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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District is seeking firms that can provide Landscaping Services at Galloway Creek in Rochester Hills, Michigan. This Sources Sought announcement is for plannin... The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District is seeking firms that can provide Landscaping Services at Galloway Creek in Rochester Hills, Michigan. This Sources Sought announcement is for planning and market research purposes only and is NOT a Request for Quote or Proposal. No basis for claim against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought Notice. The Government will not pay for information or comments provided and will not recognize any cost associated with the submission of responses or comments. Interested and qualified companies are encouraged to respond. Description of Required work: The Detroit District completed an ecosystem restoration for a portion of Galloway Creek at the Katke-Cousins Golf Course located on the campus of Oakland University, Rochester Hills, MI. During the restoration, areas of invasive plant species were removed. These areas received multiple invasive treatment during the original project, from September 2017 to December 2020, but were never restored to deter future invasive species encroachment. This work includes seeding, watering and maintaining the designated areas through establishment for a period of one (1) year after contract award. The Contractor will be responsible for the Tasks outlined below. The work area consists of 12 acres, and is shown in Attachment 1, “Planting Area.” The work shall consist of the following Tasks; Task 1: Seeding – The Contractor shall prepare seed beds, furnish and sow the required seed on the identified planting areas (Attachment 1). The planting areas have an existing crop or mulch cover. The seed mix is an upland prairie seed mix and is detailed in Attachment 2 – Prairie Seed Mixture. Other acceptable upland prairie mixes must contain 80% of the plant species listed in Attachment 2 with additional suitable prairie species. Any alternative seed mix must be approved by the Contracting Officer, or their designated representative. The mix shall be bagged separately for mechanical drill installation. Use seed within one year of the test date appearing on the label. Seed mixtures shall contain wild type forbs and grasses. Wild type is defined as seed that is derived directly from native, wild stock, including seed that was wild collected and placed into production, or has been harvested directly from native stands. Store delivered seed before use in a way that protects it from damage by heat, moisture, rodent or other causes. Discard and replace any previously tested and accepted seed that becomes damaged. Seed mixtures for the planting areas, unless specified otherwise, shall be composed of seeds of the purity, germination, and proportions, by weight, as given. Seeds will be packaged individually from the nursery. Use seed of the species and varieties listed in Attachment 2. Seeds shall be from Northern Illinois, Northern Indiana, Northern Ohio, or from the states of Wisconsin or Michigan. Seeds with awns or excessive hairs shall be clean and debeard before mixing. For spring seeding of upland prairie seed mixture into ground with existing cover, the Contractor shall mow existing cover to 4 inches or less in height 2 to 4 weeks before seeding. The seasonal seeding window for the Southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan is from April 15th through October 10th. Do not plant when the ground is frozen, snow covered, muddy, or when air temperature exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Seed with a rangeland type drill with one or more seed boxes that can be calibrated independently to deliver different sized seeds uniformly at the required rate and equipped with a rear-mounted press wheel for each seed drop tube. The pressure on the press wheel needs to be sufficient to ensure seed to soil contact depending on the soil moisture. If seeding into existing vegetation or thatch, use a rangeland type drill equipped with a no-till attachment that can cut through the vegetation or thatch in front of the V disc and seed drop tube. If the configuration of the area to be seeded allows, apply seed at 1/2 the specified seed rate and apply the second 1/2 in a perpendicular direction. Plant seed mixture 1/8” to 1/4” depth. Seed rate for the mix in Attachment 2 is 158.5 oz/acre. Depending on the drill being used, extenders or drill calibration may be required. If a Traux Native Seed Drill is used, the operator has several options to adjust the seed box output of the drill. Seed flow from the small seed box and cool season/grain box is set by moving the shift levers located on the seed boxes. Moving these levers opens and closes the exposed metering flutes in the seed cup. When closing the exposed flute to reduce seed flow, do not close the flutes so tight that they damage the seed as they turn. Output from the fluffy box is set using the derailleur (roller chain on double set of 5 sprockets). When the seeding rate needs further reduction, several