67T0S164003-Question-Answers-v2.docx

AG-67T0-S-16-4003 – Deadhorse Pratt Stewardship Pre-Proposal Meeting – August 26, 2016 0930 MDT at Canyon Lakes District Office Attendees: Brenda Anderson, Mike Montgomery, Kim Obele, Justin Reiner, & Janna Osofsky – FS; Harry Williams, Steven Hatcher, & Patrick Gayner – Markit ! Foresty 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 19, 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 29, 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 attendance.

· 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 this 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.

Questions/Answers:

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

a. Yes, it will be posted on Federal Business Opportunities website when the question and answers are posted.

2. 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?

a. 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.

b. 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.

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

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 Why is there a deduction of payment for acceptable quality deviation when the contractor is allowed to rework to bring up the acceptable quality? Have you deducted for 1% below the AQL?

a. This is to allow payment to contractor where it cannot be reworked (you can’t stand up cut trees) or if contractor refuses to perform the rework. Yes, deductions have been made in the past. The Government doesn’t make full payment for non-conforming work. This section states upfront what the deductions are.

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.

Reviewed the Following:

· Base Solicitation page 3 – Line Items and Timber/Product Removal Price Schedule

· Base Solicitation page 12/13 – F.3, F.4, F.5 – Period of Performance, Special Contract Time and Performance Restrictions, and Schedules and Reports

· Base Solicitation page 15-16, Payment Reductions G.3.1 reviewed the clause

· Appendix B page 22, RO-K-G.8.2.5# Scaling as Presented, reviewed the provision

· Base Solicitation page 27, H.9 Traffic Control Plan. Road will not be closed to traffic, but traffic may be delayed for no more than 30 minutes with use of flaggers or other methods that meet the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices standards.

No other questions in office, headed to the field.

Visited the Following Units: 27A, 27B, 27C, 26B, 26A, 24A, 22A, 16B, and 14A Q- Is the Forest Service going to fix the wet location on NFSR 182 on the northwest corner of Treatment Unit 8?

a. Yes, the Forest Service will fix this wet spot by September 19th, 2016.

Q- Does Coarse Woody Debris (Appendix A page 3, Table A- DBH and Spacing Criteria) need to be limbed to meet slash specifications?

a. Material left as Coarse Woody Debris or Wildlife trees that are wind thrown do not need to be limbed to meet slash specifications.

Reviewed the Following:

· Appendix B page 2, Volume Estimates and Utilization Standards

· Appendix B page 6, Material and Quantities not in Division A

· Appendix B page 12, G.8.4.1 Routes of Haul, reviewed potential haul routes

· Appendix B page 14, WO-K-C.3# Reserve Trees

· Appendix B page 15 RO-K-C.3.0.1# Cutting Unit Boundaries

· Appendix B page 16, RO-K-C.3.5.6# Individual Trees

· Appendix B page 19-21, RO-K-G.7# Slash Treatment

· Appendix C page 1, Road Maintenance Requirements, pre-, during-, and post-haul required Q- Does biomass have to be cut in Unit 8?

a. No, biomass is not required to be cut in Unit 8, biomass located within construction clearings will be cut and treated as slash.