LandCare Program

This LandCare RFP involves the majority of the URA’s real property portfolio, including both vacant land and smaller vacant structures. The only URA-owned properties not included in this RFP are larger scale major sites. Properties included in the RFP are divided into bundles, with slightly different maintenance responsibilities depending on the types of properties included, further explained below.

Contractors may submit proposals for as many bundles as they are interested in but may only be awarded a single contract. If a respondent submits a proposal for more than one (1) bundle, the respondent must prioritize each bundle in order of most preferred to least preferred (Bundle Ranking and Pricing – Exhibit D), which will be followed to the extent practicable by the URA.

Activities:
LandCare property maintenance is a 52 week/year effort. Maintenance activities of all bundles (A-M) include, but are not limited to:

• Removal and disposal of debris;
• Cutting of grass and general overgrowth;
• Removal of trees;
• Snow removal and de-icing of sidewalks and drives (to occur on an as-needed basis per City code and in response to URA requests);
• Responding to emergency situations;
• Posting “No-Dumping,” “No Trespassing,” “No Parking,” and other signs as needed;
• Repairing of fencing, cables, and damaged locks; and
• Clean-out of non-hazardous materials from lots.

The Pittsburgh Land Bank has requested additional eligible activities:

• Engineering Reports, especially to determine where a previous foundation was located;
• Lead and Asbestos and other environmental testing;
• Regrading to improve usability or mitigate waterflow;
• Removal of invasive species;
• Grass planting;
• Retaining wall repair or replacement; and
• Any other work deemed necessary to preserve the lot and improve the exterior appearance of the parcel as approved by PLB/URA Staff

The URA and the Pittsburgh Land Bank own smaller vacant structures – both commercial and residential – included in bundles L and M. Maintenance responsibilities for vacant structures may include:

• Un/re-sealing and minimal repair of structures as-needed;
• Replacing damaged locks;
• Vine and weed removal from structures;
• Roof repair and replacement;
• Gutter repair and replacement;
• Boarding of windows and doors;
• Minor foundation and structural repair;
• Siding repairs;
• Repair or Replacement of windows and doors;
• Interior or partial exterior demolition; and
• Conducting condition surveys on a quarterly basis.
  • A provided web application-based survey includes reporting and photographing exterior conditions such as: open windows or doors, broken locks, fencing, crumbling or separating walls, fallen gutters or downspouts, etc.

Frequency:
Maintenance is to be performed both on a, at minimum, monthly recurring and additional as-needed basis.

Vacant land in bundles L and M have additionally been broken down into two (2) classifications regarding the frequency which they must be maintained: “Active” and “Request Only.” The breakdown of Active or Request Only is provided in Exhibit G.

• Active – These parcels are often relatively flat, vacant land (without improvements) along high visibility corridors, residential neighborhoods, wooded parcels with frontage on a right-of-way, or in some other way in a location requiring routine attention. Active parcels are to be examined and maintained monthly, at minimum.
• Request Only – These parcels are heavily wooded and steeply sloped, not highly visible and not fronting rights-of-way. Request Only parcels should still be visited once every three (3) months regardless of service request to ensure no hazardous or problematic conditions exist.

Time-bound required services to be performed regardless of parcel classification include:

• Cut and clean all assigned URA-owned properties along Marathon Route the week before the Pittsburgh Marathon (1st Sunday in May)
• Cut and clean all assigned properties in neighborhood business districts the week before summer holidays (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day)
• Cut and clean all assigned properties in proximity (500 feet) to schools the week before school year commences (late August) and concludes (early-mid June)

The above maintenance may be completed and account for the contractor’s monthly maintenance obligation and is not considered additional work over and above recurring maintenance. A schedule of property maintenance must be submitted after contract award.

Service requests are separate from regular monthly maintenance and occur when a Code violation notice, 311 request, or other direct request for maintenance is received by the property owner (URA, City, or PLB). Should a service request be received on a property, the contractor must field verify and assess property conditions within 48 hours of being notified of the request by the URA and address the issue(s) within seven (7) calendar days from date of initial request, providing documentation of any work performed via the web-based application provided.

Community Engagement:
Contractors must be present in the communities they service, including attending community meetings and publicizing maintenance schedules for monthly services. Contractors are required to log at least two (2) points of community engagement each month.³ Every quarter (three months), selected contractor(s) must appear on the agenda at a community meeting. A basic plan for community engagement and coordination shall be provided in response to this RFP. Documentation of community engagement activities should appear on monthly invoices.

Performance documentation:
Work performed is to be logged via a web-based mapping and survey application provided by the URA. Contractors and their crew(s) must have access to smart-enabled technology in the field to document the work conducted under the terms of this RFP’s resulting contracts.

