Lawn Care for Limestone CHP Buildings

The State of Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Office of State Procurement Services, issued a Request for Quotation (RFQ260122-0168) on behalf of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management - Military Bureau for lawn care services at the Maine Army National Guard Limestone CHP facility located at 49 Wyoming Circle, Limestone, Maine. The procurement encompasses mowing, trimming, edging, and maintenance of 3.8 acres of grass and landscaping areas, including spring and winter cleanup, with services required weekly during the growing season from May through October. Contractors must maintain lawn heights between 3.5 and 5 inches for general areas, with specialized heights for environmental features such as 6 inches for filter beds and retention ponds, and perform all work during standard working hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. excluding state and federal holidays. Required qualifications include passing federal background checks conducted by DVEM before facility access, maintaining sharp mower blades, mulching or bagging equipment, and completing same-day edging with debris removal and weed control within planting areas and along fence lines. The State will evaluate submissions based on best value considerations, with delivery and pricing as key factors, and will conduct monthly performance evaluation tours using a standardized checklist; contractors receiving four or more negative responses or three poor performance evaluations may have their contracts terminated with 30 days' notice. Quotations must be submitted by March 6, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time through the State's Advantage Vendor Self Service (VSS) system, with questions due by February 28, 2026; no pre-bid facility tour will be offered due to snow conditions, though facility diagrams are provided instead.

The contract term is anticipated to begin May 1, 2026, and run through April 30, 2027, with two optional two-year renewal periods (May 1, 2027 through April 30, 2029, and May 1, 2029 through October 31, 2030), and bidders must provide cost quotations in Excel format covering all five years and include a disaster recovery plan describing workforce reduction contingencies. The current incumbent vendor is Quist Lawn Care with an annual cost of approximately $2,500, and the State anticipates making one award based on best value considerations. Bidders may use subcontractors for no more than 15 percent of contracted work and must maintain insurance certificates equivalent to the prime contractor's coverage, with invoices to be processed monthly on a net 30 basis for services successfully provided. The document does not identify any set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises or restrictions on the types of organizations that can respond, though all contractor employees must pass federal background checks prior to facility access. Payment will be made only for services successfully delivered, and the State is exempt from sales taxes; contractors should submit pricing for lawncare services, winter cleanup, and hourly rates for additional work outside the base contract scope across all contract periods.