Grounds Maintenance Services for Puerto Rico National Cemetery -- S208

The Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration is seeking grounds maintenance services for the Puerto Rico National Cemetery through a solicitation that requires comprehensive maintenance of the 55-acre facility. The contract encompasses weekly mowing, edging, trimming, irrigation system maintenance, fertilization, pest control, and flat marker cleaning services. Contractors must provide a full-time site manager with at least 5 years of supervisory experience and a minimum of twelve employees, with a preference for bilingual staff who can communicate in English and Spanish. The government will evaluate proposals using a best value tradeoff approach, where technical capability and past performance are considered significantly more important than price. Potential bidders must submit their proposals by January 8, 2025, at 10:00 AM EST, with a mandatory site visit scheduled for December 27, 2024, and the final deadline for submitting questions being December 30, 2024.

The solicitation is exclusively set aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses under NAICS code 561730, with a size standard of $9.5 million. The current incumbent is Isonic Corp., with a 6-month contract valued at $363,989.96. The new contract will have a base year and four potential option years, with a minimum guaranteed amount of $10,000 and a ceiling of $1.5 million. The place of performance is located at 100 Victory Shopp Center, Suite 1, in Puerto Rico, serving over 150,000 veterans in the Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Caribbean Region, and Central/South American regions. Contractors must maintain the cemetery to strict quality standards, with most maintenance tasks requiring 95-98% performance objectives to preserve the National Cemetery's shrine-like status.