(Amendment 1) 180000002127 Instructions and Vendor Questions - DOSC Ground M.docx

STATE OF MICHIGAN

Department of Transportation

Ground Maintenance and Litter Pickup Services

Request for Proposal No. 180000002127

Solicitation Contact Name: Klatra Pickett Direct Phone: 517-355-0071 Email: pickettk1@michigan.gov

This is a Request for Proposal (RFP) for:

This is a Request for Proposal (RFP) for mowing services to be performed at the Detroit Operations and Service Center (DOSC) and at the Bagley Pedestrian Bridge as described in Exhibit A (the “Contract Activities”).

RFP Timeline

Pre-proposal meeting – MANDATORY Location listed within Proposal Instructions

*A bidder’s proposal received at 3:00:01 p.m. EST is late and subject to disqualification.

This RFP is subject to change. Check www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS for current information.

Bid# 180000002127 Amendment 1

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. PROPOSAL PREPARATION. The State recommends reading all RFP materials prior to preparing a proposal, particularly these Proposal Instructions and the Vendor Questions Worksheet. Bidders must follow these Proposal Instructions and provide a complete response to the items indicated in the table below. References and links to websites or external sources may not be used in lieu of providing the information requested in the RFP within the proposal. Include the bidder’s company name in the header of all documents submitted with your proposal.

RFP Structure and Documentation

Location Specification Sheets (LSS), to include Schedule B - Pricing Part I – Place of Service Part II – Schedule B Pricing for requested goods and services Part III – Equipment List goods and services sought by the State through this RFP Bidder to complete and submit by proposal deadline

2. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE STATE. The sole point of contact for the State concerning this RFP is listed on the Cover Page. Contacting any other State personnel, agent, consultant, or representative about this RFP may result in bidder disqualification.

3. QUESTIONS. Bidder questions about this RFP must be emailed to the Solicitation Contact (pickettk1@michigan.gov) no later than the time and date specified on the Cover Page. In the interest of transparency, only written questions are accepted. Answers to questions will be posted on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS. Submit questions using the format below; a Microsoft Excel format or similar is suggested.

4. MODIFICATIONS. The State may modify this RFP at any time. Modifications will be posted on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS . This is the only method by which the RFP may be modified.

5. MANDATORY MEETINGS.

a. PRE-PROPOSAL – A mandatory pre-proposal meeting will be held on April, 17 2018 at 8:00 a.m. at the Detroit Operations and Service Center located at 1060 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI.

Failure to attend the pre-proposal meeting will disqualify a bidder from participating in the bid process.

b. PRE-AWARD MEETING

After the bidder(s) is “Recommendation for Award”, prior to an approval to submit a contract, the successful bidder, as requested, will be required to meet with the Program Manager and/or designee at the bidder’s facility.

(i) The purpose of this meeting is to ensure that the recommended bidder has the appropriate personnel and equipment as indicated within their bid response.

(ii) MDOT reserves the right to withdraw the posted award recommendation if the bidder does not have sufficient personnel and the specified equipment to perform the requirements of the contact activities.

6. DELIVERY OF PROPOSAL.

Electronic – The bidder must submit its proposal, all attachments, and any modifications or withdrawals electronically through www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS. The price proposal should be saved separately from all other proposal documents. The bidder should submit all documents in a modifiable (native) format (examples include, but are not limited to: Microsoft Word or Excel and Google Docs or Sheets). In addition to submitting documents in a modifiable format, the bidder may also submit copies of documents in PDF. Bidder’s failure to submit a proposal as required may result in disqualification. The proposal and attachments must be fully uploaded and submitted prior to the proposal deadline.

Do not wait until the last minute to submit a proposal, as the SIGMA VSS system requires the creation of an account and entry of certain information, in addition to uploading and submitting the materials. The SIGMA VSS system will not allow a proposal to be submitted after the proposal deadline identified in the Cover Page, even if a portion of the proposal has been uploaded.

Questions on how to submit information or how to navigate in the SIGMA VSS system can be answered by calling (517) 373-4111 or (888) 734-9749.

7. MANDATORY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.

All herbicide applicators must be certified by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Category 3A.

To avoid disqualification, the bidder must provide

• A copy of the type of herbicide and insecticide to be used and a copy of the stated certification.

Only proposals meeting the mandatory minimum requirements will be considered for evaluation.

8. EVALUATION PROCESS. The State will evaluate each proposal based on the following factors:

Bidder will indicate miles travel from stated address on Vendor Question Worksheet to specified LSS.

*Preferred mileage is less than 40 miles to a location

Price* After the minimum technical points are received, stated points for pricing will be adjusted to a Contract Service Division approved formula: Low Bid/Bid amount, multiplied by (15 points)

Proposals receiving 80 technical evaluation points will be given stated adjusted points for price added to their technical score.

The State may utilize all bidder information, without regard to a proposal’s technical score, to determine fair market value for goods or services sought. The State is not obligated to accept the lowest price proposal. If applicable, the State’s evaluation will include consideration of a bidder’s qualified disabled veteran (QDV) status under MCL 18.1261(8). Additional information on the QDV preference is available at: http://michigan.gov/micontractconnect/0,4541,7-225-48677-123519--,00.html.

