Amendment 002 - QA Final 1-3-2020.pdf

Solicitation Amendment 002 - Questions and Answers

Solicitation 12024B19R9001, National Mobile Food Services Page 1 of 6

1. Question: Are the original offers going to be physically returned? If so, can I come by Thursday or Friday to get mine?

Answer: Original offers shall be returned to the Offeror only when an email request is received containing specific return to mailing address and details explaining what the Offeror is requesting to be returned. Please send your request for original proposal return to Larry.robillard@usda.gov. All offers replaced by revised offers and not requested to be returned will be destroyed after award of contracts.

2. Question: If not, do we submit a completely new set of flash drives with both Technical & Business Proposal and

Specification Matrix Checklist or do we submit just a new Business Proposal with new SF 1449, SF 30, B.5, E.8, E.9 & E.10

Answer: All Offerors must send in a completed SF30 acknowledging receipt of Amendment 002 prior to the closing date and time of the solicitation. For Offerors not revising their original proposal or revising their proposal by sending in replacement pages, their SF30 shall be submitted by email to Larry.robillard@usda.gov.

Previous version formats of the solicitation and/or amendments will be acceptable for evaluation for Offerors not revising their proposal, since the minor changes through amendments did not materially change the solicitation/content.

When an Offeror is revising their original proposal, it is recommended to send a complete revised proposal on the appropriate number of flash drives (See Section E.3(b)(4) for details). In this manner, there can be no confusion on how the replacement pages effect the readability and comprehension of the revised proposal. Offerors submitting a complete proposal may include their SF30 signed in a hard copy format with their flash drives or include a signed copy on their Business proposal flash drives.

An Offeror may submit replacement pages to replace original pages in the original proposal. Please see Solicitation Section C.6 AMENDMENTS TO PROPOSALS (AGAR 452.215-72) (FEB 1988) for specific details on changing your original proposal. Replacement pages and directions on how the Offeror wants the replacement pages to be incorporated into their proposal shall be emailed to Larry.robillard@usda.gov, prior to the solicitation closing date and time.

3. Question: Is it possible to withdraw section B.5 of the original offer and have the Technical Proposal and the

Specification Matrix Checklist evaluated as originally submitted?

Answer: See Answer to Question #2.

4. Question: If it is my companies intent to only change one price which is the price where the definition changed for cubic feet of refrigeration space what is the requirement for this price change?

1) Fully submit the entire business proposal in full?

a. On 2 electronic thumb drives?

b. In hard copies?

c. Is email an option?

d. Combination of these?

2) Submit just the changed page for each bid year with the new corresponding price noted?

a. On 2 electronic thumb drives?

b. In hard copies?

c. Is email and option?

d. Combination of these?

3) Resubmit the entire proposal with 2 new business proposal thumb drives and 4 new technical proposal thumb drives?

4) If nothing needs to be changed in the technical proposal we assume nothing needs to be sent and you will mailto:Larry.robillard@usda.gov mailto:Larry.robillard@usda.gov mailto:Larry.robillard@usda.gov

Solicitation 12024B19R9001, National Mobile Food Services Page 2 of 6 default to what was submitted on Dec 5, 2019?

5. Question: In the new value dispatch procedure does the process stop after 6 DDP’s (2 sets of 3) are evaluated in each

Priority level?

Answer: No, the procedure doesn’t stop after 6 DDP’s. NICC will continue to consider all MFSU’s in First Priority before moving on to Second Priority MFSU’s and so forth.

6. Question: With regard to sending the updated information needed for our previously submitted proposal it seems that it would be easier on your team if I resubmit the entire electronic proposal and mark the Amendment 2 changes within the proposal rather than only sending the updated pages. If you honestly want me to only send the Amendment 2 updates am I supposed to send the changes separated out on to 6 flash drives again? (2 Business, 4 Technical)

7. Question: Do we have to resubmit the entire solicitation on new Flash Drives on updated forms, etc? If so, are we able to get the original copies back? We could hand deliver new and pick up the old.

Answer: See Answer to Question #2. Returning of proposals is answered in Question #1.

8. Question: Is “lowest price” and “best value” the same thing? In B.1 (d) page 2, “lowest total evaluated pricing” and in B.1 (i) it states “best value”.

Answer: No, lowest price and best value are not the same thing. Lowest price is simply the lowest price between offerors. Best value is based on the best combination of the evaluation factors defined in Section E.4 and is defined in the Basis of Award in Section E.4(f) “The Government will award the contract(s) to the Offeror(s) who (1) adheres to the terms of the RFP, and (2) has the best combination of Total Evaluated Price, Equipment, Technical Approach, Experience and Past Performance. The Government intends to award multiple awards to organizations meeting the basis of award.

Award may not necessarily be made to the Offeror submitting the lowest price and to the Offerors at their preferred DDP locations. Also, the award may not be made for technical capabilities that would appear to exceed those needed for successful performance of the work. The Government reserves the right to make price/technical trade-offs that are in the best interest of the Government.”

From the solicitation Section B.1(d) states “The following table provides the historical National Mobile Food Services orders by Geographical Area Coordination Center (GACC). The number of orders in each GACC represents the ordering activity level. This activity level correlates to the respective Designated Dispatch Point (DDP) locations in each GACC and represents the historical activity for DDPs and where activity is anticipated to be higher. The DDPs with the historical highest activity in their GACC, represents the opportunities where the Government may receive greater benefit through selecting the lowest total evaluated pricing from Offerors at those specific DDPs.” This paragraph explains the Government may receive a benefit by making award to Offerors with lower evaluated prices at DDP’s with historically higher activity. This paragraph is provided to assist all Offerors in determining how to competitively price each DDP they are proposing, based on the historical data provided and the Government’s desire to obtain the greatest benefit by placing lowest total evaluated priced offers at high activity DDPs.

