25AL2555 Siloam Springs S. P. - Sole Source - Farm Lease

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is pursuing a sole source agricultural lease for 32 acres at Siloam Springs State Park, located in Brown County, with the intent to award the contract to Moss Family Farms, Inc. The lease will run from March 1, 2025, through February 28, 2030, with no renewal options. The vendor will be responsible for providing all necessary labor, machinery, tools, seed, fertilizer, equipment, and insurance for farming operations. The sole source justification is based on Administrative Code provisions allowing negotiation for tracts less than 50 acres, and the site superintendent confirmed no other local farmers expressed interest in the lease. The procurement follows a specific timeline, with a deadline for written comments or hearing requests set for February 14, 2025, at 4 p.m., and the final contract award anticipated on February 19, 2025.

The contract appears to be unrestricted and does not specify set-aside designations or limitations on organizational respondents. The incumbent vendor is Moss Family Farms, Inc., which previously held a contract (#21AL2555) from March 2021 to February 2025 with a value of $6,400. The total contract value for this new lease is $123,744, with an estimated $115,744 allocated to the vendor and $8,000 to the state. Without this sole source approval, IDNR would potentially face increased maintenance expenses of approximately $1,600 annually for managing the agricultural site using Best Management Practices for agriculture and wildlife management. The lease is located in Calhoun County, with a state contract opportunity ID of 67a1530c0de8cecbba09c21c and is specifically identified as lease 25AL2555 for Siloam Springs State Park.