photo 2 - Identified biomass-sized trees with mistletoe to be cut.

Photo 3 Picture of old blue paint

Photo 4 - Wildlife tree image1.jpg image2.jpg image3.jpg image4.jpg