Barry County Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project

REQUEST FOR BIDS

Barry County Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project

Habitat Restoration Services

RECEIPT OF BIDS / Barry Conservation District (henceforth BCD) is requesting bids for a contract to supply Habitat Restoration Services for a Wildlife Habitat Grant project. Bids are due by Tuesday, October 31st at 4:00pm. Sealed bids should be mailed to and submitted to Executive Director Sarah Nelson at 1611 S Hanover St., Suite 105, Hastings MI 49058. Please write on the back of the envelope “SEALED BID HABITAT RESTORATION”. Bids will be opened and read aloud publically on October 31st at 4:00pm at the above address. Contract award will be announced pending MDNR approval.
SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS / Each bid proposal shall be submitted on the provided Bid Form. Additional information as requested may be typed and submitted on additional 8.5”x11” sheets as needed. Both contracts and financial disclosure must be signed by the Contractor and submitted with the Bid Form. No bid may be withdrawn for a period of ninety (90) calendar days after the scheduled time for the receipt of the bids.
BID INFORMATION / These bid documents will be on file and available from 8:00am- 3:00 pm Monday through Friday starting on October17, 2017 at the Barry Conservation District office. Persons desiring paper or electronic copies of the bid documents should contact Sarah Nelson, Executive Director, at (269) 908-4135 or .
BID DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED / Request for bids
Instructions to Bidders
Bid Form
Standard Contract and Appendix A
Financial Disclosure Appendix B
Project site maps Appendix C
PROJECT BACKGROUND / This work is part of a two year grant project, which includes a variety of wildlife habitat improvement work designed to provide permanent benefits for turkey, waterfowl, white-tailed deer, rabbits, squirrels, and a variety of non-game wildlife. The properties are open to the public and currently providing wildlife recreation opportunities which will be enhanced by habitat improvements. The habitats targeted for improvement in order to help meet this objective are oak savanna, oak forest, large grassland, and wetlands. Specifically, this breaks down to the creation or improvement of 51 acres of oak savanna, 10 acres of oak forest, 50 acres of tallgrass prairie/grassland, and 42 acres of wetland.
Several other contracts for work outside of the scope of the habitat restoration contract will be included in the project as a whole. The other habitat work that will be occurring at the sites depends on the habitat restoration activities taking place in a timely manner. It is required that contractors maintain clear communication and coordinate with the BCD Executive Director, Sarah Nelson, to make sure that all treatments will be completed in a manner that does not impede other contractors from beginning their work as scheduled. There will not be a pre-bid project meeting. However, after the contracts are signed there will be a mandatory project planning meeting with all of the contractors.
WORK LOCATIONS / The habitat restoration work for this project is for three different properties, all in Barry County, Michigan. If you would like to visit the sites prior to assembling a bid, they are open to the public.
“Nashville”- The first location is a 22-acre DNR Parks and Recreation Division property located south of the Thornapple River on Reed Street in Nashville (42.609559, -85.077768). The Nashville property consists of two management units: a wetland and an upland unit. Unfortunately, the wetland site is degraded from its history as a mill pond and the upland site is degraded due to being cleared and the topsoil scraped.
“Otis”- The second location is a 126-acre Michigan Audubon property in Rutland Township, which includes part of Glass Creek and is almost fully surrounded by Barry State Game Area property (42.601207, -85.389522). The wetland on this property is accessible on foot and/or via a boardwalk, but seasonality and weather may affect ease of access. The upland portions of the property are prairie, pine plantation, oak forest, and brome field, all on rolling hills. Both Henslows Sparrows and Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes have been documented on the property. It is currently under a USFWS Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake cooperative agreement and all of the work in this project must comply with the conditions of that agreement. Several vernal pools are also found throughout the property and care should be taken to avoid harm to amphibian populations.
“PCCI”- The third location is a 24-acre parcel at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute (PCCI) in Baltimore Township. The property has been in rowcrop for many years, during which time both deer and turkey hunts have been offered. The goals for this parcel are toconvert row crop into healthy savanna that blends naturally into the surrounding forest in order to improve brood habitatfor turkey and openings to contribute to local Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative cooperative efforts. The projectalso includes work with local wildlife groups to provide new and better turkey and small game hunting opportunities forlocal youth and experienced hunters.
SCOPE OF SERVICES / The project includes all of the no-till drill native seed planting, bare root tree and shrub planting, and mowing (not including burn breaks) necessary to complete the Barry County Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project, under a twenty-four-month grant contract with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). As such, all work must comply with current MDNR standards unless previously waived by both the Barry Conservation District and MDNR.
The following table gives an overview of the work included in this project. Seeding and plantingwindows for the Otis property are limited and based on Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake dormancy.
Timing / Location (habitat type) / Work Description / Acreage
November 2017 / PCCI (soybean field) / No till frost seeding with two differentsavanna mixes (provided). Field is split into two units, each will require a separate seed mix/re-calibration. / 24.2