The State strongly encourages strict adherence to the Contract Terms. The State reserves the right to deem a bid non-responsive for failure to accept the Contract Terms. Nevertheless, the bidder may submit proposed changes to the Contract Terms in track changes (i.e., visible edits) with an explanation of the bidder’s need for each proposed change. Failure to include track changes with an explanation of the bidder’s need for the proposed change constitutes the bidder’s acceptance of the Contract Terms. General statements, such as that the bidder reserves the right to negotiate the terms and conditions, may be considered non-responsive.

The State may conduct an on-site visit to tour and inspect the bidder’s facilities; require an oral presentation of the bidder's proposal; conduct interviews, research, reference checks, and background checks; and request additional price concessions at any point during the evaluation process.

9. NOTICE OF DEFICIENCY. The State reserves the right to issue a Notice of Deficiency to bidders if the State determines after the proposal deadline that a portion of the RFP was deficient, unclear, or ambiguous. Failure to respond to a Notice of Deficiency timely may be cause for disqualification.

10. CLARIFICATION REQUEST. The State reserves the right to issue a Clarification Request to a bidder to clarify its proposal if the State determines the proposal is not clear. Failure to respond to a Clarification Request timely may be cause for disqualification.

11. RESERVATIONS. The State reserves the right to:

· Disqualify a bidder for failure to follow these instructions.

· Discontinue the RFP process at any time for any or no reason. The issuance of an RFP, your preparation and submission of a proposal, and the State’s subsequent receipt and evaluation of your proposal does not commit the State to award a contract to you or anyone, even if all the requirements in the RFP are met.

· Consider late proposals if: (i) no other proposals are received; (ii) no complete proposals are received; (iii) the State received complete proposals, but the proposals did not meet mandatory minimum requirements or technical criteria; or (iv) the award process fails to result in an award.

· Consider an otherwise disqualified proposal, if no other proposals are received.

· Disqualify a proposal based on: (i) information provided by the bidder in response to this RFP; (2) the bidder’s failure to complete registration on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS ; or (3) if it is determined that a bidder purposely or willfully submitted false or misleading information in response to the RFP.

· Consider prior performance with the State in making its award decision.

· Consider overall economic impact to the State when evaluating proposal pricing and in the final award recommendation. This includes but is not limited to: considering principal place of performance, number of Michigan citizens employed or potentially employed, dollars paid to Michigan residents, Michigan capital investments, job creation, tax revenue implications, and economically disadvantaged businesses.

· Consider total-cost-of-ownership factors (e.g., transition and training costs) when evaluating proposal pricing and in the final award recommendation.

· Refuse to award a contract to any bidder that has failed to pay State taxes or has outstanding debt with the State.

· Enter into negotiations with one or more bidders on price, terms, technical requirements, or other deliverables.

· Award multiple, optional-use contracts, or award by Contract Activity.

· Evaluate the proposal outside the scope identified in Section 8, Evaluation Process, if the State receives only one proposal.

12. AWARD RECOMMENDATION. The award of a State contract will be made to the responsive and responsible bidder who offers the best value to the State of Michigan.

Best value will be determined by the bidder meeting the minimum point threshold and offering the best combination of the factors identified in Section 8, Evaluation Process, to include applying stated adjusted points for price to determine overall points. The State will post a Notice of Recommendation for Award on www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS.

13. BID PROTEST. If you wish to initiate a protest of the award, you must submit your written protest electronically to the Contract Service Division, Purchasing Unit, Administrator, Mrs. Carol Rademacher, at rademacherc@michigan.gov no later than 3:00 p.m., three (3) calendar days after posting the Notice of Recommendation for Award on SIGMA VSS, or by 3:00 p.m. the next business day if that date falls on a state holiday or weekend. The State reserves the right to adjust this timing and will publish any change on the SIGMA VSS.

Additional information about the protest process is available at www.michigan.gov/micontractconnect under the “Programs and Policies” link.

14. STATE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD. Contracts in excess of $500,000 require approval by the State Administrative Board. The State Administrative Board’s decision is final; however, its approval does not constitute a contract. The award process is not complete until the awarded contractor receives a contract fully executed by all parties.

15. GENERAL CONDITIONS. The State will not be liable for any costs, expenses, or damages incurred by a bidder participating in this solicitation. The bidder agrees that its proposal will be considered an offer to do business with the State in accordance with its proposal, including the Contract Terms, and that its proposal will be irrevocable and binding for a period of 180 calendar days from date of submission. If a contract is awarded to the bidder, the State may, at its option, incorporate any part of the bidder’s proposal into a contract. This RFP is not an offer to enter into a contract. This RFP may not provide a complete statement of the State’s environment, or contain all matters upon which agreement must be reached. Other than verified trade secrets, proposals submitted via www.michigan.gov/SIGMAVSS are the State’s property.

16. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.

