This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Chicago, Illinois. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

SCOPE The Bidder shall furnish Landscaping Services for the Cook County Department of Facilities Management and the Cook County Health and Hospital Services, all in accordance with the Contract Documents, Specifications and Proposal herein. CONTRACT PERIOD The contract is effective for three (3) years, with two (2), one (1) year renewal options effective after award by the Chief Procurement Officer or Board of Commissioners and after proper execution of the Contract Documents. The Contract may be renewed in writing by mutual agreement of the parties prior to expiration. AWARD OF CONTRACT The contract shall be awarded by Zones (Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4) to the lowest, responsible and responsive Vendor in each Zone whose bid meets the requirements and criteria set forth in the Invitation for Bids. All items, unless otherwise stated, will be assumed to meet all specifications and requirements as set forth in the Bid Documents. Ambiguous bids which are uncertain as to terms, delivery, quantity, or compliance with specifications may be declared non-responsive and rejected. Cook County shall be sole determinant of the relevant and appropriate cost factors used in evaluating any Base, Options and/or Alternate bids. Bidders must quote all lines in the Zone for which they are bidding to be considered for award per Zone. Bidders may bid one, two, three or all Zones. BUYER CONTACT INFORMATION: Buyer: DANIEL GIZZI, SENIOR CONTRACT NEGOTIATOR E-Mail: dan.gizzi@cookcountyil.gov Question Deadline 02/28/2024 at 12:00 PM CT. Any questions regarding this Bid should be submitted electronically. Inquiries about the interpretation of the Special Conditions and Specifications must be made only in writing and shall be directed to the Chief Procurement Officer. Inquiries will be answered in writing, if deemed necessary, by means of an Addendum issued by the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer. When required in the Contract Documents, the Bid Proposal shall be accompanied by, cashier's check, certified check, bank draft or surety bond in the amount shown in the legal advertisement or as may be prescribed in these Contract Documents. A certified or cashier's check shall be drawn on a responsible bank doing business in the United States and shall be made payable to the order of the County of Cook. The surety issuing the bond must have a general rating of "A", and shall be a Class VII or higher in the financial size category as defined by Best Company Inc., Moody's Investor Services, Standard & Poor's Corporation or similar rating agency. The surety must be licensed by the State of Illinois Department of Insurance and be listed in the current U.S. Treasury Circular 570 when federal funds are being used. Failure to submit the bid deposit shall constitute a non-responsive Bid Proposal and such Bid Proposal shall be rejected. In accordance with Section 34-236 (b) of the Cook County Procurement Code, the CPO shall give a preference of five percent of the amount of the Contract to a Responsible and Responsive Veteran owned Business Enterprises ("VBEs") or Service Disabled Veteran owned Business Enterprises ("SDVBE") certified by the Contract Compliance Director ("CCD"), or by any other entity approved by the CCD. PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT BOND When required in Bid Documents, the successful Bidder shall furnish a Performance and Payment Bond in the full amount of the Contract on the County Form, a specimen of which shall be provided. The Surety issuing the Performance and Payment Bond must have a general rating of "A" and shall be a Class VII or higher in the financial size category as defined by Best's Key Rating Guide-Property and Casualty, or have such ratings as specified in the Contract Documents. In the event that the Bidder fails to furnish the Performance and Payment Bond within fourteen (14) calendar days after service of the Notice of Award, the County may elect to retain Bidder's bid deposit as liquidated damages and not as a penalty and reject the Bid. The parties agree that the sum of the bid deposit is a fair estimate of the amount of damages that the County will sustain due to the Bidder's failure to furnish the Performance and Payment Bond and the termination of the Contract. MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE ORDINANCE: Cook County has adopted the Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise Ordinance (the "Ordinance"). The Ordinance establishes annual participation goals for Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises. The requirements of the Ordinance, as well as the documents the Bidder must submit are set forth in GC-19. The Bidder's failure to submit the MBE/WBE Utilization Plan, as more fully described in GC-19 shall render the Bid non-responsive Site Inspection: No additional allowances will be granted because of lack of knowledge of any conditions. Only one representative from each company will be allowed to attend per inspection period. CONSIDERATION OF BID PROPOSALS The County reserves the right to reject or accept any or all Bid Proposals, to extend the bidding period, to waive technicalities in the Bid and/or to withdraw or cancel the Bid or to issue a new Bid, i.e., "rebid" prior to award of the Contract. No physical public bid opening shall be held. A preliminary record of all bids received will be posted to the OCPO website and shall be made available immediately after the bids are opened. After the bidding period has closed, the Bid Proposals will be evaluated based on the price, conformance with Specifications, the responsibility of the various Bidders taking into consideration factors including, but not limited to, those noted in IB-09, IB-10 and responsiveness to the County's Minority and Women Owned Business Ordinance. The Chief Procurement Officer reserves the right to make corrections, after receiving the Bids, to any clerical error apparent on the face of the Bid, including but not limited to obviously incorrect units or misplaced decimal points, or arithmetic errors. In the event that comparison of the Bidder's "Unit Price" and "Total Price" submitted for any line items reveals a calculation error, the Unit Price will prevail. The Chief Procurement Officer reserves the right to reject any Bid that, in his or her discretion and authority is deemed materially unbalanced.