Landscape Planning and Maintenace

R F P
EQUEST OR ROPOSALS
RFP 2026-04-003
Landscape Planning and Maintenance
Issued Date: March 13, 2026
RFP 2026-04-003 Page 1 of 47

McDuffie County Board of Commissioners
R P
EQUEST FOR ROPOSALS
RFP 2026-04-003
Landscape Planning and Maintenance
ISSUE DATE April 13, 2026
CLOSING DATE & TIME May 13, 2026 at 2:00 PM
McDuffie County Board of
Commissioners
210 Railroad Street
Thomson, GA 30824
2026-04-003
SOLICITATION NUMBER
McDuffie County
ACCEPTANCE PLACE/AGENCY County Manager Office
210 Railroad Street
Thomson, GA 30824
*BID SUBMISSIONS THAT ARE HAND DELIVERED MUST BE RECEIVED AND INITIALED BY THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT.
QUESTIONS & RESPONSES Questions regarding this RFP shall be received in writing via
email no later than 5:00 PM on May 4, 2026.
Responses will be provided via addenda no later than
5:00 PM on May 6, 2026.
CONTACT Brandon Burton, County Manager
Brandon.burton@thomson-mcduffie.gov
RFP documents can be downloaded from our website: Thomson-mcduffie.gov
RFP 2026-04-003 Page 2 of 47

McDuffie County Board of Commissioners
210 Railroad Street
Thomson, GA 30824
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
RFP 2026-04-003
Landscape Planning and Maintenance
Issue Date: April 13, 2026
McDuffie County Board of Commissioners is seeking proposals for the landscape planning, installation,
and maintenance of properties at the Historic McDuffie County Courthouse and the Thomson-McDuffie
Government Center. The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit qualified firms to
provide comprehensive landscape planning, installation, and ongoing maintenance services for County-
owned properties. The selected contractor shall furnish all labor, materials, equipment, supervision, and
expertise necessary to deliver high-quality, sustainable, and aesthetically appropriate landscaping
services.
Sealed responses will be accepted by the McDuffie County Manager located at 210 Railroad Street,
Thomson GA. 30824, until May 13, 2026, 2:00 PM. Submissions that are hand delivered must be received
and initialed by the County. Submissions that are mailed in should be sent to McDuffie County BOC County
Manager 210 Railroad Street: Thomson, GA 30824. At the time and date above, sealed responses will be
publicly opened and the names read aloud at the McDuffie County Board of Commissioners
Administrative Building, Upstairs Conference Room. Submissions received after this time will not be
accepted.
Each sealed envelope must be marked on the outside as "Landscape Planning and Maintenance RFP
2026-04-003" and should include the respondent's name and address.
Questions regarding this RFP should be directed to Mr. Brandon Burton, County Manager via email at
brandon.burton@thomson-mcduffie.gov and shall be received no later than 5:00 PM May 4, 2025.
A site showing will be held on April 28, 2026 at 2pm at 210 Railroad Street, Thomson GA 30824
Contract documents, including drawings and technical specifications are on file at McDuffie County
Government Center, 210 Railroad Street, Thomson, GA 30824. Copies of the documents may be
obtained at https://www.thomson-mcduffie.gov/Bids.aspx. Documents are available in electronic PDF
format free of charge.
McDuffie County Board of Commissioners reserves the right to cancel this solicitation and/or reject any
and all bids in whole or in part if McDuffie County determines that cancellation and/or rejections are
advantageous to the County. Bids are legal and binding upon the Respondent when submitted. It will also
be the responsibility of each respondent to obtain any addenda issued from the Procurement Office. The
written solicitation documents supersede any verbal or written prior communication between the parties.
RFP 2026-04-003 Page 3 of 47

Chase N. Beggs
Chairman Board of Commissioners
RFP 2026-04-003 Page 4 of 47

S I- G I
ECTION ENERAL NSTRUCTIONS
RFP 2026-04-003
Landscape Planning and Maintenance
RFP 2026-04-003 Page 5 of 47

