Aquatic shredding of canoe trail vegetation

The Fish and Wildlife Service seeks quotations for aquatic shredding of canoe trail vegetation at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach, Florida, with quotes due July 6 at 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. This is a Total Small Business set-aside.

Place of performance is Boynton Beach, Florida. The contractor must provide an aquatic vegetation shredding machine (cookie cutter or similar design) with two circular blades capable of cutting a seven-foot path through floating peat islands, water lilies, sawgrass, and cattails, plus an airboat for transporting fuel and personnel. All equipment operators must hold required licenses and certifications. The work covers approximately 5 to 6 miles of vegetation in a 12-foot-wide canal along the 5.5-mile Everglades Canoe Trail, performed bi-annually during normal duty hours (Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.). The period of performance runs from July 15, 2026 through June 30, 2027 with four optional one-year renewal periods exercisable at the government's discretion.

The contract is Firm Fixed Price. Quoters must provide pricing on a per-cut basis with total costs for two visits per year and a grand total covering all five years. Performance standards require 95 percent schedule compliance (allowing 5 percent tolerance for equipment breakdowns and weather/water level issues) and 100 percent compliance with scope of work. The contractor must submit hourly timesheets documenting actual shredding machine running hours with final invoices and submit standard FWS Daily Progress Reports on a weekly basis with biweekly submission minimum. A final inspection will verify the entire 5.5-mile trail has been completed to 12-foot width specifications with all debris removed. Full payment is withheld until satisfactory project completion is confirmed by the project officer. The NAICS code is 562998, All Other Miscellaneous Waste Management Services. The PSC code is Z1PZ, Maintenance of Other Non-Building Facilities. Proposals must be submitted as a single consolidated PDF file not exceeding ten pages via email to Chantal Bashizi. Self-guided site visits are available by contacting (561) 735-6039 or Jennifer Brown at Jennifer_Brown@fws.gov.