SCOPE AND CLASSIFICATION

Purpose: To establish an Indefinite Quantity Agreement for Landscape Services on an as needed basis. The estimated dollar amount to be spent on this agreement is $50,000.00. This is an estimate of the annual needs of the City under this Agreement and are for bidding purposes only. This estimate is not to be construed as representing an actual order for that amount, or a guarantee that any minimum amount will actually be purchased.

Classification: The successful bidder will provide Landscape Services as described below. Bidders are required to show experience in providing this type of services as detailed in these specifications.

Bidder Experience: The offeror must submit an outline of its experience and work history in these types of materials and/or warranty service for the past five years. Bidder must have a minimum five (5) years’ experience in the field of landscaping and lawn services.

Bidder References: The offeror shall have documented proven successful contracts from at least four customers that the offeror supports that are similar in scope, complexity, and cost to the requirements of this specification.

Specification Questions: Questions regarding this bid must be submitted on the Vendor Services portal by April 13, 2026 9:00 a.m.

Pre-bid Site Visit: A pre-bid site visit will take place Apr 3, 2026 at 9:00 am. local time at 910 Dublin Road, Please come to the East Guard/Employee entrance for the site visit, we will meet in the top lot. During the site visit, City officials will be escorting interested bidders to the sites. It is expected that the visit will end at 10:00 a.m. local time. Interested bidders are strongly urged to attend however failure to attend the site visit will not disqualify a bidder. Bidders are advised that this will be the only time bidders may view this site prior to the bid opening. No questions will be accepted at this visit, rather bidders are to submit questions as directed in Section 3.2.4.

For additional information concerning this bid, including procedures on how to submit a proposal, you must go to the City of Columbus Vendor Services web site at http://vendors.columbus.gov/sites/public and view this bid number.

APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS AND STANDARDS

Must meet or exceed all City, State, Federal safety guidelines and standards.

All OSHA applicable guidelines and standards.

American Standard for Nursery Stock ANSI Z60.1, as published by the American Nursery and Landscape Association, and the American National Standard for Tree Care Operations, ANSI A300, published by the Tree Care Industry Association. www.anla.org

REQUIREMENTS

General Information:

Term: The proposed contract could be in effect from April 1, 2022 to and including March 31, 2025.

If either the City or the Contractor violates any material term or condition of this Contract or fails to fulfill in a timely and proper manner its obligations under this Contract, then the aggrieved party shall give the other party (the “responsible party”) written notice of such failure or violation. The responsible party will correct the violation or failure within thirty (30) calendar days or as otherwise mutually agreed. If the failure or violation is not corrected, this Contract may be terminated immediately by written notice from the aggrieved party. The option to terminate shall be at the sole discretion of the aggrieved party.

When it is in the best interest of the City, the City may terminate this Contract, in whole or in part by providing seven (7) calendar days written notice to the Contractor prior to the effective date of termination. If this Contract is so terminated, the City is liable only for payments required by the terms of this Contract for services received and accepted by the City.

Quantity Estimate: The City of Columbus of estimates spending approximately $50,000.00 annually in accordance with this contract. This amount is an estimate of the annual needs of the City under this contract and are for bidding purposes only. This estimate is not to be construed as representing an actual order for that amount, or a guarantee that any minimum amount will actually be purchased.

Bidder Requirements: The City will use the requirements of this section to determine if each bidder meets the minimum standards to be considered a responsible bidder. Please print, complete and attach Reference pages and attach any supplemental pages as may be necessary to meet these requirements. For instructions on how to attach a document to your bid, go to page 15 of the Vendor Services User Guide.

Experience Required: Documentation shall include (at a minimum) information meeting the following criteria.

References: The offeror shall have documented proven successful contracts from at least four customers that the offeror supports that are similar in scope, complexity, and cost to the requirements of this specification. The reference contact information shall include the customer name, customer e-mail address, street address, telephone number, fax number and contact name.

For further instructions on how to submit "Vendor Questions" through the Vendor Portal, please see Section "Add Vendor Questions" provided in the City of Columbus Vendor Services User Guide.

Product Requirement Specifications:

Service shall include all labor, supplies, materials, delivery, equipment and any licenses or certificates needed to assure optimum maintenance of landscape areas defined in this specification.

