Gunflint Ranger District Snow Removal

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service is soliciting a contractor to provide snow removal and sanding services for the Gunflint Ranger District Administrative Site in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The contractor must clear all parking lots, roadways, and drives to garages and employee housing units of snow following snowfalls exceeding one inch, with plowing substantially completed by 6:00 AM Monday through Friday, and provide immediate sanding of paved surfaces when ice is present. The evaluation criteria emphasize price, experience, and past performance, with technical qualifications and past performance weighted equally to price. Key deadlines include a proposal submission deadline of January 18, 2026 at 1800 EST, with the base contract period commencing February 1, 2026. Performance standards are stringent, permitting no more than two deficiencies per month, and the contractor will be monitored through a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan conducted by the Contracting Officer Representative.

This solicitation is designated as a Total Small Business set-aside with NAICS code 561730 (Landscaping Services) and a small business size standard of $8 million. The incumbent contractor was Budding Stars Inc. under contract number 12444624C0004, and this is a re-solicitation of that expired contract. The contract is structured as a firm fixed-price agreement covering a base period from November 1, 2025 through May 31, 2026, with four one-year option periods extending through May 31, 2030, with an estimated 15 snow removal events and 15 sanding events per season. Contractors must maintain adequate equipment and workforce capacity and comply with prevailing wage requirements as outlined in Wage Determination 2015-4939, which specifies minimum wage rates of $17.75 per hour for contracts entered into on or after January 30, 2022. The place of performance is the Gunflint Ranger District Administrative Site located at 2020 W. Highway 61, Grand Marais, Minnesota 55604.