INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS_EVALUATIONS_08302023.docx

E.1 ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-1 – INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Provisions that are incorporated by reference (by Citation Number, Title, and Date), have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available.

The following provisions are incorporated into 52.212-1 as an addendum to this solicitation

A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: This section provides general guidance for preparing the proposal, as well as specific instructions on the format and content of the proposal. The Offeror’s proposal must include all data and information requested and must be submitted in accordance with these instructions. Any Offeror who submits an incomplete package may have its proposal considered to be unacceptable and removed from consideration for contract award. The offer shall be compliant with the requirements as stated in the Solicitation. Non-compliance with the instructions to the Solicitation may result in an unfavorable proposal evaluation and may be grounds to eliminate the proposal from consideration for contract award.

Offeror should thoroughly review the specifications and become familiar with the requirement prior to submitting a proposal. Failure to understand the contract requirements shall not relieve the successful Offeror from performing in accordance within the strict meaning and intent of the specifications.

Submission of Offerors. Offeror must complete and return a complete package of all items required prior to the time specified in the Solicitation to be considered for award.

Please review the following items before submitting your proposal:

[ ] Have you completed and sign the 1449?

[ ] Have you completed the Price Schedule?

[ ] Have you acknowledged any amendment (s), if applicable?

[ ] Have you included the requested information required for responding to the Technical Acceptability Factors?

B. TYPE OF ACQUISITION: This acquisition is a competitive solicitation. Award will be made to the Lowest Priced Offeror that meets the Technical Acceptability Standards in accordance with the requirements. A single award may be made in response to this solicitation.

C. PERIOD OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFERS: The Offeror agrees to hold prices in its offer firm for a period of sixty (60) calendar days from the closing date of the solicitation.

D. PAST PERFORMANCE: The Government reserves the right to obtain past performance information from any available source and may contact references other than those identified by the Offeror when determining responsibility.

E. POST-AWARD/PRE-PERFORMANCE CONFERENCE: A post-award/pre-performance conference will be scheduled by the Contracting Officer (CO) and held prior to the commencement of any work. The Offeror and/or their duly authorized representative(s) is/are required to attend the post-award/pre-performance conference. The CO and COR shall meet with the Contractor to discuss details of the contract, the Guards sites and schedules, emergency contact information, handbook, and any other information pertinent to the performance of the contract.

F. POINTS OF CONTACT (POC): Written requests for clarification, questions, and/or concerns may be sent to the following:

Ralph Crum Contracting Officer Ralph.Crum@va.gov

G. PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE / SITE VISIT

A Pre-Proposal Conference and Site Visit will be held at Omaha National Cemetery, 14250 Schram Road, Omaha, Nebraska 68138.

Pre-Proposal Conference will be held in the Maintenance Building Break Room on September 8, 2023, 9AM-4PM Central Standard Time (CST).

Due to the room size limitations, Offerors are encouraged to notify the Contracting Officer of their plan to attend. Notification should include Company Name, Address, Names of Attendees, and Phone No. Attendance Notification should be received by the Contracting Officer and COR via e-mail ralph.crum@va.gov and Jayson.harris@va.gov no later than September 5, 2023, at 3PM CST.

Questions regarding the solicitation should be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer two days prior to site visit so that the Government may have adequate time to prepare responses for discussion during the Pre-Proposal Conference.

If you plan to conduct a site visit / inspection of the Omaha National Cemetery other than on the day stated above, YOU MUST CONTACT one of the following personnel to make arrangements:

Jason Dolan, Cemetery Director, Omaha National Cemetery

(402) 253-3949

H. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

Submission via email to: Ralph.Crum@va.gov Subject line: 36C7862350286_Company Name Submission deadline: September 13, 2023, 3:00 PM CST

Do not make any changes to the files or the format of the files of the Solicitation and any attachments. Offerors who make any changes without prior written consent from the CO may be eliminated from further consideration.

· It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure that documents are complete, and submission is viewable/ readable and arrives to the CO/CS by the date and time required.

· Please complete both the price schedule in the solicitation document as well as the 36C7862350286_Price Schedule Spreadsheet (attachment). Complete column K for all CLINS. Column M includes a formula to calculate the extended price.

