This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

The City of Winston Salem Department of Vegetation Management desires to contract out a portion of its landscape maintenance operations. The area/s to be maintained is located along Highway 52 at Research Parkway. The exact areas to be maintained are outlined in the attached landscape drawings. NOTE: This is a NEW Contract / NO HISTORICAL BID INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE Terms of the Contract A. The landscape maintenance contractor shall provide all required line and/or blade trimming, bed edging, removal of unwanted vegetation, repair of plant beds, removing and replacing plants, repairing, guying or staking, pruning of trees and shrubs, cutting back of native grasses, sedges, perennials and annuals, watering, applications of post and pre-emergent herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides B. All litter, debris, signs, etc. in the landscape beds shall be removed by the contractor. The project shall be policed at each visit and all litter and debris shall be removed and properly disposed of off-site. Bags of litter shall not be left on site overnight. Litter and debris shall be removed at least once during each of the monthly establishment work cycles. The City Representative may request additional litter or debris removal if needed to maintain the project in an acceptable condition. C. All dead, damaged, declining, or unhealthy plants, trees, or shrubs shall be removed immediately and identified for replacement. Plants determined to have died due to negligence of the contractor will be purchased and replanted at the contractor's expense. All other plant material will be purchased by the City but replanted by the contractor. Plants shall be replaced using the same specifications as the original planting D. The proposed plant schedule for plant installation should be submitted to the City Representative for approval, along with the plant sources E. All landscape beds/areas are to be mulched once per year to maintain a thickness of 3" to 4" with double ground hardwood mulch. F. All "natural" areas bordering the planting beds need to be cut back in July and at the end of the summer. All woody vegetation greater than two inches in diameter shall be treated at the stump with an approved herbicide once removed G. Maintenance is to be performed monthly and a maintenance schedule is to be presented to the City Representative. Also, the City Representative may request a meeting with the contractor on site or emergency maintenance to be completed outside of the monthly schedule if needed. The contractor has 24 hours to comply with any request H. All tree pruning is to be performed to meet the ANSI A300 arboriculture standards and shall be performed or at least supervised by an ISA Certified Arborist I. The landscaping contractor's work is subject to inspection by the City and where work fails to meet the City's minimum requirements of the specifications, the contractor will be directed to redo his work. Failure to comply with these directives or continued abuse of this provision, will result in termination of the landscape maintenance contract J. The City will not be responsible for the contractor's equipment or maintenance thereof K. The landscaping contractor shall develop and provide to the City a schedule outlining the times when the landscape areas in this contract shall be maintained. In the event weather conditions prevent the landscaping contractor from performing scheduled areas, the City shall be given a twenty-four (24) hour notice of the date when areas previously missed will be taken care of. This information shall be provided to the City representative L. Failure on the part of the landscaping contractor to maintain the schedule(s) and standards as outlined in these specifications, except for inclement weather, will result in the Department of Vegetation Management, at their discretion, to either complete the work in-house or to hire an outside contractor. The costs of completing the contract will be deducted from the corresponding payment. This is to include all aspects of the contract. Continued failure to maintain schedules and specifications may result in termination of the mowing contract(s). M. SAFETY of the operators and the general public shall be of prime importance and the landscaping contractor will provide all necessary equipment and instructions to his personnel as deemed appropriate in this matter. Equipment shall include but not limited to eye, ear, head protection for the operator as well as safety equipment originally installed on the landscaping equipment, i.e., guards, belt covers, shields, brakes, and controls. Documented failure on the part of the landscaping contractor to adhere to strict safety guidelines for his operators or protection of the general public will result in termination of his contract(s). The Contractor and employees are required to wear all O.S.H.A. required safety equipment while working on City property. This will include, but not be limited to: approved safety helmets, safety glasses, safety tied shoes, hearing protection, etc. N. The City may terminate the contract(s) for reasons stated in these specifications upon thirty (30) days written notice. A Termination Notice will be sent by Certified Mail, return receipt requested. The effective date of termination will be noted on the Contractor's receipt of Termination Notice. O. PAYMENT. The landscaping contractor shall submit with his invoice a record of the dates each site received the mowing service. If received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, payment will be made Friday of the following week. The Division of Vegetation Management will make payments no more than on a Bi-Weekly basis. P. Each proposal MUST have attached to it a copy of the bidder's valid Pesticide Applicators License, with a sub classification of H and L, from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, which allows the use of Pesticides in public rights of way (H) as well as ornamental and turf pest control (L). If the bidder has the L sub classification, but not the H, he must show proof with the bid that the Pesticide Applicators test for sub classification H has been taken and passed. It will not be considered sufficient to provide evidence that the Pesticide Applicators test has been scheduled. Q. Subcontracting the pesticide spraying to a licensed applicator is allowed. Contractors planning to subcontract the pesticide spraying must submit with their bid a copy of the subcontractor's