Lawn Maintenance

Gaston College, a North Carolina Community College System institution, is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to procure comprehensive lawn and grounds maintenance services for its main campus located at 201 Highway 321 South, Dallas, NC 28034, covering approximately 159 acres. The procurement seeks qualified vendors to provide professional lawn care services encompassing labor, supervision, equipment, and supplies, along with as-needed services including snow and ice treatment, sand fly treatment, and weed control at an off-campus motorcycle training facility. The initial contract term is three years, commencing within thirty business days of the effective date, with monthly and annual rate submissions required for each contract year alongside hourly rates for supplemental services. Prospective vendors must be North Carolina registered landscape contractors with current NC Pesticide Applicator Licenses and must provide at least three customer references for similar work. The RFP utilizes a best value procurement method with evaluation criteria ranked in the following order: project organization, technical approach, vendor experience and qualifications, and cost proposal. Critical deadlines include a mandatory site visit on May 18, 2026 at 10:00 AM at Robinson Classroom Room 126 (with late arrivals disqualified), written questions due by May 21, 2026 at 5:00 PM with responses provided by May 27, 2026, proposal submission deadline of June 2, 2026 at 1:50 PM via the NC Electronic Vendor Portal (eVP), and public bid opening at 2:00 PM the same date via Microsoft Teams, with contract award estimated for July 30, 2026.

The RFP contains a Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) supplemental information requirement, though no specific HUB set-asides or restrictions are indicated as mandatory for this procurement. All proposals must be submitted electronically through the NC Electronic Vendor Portal, and vendors must register with the North Carolina Secretary of State prior to contract award. Vendors are required to complete all attachments including pricing forms, HUB supplemental information, customer reference forms, worker location documentation, and financial condition certifications. No incumbent vendor or current contractor information was referenced in the RFP documentation. The procurement does not specify an explicit budget range or award value, instead requiring vendors to submit pricing for evaluation as part of the best value analysis, where cost is weighted as the final evaluation criterion after technical and organizational factors have been assessed.