November 2018 / Nashville (field) / No till frost seeding of savanna mix (provided) / 8
Late fall 2018 / Nashville (wetland) / Wetland mix seeding (provided) / 6
November 2018 / Otis (tree removal site 1) / No till frost seeding with savanna mix (provided) / 6.9
November 2018 / Otis (tree removal site 2) / No till frost seeding with native grass/forbs/cover crop mix (provided) / 4
November 2018 / Otis (herbicide treated brome field) / No till frost seeding with native cool season grass, forb, and legume mix (provided)- will need to seed twice as many lbs per acre in herbicided patches than in the rest of the field. / 13.2
Late April-May 2019 / Nashville (edge of field) / Plant, fertilize, and water a transitional layer of bare-root mast-producing shrub seedlings (provided, typically between 36”-48”) between the field and mature trees. / 2500 linear feet
Late April-May 2019 / Nashville (inside field) / Plant, fertilize, water, and mulch 20 bare-root oak seedlings (provided, typically 48”-60”) scattered throughout the field. / n/a
Spring-Summer 2019 / Nashville (field) / When grass reaches 12”, mow to a 4”. Take precautions to avoid mowing during times that would be harmful to wildlife such as ground-nesting birds and turtles. / 8
Total Acreage: / 70.3
Bidders must include in their bid specific treatment technique(s) and equipment they will use to complete the work. Do not include the cost of seed or plants in the bid. Seed mixes and plants will be provided by BCD at the time of planting. No other seeds shall be used. This is non-negotiable. Specific methods and equipment used are subject to approval by the BCD Executive Director.
The contractor is responsible for supplying all equipment needed to complete the job, including vehicles, machinery, safety equipment, personal protective gear, signs, transportation, fuel, mapping equipment, etc. All equipment must be removed from the treatment area within one week following completion of work under this contract. The contractor shall make known to the public its presence through signage, vehicle logos, uniforms, or some other means of identifying the ongoing work whenever workers are present on site. The contractor should arrange with BCD to have the trails closed prior to work.
It is the responsibility of the contractor to obtain all required licenses, permits, and insurance prior to work. Signs must be posted by the contractor during any work. Signage shall remain in place until the burn is complete. The contractor is responsible for removing all signage.For each task above, the contractor must provide a written report within two weeks of finishing the task, including GPS polygons for the areas of work and information regarding how the work went and the outcome, recommendations for future work or maintenance, and any additional notes. Again, this should be done on a per-task basis and not as a singular report at the end of the project. The above reports and information shall be sent by email to .
All equipment, footwear, clothing, and all other materials brought on site for this project must be completely clean and free of ALL plant material and soil (seeds, pieces of vegetation, chunks of soil, etc) prior to arrival at the treatment site. These precautions are critical to preventing the spread of invasive plants and contamination of genetic material (seeds) from locations outside of the treatment are. All footwear, clothing, and equipment must be checked and cleaned of seeds, other plant fragments, and soil again, before leaving the treatment site, to prevent the spread of invasive plants from this location to another and into un-infested areas. See for more detailed information about decontamination policies. Appropriate methods should be implemented, chemical decontamination is not required for invasive species decontamination and is only required on footwear to prevent the spread of snake fungal disease (see below).
Footwear must be disinfected on-site upon arrival each day to prevent the introduction or spread of snake fungal disease at the Otis site. Decontamination procedure includes on-site mixing of a 5% bleach/95% water solution (pre-mixed solution loses its potency) and then soaking footwear in a bucket of the bleach solution for five minutes. Any dirt or soil can be brushed off into the bucket at this time. The contractor should coordinate with BCD Executive Director to arrange a dumping site for the bleach solution post-decontamination.
State-listed endangered and threatened species occur in some treatment areas and are subject to the protection of Michigan Public Act 451 of 1994, Section 365 (Endangered Species Protection). Contractors should be able to identify these species in the field and restoration activities should be timed to prevent unintended negative consequences for these species.
No off-road vehicles (quads, trucks) are allowed off designated roads or parking lots, unless permission is explicitly granted by BCD. Where off-road vehicles are allowed in treatment areas they must not create ruts deeper than two inches and must not create work down pathways devoid of vegetation. They may also be limited to certain portions of treatment areas or specific access routes. Use of ORVs (where approved) for transportation of people and supplies should be kept to a minimum. If any ruts or tracks greater than two inches deep are created, the BCD Executive Director must be notified immediately. The contractor is responsible for repairing damage to the site.
The Contractor will carry out this project under the direction of and in collaboration with the BCD Executive Director. The Contractor must contact the BCD Executive Director within five (5) business days after the contract is awarded to provide an approximate schedule of work start and end dates. The Contractor will notify the BCD Executive Director a minimum of 48 hours prior to beginning on-site work, and within 24 hours following the completion of each task under this contract. Once work begins on site, the Contractor will keep the BCD Executive Director informed of the progress of the work and any real or anticipated problems (such as weather issues, injuries, equipment failure, etc.) as they arise. The Contractor will also inform the BCD Executive Director immediately of setbacks in the work schedule.

