Vegetation Control - State trunklines in Oakland County

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Oakland Transportation Services Center issued Request for Proposal (RFP) 250000001556 for vegetation control services on state trunk lines in Oakland County. The procurement seeks herbicide application services to control and eradicate vegetation, including Kochia plants, on barrier walls, sound/retention walls, raised wall tops, transverse and longitudinal joints on highway shoulders, under bridge/slope pavers, and guardrails across approximately 32.64 acres of guardrail treatment and 14.61 acres of pavement/structure treatment. The contractor must be licensed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as a Pesticide Application Business in Category 6 Right-of-Way, with all herbicide applicators holding commercial pesticide applicator certifications in Category 6. Work will be performed during two seasonal windows: April 15 through May 15 for guardrail treatment and July for pavement/structure treatment, with an anticipated contract commencement date of April 1, 2025. The mandatory pre-proposal meeting was held on March 5, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time via Microsoft Teams, with attendance required for bid evaluation eligibility; bidders must submit questions by March 6, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, with answers posted by March 7, 2025, at 5:00 p.m., and proposals due by March 12, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Evaluation criteria include technical scoring on a 100-point scale (with 80 points required to advance to pricing evaluation), assessment of prior experience with the State, equipment specifications including GPS tracking systems with sub-meter accuracy, and verification of a minimum 90 percent vegetation kill rate through random sampling. The contractor must maintain specified insurance coverage including $1,000,000 commercial general liability, $5,000,000 umbrella liability, $1,000,000 automobile liability, and workers' compensation coverage, and pricing must remain firm for a 365-day period.

No set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises or minority-owned businesses are identified in the solicitation documents. The RFP explicitly prohibits subcontractors, requiring the contractor to handle all work directly and assume full responsibility for traffic control, environmental compliance, spill prevention, and damage repairs in accordance with Michigan Manual of Uniform Traffic Control standards and MDOT specifications. Among the vendors attending the mandatory pre-proposal meeting were representatives from established contractors including Chop Tree, Davey Resource Group, Owen Tree Service, PLM Lake & Land Management, and Tru Green, indicating the competitive landscape for this opportunity. The solicitation permits consideration of alternative vegetation control products not listed on the Application Rate Table in Schedule A, Section 1.2, subject to MDOT Central Office approval. The contract term is one year with renewal options for up to four additional one-year periods at the State's sole discretion, and pricing adjustments may be made thereafter based on documented changes in contractor costs. The specific contract award value or budget range is not disclosed in the available solicitation documents.