SECTION I- GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
A.CONTACT PERSON
Bidders are encouraged to contact Mr. Brandon Burton, County Manager by email at
brandon.burton@thomson-mcduffie.gov to clarify any part of the solicitation requirements. All
questions shall be directed to the contact person in writing via email. Any unauthorized contact
shall not be used as a basis for responding to this solicitation and may result in the disqualification
of the Bidder's submittal.
Bidders may not contact any elected official or other County employee to discuss the bid process
or bid opportunities except through the procurement officer named herein or as provided by
existing work agreement(s). This policy shall be strictly enforced, and the County reserves the
right to reject the submittal of any vendor violating this provision.
C.BID SUBMISSIONS
One (1) unbound original must be received no later than 2:00 PM on May 13, 2026. Bids must be
submitted in a sealed envelope with the following clearly labeled on the outside "Landscape
Planning and Maintenance RFP 2026-04-003" and should include the respondent's name and
address. Each envelope should be addressed to:
McDuffie County Board of Commissioners
County Managers Office
210 Railroad Street
Thomson, GA 30824
Hard copies may be delivered to the above address ONLY between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00
PM, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays observed by the McDuffie County Government.
Bid must meet the required specifications and must be of a quality that will adequately serve the
use and purpose for which intended.
Submittals or modifications received after the due date and time will not be considered. McDuffie
County assumes no responsibility for the premature opening of submittals not properly
addressed and identified and/or delivered to the proper designation. Late proposals properly
addressed to the McDuffie County Board of Commissioners shall be returned to the respondent
unopened.
Each bid shall contain a completed copy of all provided county forms and documents.
1. Bidders Checklist
2. Proposal
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3. Bidders Declaration
4. Non-Discrimination
5. E-Verify Documentation
6. Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Affidavit
7. Non-Collusion Affidavit
8. W9 Taxpayer ID Number
9. Business License
10.Addenda Acknowledgement Form (if applicable)
More than one bid received for the same work from an individual, firm, partnership, corporation,
or association under the same of different names will not be considered. Reasonable grounds for
believing any bidder is involved in more than one bid for the same work will cause the County to
reject all bids from the Bidder. If the County believes collusion exists among bidders, bids from
participants in collusion will not be considered.
Conditions, limitations, or provisions attached by the Bidder to the bid forms may cause its
rejection. Bids containing items not included in the form of bids will be considered irregular.
ADDENDA AND INTERPRETATIONS
McDuffie County will issue responses to inquiries and any other corrections or amendments it
deems necessary in a written addenda issued prior to the due date posted on the County's
website under the bid information. Bidder should not rely on any representations, statements, or
explanations other than those made in this solicitation or in any addendum to this solicitation.
Where there appears to be a conflict between the solicitation and any addenda issued, the last
addendum issued will prevail. Bidders are advised to check the website for addenda before
submitting their bids.
Bidders shall acknowledge any issued addenda by including the Addenda Acknowledgement
Form with the bid submittal. Bid submittals that fail to acknowledge the Bidder's receipt of any
addendum may result in the rejection of the bid if the addendum contains information that
substantially changes the owner's requirements.
Addenda may be issued to modify the bid document package as deemed necessary by McDuffie
County.
ALTERATIONS OF SOLICITATION AND ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS
Alterations of County documents are strictly prohibited and will result in automatic
disqualification of the Bidder's solicitation response. If there are "exceptions" or comments to
any of the solicitation requirements or other language, then the bidder may make notes to those
areas, but may not materially alter any document language.
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BID REQUIREMENTS
Bidder Qualifications
McDuffie County may make any investigations deemed necessary to determine a Bidder's ability
to perform the work, and the Bidder shall furnish all information and data requested by the
County. The County reserves the right to reject any bid from any bidder that the County considers
not properly qualified to carry out agreement obligations or able to satisfactorily complete the
work on schedule.
Examination of Bid Documents and Site
Before submitting each a bid, each bidder shall: examine the bid document package thoroughly;
become familiar with local conditions affecting cost and work progress or performance; become
familiar with federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, rules, regulations affecting cost and work
progress or performance; study and carefully correlate bidder's observations with the bid
document package; and notify the County concerning conflicts, errors, or discrepancies in the bid
document package.
Bid submission will constitute incontrovertible representation that bidder understands and has
