12010920R0001_StreamCrossingImprovements_PreProposalMeetingAgenda_Published.docx

12010920R0001 Pre-Proposal Conference Call Stream Crossing Improvements – Forest Service Alaska Region Thursday, January 16, 2020 – 8:30 am

This solicitation is a request for proposal (RFP) for multiple award Indefinite Quantity/Indefinite Delivery contracts for Stream Crossing Improvements, which includes Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) projects and associated road and trail maintenance on the Tongass National Forest. It is a HUBZone set aside under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 237310 (Highway Street and Bridge Construction) — size standard for small business is $36.5 million. Firms must be HUBZone certified in order to be eligible for consideration.

If you are following updates to the solicitation be sure you are looking at the solicitation and not the presolicitation notice on beta.sam.gov. Questions and answers were posted on January 8, 2020 with the proposal due date extended to January 30, 2020 no later than 3:00 p.m. The question and answer document posted on January 8 provides addresses and additional directions for submitting proposals.

Offerors must acknowledge all amendments when they submit their proposals. Amendment 01 will be posted next week with any corrections needed based on questions & answers or this meeting. The notes from this pre-proposal conference call will also be posted as an amendment.

Agenda Review Items:

1. Total Number of Contracts (B-1): The government anticipates award of contracts to all qualified offerors who meet the minimum requirements.

2. Contract Term/Ordering Period (B-3): Contracts will be awarded for a base ordering period of 3 years with an option to extend for an additional 2-year ordering period – total of 5 years.

3. Section B (right after B-4): The schedule in this solicitation is different from what folks have seen in the past. The schedule of items will include two types of rates.

a. fully loaded hourly rates for the listed labor categories. These labor categories are taken from the DOL Wage Determination and were chosen as the most likely labor categories that will be used by the contractor in performing work on Task Orders.

b. Hourly rates for different types of equipment with operators.

Contractors who are awarded IDIQ contracts will use these rates when calculating task order pricing. Since each job is different, other direct costs such as mobilization or materials/supplies will be priced at the task order level. The rates contained in the schedule are not to exceed rates – contractors may use rates less than the rates contained in the schedule when calculating task order prices. While contractors will use these not to exceed hourly rates as the basis for calculating line item pricing on individual task orders, the government intends to award the vast majority of task orders on a firm fixed price basis for all work contained in the task order.

4. In stream work: work at the task order level may be limited by allowable in-stream operation timelines and will be specified at the task order level.

5. Bonds: Bonds are not required in response to this solicitation but may be required at the task order level. Each task order will specify whether bonds are required.

6. System for Award Management: In order to be eligible for award, contractors shall be registered in the System for Award Management and the certifications and representations must be filled out. The registration must be active at the date and time proposals are due. There is no waiver of this requirement.

7. C-2 shows the Ranger Districts where work may be located.

8. F-3 shows an “*” in some of the fill in spots. These items will be filled in on Task Announcements.

9. F-4(b) is incomplete. We are still working on language for this section. It will include information regarding suspensions of work during times of extreme dry weather to minimize fire danger and to remind contractors of the requirement to carry firefighting tools.

10. Section G discusses how task orders will be awarded and administered and shows the dollar thresholds for bonds at the task order level.

11. Section H-1 describes the minimum guarantee. Sentence 1 should read “Each contractor is entitled to a minimum order of $2,500.” (add word order). Any contractor who is not awarded a task order within the first year of establishment of the IDIQ will be awarded a task order with a minimum value of $2,500 in order to meet the minimum. Task orders issued for the sole purpose of satisfying the minimum quantity will be priced based on the labor or equipment hourly rates in the contractor’s base IDIQ and will not include reimbursement for mobilization. The contractor will be able to choose which ranger district locations where they are willing to perform this work.

12. Section H-20 provides a sample submittal table of what might be required in a task order.

13. Section J – review the attachments to the solicitation.

14. Section L-10 – there is really no reason this section is highlighted.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION:

15. Section L-11 – this section contains proposal submission requirements. NOTE: Since award of an IDIQ contract will be awarded to all qualified offerors, ALL minimum requirements must be met in order for an offeror to be eligible for award. It is an offeror’s responsibility to submit a complete proposal. The government has no obligation to request clarification, verify missing information or conduct discussions.

16. Section L-11.1 – Bonding Capability. Offeror must submit evidence of their ability to secure bonds in the amount of $250,000.

17. Section L-11.2 – Prior Experience: In response to this requirement, offerors shall submit Attachment 6 for a minimum of 3 project in the past 5 years. Discuss mandatory elements and additional elements. This attachment is submitted by the offeror with their proposal (read Q/A #4).

18. Section L-11.3 – Knowledge of Local Area: this contains two elements which are:

a. Short narrative describing the offeror’s understanding of doing business in the various locations across the Tongass. Offerors are responsible for providing enough information for someone who knows nothing about their company to determine their understanding (don’t rely on someone on the evaluation team knowing their company)

b. For project example #1, submit a short narrative as described in the section. Again, Offerors are responsible for providing enough information for someone who knows nothing about their company to determine their understanding (don’t rely on someone on the evaluation team knowing their company).

19. Section L-11.4 – Past Performance: Offerors must provide Attachment 7 to their customers whose projects were detailed in response to the Prior Experience Factor. These completed surveys are to be submitted directly to the government by the person/customer/company completing the survey. Completed surveys (Attachment 7) submitted by the Offeror with their proposal will not be evaluated.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND AWARD:

20. Bonding Capability: Pass/Fail – the Government will verify a contractor’s bonding capacity based on information provided by the offeror.

21. Prior Experience: Pass/Fail – the government will be evaluated on whether they meet or do not meet the minimum experience requirement.

22. Knowledge of Geographic Area: Pass/Fail – the government will evaluate whether the offeror demonstrates a satisfactory knowledge of local conditions and the challenges associated with working in Southeast Alaska.

23. Past Performance: Offerors will be evaluated against the criteria stated in section M-1.4. The last sentence of this section will be deleted in a solicitation amendment.

24. Review Q/A document along with this question that was received and answered on Tuesday January 14, 2020:

Q8. Am I supposed to send the Past Performance Questionnaire to the Forest Service after it’s completed, or should my customer send it to the Forest Service?

A8. Past performance surveys/questionnaires (Attachment 7) must be submitted directly to the Forest Service by the customer.

25. Open up for questions from those on the phone.

As a reminder, all questions should be submitted after the pre-proposal call in writing to the following individuals so they an be answered in writing:

mari.meiners@usda.gov stacy.doutt@usda.gov michael.t.mccarthy@usda.gov

26. Meeting Close.