These specifications establish the scope, service level and frequency under which the Landscape Maintenance Contractor will provide landscape maintenance services as required herein at the designated areas in this specification.

The City of Columbus anticipates the landscape maintenance shall be of the very highest quality possible within the scope defined in this specification and shall be strictly managed, executed, and performed by professionally experienced personnel on a professional level.

Scope of maintenance services does not include turf maintenance: mowing, aeration, over seeding, etc.

Contractor acknowledges that the Services specified in this document are not intended to express every detail of the Service to be provided by Contractor.

At 910 Dublin Road there is a 2500 pound weight limit that is permitted on the sidewalks and grass areas. No trucks, heavy trailers or equipment over 2500 pounds will be permitted on the sidewalks or on the grass areas.

MAINTENANCE OF SERVICE RECORDS AND DISCLOSURE

Contractor shall prepare and maintain records for Services provided in order to substantiate charges to City for such Services. Contractor shall retain such records for the length of the contract.

Contractor may be called upon to perform extra service. Contractor shall submit a fee for extra Services to the City for approval prior to performing work.

DAMAGES FROM CONTRACTOR OPERATIONS

Contractor agrees to repair or replace all damage to City property caused by equipment or employees of the Contractor.

Turf, trees, shrubs, hardscapes, or ground covers that are damaged or destroyed due to the Contractor’s operations, negligence or misuse of chemicals shall be replaced at Contractor’s expense within thirty (30) days of discovery. Replacement plants shall be comparable in size to the lost plant, or if smaller shall be approved by the City. The Contractor will repair grades and other work necessitated due to planting and removal and replacements

CONTRACTOR’S PRESENCE ON-SITE

Contractor’s employees shall stage their work from a location that does not inconvenience or impede pedestrian and auto traffic flows. In general, the Contractor’s presence on the site shall be as inconspicuous as possible.

Contractor’s vehicles on the premises shall be marked with the Contractor’s name and/or logo.

Contractor’s employees shall where a uniform or similar apparel to identify themselves with the Contractor while on the property.

Contractor shall follow all safety protocols established by the City for the site, including personal PPE for contractor workers. All OSHA rules and regulations apply while contractor is on-site.

Contractor hereby agrees to reasonably adjust the times of the day and days of the week when work is performed to minimize interference with employees. Contractor shall provide protection for the public when working on landscape, sidewalks, and parking lots or near buildings.

Contractor must notify City of Columbus Building Maintenance when on the property at 614-645-6239 or 614-645-3205.

COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL

Contractor shall make available weekly logs as to time, date, and type of services performed. Submittal of weekly logs on a monthly basis is required for payment. Failure to produce accurate logs may result in with holding payment.

SUPERVISION

Contractor shall provide adequate supervisory staff to crew members performing the work in compliance with these specifications.

The supervisor shall not leave the site until all work is completed.

Contractor must have a system so the crew performing the work can communicate with an English-speaking City Representative. The system may involve telephone communication between the City Representative and an English-speaking Contractor’s Representative and then communication via radio with the crew performing the work. Alternatively, supervisory personnel must be able to functionally communicate in the English language as may be required from time to time to report emergencies, equipment malfunctions, and to correctly understand instructions by the City Representative.

REPLACEMENT PLANTS

The Contractor shall notify the City of plants in need of replacing.

FREQUENCY OF SERVICES

Contractor shall perform work consistently throughout the growing season. This includes a Spring Clean-up, a Fall Clean-up, and 16 Bi-weekly visits for a total of 18 visits.

The frequency and number of site visits has been determined based on a typical growing season, type of landscape, and City’s preferences. In the event that time is lost due to inclement weather, the Contractor shall reschedule crews and divide their times accordingly to meet the desired schedule.

Contractor is responsible to call and schedule work twenty-four hours (24) in advance to City of Columbus Building Maintenance Management, Mark Severt at 614-645-6239 Hours of work for the maintenance will be Monday thru Friday 7:00 am to 3:30 pm. The Contractor shall not work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or any other times unless approved in writing 48 hours in advance by City of Columbus Building Maintenance.

SCHEDULED VISITS

Spring Clean-up.

Weather conditions permitting, Contractor shall perform a spring clean-up as soon as possible for 2022 (in 2023 and 2024, it shall be the first week of April).

Remove of excessive leaf accumulation, fallen branches and trash from landscape beds.