The selected contractors must utilize the required web and mobile-based software for reporting all maintenance activities to allow the URA the opportunity to verify completed work. This app will be demonstrated at the mandatory pre-proposal meeting.

Additional Information:
The contract term will be November 15, 2023 to November 14, 2025 (24 months).

Individual bundle parcel inventory lists and classifications are subject to change at any point during the contract term. Contractors will be notified in writing via email of any changes to their respective bundle, and the changes will be reflected in the GIS web-based application. The inventory size in total square footage should not change by any more than ten percent (15%) – increase or decrease – during the contract term.

It is the intent of the URA that Contractors be paid monthly, and that each such payment be a 1/12th pro rata share of the total yearly amount of each contract. Monthly invoices must be submitted electronically to the URA by the 15th day of the month for work performed in the month prior for review and payment. The information entered into the web application becomes the backup and documentation to the monthly invoice.

Contractors must provide all labor, tools, equipment, materials and technology needed to carry out the described work. Subcontracting activity is permitted and to be outlined in the RFP Summary Page (Exhibit B). If during the contract term the contractor were to engage a subcontractor not outlined in the RFP Summary Page, any work over $1,000 in value must receive the prior written consent of the URA.

³ Community engagement activities can vary, including but not limited to: impromptu interactions with residents on-site, phone conversations with local community-based organizations, in-person one-on-one meetings with local community stakeholders, and more.

The selected contractor(s) should be familiar with the physical layout of the City as well as the various City departments that will be encountered daily while performing this work.

To be considered for this work, the qualification standards are as follows:

• Contractor is in compliance with City required licenses and is current, or has made satisfactory arrangements, with the City to become current with City taxes;
• Contractor’s business address is within the City;
• Contractor employs a majority of City residents to conduct the work of this contract (front and back office, and in the field); and
• Contractor has demonstrated experience with conducting similar work as described herein.
• Equipment: Contractor has access to all equipment necessary to carry out the work of this contract. A sample equipment list to perform this type of work could include:
  • Storage facility;
  • Vehicle(s), preferably with a trailer;
  • High-weed cutter(s) or brush cutter(s);
  • Commercial mower(s) (33” or larger, either ride-on or walk-behind), smaller push mower(s) (22” or smaller for harder-to-access areas);
  • Commercial gas-powered string trimmers; and
  • Hand rakes, loppers or hand saw for pruning trees.
• The selected contractor(s) shall purchase and maintain the following insurance coverage and minimum limits during the contract period. With the exception of Workers’ Compensation Insurance, the URA, City, and PLB all must be named as "additional insured" and “certificate holder” on the contractor's policy. A certificate of insurance specifying these coverages must be provided at the time of contracting.

Respondents must submit their proposal responses (“Responses”) electronically via Ion Wave Technologies, Inc. Proposals received via other means will not be considered. ALL RESPONSES MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE RESPONSE DUE DATE AND TIME AS STATED IN THE RFP TIMELINE FOR CONSIDERATION. Any late Proposals will not be reviewed.

Link to ION Wave Technologies:
https://ura.ionwave.net/Login.aspx

Each Proposal submitted must contain the following (1-8) in completion, regardless of the number of bundles being submitted for. If submitting for more than one (1) bundle, items 1 through 7 are only required to be submitted once. Items 3-6 should be no more than 5 pages in length. Item 8 must be submitted separately for each bundle being proposed. Responses lacking one (1) or more of the requested documents may be considered irregular. The URA reserves the right to reject any irregular Responses and to waive any irregularities in a Response.

ALL RESPONDENT QUESTIONS WILL ONLY BE ACCEPTED AND ANSWERED THROUGH
IONWAVE SUBMISSION, WHERE THE RESPONSE WILL BE MADE PUBLIC.

If you have any questions or issues with using Ion Wave, please contact:

Attention: Ivy Coleman
icoleman@ura.org

The Response should follow the general structure as outlined below.

