Attachment 02 12444523R0005 SOW Mowing and Limbing MTNF.docx

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Performance Work Statement

Contents

Project Title Roadside Mowing and Limbing IDIQ Mark Twain National Forest

General Information

1.0 Background and Purpose

A five-year contract for roadside mowing and limbing for the following Ranger Districts at the Mark Twain Regional Forest:

Salem Ranger District 1301 South Main Street Salem, MO 66560

Houston/Rolla/Cedar Creek Ranger Districts 108 Sam Houston Boulevard Houston, MO 65483

Potosi/ Fredericktown Ranger Districts 10019 W. State Highway 8 Potosi, Missouri 63664

Poplar Bluff Ranger District 1420 Maud Street Poplar Bluff, MO 63901

Eleven Point Ranger District #66 Confederate Ridge Road Doniphan, MO 63935

Ava/Cassville /Willow Springs Ranger District 1006 South Jefferson Ava, MO 65608

2.0 Definitions

AQL - Acceptable Quality Level CO – Contracting Officer COR – Contracting Officer’s Representative QASP – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

Roadside mowing consists of cutting grass, weeds, and small woody plant growth six (6) inches in diameter or less at mowing height. This includes cutting around road signs, natural obstacles, and appurtenances. The roadsides and roadbed will be mowed to a six (6) inch maximum height. The required mowing width will be tree line to tree line. Where clearing limits are not clearly defined the COR will direct work to be done in this area. The mowing of the centerline of the road is also required as well as the turnarounds at the end of the road.

Required mowing width will vary from a minimum of five (5) feet outside the ditch line, or to the established clearing limit. See roadside mowing typical for details of areas to be mowed.

Contractors are encouraged to inspect roads before submitting a quote. No additional payment will be made for variable widths.

All cut and fill slopes too steep to mow with equipment shall be cut to a six (6) inch maximum height by hand or other method approved by the COR to a minimum of six (6) feet from the ditch line of cuts and the shoulder of fill areas.

Roadside limbing shall consist of removing all overhanging limbs from tree line to tree line to fourteen (14) feet clearing height leaving no snags or stubs. Limbs shall be cut from trees as close to flush as possible. Brush and limbs removed shall be taken five (5) feet beyond the tree line. Trees that are accidentally damaged by the Contractors operation that are unsightly or would impair growth shall be cut six (6) inches above ground and placed five (5) feet beyond tree line.

Any cuttings that may fall in the traveled portion of the roadway shall be removed. This material shall be removed from the roadway and disposed of five (5) feet beyond the tree line unless chipped or broken into small pieces by the equipment. Any cuttings that fall in the outlet ditches or the inlets and outlets of culverts shall be removed and disposed of five (5) feet beyond the tree line. Do not place any cuttings in the outlet ditches. Cuttings along private property shall be hauled to and scattered on Forest Service property or chipped.

All rocks, trees, or other objects dislodged by the Contractor's operation that fall into the drainages or traveled way shall be removed. This also includes any rocks, trees, limbs, and other objects already lying in the right-of-way.

The Contractor shall be responsible for damage to the road surface, road ditches, culverts, informational posts, guardrails, signs, etc.

Damaged items shall be replaced or repaired at the Contractor's expense.

District Maps:

District maps are included in this contract. The maps will show the location and level of roads to be mowed or mowed and limbed.

The length of the roads will be listed in the task order when awarded to the contractor.

Primary roads to be mowed or mowed and limbed will be Level 3 and Level 4 roads.

Secondary roads to be mowed or mowed and limbed will be Level 2 roads.

4.0 Deliverable / Schedule

Maintenance – Mowing and Limbing Schedule of Items (Refer to Attachment 1)

IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING SCHEDULE:

· Units are typically mowed/limbed on a 3-year rotation.

· Not all units will receive work/funding every year.

· Quantities of miles for units receiving work will be determined as funding allows for that year.

· This does not entitle contract awardees to any adjustment – these are Requirements Contracts.

· Any confusion regarding this should be addressed with the CO before solicitation closes.

· Award will be made to individual item number. Contractor may provide proposal(s) on items of interest.

