Parks Utility Marking

The City of Madison Parks Division is seeking a utility marking services contractor through Request for Bids (RFB) 8720-0-2018-BP to locate and mark Parks-owned utilities in response to Diggers Hotline tickets. The procurement covers utility locating services for approximately 275 park parcels within 10 miles of the State Capitol Building, with vendors required to identify multiple utility types including electric, telecommunications, natural gas, sanitary sewer laterals, storm sewer systems, and water service lines. Historical data indicates an annual ticket volume of approximately 400 tickets, with roughly 25 percent requiring actual marking work. The successful contractor must demonstrate 24/7 emergency response capabilities, possess mobile internet access, and be able to receive e-mailed tickets and access the City's GTWeb utility mapping application. Bid submissions were due electronically by March 12, 2018, at 2:00 PM CST, with preliminary questions accepted until March 2, 2018, and answers posted by March 5, 2018. Pricing structure requires a base per-ticket cost covering the first hour of utility locating work, with additional hourly rates for work exceeding one hour, and separate rates for emergency and non-emergency tickets.

The contract includes standard City of Madison terms and conditions with specific requirements for contractors. Affirmative action compliance is mandatory for vendors with 15 or more employees and annual aggregate business exceeding $25,000. Contractors must meet living wage requirements and provide $1,000,000 in Commercial General Liability insurance. Local purchasing preferences will be given to registered local vendors. The contract term is anticipated to begin in April 2018 and extend through December 31, 2020, with no specified renewal options. Bidders must accept partial awards and provide detailed billing with individual Diggers Hotline ticket numbers. While no specific set-aside designations were mentioned, the procurement appears open to qualified utility marking service providers who can meet the technical and administrative requirements. The estimated annual costs are based on 355 non-emergency tickets, 53 hours of additional non-emergency work, 45 emergency tickets, and 7 hours of additional emergency work, suggesting a potential annual contract value that would vary based on actual ticket volume and service requirements.