Pull and remove all parts of weeds and unwanted grasses from beds and around trees and scrubs. Mowing or string-trimming weeds is not acceptable. Chemical treatment for weeds using glyphosates such as Round-up or pre-emergent herbicides is not acceptable due to City policy near its clear wells.

Apply fresh mulch to all mulched areas. Mulch shall be a minimum of 2” and not more than 3” in depth. Remove some mulch if necessary to meet these criteria.

Edge beds and tree rings, Straighten plants as needed.

Remove previous year’s growth from ornamental grasses and perennials leaving six inches of old growth.

Sweep or blow entire affected parking lot area Sweep all walkways

Fall Clean-up:

Perform fall clean-up last week of October.

Turn and rework mulch to achieve a fresh appearance, add mulch as needed to achieve a minimum of 2” but not more than 3” in depth.

Edge beds and tree rings.

Straighten plants as needed.

Remove fallen leaves. Contractor shall keep pace with defoliation and continue to clear and rake leaves from beds, until all foliage has dropped and all leaves removed. Leaf removal from lawn areas is not a part of this contract.

Pull and remove all parts of weeds and unwanted grasses from beds. Mowing or string-trimming weeds is not acceptable. Chemical treatment for weeds using glyphosates such as Round-up or preemergent herbicides is forbidden in the project area due to proximity to the clear wells.

Cut back perennials that do not possess any winter interest to 6 to 8 inches above the ground, verify with Owner. Ornamental grasses shall remain during winter and cut back in the spring.

Weekly Visits:

Contractor shall visit the site 16 times, or once every 2 weeks between the Spring and Fall Clean-ups.

Pull and remove all parts of weeds and unwanted grasses from beds. Mowing or string-trimming weeds is not acceptable. Chemical treatment for weeds using glyphosates such as Round-up or pre-emergent herbicides is forbidden in the project area due to proximity to the clear wells.

Prune dead, damaged or broken branches. Large mature trees 15 feet or taller are not part of the scope in this project.

Clean all trash and dead debris from all beds.

Insect control though the use of pesticides, or chemical means, is forbidden in the project area due to proximity to the clear wells and water plant.

EDGING

Mulched beds and tree rings shall be mechanically edged with a steel blade edger.

Cut edge below the thatch layer, remove excess sod, and dress mulch to maintain a neat, clean turf edge.

BED MAINTENANCE

In the event replacement plants installed by Contractor die or become unhealthy within one year of installation, Contractor shall replace at no additional charge.

A written list of any dead, dying or damaged trees shall be provided by the Contractor within twenty (20) days of contract award. Contractor will include recommendations and associated costs for removing, replacing, or repairing such trees and shrubs.

Contractor shall maintain planting beds free from undesirable grass, weeds, rock, litter and other debris at all times. All weeds shall be removed.

PRUNING

Shrubs shall be pruned twice per year; at spring and fall cleanup. Shrubs shall be pruned throughout the season to remove dead, diseased, injured and unproductive wood to assist in maintaining their natural shape, size and configuration.

Only staff that has been trained and can demonstrate competency in proper pruning techniques shall perform pruning. Use hand pruners or loppers on trees and shrubs. Only use shears on formal hedges where previous practice was to shear.

Trees less than 15 feet in height shall be pruned at least twice yearly, kept free of sucker growth, and maintain a clearance of at least 18 inches from structures.

Pruning of trees taller than 15 feet are NOT a part of the Contractor’s scope of services.

The contractor shall notify the City of any insect or fungus infestation to discuss control measure. No pesticides, or chemicals of any kind, are to be applied.

Shrubs shall be pruned to maintain a clearance of at least 18 inches from structures and off any walkway areas.

Shrubs shall not be clipped into a ball or box form. They shall be pruned with generally accepted horticultural practices in accordance with the intended function of the plant in its present location to maintain optimum health and appearance.

Shrubs at parking lot ingress and egress must be pruned to ensure safe visibility for cars entering and exiting.

Contractor shall prune and shape perennials and ground covers throughout the growing season with trained personnel, in accordance with sound horticultural practices. Ground cover plants shall be maintained to a clearance of at least 18 inches from structures and shall not be permitted to encroach into lawns, adjacent plants, paved and building surfaces. Established groundcover shall be maintained 4” to 6” off edges with a beveled or rolled edge.