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDER

Barry County Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project

Habitat Restoration Services

Representative-

The designated representative of the Barry Conservation District (henceforth “BCD”) is Sarah L. Nelson, Executive Director, 1611 S. Hanover, Suite 105, Hastings, Michigan 49058, Telephone (269) 908-4135.

Bidding Documents-

Bidding Documents may be obtained from BCD and must be used in preparing bids. BCD does not assume responsibility for errors or misinterpretations resulting from the use of incomplete sets of Bidding Documents.

Qualification of Bidders-

It is the intention of BCD to award the contract to a Bidder who will complete all work in a very satisfactory manner. After opening of the bids, if requested by BCD, a Bidder must give information regarding its experience with bridge installation, a statement of financial status, and business references.

Examination of Bidding Documents-

It is the responsibility of the Bidder to examine and carefully study the Bidding Documents; become familiar and satisfied with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations that may affect cost or performance of the Standard Contract; agree at the time of submitting its bid that no further information is necessary for the determination of its bid; and promptly give BCD written notice of all conflicts, errors, ambiguities or discrepancies in the Bidding Documents, and to confirm that the written resolution thereof by BCD is acceptable to the Bidder. The submission of a Bid Form constitutes an incontrovertible representation by the Bidder that the Bidder has complied with every requirement of this paragraph.

Interpretations-

All questions about the meaning or intent of the Bidding Documents are to be submitted in writing to BCD. Interpretations or clarifications considered necessary by BCD to such questions will be issued by addenda mailed or delivered to all parties recorded by BCD as having received the Bidding Documents. Questions received less than seven (7) days before the bid opening may not be answered. Only questions answered by addenda will be binding. Oral and other interpretations or clarifications will be without legal effect. In addition, addenda may be issued to clarify, correct or change the Bidding Documents as deemed advisable by BCD.

Contract Times; Liquidated Damages-

The materials must be supplied within the time or times set forth in the Bidding Documents. The Bidder will be responsible for any liquidated damages set forth in the Bidding Documents for failure to supply the material within the requisite time.

Preparation of Bid-

All blanks on the Bid Form shall be completed by printing in ink or by typewriter, and the Bid Form shall be signed by the Bidder. A bid by an entity shall be signed by an authorized officer or agent of the entity. The entity’s address shall be shown below the signature line. A bid by an individual shall be signed by the individual and shall show the Bidder’s name and address. A bid by a joint venture shall be executed by authorized representatives of each joint venturer and accompanied by evidence of each individual’s authority to sign. The address of each joint venturer shall be shown below the signatures.

Submittal of Bid.

The completed Bid Form shall be submitted no later than the date and time prescribed and at the place indicated in the Request for Bid, and shall be enclosed in an opaque sealed envelope plainly marked with the project title and the name and address of the Bidder.

Modification and Withdrawal of Bid.

Prior to the time for opening of bids, a bid may be modified or withdrawn by an appropriate document duly executed in the same manner as a Bid Form and delivered to the place where the Bid Forms are submitted. No Bidder may withdraw a bid within ninety (90) days after the date and time for opening bids.

Opening of Bids.

Bids will be opened at the time and place indicated in the Request for Bids and, unless obviously non-responsive, read aloud.

BCD, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 252, 42 USC 2000d to 2000d-4 and Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, issued pursuant to such Act, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively insure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, minority business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of gender, disability, race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.

Awarding of Contract.

BCD reserves the right to (a) reject any or all Bids, including nonconforming, nonresponsive, unbalanced, or conditional bids; (b) reject the bid of any Bidder whom it deems to be non-responsible; (c) reject the bid of any Bidder that it believes would not be in the best interest of BCD; (d) waive all informalities not involving price or time; and (e) negotiate contract terms with the successful Bidder. If the contract is to be awarded, BCD will award the contract to the Bidder whose bid is in the best interest of BCD, as determined in its sole discretion.