1. RFP Summary Page (Exhibit B)
2. Contractor Information Form (Exhibit C)
3. Qualifications
   1. A description of the project organization and staffing to manage the work; the names and titles of all managerial personnel to be assigned to the project should be identified. The number of employees that will be dedicated to this effort, along with the equipment on-hand to adequately handle the workload must be identified.
   2. A statement of similar contracts currently or previously held, identifying the client and contact person.
   3. Subcontractor/Partner information: If you are using a for-profit subcontractor or partner to perform any part of this work, list the business name, type, address, owner information (including if minority/woman/disabled business enterprise certified) and experience.
   4. A description of the workforce development practices, if any, which would occur in the contract. This may include but is not limited to: efforts related to the recruitment and hiring of crew members, targeted communities/programs/populations for recruitment of team, resumé writing/interview skill training and personal financial literacy training. Be as detailed as possible in describing how your LandCare team - both front and back office as well as in the field - would engage in regular work requirements as well as participation in workforce development efforts.
4. Firm Profile – Provide a brief profile of your firm
   1. A narrative description of the firm and its history with an emphasis on the type of work performed by the firm, the ability to handle a property maintenance effort of the scale/bundle your firm is submitting a proposal for, and an approach, both technically and organizationally, to providing the required services; work tasks and methodology should be identified.
   2. The URA supports the utilization of minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE). The respondent’s narrative should reference whether the submitting firm is a MWBE owner/partnership firm.
5. Other Information – Please provide any other information which you believe is pertinent to the URA’s consideration of your firm.
6. Bundle Selection and Fee (Exhibit C) – Identify and rank numerically the bundles for which you are submitting proposal(s). Provide one (1) fee per bundle you are interested in. Your fee for the bundle is inclusive of all properties, regardless of ownership entity, Fee shall be for the entire contract period and include all labor, equipment and materials required to perform the work.
7. Signature Page (Exhibit D)
8. Community Outreach Plan
   1. Identify your plans to publicize your activities in the neighborhood(s) in which you will be working and how you intend to involve the community in which you will be working.
   2. Provide any links to public or online information or relevant organizational profiles.

The URA intends to select contractors based upon information in the response to the RFP submitted by the respondent(s), performance in previous undertakings, and other pertinent factors. Selected respondent(s) will be chosen on the basis of the selection criteria listed below.

The URA shall be the sole judge as to which respondent(s) best meet the selection criteria. The URA reserves the right in its sole discretion to reject any or all proposals received, to waive any submission requirements contained within this RFP, and to waive any irregularities in any submitted proposal.

A review committee made up of URA staff will review each Response submitted and shall recommend to the URA Board of Directors a respondent or respondents based upon their responses to this RFP. Formal interviews with respondents may be scheduled at the discretion of the qualifications review committee. During the evaluation process, the URA reserves the right to request additional information or qualifications from the respondents or waive corrections, errors or omissions.

The URA reserves the right to verify the accuracy of all information submitted.Contractor Selection Criteria:

Selection will be made using the criteria below:

1. Mandatory Elements
   1. The respondent(s), including any and all team members, must have no conflict of interest with regards to any other work performed for the URA or related entity.
   2. The respondent(s) must adhere to the instructions contained in this RFP in preparing the submitted proposal.
2. Technical Qualifications
   1. Experience and Expertise
      1. The firm’s past experience on comparable work
      2. The qualifications and capacity of the firm’s personnel to engage with the URA
   2. Community Outreach Plan
   3. Workforce Development Activity
   4. Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) participation
   5. Fee Information
   6. Business location

The URA has a long history of diversity and inclusion within all its programs and other activities. The URA encourages the full participation of minority and women business owners and professionals in this effort. The URA requires that all respondents demonstrate a good faith effort to obtain minority and women-owned business enterprise participation (MWBE) in work performed in connection with URA projects. In the form of a narrative, state as succinctly as possible your firm’s efforts to provide opportunities for MWBE firms. MWBE participation can be satisfied by:

1. Ownership/partnership of firm;
2. Use of minority or women-owned businesses as vendors for legal, printing, office supplies, travel, etc.; and
3. Subcontracting with organizations owned and controlled by minorities and/or women. If this is to be done, that fact, and the name of the proposed subcontracting organizations, must be clearly identified in the proposal.

Any questions about MWBE requirements should be directed to MWBE@ura.org.

The URA intends to select one or more Applicants based upon information in the Response, the Applicant’s performance in previous undertakings, and other pertinent factors. The selected Applicant(s) will be chosen on the basis of the selection criteria listed above.

1. The URA shall have the right to verify the accuracy of all information submitted by the Applicant, and to make such investigation as it deems necessary to determine the ability of each Applicant to perform the services set forth in the Response. The URA in its discretion reserves the right to reject any Response when the available evidence or information does not satisfy the URA that the Applicant is qualified to carry out properly the services set forth in the Response.
2. The URA shall be the sole judge as to which, if any, Applicant best meets the selection criteria. The URA reserves the right to reject any or all Response(s), to waive any submission requirements, and to waive any irregularities in any Response.
3. This RFP is submitted subject to errors, omissions, and/or withdrawal without notice by the URA at any time.
4. All Responses, including attachments, supplementary materials, addenda, etc. shall become the property of the URA and will not be returned.
5. Applicant’s members must disclose any conflict of interest, or potential conflict of interest, with regards to any employee or staff of the URA or the City of Pittsburgh, and/or any work performed by the Applicant for the URA, the City of Pittsburgh, or any related entity.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh abides by all applicable laws and regulations regarding nondiscrimination and refrains from discriminating on the basis of age, race, color, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, political or union affiliation, and/or disability. No person shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination solely on the basis of any of the above factors under the loan and grant programs operated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.