Trimmings shall be removed when the service is performed. The contractor shall legally dispose of the debris from pruning at an off-site location approved by local authorities.

LEAF REMOVAL

Fallen leaves shall be removed from the project area during regular service visits during the growing season.

During the fall leaf drop season, leaves shall be removed from plants, beds, turf and paved areas during each regular service visit and legally disposed of off-site.

RIGHT OF INSPECTION AND RISK MITIGATION

The Contractor acknowledges that it has inspected the project area and understands the Service requirements and conditions under which the Service is to be performed.

Contractor understands that applying herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, comtill and fertilizer within the project area is prohibited. The contractor shall use other means to achieve the desired results. The Owner is open to other non-chemical methods to control weeds, insects, fungi and improve the overall health of plants; however, such methods must be approved by the City prior to initiating.

No allowances shall be made due to the Contractor’s error, negligence, or failure to have adequately inspected the site where Service is to be performed. Contractor acknowledges, understands and agrees that the cost of the Service is intended to cover foreseeable work, risks, hazards and difficulties inherent to the Service of this nature.

Contractor shall provide a Shipping List and Plant Inspection Certificate for each replacement plant that verifies a plant’s genus, cultivar, size, quantity and source.

ORDERING, DELIVERY and INVOICING

Ordering Procedure: A written purchase order will be established. The Purchase Order will have the delivery information and invoice information.

Delivery days after Order:

Delivery Instructions: Each delivery location may have specific requirements for delivery specified on the purchase order. If no instructions are listed please contact the City agency listed on the purchase order to determine specific delivery instructions. (INDICATE IF 24 HOUR NOTICE IS REQUIRED)

Packaging: All items must be packaged in the minimum standard packing material designed to protect against damage during shipment. Note the use of Environmentally Friendly materials is encouraged.

Invoicing: Fees shall be paid for services rendered following services in compliance with this agreement and the City’s receipt of a correct invoice, which designates the specific applicable charges. The City will not be subject to any late payment charges. Rates shall be firm during the term of this Contract. The City will process correctly documented invoices for payment and Contractor should receive payment for such invoice in compliance with the discount terms of this contract.

Each invoice shall show the City Purchase Order number, a brief description identifying the item, the unit price, and the total amount. The invoice amount must exactly match the purchase order amount in accordance with the bid proposal. All Invoices should be emailed to DPUInvoices@columbus.gov to ensure prompt payment.

NOTES

Indefinite Quantity Agreement: This proposal is bidder's offer to sell the item(s) set forth in the bidders' response to the RFQ at the price(s) quoted by bidder therein, under the terms and conditions of these bid documents. An estimated quantity or estimated annual expenditure is set forth in the proposal. Bidder is to take notice that the City makes no warranties or representations that the estimated quantity, or any quantity at all, will be ordered by the City even though bidder's proposal is accepted by the City and a firm offer for sale executed.

Online Bidding Instructions: The bidder shall submit a firm, fixed discount (or mark-up, if applicable) to the listed prices for each line they wish to bid.

Attachments: For instruction on attaching documents to online quotes, please see the "City of Columbus Vendor Services User Guide", made available through the Vendor Portal.

Correspondences: During the bidding and evaluation process Offerors are strictly prohibited from communicating with any City employees or officers regarding the solicitation. Any communication from the vendor to the City should be limited to only the contact(s) listed in the RFQ and/or below. A violation of this section on the part of the Offeror may lead to disqualification.

All correspondences regarding this bid should be sent via email to saburke@columbus.gov, LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE SERVICE AREA

Landscaping Boundary’s 1 Bio-retention NOT included in service area 2 Bio-retention NOT included in service area 3 Bio-swale NOT included in service area

Lines for bid:

10: Spring 2022 Clean Up Visit

20: Spring 2023 Clean Up Visit

30: Spring 2024 Clean Up Visit

40: Fall 2022 Clean Up Visit

50: Fall 2023 Clean Up Visit

60: Fall 2024 Clean Up Visit

70: Bi-Weekly Visit 2022

80: Bi-Weekly Visit 2023

90: Bi-Weekly Visit 2024

100: Plant Replacement Cost (note percentage over cost in the comments section)

110: Misc Charges (please note charge and cost in comments section)

Procurement Categories:

Landscaping services Weed control services Garden planting or maintenance services image1.emf