Litter Control Services

Charles County Government's Public Works Division, Environmental Resources section, is soliciting sealed quotes through RFQ #26-031 for comprehensive litter control services and rolling flagging operations along County-maintained roadways and designated public areas. The procurement encompasses routine weekly litter and debris removal from rights-of-way, medians, ramps, connectors, and gutters across approximately 3,300 billable miles annually (minimum 275 miles per month), with debris removal extending 25 feet from the pavement's edge and including accessible vegetation cleanup; bulk item removal on an as-needed basis; and rolling flagging services on five designated roads (Turkey Hill Road, Billingsley Road, Mitchell Road, Bumpy Oak Road, and Middletown Road) totaling approximately 262 billable miles annually, scheduled monthly on primary roads and quarterly on secondary roads. The selected contractor must respond to County requests within three hours and arrive at work sites within 48 hours, perform all work during daylight hours and fair-weather conditions according to County-established schedules, comply with OSHA and Maryland safety standards, and dispose of all collected materials at the Charles County Landfill with proper recyclable and tire segregation. Required qualifications include a minimum of five years' active engagement in litter control services, evidence of three completed projects of equal or greater magnitude within the past three years, appropriate licensing and bonding, a minimum crew of four employees per area including a supervisor certified in First Aid and CPR, and all flaggers must hold current certifications from an approved Maryland Department of Transportation SHA flagger course. The County will award the contract to the lowest responsive, responsible quoter based on the sum of base quote items, with pricing quoted per mile for roadside litter removal and per hour for bulk item removal, and the following critical deadlines: questions due March 19, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.; quote opening registration required by March 31, 2026, at 12:00 p.m.; and quotes due electronically through the County's eProcurement Portal by April 1, 2026, at 11:00 a.m., with a virtual quote opening immediately following at 11:01 a.m. The contract commences upon written notice of intent to award or May 1, 2026, whichever is later, and extends through April 30, 2027, with four optional one-year renewals at the County's sole discretion; pricing remains firm through the base term with subsequent annual adjustments based on Consumer Price Index percentage changes. Required insurance coverage includes commercial automobile liability ($1,000,000 per person/$2,000,000 per occurrence for bodily injury; $500,000 per occurrence for property damage), workers' compensation, commercial general liability ($1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate), employers liability ($500,000 per accident), and umbrella excess liability ($5,000,000 per occurrence/$5,000,000 aggregate), and contractors must maintain GPS-equipped vehicles and submit a detailed operations plan addressing equipment, personnel, and removal procedures.

No set-aside designations or restrictions limiting competition to specific enterprise categories are identified in this solicitation; however, the County requires Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) and Small Local Business Enterprise (SLBE) compliance documentation from all respondents. No incumbent contractor information is provided in the available procurement documents, indicating this may be a new procurement or the incumbent status is not disclosed. The contractor will be required to operate GPS devices furnished and maintained by the County (with the contractor responsible for repairs and replacements within 24 hours of notice), integrating this technology into vehicles for County performance monitoring. Performance compliance is enforced through penalty deductions of $100 to $200 per instance of non-compliance with contract specifications, with deficiencies requiring correction within 24 hours or resulting in deductions of not less than one line mile; failure to correct within 48 hours constitutes failure to perform. The estimated procurement cost is $50,000, funded entirely through Charles County General Funds (Fiscal Year 2026) with account number 35054320.530000, though this figure may represent an initial budget estimate and actual award value will be determined by the lowest responsive bid submission across the specified service volumes (3,353 miles of roadside litter removal and 50 hours of bulk removal annually, with 262 miles of flagging plus 50 as-needed miles).