· Any questions must be submitted via email by September 8, 2023, 5:00 PM CST to: Ralph.Crum@va.gov. All questions shall be addressed via an amendment to the Solicitation.

· If any required documents are omitted with submission, the offer may be precluded from further consideration.

I. TECHNICAL ACCEPTABILITY EVALUATION FACTORS: To assist the Contracting Officer in determining if the technical acceptability evaluation factors applicable to this procurement are met, Offerors are asked to provide the following information with their quotes. Failure to include this information could result in a Contracting Officer’s determination that an otherwise successful Offeror is not eligible for contract award.

TECHNICAL ACCEPTABILITY EVALUATION FACTORS:

1. Site Supervisor: The Site Supervisor with a minimum of four (4) years of grounds maintenance and supervisory experience. The cemetery is requesting a copy of the site supervisor’s resume and any special certifications that him/her and their personnel have in grounds maintenance. Example. Chemical applications (herbicide, pesticides, etc.) license in the state of IL to apply chemicals and the proper equipment to apply it. Site Supervisor will need to be on site everyday work is being done and will speak fluent English.

2. Work Crew. Work crew consist of a minimum of fifteen (15) employees. Please confirm in a statement that the minimum number of employees will be available to perform services on the effective date of the award.

3. Equipment: Provide a list of all equipment that will be used for mowing, trimming, chemical application, burial operations – excavating equipment, lowering devices, etc., and snow removal. All equipment will be in good repair and be presentable at the National Cemetery. All lifting equipment must be tagged and rated in accordance with applicable OSHA standards. The list is to include but no limited to mowers, trimmers, edgers, plows, snow blowers, salt spreader truck, etc.

4. Products: Provide a list of products that will be used for chemical applications, snow removal and grounds maintenance (i.e., seed, salt fertilizer, pesticides, etc.).

5. A stated commitment by the contractor that they will attend the mandatory meeting with the cemetery to go over the mowing, trimming, chemical application, and snow removal plans no later than two weeks prior to the identified requirement/task order (i.e., mowing, etc.).

6. A stated commitment by the contractor that the Site Supervisor and work crew are ready to provide services onsite (tentative based on award of contract).

7. On no more than two pages, demonstrate knowledge, experience, tools/equipment, and personnel type/number in transporting Urns/Caskets to gravesites, placing them in-ground and completing chain of custody/4-point check documents and GIS/GPS in traditional IGC/Casket gravesites, urn vaults, Columbarium, and PPCs; to include circumstances where a repositioning may be required in an older traditional section.

8. On no more than two pages, demonstrate capability and knowledge/experience in meeting OSHA safety requirements for all lifting and lowering tools/equipment. Day 1 start requires lifting devices to have tags present with load ratings and dates of inspection/validation. Describe personal protective equipment supplied/required during opening/closing gravesites, setting headstones, mow/trim/edging operations.

9. On no more than two pages, demonstrate knowledge, experience, tools/equipment in removing/replacing sod and properly dressing a gravesite within the NCA following an interment.

10. On no more than two pages, demonstrate personnel, tools, and equipment/knowledge in receiving and setting headstones/columbarium niches/memorial wall markers in a National Cemetery to include capability/experience in ensuring headstones are properly set according to Operational Standards and Measures within 10 days or receipt by the cemetery.

11. On no more than two pages, demonstrate necessary tools and equipment to properly mow, trim and edge all turfgrass areas including headstone sections and experience in avoiding/preventing damage to headstones.

12. On no more than two pages, demonstrate tools/equipment / experience/personnel in making irrigation repairs, maintaining irrigation systems and pump houses.

13. On no more than two pages, demonstrate experience/personnel in conducting raise and realign projects and fine tune alignment processes.

(End of Addendum to 52.212-1)

E.2 52.212-2 EVALUATION – COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014)

(A) BASIS OF AWARD: This procurement is being conducted pursuant to FAR Part 13 procedures.

The Government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror who offers the lowest price, whose proposed price is found to be reasonable, and whose proposal is found to be technically acceptable when considering the non-price evaluation factors described below. Offerors who fail to meet any technical acceptability evaluation factors below will not be eligible to receive contract award.

