USDA, Forest Service, P. O. Box 2010, Cleveland, TN 37320

R -- CADASTRAL SURVEY AND RELATED WORK SOL RFP R8-04-96-08 DUE 093096 POC Nelia Rogers, 423/476-9713, Contracting Officer, James E. McDonald, 423/476-9711 Perform cadastral survey and related work on the Cherokee National Forest, Unicoi, Greene, Cocke, Washington, Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, Polk, McMinn and Monroe Counties, Tennessee. Work consists of boundary lines to be surveyed, tie lines to be surveyed, corners to be monumented, corners to be remonumented, boundary lines to be marked (painted), boundary lines to be maintained, lines to be obliterated, plats and descriptions. These work activities are to be performed in Congressionally Designated Wildernesses with appropriate restrictions and in Non-Congressionally Designated Areas. Subject RFP will result in the initiation of a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) under which project work with Government estimates not to exceed $50,000.00 each per requirement will be offered to firms making the ''Short List'', for which separate definitive contracts will be negotiated and awarded in accordance with the BOA. Contractor will be required to begin work in awarded contracts with short notice due to the nature of the need. To be considered in evaluation, an SF-254, Architect-Engineer and Related Services Questionnaire, and an SF-255, Architect-Engineer and Related Services Questionnaire for Specific Project, must be submitted to the Cleveland, Tennessee address shown above. As all individual projects to be acquired under this process are estimated to be less than $50,000.00 in value, all individual procurements are reserved for Emerging Small Business in accordance with the Small Business Development Program established by Public Law 100-656. The time period for which the Basic Ordering Agreement will cover will be for a period of two (2) years (24 months) commencing on the date that the ''Short List'' is established. A geographic area of consideration is established as a firm having a main or fully staffed field office within 100 air miles of the Administrative (Acquisition) Boundary of the Cherokee National Forest. The ''Short List'' will consist of a minimum of six of the highest ranking firms responding to the solicitation and will be determined by an evaluation process based upon the following general criteria listed in decending order of importance. Your SF-255 form should specifically address each of these areas: (1) Eligibility as an emerging small business. (2) Professional qualifications and experience of key personnel within the firm for satisfactory performance of required services. In addition, a surveyor registered in the State of Tennessee is required. (3) Specialized experience and technical competence in this type of work. The following information will be evaluated and shall be furnished as supplemental information to Standard Form 255: A. Provide a brief description of the steps to be used to complete a project of this type. B. Submit a copy of a recent survey plat that is representative of your work or rural boundary surveys. (4) Past experience and performance on projects in rural, wooded, mountainous terrain similar to the project area, especially where experience includes the establishment, monumentation and marking of boundaries. (5) Past experience on Forest Service and other government contracts in terms of quantity and quality of work and compliance with performance schedules. (6) Capacity to accomplish the work in the required time. Selection from the pool for negotiation of an individual project will be based upon these additional criteria: (7) Proximity to the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of locality. (8) Knowledge of Tennessee surveying historical practices, records repositories and land ownership patterns. (9) Volume and nature of the firm's current workload as it relates to the ability to perform the work as required. (10) In a case of equally ranked firms, consideration will be given to the firms volume of work previously awarded by the Forest Service, with the objective of effecting an equitable distribution of contracts among qualified firms that have not had prior Forest Service contracts. Negotiations will be conducted initially with the highest ranked firm, and if accord is reached, a definitive contract will be awarded in accordance with the BOA. If negotiations are not successful with the highest ranked firm, negotiations will be concluded and the same process will be followed until an award is effected. NOTE TO INTERESTED FIRMS: Your firm will be evaluated only on the information provided in your SF-254 and SF-255. Please provide information that is thorough and pertinent to the evaluation criteria as given. (0227)

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