VALID pesticide applicators license as well as a copy of an executed agreement to use that pesticide subcontractor for this contract. The City WILL NOT award a contract to a bidder who does not comply with this provision. R. With the exception of spraying, NO SUBCONTRACTING IS ALLOWED ON THESE CONTRACTS. The penalty for unauthorized subcontracting is immediate termination. S. The Contractor shall complete the required work of installing, maintaining, and removing the traffic control devices for lane closures and restoring traffic to the existing traffic pattern. The Contractor shall not close or narrow a lane of traffic on ANY ROAD during the following time restrictions: T. In addition, the Contractor shall not close or narrow a lane of traffic on ANY ROAD, detain and/or alter the traffic flow on or during holidays, holiday weekends, special events, or any other time when traffic is unusually heavy, including the following schedules: DAY AND TIME RESTRICTIONS MONDAY - SUNDAY 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM AND 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM HOLIDAY AND HOLIDAY WEEKEND LANE CLOSURE RESTRICTIONS 1. For unexpected occurrence that creates unusually high traffic volumes, as directed by the City's representative 2. For New Year's Day, between the hours of 7:00 AM December 31st and 9:00 AM January 2nd. If New Year's Day is on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, then until 9:00 AM the following Tuesday. 3. For Easter, between the hours of 7:00 AM Thursday and 9:00 AM Monday. 4. For Memorial Day, between the hours of 7:00 AM Friday and 9:00 AM Tuesday. 5. For Independence Day, between the hours of 7:00 AM the day before Independence Day and 9:00 AM the day after Independence Day. 6. If Independence Day is on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, then between the hours of 7:00 AM the Thursday before Independence Day and 9:00 AM the Tuesday after Independence Day. 7. For Labor Day, between the hours of 7:00 AM Friday and 9:00 AM Tuesday. 8. For Thanksgiving Day, between the hours of 7:00 AM Tuesday and 9:00 AM Monday. 9. For Christmas, between the hours of 7:00 AM the Friday before the week of Christmas Day and 9:00 AM the following Tuesday after the week of Christmas Day. 10. And/or U. For Events occurring at WSSU, Bowman Gray Stadium, Lawrence Joel Coliseum, and BB&T Football Stadium: 3 hours before the start and 3 hours after the end of the Event. We strongly recommend that you contact the Purchasing Department to register your company with the list of document holders. To register as a document holder, please contact: Russell Frye, Buyer russellf@cityofws.org The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. Instructions for submitting proposals and bidding procedures may be obtained by contacting Russell Frye by email at russellf@cityofws.org. Questions 5:00 PM, February 15, 2024. Questions or inquires relative to this IFB must be e-mailed to russellf@cityofws.org. The City will provide written responses to all inquiries received by this date, and responses will be made available to all recipients of this IFB. Any oral responses made by any representative of the City may not be relied upon. Any supplements or amendments to this RFP will be in writing and furnished to potential bidders. City's Rights and Options The City, at its sole discretion, reserves the following rights: To supplement, amend, substitute or otherwise modify this RFP at any time To cancel this RFP with or without the substitution of another RFP To take any action affecting this RFP, this RFP process, or the services subject to this RFP that would be in the best interests of the City To issue additional requests for information To require one or more service providers to supplement, clarify, or provide additional information in order for the City to evaluate the responses submitted To share the Proposals with City employees other than the Evaluation Committee or City advisory committees as deemed necessary To award all, none, or any part of the Services that is in the best interest of the City, with one or more of the Service Providers responding, which may be done with or without re-solicitation. To discuss and negotiate with selected Service Provider(s) any terms and conditions in the Proposals including but not limited to financial terms To negotiate a contract with a service provider based on the information provided in response to this RFP Terms and Renewals The Initial Contract period will be from Date of Award through December 31, 2024. The City reserves the right to extend this contract for two additional calendar years (until December 31, 2026), provided that both parties are in agreement and funds are made available for this purpose. The vendor may request a price increase at the beginning of each additional (annual) period by an amount not to exceed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as reported in the latest available Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) - the difference from the most recent month to the same month of the previous year - as reported on the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics website http://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables.htm at the time the extension is pursued (approximately 60 days ahead of renewal date). A properly executed purchase order shall be evidence of an extension agreed to by the parties and that said purchase order shall become a self-executing amendment to the contract. NOTE: Failure on the part of the proposer to include MWBE documentation with their proposal will result in the proposal being considered non-responsive and thus rejected. If unsure about the documentation needed with your proposal, contact Gwendolyn Teal (gwendolynt@cityofws.org) NOTE: the contractor may be asked elsewhere in this proposal or in the specifications to submit additional forms or information specific to this project with their bid. If such is requested by the City or its consultant, failure to submit such as noted may be construed as non-responsive and the bid may not be considered. Therefore, please review the entire proposal and specifications carefully. Such submission will not be opened until the time for receiving bids has come. Please do not wait until the last minute to send your Bid to avoid any possible delay that may occur during the transmittal of files. A screen print of the email receipt will be used as verification of the time received. Your contractual requirement for this project is 10% with certified M/WBE firms