approaches can be used. Newer drills can be equipped with an Output Reduction Kit to slow output by 50% from all seed boxes. Seed gaskets and retainer plates provided with the drill can be placed over the picker wheels in the fluffy box. Various sprockets can be changed to adjust output up or down. After mechanical changes have been made to the drill, additives or fillers can be mixed with the seed. This allows you to meter smaller amounts of seed for distribution over a large area. One method to do this is to put the amount of seed to be used on one acre in a five-gallon bucket and add enough extenders to fill the pail. Determine the weight of the seed and extender mix, and calibrate the drill to apply this amount of material over one acre of area. Some materials which have been used successfully as extenders include horticulture grade vermiculite; clean, dry pine sawdust; cotton seed hulls; rice hulls; or on smaller jobs a food grade puffed rice, puffed wheat, or oatmeal or other suitable materials. In all cases after adjustments are made to the drill set up, use the calibration process to determine the drill output for the seed lot or material being seeded. This procedure is described on the decal found on the seed box lid, online Traux videos, and in the Operator Manual. Task 2: Watering – The Contractor shall start watering areas seeded as required by temperature and wind conditions. Water may be drawn from the creek. The Contractor must supply the method of water retrieval and distribution to the seeded areas. Apply water at a rate sufficient to ensure thorough wetting of soil to a depth of 2 inches without run off. During the germination process, seed is to be kept actively growing and not allowed to dry out. If rainfall is not sufficient, keep seeded areas thoroughly moist. Once the seed has germinated, do not let the top inch of soil dry out until the grass has met the establishment requirements outlined below. Apply water in a manner that precludes washing or erosion. The source of water shall be approved by the Contracting Officer, and of suitable quality for irrigation, containing no elements toxic to plant life. Contractor shall continue watering activities and soil moisture to meet the establishment requirements outlined below. Task 3: Maintenance (One Year) – The Contractor shall provide the necessary maintenance, over-seeding, and activities necessary to establish acceptable vegetative coverage. The Contractor shall maintain for one year, until establishment has achieved 80 percent aerial coverage care and replacement on all seeding per 1,000 square foot area. All bare areas greater than two square feet shall be re-seeded. The Contractor shall be responsible for reseeding all areas experiencing less than an 80 percent survival rate, prior to the end of the next (spring or fall) growing season following the completion of seeding, at no additional cost to the Government. It is the Contractor’s responsibility to use the appropriate timing and methods to aid in the survival of planted material. Maintenance may require weeding, mowing, supplemental mulching, or waterfowl/grazing control. During the growing season and after planting seed mixture, the Contractor shall mow all seeded areas. Mow vegetation back to 6 inches in height when it has reached a height of at least 12 inches. Equipment must not enter areas of wet soil, and must not result in compaction of the soil through rutting or pitting. Mowing activities after establishment should not cause rutting in the planted areas. The contractor will be responsible for repairing any damaged areas caused by their equipment or work. The vegetation must meet performance criteria set forth above. If the values do not meet the established performance criteria, or if they exhibit a chronic decline, the Contractor must take remedial action to reseed, replant, and steward the deficient areas until the performance criteria are achieved and approved by the Contracting Officer or their Representative. The Government anticipates two (2) visits for maintenance activities. *NOTE: This is a preliminary description of the work to be performed and is subject to change. A final and complete Performance Work Statement will be included upon the advertisement of the solicitation. General Information: The solicitation is anticipated to be advertised by July 2021. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 561730, which has a small business size standard of $8 million. The responses received to this notice shall be in summary format. Please PDF all information as one PDF file for submission. In order for the Government to determine the extent of industry interest and experience in the project, interested contractors shall complete the information attached to this advertisement as a Word Document, Sources Sought Information Form. Please reference in the subject line "SOURCES SOUGHT Galloway Creek Landscaping Services". Please email your submission to the following emails: LRE-Proposal@usace.army.mil Joseph.D.Russell@usace.army.mil Emery.S.Moser@usace.army.mil Respondents will not be contacted regarding their submission or information gathered as a result of the Sources Sought.