5.0 Equipment

Equipment shall be capable of cutting grass, weeds and woody plant growth with a rotary or disc type mower. A side arm mount mower will be needed to perform mowing of the areas outside the ditch line and limbing of trees. All equipment must have a minimum rating of 50 horsepower.

The equipment must be equipped with all safety devices required by Federal and State safety laws and regulations. The safety equipment must be in working order. Side mount mowers shall be capable of cutting grass, weeds, and small woody plant growth six (6) inches in diameter or less at mowing height. The mowers must have sufficient reach or length to perform the mowing without the tractor leaving the clearing limits.

Batwing mowers and other pull type mowers may be used for mowing of shoulders and ditches but may not be used in the limbing of the trees.

Each unit of equipment that is used in this contract will be subject to a pre-use inspection by the COR. Any equipment failing to meet the physical or safety requirements will be replaced or repaired at the Contractor's expense.

All equipment used in the mowing and limbing of roads will be cleaned prior to mobilizing to the project area. All equipment will be inspected by the COR before any road work begins. For roads identified in the contract as having documented non-native invasive plant infestations, all equipment will be cleaned at the identified roads prior to moving to the next road, in order to reduce the spread of non-native plant seeds.

All equipment used in the work shall be of the proper type, of a sufficient size, in good operating condition, and otherwise meet the equipment specifications for each type of maintenance work. The Contracting Officer may order removal and replacement of any unsatisfactory equipment at the Contractor's expense. All equipment must meet all Federal and State licensing and safety requirements. Exhaust stacks of all engines, except those with exhaust-driven turbochargers, shall be equipped with spark arresters that will prevent the expulsion of sparks. The moving of equipment shall be considered incidental to the contract.

6.0 Safety

The Contractor shall exercise due caution and care when working to prevent undue conflict with public users of roads. Roads shall remain passable to traffic during the Contractor's operations.

Flashing signals and a reflectorized slow moving vehicle emblem shall be installed on all slow- moving equipment (i.e., road graders, tractors, trucks, etc.) working on the roadway so that they are visible to oncoming traffic.

The Contractor shall post warning signs on both ends of the section of the roadway being worked to warn road users of the work in progress. The Contractor shall use a diamond shaped sign of at least thirty (30) inches in size. The signs shall read road work/machinery ahead and be placed at each end of the area being worked facing oncoming traffic. The signs are to be placed on the right side of the road to where they can be easily seen to allow traffic adequate time to respond. Signs will be moved as needed so that a sign does not precede or lag machinery by more than one mile. Signs shall be posted only when machinery is working.

All work shall be scheduled so that at the end of a day's work, the road is passable for the type of traffic normally using the road. Road Maintenance segments will generally not be permitted to exceed one (1) mile intervals on through roads and two (2) mile intervals on dead-end roads.

7.0 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan & Performance Requirement Measures

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) has been developed pursuant to the requirements of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) in this contract. This plan sets forth procedures and guidelines that will be used in evaluating the technical performance of the contractor. This plan does NOT relieve the contractor of their responsibility to practice proactive quality control.

A. PURPOSE OF THE QASP

The QASP is intended to accomplish the following:

• Define the roles and responsibilities of participating government officials and the contractor;

• Identify the types of work to be performed and the inspections to be performed to validate adequacy;

• Describe the evaluation methods that will be employed by the government in assessing the contractor’s inspection program and performance to the quality/performance standards required for each task;

• Provide copies of the contractor’s inspection records and Government quality assurance monitoring forms that will be used by the government in documenting and evaluating the contractor’s performance;

• Describe the process of performance documentation.

The contractor is responsible for performing inspection services pursuant to the inspection clause and for providing and maintaining the inspection forms, approved by the government, to perform the contractor’s inspection services. The contractor has represented themselves, to be responsible for meeting the prescribed quality/performance standards in the statement of work.

B. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will be designated on each Task order. The COR’s roles and responsibilities will be listed on their designations and include the following: monitoring, assessing, recording, and reporting on the technical performance of the contractor on the schedule of inspections submitted by the contractor and approved by the government. The COR will either witness the contractor’s performance of the inspections performed by the contractor or will evaluate the contractor’s inspection results as to documented findings relative to meeting the standards for each task/subtask within the statement of work. The COR will have primary responsibility for completing quality assurance monitoring forms which will be used to document the inspection and evaluation of the contractor’s work performance. The Contracting Officer (CO) will have overall responsibility for overseeing the contractor’s performance and for the day-to-day monitoring of the contractor’s performance in the areas of contract compliance, contract administration, cost control, and property control; reviewing the COR’s assessment of the contractor’s performance; and resolving all differences between the COR’s and the contractor’s version.

C. TYPES OF WORK TO BE PERFORMED/SCHEDULE OF INSPECTIONS

This contract calls for the contractor to perform the following tasks and subtasks and to perform inspections at the completion of the tasks/subtasks as a minimum and or for intermediate inspections as determined at contract award by the COR/CO. The contractor’s quality control plan/schedule will be modified accordingly and will be one of the basis for the award of the contract.

performed and upon completion/prior to invoice.

Compliance with Performance Work Statement.

1) Contractor Records

2) COR Daily Diaries Random/Periodic/100%

D. METHODS OF SURVEILLANCE

The government will monitor the contractor’s performance on a continuous basis. The methods the government will use are identified above. The COR will first verify the results of the contractor’s inspection, completeness, and adequacy of the documentation of the contractor’s inspection results. The government COR will perform periodic independent inspections. The contractor shall be required to rework/repair or replace the effort until the quality/ performance standard is achieved. In the case of COR performed inspections that differ from results noted by the contractor performed inspections the costs for these re-inspections will be deducted from the Task Order amount. These costs will be determined by multiplying the hourly burdened rated for the COR by the hours necessary to re-inspect – not to exceed 10 hours per re-inspection. Inspections will be performed to the schedule submitted by the contractor and approved by the government. Variances from the schedule must be pre-approved by the CO – submit requests to Primary COR.

E. QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) FORMS AND REPORT

1. The COR will use a quality assurance monitoring form to document and evaluate the contractor’s performance under the contract. This can consist of a Form, a Memorandum for record or an entry in a daily or weekly diary. The form when completed will document the COR’s understanding of what the contractor was supposed to do, what was actually done, and the impact or consequences of what was done. The documentation will also identify the additional steps required of the contractor if there is a nonconformance.

2. The COR will judge each event in accordance with the performance standards and performance requirements stated in the Quality/Performance Requirements stated in the contract.

3. The COR must substantiate all tasks which he judges to be indicative of “unacceptable” performance. Performance at the “acceptable” level is expected and need not be substantiated.

F. ANALYSIS OF SURVEILLANCE RESULTS

1. The CO will review each QA monitoring form prepared by the COR. When appropriate, the CO may investigate the event further to determine if all the facts and circumstances surrounding the event were considered in the COR’s opinion outlined on the forms. The CO will immediately discuss every event receiving a substandard rating on the forms. The CO will immediately discuss every event receiving a substandard rating with the contractor to assure that corrective action is promptly initiated.

2. Upon completion of the contract/task order the COR will perform a performance evaluation of the contractor and provide to the CO for further action.

meets the specifications contained within the Performance Work Statement AND the individual Task Order if applicable.

records, data & reports

2) Periodically witness contractor inspection

3) Independent Government verification

1) Rework at no additional cost to Government until work is performed to AQL;

2) Acceptance with consideration;

3) Less than satisfactory performance evaluation;

Satisfactory or better performance rating

4) Non-compliant contractor inspection system: Contractor bears 100% of government re-inspection cost;

5) Poor performance may lead to Option Periods not being exercised.

Note - These are all remedies available to the Government.

Contractors do not ‘decide’ which remedy is applicable or preferred.

Attachment(s)

Attachment 01- Schedule of Items Mowing and Limbing MTNF Attachment 02 - SOW Mowing_ &_Limbing MTNF Attachment 03 - Maps Mowing and Limbing MTNF Attachment 04 - Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5071 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 05 -Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5087 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 06 - Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5091 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 07 -Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5093 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 08 -Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5099 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 09 - Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5101 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 10 - Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5103 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 11 - Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5081 Dated 12/27/2022 Attachment 12- Service Contract Act Wage Determinations 2015-5079 Dated 12/27/2022 image1.png