I-85 Median Maintenance
| Location: | North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Posted: | Nov 17, 2025 |
| Due: | Dec 22, 2025 |
| Agency: | City of Durham |
| Type of Government: | State & Local |
| Category: |
|
| Solicitation No: | 26-0105 |
| Publication URL: | To access bid details, please log in. |
| Bid Number: |
26-0105
|
| Bid Title: |
I-85 Median Maintenance
|
| Category: | Requests for Proposals/Qualifications and Services |
| Status: | Open |
|
Attachment Preview
Request for Proposals (RFP)
I-85 Median Maintenance
Date of Issue: 11/17/2025
Due Date: 12/22/2025
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT AND NATURE OF RFP
A. PURPOSE FOR RFP
1. Through this request for proposals (RFP), notice is hereby given that the City of Durham, North
Carolina, General Services Department, is seeking services for right-of-way maintenance including
tree and shrub maintenance, herbicide application, litter, and debris removal on and adjacent to I-
85 medians within Durham city limits for a contract term of three (3) years.
2. This RFP provides complete information on the services being sought, the submittal requirements,
and timeline. Copies of the RFP may be downloaded directly from this site:
http://durhamnc.gov/bids.aspx.
Interested firms may submit proposals, meeting the requirements defined in the RFP to:
Alex Johnson
City of Durham, General Service Department
2011 Fay Street
Durham, NC 27704
Phone: (919) 560-4197 ext. 21275
Email: Alexander.Johnson@durhamnc.gov
3. Pre-submittal Meeting
There will be a pre-submittal meeting for interested firms on 12/8/2025, at 8:00 a.m. at 2011 Fay
Street and also via zoom through the following link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84292474946?pwd=56c0CHx2K6HczfQd59U2JCaGLPI4EX.1
Attendance at the pre-submittal meeting is strongly encouraged but not required. The General
Services Department staff will present details about the project and submittal requirements and be
available to answer questions.
4. Proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. on 12/22/2025.
To ensure receipt of any addenda to the RFP, please contact the person listed above to register as
an interested firm. The City is not responsible for providing updated information/changes to firms
not known by the City as holding a copy of this RFP.
5. Any questions regarding this RFP must be received in writing prior to 12/15/2025 by 5:00 p.m.
Questions received after this date may not receive response. Questions should be directed to Alex
Johnson. All written questions will be answered in an addendum posted on the City’s website:
http://durhamnc.gov/bids.aspx.
6. Questions received by the Department of General Services after this date will not receive a response
or be the subject of addenda. Firms who are registered as interested firms will receive the
addendum via email.
7. This RFP does not obligate the City to pay any costs incurred by respondents in the preparation and
submission of a response. Furthermore, the RFP does not obligate the City to accept or contract for
any expressed or implied services. The City of Durham reserves the right to reject any and all
submittals. A notice of award will not constitute acceptance by the City; the City’s only method of
acceptance is the City’s execution of a formal contract in accordance with law. The City of Durham is
committed to a program of equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, sex, age,
nationality or disability.
B. BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF SERVICES:
The City of Durham is looking for contracted services for regular right-of-way maintenance including, but not
limited to, tree and shrub maintenance, herbicide application and litter and debris removal on and adjacent
to the center median of US Interstate 85 highway located inside the city limits of Durham (approximately 3.8
centerline miles),corresponding to the areas shown in Appendix H – Map of Maintenance Areas.
1. Materials. The contractor is responsible for furnishing all necessary tools, equipment, vehicles, trailers,
chemicals, PPE, and work zone safety materials (signs, cones, barriers, etc.) to facilitate the removal,
treatment and disposal of trash, litter, and unwanted vegetation (weeds/brush/trimmings).
2. Methods. When the contract is executed, The Contractor will be responsible for furnishing all
licensing, equipment, materials, labor, and supervision that may be necessary to provide Right-of-
way maintenance for three (3) consecutive years. “Maintenance” within the context of this project
will include the following elements:
Litter and Trash Removal: Litter and trash is to be removed entirely from the medians and
breakdown lanes (including bags tangled in trees and shrubs) and disposed of in accordance with
the City’s ordinances (Ordinances) and at Contractor’s sole expense; no dumping on City property is
permitted. At no time shall bags or collected litter/debris be allowed to remain on the right of way
beyond the end of the workday.