· Under MCL 18.1261(13)(b), records containing “a trade secret as defined under section 2 of the uniform trade secrets act, 1998 PA 448, MCL 445.1902, or financial or proprietary information” are exempt from disclosure under FOIA. And under MCL 18.1470(3), “proprietary financial and accounting” information is also exempt from disclosure under FOIA.

· If information within a bidder’s proposal falls under the aforementioned exemptions, and the bidder seeks to have it withheld from disclosure under FOIA, then by the proposal deadline, the bidder must: (1) save exempt information in a separate file (i.e., document); (2) name the file/document “FOIA-EXEMPT”; (3) label the header of each page of the file/document “Confidential–Trade Secret,” “Confidential–Financial,” or “Confidential–Proprietary” as applicable; (4) clearly reference within the file/document the RFP schedule, section, and page number to which the exempt information applies; and (5) verify within the FOIA-EXEMPT file/document that the information meets the FOIA exemption criteria.

· The State reserves the right to determine whether information designated as exempt by a bidder falls under the FOIA exemptions.

· Resumes, pricing, and marketing materials are not trade secrets or financial or proprietary information.

· Do not identify your entire proposal as “FOIA-EXEMPT,” and do not label each page of your proposal “Confidential.” If a bidder does so, the State may require the bidder to resubmit the proposal to comply with subsection (b) above.

· If the State requires a bidder to resubmit a proposal for failure to follow these instructions, the State reserves the right to disqualify the bidder if the proposal is materially changed upon resubmission. In other words, amendments to the proposal should be restricted to that which is necessary to separate confidential from non-confidential information.

VENDOR QUESTIONS WORKSHEET

Provide a detailed response to each question. “You” and “company” refers to the bidder.

Contact Information

Bidder’s sole contact person during the RFP process. Include name, title, address, email, and phone number.

Person authorized to receive and sign a resulting contract. Include name, title, address, email, and phone number.

Company Background Information

Legal business name and address. Include business entity designation, e.g., sole proprietor, Inc., LLC, or LLP.

What state was the company formed in?

Phone number

Website address

Number of years in business and number of employees

Legal business name and address of parent company, if any

Has there been a recent change in organizational structure (e.g., management team) or control (e.g., merger or acquisition) of your company? If the answer is yes: (a) explain why the change occurred and (b) how this change has affected your company.

Discuss your company’s history. Has growth been organic, through mergers and acquisitions, or both?

Has bidder ever been debarred, suspended, or disqualified from bidding or contracting with any entity, including the State of Michigan? If yes, provide the date, the entity, and details about the situation.

Has your company been a party to litigation against the State of Michigan? If the answer is yes, then state the date of initial filing, case name and court number, and jurisdiction.

Within the last 5 years, has your company or any of its related business entities defaulted on a contract or had a contract terminated for cause? If yes, provide the date, contracting entity, type of contract, and details about the termination or default.

State your gross annual sales for the last 5 years.

If receiving a contract under this RFP will increase your gross revenue by more than 25% from last year’s sales, explain how the company will scale-up to manage this increase.

Describe partnerships and strategic relationships you think will bring significant value to the State.

State the physical address of the place of business that would have primary responsibility for this account if bidder is awarded a contract under this RFP.

Qualified Disabled Veteran

To demonstrate qualification as a qualified disabled veteran, you must provide:

(a) Proof of service and conditions of discharge (DD214 or equivalent);

(b) Proof of service-connected disability (DD214 if the disability was documented at discharge or Veterans Administration Rating Decision Letter or equivalent if the disability was documented after discharge); and

(c) Legal documents setting forth the ownership of the business entity.

In lieu of the documentation identified above, you may provide proof of certification by the National Veterans Business Development Council.

Enter the names of documents submitted with your proposal to demonstrate status as a qualified disabled veteran.

Participation in RFP Development or Evaluation

Experience

Experience 1

Company name Contact name Contact role at time of project Contact phone Contact email Bidder to Define specific work performed: Example: mowing, tree pruning, herbicide, Aeriation, Fertilization, Insecticide and Flower Gardening

City State Zip

1. Project name and description of the scope of the project

2. What role did your company play?

3. How is this project experience relevant to the subject of this RFP?

Dollar value

Start and end date (mm/yy – mm/yy)

Status (completed, live, other – specify phase)

Results obtained

Experience 2

Company name

Contact role at time of project Contact phone Contact email Bidder to Define specific work performed: Example: mowing, tree pruning, herbicide, Aeriation, Fertilization, Insecticide and Flower Gardening

City

1. Project name and description of the scope of the project

Dollar value

Start and end date (mm/yy – mm/yy)

Status (completed, live, other – specify phase)

Results obtained

Experience 3

Company name

Contact role at time of project Contact phone Contact email Bidder to Define specific work performed: Example: mowing, tree pruning, herbicide, Aeriation, Fertilization, Insecticide and Flower Gardening

City

1. Project name and description of the scope of the project

Dollar value

Start and end date (mm/yy – mm/yy)

Status (completed, live, other – specify phase)

Results obtained image1.jpeg