Slope Mowing Services, Natchez National Cemetery

***EDIT: 4/10/2025 - Amendment A00001 to add attachment "36C78625R50177 Questions and Answers".***

The Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, Contracting Services, 18434 Joplin Road, Triangle, VA 22172 is soliciting quotations for Slope Mowing Services at Natchez National Cemetery, 41 Cemetery Rd, Natchez, MS 39120.

This solicitation is a Request for Proposal (RFP). The government anticipates awarding a Firm, Fixed-priced, Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) Services contract with a Base period of twelve (12) months with four (4), twelve (12) month option periods.

Note: This is a total Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set-aside solicitation, offerors must be certified through Small Business Administration (SBA) VetCert.

https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 12.6, Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Items, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested, and a written solicitation document will not be issued. The Government reserves the right to make no award from this solicitation. 

Basis of Award.

This procurement is being conducted pursuant to FAR Part 12.301(c) procedures. The Government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation and limitations of subcontracting will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers quote, conforming to the solicitation, whose quoted price does not exceed the amount of funding available for the procurement, and whose quoted price is found to be reasonable.

Price alone is not the sole evaluation factor. In addition to the general standards of responsibility found at FAR 9.104-1, in accordance with FAR 9.104-2, the special standards of responsibility (SSRs) described below apply to this procurement. Offerors who fail to meet any special standard of responsibility will not be eligible to receive contract award.

SSR1 Contractor-provided statements and/or literature that clearly explains their experience, approach and/or abilities to perform the tasks described in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). Proposal must include submissions required in PWS table 4.5.

SSR2 Contractors proposed plan, process and equipment for slope mowing angles up to 42° to ensure safety of property and personal (employees & visitor).

SSR3 Resume for On-site Supervisor(s) demonstrating a minimum of five (5) years’ experience as a direct supervisor of grounds maintenance operations that included mowing, trimming, edging, and cleanup in industrial, commercial, or public sites.

SSR4 Offeror must include with their quote, signed attachment “Contract Clauses”, completed attachment “Solicitation Provisions”, completed attachment “Price Schedule”.

SSR5 Past performance shall be evaluated based on the Contractor’s technical qualifications on projects within the last 5 years that are comparable in size, complexity, and scope. Past Performance information shall be obtained by the following methods. The Contracting Officer’s knowledge of previous experience with the service being acquired. Contractor’s past performance descriptions of a minimum of 2 recent (within the last 5 years) projects of similar size and scope.

Evaluation of Quotes: 

Quotes will be evaluated in the following manner. The lowest-priced quote will be identified. The lowest-priced quote will be evaluated to determine if the quoted price exceeds the amount of funding available for the procurement. If the quoted price does not exceed the amount of funding available for the procurement, the quoted price will be evaluated to determine if it is reasonable. If the quoted price is found to be reasonable, the contracting officer will then determine if the offeror is responsible using the general standards of responsibility and the special standards of responsibilities (SSRs) applicable to this procurement. If contract award cannot be made to the offeror, the contracting officer will evaluate the next lowest-priced quote 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 contracting officer may likewise find all quotes, not acceptable and cancel the solicitation if the quote under evaluation exceeds the amount of funding available and/or technical documents do not meet the PWS/SOW and SSRs for the procurement. Technical documents and past performance, when combined, are more important than price. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and technical documents to 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.

Wage Determination Information: U.S. Department of Labor Wage Determination 2015-5173, rev. 30, published December 23, 2024, is applicable to all services.

Current Federal Acquisition Circular: Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2024-07 was published in the Federal Register August 29, 2024.

Site Visit Information: A site visit will be held at 9am local on April 2, 2025 and April 3, 2025. Offerors may attend either session. In accordance with FAR 52.237-1, offerors or quoters are urged and expected to inspect the site where services are to be performed and to satisfy themselves regarding all general and local conditions that may affect the cost of contract performance, to the extent that the information is reasonably obtainable. In no event shall failure to inspect the site constitute grounds for a claim after contract award.

Incumbent Contractor Information:The services were previously provided by Sanford Federal, Inc. under contract number 36C78622D0031.

Questions and Answers: All solicitation questions must be submitted through email to the Contracting Officer: brian.werner2@va.gov. Vendor questions must be received by 3pm EST on April 8, 2025, and will be answered via solicitation amendment no later than April 11, 2025. Questions submitted after the Q&A due date will not be answered.

Offer Due Date: All quotations shall be sent via email to the Contracting Officer: brian.werner2@va.gov. Submissions must be received by 3pm EST on Friday, April 18, 2025.  Late submissions will not be accepted.  Only e-mailed quotes will be accepted. It is the responsibility of the vendor to ensure the Governments timely receipt of their quote.

Solicitation Attachments:

“Performance Work Statement Natchez Slope Mowing”

“36C78625R50177 Price Schedule”

“36C78625R50177 Solicitation Provisions”

“36C78625R50177 Contract Clauses”