Median Bed Maintenance: Bed areas (including weeds growing in the adjacent breakdown lanes)
are expected to be maintained through the application of industry-standard inputs. These include
the following:
Weed Control: Contractor will be responsible for identifying and communicating to staff the
difference between Maintained plants (“non-target” plants) and weeds (“target” plants)
existing in all maintenance areas. Weed control is the elimination of target plants. This is
done manually (hand-pulling) or chemically. These include weeds growing in the cracks in
the pavement and at the base of the median wall.
Plant Management: Contractor will be responsible for providing maintenance inputs on
maintained plants (trees and shrubs). Maintenance needs for all maintained plants are to be
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met by the Contractor at the necessary seasonal interval, including tree and shrub pruning,
application of growth regulators, and removal of dead or dying material.
3. Timing. It is anticipated that the Contractor will begin work on the project on dates corresponding to the
Maintenance Cycles
Cycle
Date
Type of Input
1
3rd week of February
Litter Only
2
1st week of April
Litter and Weeding/Pruning
3
1st week of June
Litter and Weeding/Pruning
4
1st week of August
Litter and Weeding/Pruning
5
1st week of October
Litter Only
6
1st week of December
Litter Only
maintenance schedule, closest to the date of the notice to proceed, and continue following the schedule
until the end of the contract period.
4. Communication. The Contractor will be expected to coordinate a target schedule of activities with the
Project Manager or the Project Manager’s designee a minimum of three days prior to beginning
scheduled work (schedules will vary due to weather conditions). Prior to 7:00 a.m. each Monday, the
Contractor will be expected to text, email, or hand deliver to the Project Manager or the Project
Manager’s designee a schedule of locations to be worked on during that week.
5. Documentation. Documentation of work completed will be consistent with the locations as described in
the RFP. At a minimum, an accounting of the number of miles treated and date of completion should
accompany any invoice.
6. Payment. When the selected vendor submits invoices to the City, the invoice shall contain a schedule of
values that correspond to the locations maintained and allow for inspection/verification before payment
is processed. The selected vendor may invoice for each maintenance interval detailed in the proposal.
7. Liability.
C. Equal Business Opportunity Program: It is the policy of the City to provide equal opportunities for City
contracting for underutilized firms owned by minorities and women doing business in the City’s Contracting
Marketplace. It is further the policy of the City to prohibit discrimination against any firm in pursuit of these
opportunities, to conduct its contracting activities so as to prevent such discrimination, to correct present
effects of past discrimination and to resolve complaints of discrimination. This policy applies to all City
contracting, including procurement services.
In accordance with the Ordinance, all contractors are required to provide information requested in the
“Equal Business Opportunity Program Procurement Forms” package included with this Request for Bids.
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Bids that do not contain the appropriate, completed forms will be deemed non-responsive and ineligible for
consideration.
For procurement services with UBE goals, the “UBE Participation” and “Statement of Intent to Perform as
Subcontractor” are required of all bidders. “Request to Change UBE Participation After Bid Opening” and the
“Questionnaire on Bidder’s Good Faith Efforts” documents are not required at this time.
The MUBE goal is 0% and the WUBE goal is 0% on this bid.
The Department of Finance is responsible for the Equal Business Opportunity Program. All questions about
“Equal Business Opportunity Program Procurement Forms” should be referred to department staff at (919)
560-4180.
D. DEFINITIONS IN THIS RFP: CITY, RFP, PROPOSAL, CANDIDATE, CONTRACTOR, SHOULD: Unless the context
indicates otherwise – (a) The expressions “RFP,” “this RFP,” and “the RFP” refer to this document as it may
be amended or updated. (b) “City” and “city” mean the City of Durham. (c) The “proposal” or "Bid" is the
response of a person, firm, or corporation proposing to provide the services sought by this RFP. (d) The
word “Candidate” or “candidate” is the person, firm, or corporation that submits a proposal or that is
considering submitting a proposal. (e) The word “Contractor” or “contractor” is the person, firm, or
corporation with which the City enters into a contract to provide the services sought by this RFP. That is,
“contractor” generally refers to a successful candidate that has obtained a fully executed contract with the
City, while “candidate” is generally reserved to the stage before a contract has been signed. (f) The word
“should” is used to tell candidates what the City thinks it wants and/or what the project manager thinks is
best. Candidates that want to increase the likelihood of being selected will, in general, do what the RFP
says candidates “should” do, but failure to comply with all “should” will not necessarily and automatically
result in rejection.
