RoW Mow and Trim Mercer Co D7

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Division of Purchases, issued a Request for Bid (RFB) on January 26, 2023, for right-of-way mowing and trimming services in Mercer County within District 7. The solicitation seeks contractor services to mow and trim roadside turf on highway right-of-way areas, encompassing approximately 1,242 acres across eleven state routes and one federal highway (US 68), with work distributed across 141.664 miles of roadway. Bidders must submit pricing as a unit cost per acre for mowing and trimming services and a unit cost per occurrence for traffic control services, with the contract including three traffic control line items. The work scope requires three full mowing cycles beginning in late May with a mowing height of 6-10 inches, with each mowing cycle to be completed within a maximum of twelve working days. Bidders must be prequalified with a Certificate of Eligibility for work items I-29 (Right of Way Mowing) and I-37 (Traffic Control) in accordance with KRS Section 176.140 prior to bid closing. Written questions were due by January 25, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and bids must be submitted electronically through the Commonwealth's Kentucky Vendor Self Service system by February 2, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with a tentative award date of February 9, 2023. Award will be made on a best-value basis using a ranking approach with price as the sole measurable criterion worth 100 points, with the lowest bidder receiving the maximum score.

The contract includes specific performance requirements and financial penalties: contractors must maintain Contractor's General Liability Insurance with limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence and Kentucky workers' compensation insurance, and neither bid nor performance bonds are required. Penalties are assessed at $1,000 per day for failure to begin or complete work as scheduled, $500 per occurrence for damage to roadside features including signs or delineators, $250 per occurrence for mailbox damage, and $250 per occurrence for improper equipment use. The contract term begins upon award and expires December 31, 2023, with an option to extend for four additional one-year periods subject to written approval from both the vendor and the KYTC Division of Purchases. Pricing shall remain firm for the first twelve months, with only one price increase permitted thereafter based on industry-wide price changes, and a fuel price adjustment mechanism applies when diesel fuel prices fluctuate more than 5 percent from the baseline January 1 price. The solicitation documents reference resident bidder preference and qualified bidder preferences as potentially applicable but do not specify current incumbent vendors or detailed budget ranges for the contract award value. The contract is available for extension to other state agencies and political subdivisions with vendor consent.