complied with requirements contained in this article, and that bidder has read and understood
the bid document package and hereby stipulates that the documents are sufficient in scope and
detail to indicate and convey understanding for terms and conditions in order to perform work.
Copies of Bid Documents
The solicitation package includes the Advertisement, Sections I-IV, all attachments, exhibits, and
addenda issued during the solicitation period.
Complete sets of the solicitation package shall be used in preparing bids. The County assumes no
responsibility for errors or misinterpretations resulting from using incomplete sets of the bid
document package.
The County, in making the solicitation document package available on the above terms, does so
only to obtain bids on work and does not confer license or grant for any other use.
Any part of the solicitation package may be modified by addenda.
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SIGNATURE REQUIRED
Each bidder shall furnish all information required by the bid schedule and schedule of values.
Each bidder shall sign the bid and print or type his or her name on the schedule. The person
signing the bid must initial erasures or other changes. An authorized agent of the company must
sign bids. A VALID BID OFFER MUST BE SIGNED.
MODIFICATION AND WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS
Bids may be modified or withdrawn by appropriate documents duly executed and delivered to
the place where bids are to be submitted at any time prior to the deadline for submitting bids.
Bid withdrawals will not prejudice the Bidder's rights to submit a new bid prior to the deadline
for submitting bids.
After the period for receiving bids has expired, no bid may be withdrawn, modified, or explained,
except as provided for in the article below.
AWARD OF CONTRACT
To the extent permitted by applicable state and federal laws and regulations, the County reserves
the right to reject any and all bids, to waive any and all informalities, and to disregard
nonconforming, non-responsive, or conditional bids. Bids may be considered irregular and
subject to rejection if they show serious omission, unauthorized form alterations, use of
unauthorized forms, unauthorized alternate bids, incomplete or unbalanced unit prices, or other
irregularities. In case of error in the extension of prices in the bid, the unit price will govern. No
bid shall be altered, amended, or withdrawn within sixty (60) days after the opening date of bids.
Negligence on the part of the Bidder in preparing the bid confers no right for the withdrawal of
the bid after it has been opened. Any mistake, which is obviously a clerical one, such as an error
in price extension, or in placement of decimal points, reversal of prices, FOB destination, FOB
point of origin, etc., may be corrected by McDuffie County after verification is made by the
applicant. However, under no circumstances can unit prices be changed.
Project will be awarded by the County pursuant to applicable law. Nothing contained herein shall
place duty upon the County to reject bids or award bids based upon anything other than the
County's sole discretion as described herein.
The successful Bidder(s), upon his failure or refusal to execute and deliver the Contract and
required bonds within fifteen (15) days after Notice of Award has been issued, shall forfeit to the
County as liquidated damages the security deposit submitted with his bid.
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POST AWARD DOCUMENTATION
Upon issuance of a Notice of Award, the selected Bidder will be required to submit the following:
- Certificate of Insurance (Refer to Section A below for requirements & certificate
holder information)
- Payment & Performance Bonds (if applicable)
- Vendor Profile Form
Any documents required by the Bidder will be outlined in the Notice of Award. Once received, a
Notice to Proceed can follow.
MCDUFFIE COUNTY INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
The following recommended minimum insurance limits apply to vendors doing business with the
McDuffie County Board of Commissioners. The Standard Insurance Limits are recommended for
all procurements of goods and ancillary services. The specific requirements for vendors providing
high risk services supersede the Standard Insurance Limits. Coverage types and limits are
recommended minimums and should be increased appropriately based on contract value and
potential risks to the County.
To achieve the appropriate coverage levels, a combination of a specific policy written with an
umbrella policy covering liabilities above stated limits is acceptable.
Important:
All policies shall contain a provision that coverage afforded under the policies shall not be
canceled, changed, allowed to lapse, or allowed to expire until thirty (30) calendar days after
written notice has been given to the certificate holder on the certificate of insurance. All such
coverage shall remain in full force and effect during the initial term of the agreement and any
renewal or extension thereof.
All policies must be issued by an insurance company licensed to do business in the State of
Georgia, with a minimum AM Best rating of A-, and signed by an authorized agent.
For example: If appropriate limits are $2 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate,
acceptable coverage would include a specific policy covering $1 million per occurrence and $1
million aggregate written with an umbrella policy for an additional $1 million.
Certificate Holder should read: McDuffie County Board of Commissioners
210 Railroad Street
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