E. CONTRACT: The City anticipates that the conclusion of the RFP process will be a contract between the City
and the successful candidate under which the successful candidate will provide the goods and services
generally described in this RFP. It is the City’s intention to use the contract that is attached as Appendix D,
modified and filled in to reflect the RFP and the proposal. If a candidate objects to any of the contracts, it
should state the objections in its proposal.
F. RESERVED.
G. BONDS: Not Used
H. INSURANCE: The contractor agrees to maintain, on a primary basis and at its sole expense, at all times
during the life of this Contract the following applicable coverages and limits. The requirements contained
herein, as well as the City’s review or acceptance of insurance maintained by Contractor, is not intended to
and shall not in any manner limit or qualify the liabilities or obligations assumed by Contractor under this
Contract. See Appendix A for Insurance Requirements.
I. DISCRETION OF THE CITY:
A. The City of Durham reserves the right to (i) reject any, any part of, or all proposals, or (ii) accept that
proposal which the City deems to be in its best interest, whether or not it is the lowest dollar proposal.
B. NOTWITHSTANDING anything to the contrary in this document or in any addendums to this document,
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unless the contrary provision refers specifically to this provision, the City reserves the right (i) to negotiate
changes of any nature with any candidate with respect to any term, condition, or provision in this
document and/or in any proposals, whether or not something is stated to be mandatory and whether or
not it is said that a proposal will be rejected if certain information or documentation is not submitted with
it, and (ii) to enter into an agreement for some or all of the work with one or more persons, firms, or
corporations that do not submit proposals. For example, all deadlines are for the administrative
convenience or needs of the City and may be waived by the City in its discretion. This subparagraph B
applies to the entire RFP, including the UBE portions.
C. Where the City asks or tells candidates to do stated things, such as that a proposal should follow a stated
format or that the candidate should do stated things in seeking the contract, the City may reject a proposal
because it does not comply with those requests, so the candidate is adding to its risk of rejection by non-
compliance. Still, the City may, in its discretion, waive non-compliance. This subsection (C) does not limit
subsections (A) and (B).
D. Of course, once a contract is signed, the parties to the contract may enforce the contract according to its
terms as allowed by applicable law.
J. NOTICE UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA): The City of Durham will not discriminate
against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in the City's services, programs, or
activities. The City will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective
communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in the City's programs,
services, and activities. The City will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure
that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all City programs, services, and activities.
Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communications, or a modification of policies
or procedures to participate in the City program, service, or activity, should contact the ADA Coordinator by
calling 919-560-4197 or e-mailing ADA@DurhamNC.gov as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours
before the scheduled event.
K. WORKFORCE DIVERSITY QUESTIONNAIRE Complete the Contractor Workforce Diversity Questionnaire
("Diversity Questionnaire") and provide it with your Proposal. The Diversity Questionnaire will not be used
as a factor in determining a recommendation for award; however, the completed Diversity Questionnaire
will be required of the Contractor before any contract will be authorized for execution. It is recommended
that the Diversity Questionnaire be submitted at the same time as the Proposal in order to facilitate the
processing of the Contractor’s information. This form is not included as part of any submittal page
maximum.
L. VALUES OF CITY OF DURHAM REGARDING TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES OF CONTRACTORS
1. Statement of City EEO Policy. The City of Durham opposes discrimination in employment because of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, familial status, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity,
and protected hairstyle. Consistent with Chapter 34 (Non-Discrimination) of the Durham City Code, the City
requires that firms doing business with the City:
a. not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion,
national origin, sex, disability, familial status, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and
protected hairstyle.
b. take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated equally
during employment, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, familial status,
military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and protected hairstyle. This action includes
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