TECHNICAL ACCEPTABILITY EVALUATION FACTORS:

1. Site Supervisor: The Site Supervisor with a minimum of four (4) years of grounds maintenance and supervisory experience. The cemetery is requesting a copy of the site supervisor’s resume and any special certifications that him/her and their personnel have in grounds maintenance. Example. Chemical applications (herbicide, pesticides, etc.) license in the state of IL to apply chemicals and the proper equipment to apply it. Site Supervisor will need to be on site everyday work is being done and will speak fluent English.

2. Work Crew. Work crew consist of a minimum of fifteen (15) employees. Please confirm in a statement that the minimum number of employees will be available to perform services on the effective date of the award.

3. Equipment: Provide a list of all equipment that will be used for mowing, trimming, chemical application, burial operations – excavating equipment, lowering devices, etc., and snow removal. All equipment will be in good repair and be presentable at the National Cemetery. All lifting equipment must be tagged and rated in accordance with applicable OSHA standards. The list is to include but no limited to mowers, trimmers, edgers, plows, snow blowers, salt spreader truck, etc.

4. Products: Provide a list of products that will be used for chemical applications, snow removal and grounds maintenance (i.e., seed, salt fertilizer, pesticides, etc.).

5. A stated commitment by the contractor that they will attend the mandatory meeting with the cemetery to go over the mowing, trimming, chemical application, and snow removal plans no later than two weeks prior to the identified requirement/task order (i.e., mowing, etc.).

6. A stated commitment by the contractor that the Site Supervisor and work crew are ready to provide services onsite (tentative based on award of contract).

7. On no more than two pages, demonstrate knowledge, experience, tools/equipment, and personnel type/number in transporting Urns/Caskets to gravesites, placing them in-ground and completing chain of custody/4-point check documents and GIS/GPS in traditional IGC/Casket gravesites, urn vaults, Columbarium, and PPCs; to include circumstances where a repositioning may be required in an older traditional section.

8. On no more than two pages, demonstrate capability and knowledge/experience in meeting OSHA safety requirements for all lifting and lowering tools/equipment. Day 1 start requires lifting devices to have tags present with load ratings and dates of inspection/validation. Describe personal protective equipment supplied/required during opening/closing gravesites, setting headstones, mow/trim/edging operations.

9. On no more than two pages, demonstrate knowledge, experience, tools/equipment in removing/replacing sod and properly dressing a gravesite within the NCA following an interment.

10. On no more than two pages, demonstrate personnel, tools, and equipment/knowledge in receiving and setting headstones/columbarium niches/memorial wall markers in a National Cemetery to include capability/experience in ensuring headstones are properly set according to Operational Standards and Measures within 10 days or receipt by the cemetery.

11. On no more than two pages, demonstrate necessary tools and equipment to properly mow, trim and edge all turfgrass areas including headstone sections and experience in avoiding/preventing damage to headstones.

12. On no more than two pages, demonstrate tools/equipment / experience/personnel in making irrigation repairs, maintaining irrigation systems and pump houses.

13. On no more than two pages, demonstrate experience/personnel in conducting raise and realign projects and fine tune alignment processes.

(B) EVALUATION PROCESS: Proposals will be evaluated in the following manner. The lowest-priced proposal will be identified. If the proposed price is found to be reasonable, the proposal will be evaluated to determine if the proposal takes exception with any of the requirements for this procurement specified in the solicitation. If the proposal does not take exception with any of the requirements for this procurement, the offeror who submitted this proposal will be determined as the “successful offeror.” The Contracting Officer will then determine if the successful offeror is technically acceptable using the technical evaluation factors applicable to this procurement. If contract award cannot be made to the successful offeror, the Contracting Officer will evaluate the next lowest-priced proposal following the procedures described above. This process will continue until a contract award can be made, or the Contracting Officer determines that no contract award can be made. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and award a contract without discussions with offerors. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions at any time if determined by the contracting officer to be in the Government’s interest.

(C) OPTIONS: The Government will evaluate quotes for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that a quote is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced or if the proposed price for the basic requirement or any option exceeds the amount of funding available for any of those requirements. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(End of provision)