Questions Responses.docx

Questions & Responses

1. Can you supply the Labor Rates?

Response: Wage Determination has been posted.

1. Can you provide maps of the area?

Response: Yes. Also, maps provided with individual task orders.

1. Will there be a site walk-thru pre-bid?

Response: No pre-bid site walk-thru will be held.

1. In regard to the pricing sheets. Attachment 3 and 4 both have pricing items (CLINS). Which one do we fill out for the bid?

Response: Both

1. Do you have a size standard for this solicitation?

Response: NAICS 561730 Size Standard $8,000,000.00

1. Is there a current contractor? If so, do you have the contract number and price of the award?

Response: No.

1. What type of license we need or any qualifications in order to make a bid for this project?

Response:

Site Safety and Health Officer (SSHO

· Certification IAW EM 385-1-1 paragraph 01.A.17.

· Four (4) years of working experience relating to the assessment of facilities for safety/health compliance.

· Two (2) years of pertinent experience.

Certified Arborist:

· California D-49 Tree /service state contractor license

· Seven years minimum certified arborist experience.

Crane Operator:

· Certified crane operators license. Refer to EM 385-1-1 16.B.02 Crane Operator Requirements – General.

Biological Monitor:

· The biological monitor must have a degree in biology, ecology, wildlife biology, herpetology, or related fields.

· The biologist must have a minimum of 3 years field experience using USFWS and CDFW techniques and experience with the wildlife species

Elderberry transplant specialist:

· The Elderberry Transplant specialist shall be responsible for the transplanting of the elderberries. The elderberry transplant specialist shall have 3 years experience successfully transplanting elderberries in accordance with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s 1999 Conservation Guidelines for Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle , the 2017 Framework for Assessing Impacts to Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle, and ANSI A300 (Part 6) guidelines for transplanting woody species.

1. MATOC PWS Section 2.6.7 requires the contractor to “Ensure that work sites are free of identified materials such as Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB), lead paint, asbestos and other OSHA regulated chemicals (i.e. 29 CFR Part 1910.1000), in addition to methamphetamine/illegal drug laboratory manufacturing sites or waste materials and drug use paraphernalia. If any material, not indicated, that may be hazardous to human health upon disturbance during work operations is encountered, stop that portion of work and notify the COR immediately.”

This work is beyond the scope of what we self-perform. Does this requirement mean you want us to retain a hazardous materials subcontractor to survey each site, characterize, collect, and dispose of hazardous materials? Are we to perform homeless encampment cleanup? Will USACE be responsible for posting advance (72-hour?) notice of such cleanups at any encampments and storing any personal articles that may be removed so they can be reclaimed by their owners? Will USACE provide law enforcement personnel to accompany our personnel at the time of posting of notices and to be on call in case we meet any resistance when we return to a site to perform the cleanup and/or tree work?

Also, if USACE is including this work within the scope of the MATOC, which CLIN number(s) should we use to include the costs in our bids?

Please clarify.

Response: Contractor is not required to perform clean up of existing hazardous materials. Ensure the work area is safe for the employees to perform duties and notify the COR if said materials are encountered. USACE will coordinate with Sacramento County Sheriffs Office to move and clean homeless encampments which pose a threat to contract activities prior to work commencement.

1. Is it permissible for the QC manager to have other duties in addition to his/her QC responsibilities?

Response: QC can perform other duties except SSHO.

1. Letter RFP p. 3, Section 3.c.(1)(a) Subfactor 1: SSHO.

We have questions about the second and third bullet points.

Bullet 2: Four (4) years of working experience relating to the assessment of facilities for safety/health compliance.

a. Given that this is a tree service MATOC, this requirement does not seem relevant. Would the Corps consider deleting it?

b. If not, please clarify what kind of "assessment of facilities" is meant and how this requirement differs from the requirement in Bullet 3 for two years of pertinent experience, which we assume means safety experience on tree service and landscaping projects.

Response: Assessment of facilities is synonymous with assessment of the site and working conditions. Four years of experience with performing QC duties; two of the four years in tree service capacity.

1. Letter RFP p. 3, Section 3.c.(1)(a) Subfactor 1 Certified Arborist, and MATOC PWS Section 2.15.2. These sections both require that the certified arborist hold a California D-49 Tree /service state contractor license. Is it acceptable for the D-49 license to be held by our company president, with the certified arborist being a company employee?

Response: Acceptable

1. Are the requirements for a certified arborist and certified tree worker climber specialists referring to certifications issued by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)?

Response: Yes

1. MATOC PWS Section 2.15.2 appears to require that all of our tree workers doing climbing, lift work, and saw running be certified tree worker climber specialists.

Is it acceptable for one person on each shift to be either a certified arborist or a certified tree worker climber specialist and for that person to supervise the workers who are not certified? A certified arborist will be present during all shift work.

We would be surprised if any small tree service companies have entire crews of certified tree workers. These people are highly paid personnel who typically serve in a supervisory capacity. It would be extremely onerous for us to assign both a certified arborist and a certified tree worker climber specialist to a single task order, and it would be virtually impossible for us to mobilize an entire crew of certified personnel.

Response: A certified arborist will be present during all shift work. The arborist can be a crew member. Experience is acceptable/interchangeable for tree workers. Offerers must demonstrate that work crews have pertinent experience. The project work demands experienced crews for safety and efficiency reasons.

1. Letter RFP pp. 3-4. Please confirm that we do not have to submit any past performance questionnaires—we just supply the reference information requested in Attachment 6.

Response: Correct