From the solicitation Section B.1(i) states “Offerors shall prioritize their preferred DDP(s) in Section B.5 Schedule of Items – MFSU - Unit Item Details below for award. The Government reserves the right to award MFSU contracts to any of the Offeror’s proposed DDPs, based on Section E.4 EVALUATION – COMMERCIAL ITEMS (FAR 52.212-2) (OCT 2014) of this solicitation. The Government will select the Contractors by comparing the acceptable offers on the basis of the evaluation factors identified in Section E.4 and the Government may make tradeoffs in order to determine which offers are determined to represent the best value to the Government. The Government intends to award

Solicitation 12024B19R9001, National Mobile Food Services Page 3 of 6 contracts to the offers that represent the best value at the DDP locations with the historical highest activity (see Section B.1(d) the table above for historical GACCs activity), providing the overall best value to the benefit of the Government. Offerors are encouraged to provide their best pricing for each DDP proposed.” This paragraph provides guidance for potential Offerors to where the evaluation criteria may be found in the solicitation and how the Government will use the evaluation of offers to select the best value Offeror at each DDP for the benefit of the Government.

9. Question: If we don’t intend to change anything on the bid that we submitted, do we just have to complete block 17a and blocks 30a-30c on SF-1449 and provide responses to Sections E.8, E.9 and E.10?

10. Question: Confused about how many thumb drives you actually want.

Answer: Total of six flash drives. See Section E.3 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2018) (TAILORED) – Paragraph (b)(4) – “The proposal must be prepared in three parts: a "Technical Proposal" a "Business Proposal" and “Specification Compliance Matrix”. The Technical Proposal and Specification Compliance Matrix shall be included together on each of the four Technical flash drives and the Business Proposal shall be separate and complete in itself on two copies of the Business flash drives, so that evaluation of the Business Proposal may be accomplished independently of, and concurrently with, evaluation of the others.”

11. Question: Regarding dispatching, who is allowed to approve deviations from the dispatch procedures if you are not available? Will NICC be able to deviate dispatch procedures with a blanket approval from you? If dispatch procedures can be deviated at any time from the Government, is there any assurance that a unit will be dispatched if it is available at it’s DDP, during it’s MAP, located near an incident, and lowest cost?

Answer: As stated in the order procedures (see Section C.8(b)(1)), only the Contracting Officer makes the determination and approves a deviation from the ordering procedure. The Contracting Officer does not provide a blanket approval to NICC.

The only assurance provided with an Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract is the payment of the annual minimum guarantee. The deviation language has been included in the last two contract cycles. The Government includes this language to address the rare circumstances that might occur due to the unpredictable nature of wildland fire and the potential for urgent decisions to protect life and property. Circumstances rarely require a deviation to the ordering procedure. Over the past four years, the Contracting Officer has provided NICC with approval for only a couple of deviations to the ordering procedures and sound rationale was provided, based on limited resources, the significant number and varying locations of fires.

12. Question: After Amendment 002, B.1 (i), on page 4, no longer states that “the competitive best value determination derived from the schedule of prices proposed in Section B.5 Schedule of Items – MFSU Item Details and Schedule of Prices is intended to be utilized to place the lowest total evaluated priced offerors at the DDP locations with the historical highest activity…”. That Paragraph now says that the Government “intends to award contracts to the offers that represent the best value at the DDP locations with the historical highest activity.” But B.1 (d), on page 2, still says that the “DDPs with the historical highest activity… represent the opportunities where the Government may receive greater benefit through selecting the lowest total evaluated pricing from Offerors at those specific DDPs.” Will the Government give more weight to low prices proposed for DDPs with the historical highest activity than it does to low prices proposed for DDPs at other locations? If so, what are the DDP cities where the Government will weigh low prices more and how much additional weight will be given to price at those locations?

Answer: Please see the Answer to Question #8. The information provided in Section B.1 and E.4 provide the details on the DDP historical activity and how offers will be evaluated. Offerors are encouraged to propose pricing for each DDP they are interested in being considered for and not to propose for DDP’s they have no interest in receiving an award.

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13. Question: Would it be possible to extend the due date for any offers in response to this Solicitation? An extension would provide us with the time that we need to make sure that our proposal is not at odds with your responses to any questions that are submitted before the December 30th deadline.

Answer: No due date extension is planned at this time.

14. Question: C.8 (b)(1), on page 30, notes that “the number of fire orders in process and actual fire conditions at the time of dispatch may require a deviation from [the listed dispatch] procedures. Any such deviation will be within the discretion of the Government, approved by the Contracting Officer, and will not be deemed a violation of any terms or conditions of this contract.”

a. What specific deviations from the dispatch procedures in the RFP is the Government contemplating under this provision?

b. Other than the requirement for the Contracting Officer’s approval, are there any other limits on the Government’s ability to deviate from the dispatch procedures in the RFP?

c. If the government can deviate from the dispatch procedures set out in the RFP at any time and for any reason, what assurance does a company have of ever being dispatched even if it is available, located near an incident, is fully qualified and would result in the lowest cost to the government?

Answer: Section C.8(b)(1) states “The Government intends to dispatch resources in accordance with the procedures outlined herein. However, the number of fire orders in process and actual fire conditions at the time of dispatch may require a deviation from these procedures. Any such deviation will be within the discretion of the Government, approved by the Contracting Officer, and will not be deemed a violation of any terms or conditions of this contract.”

The Government may deviate from the ordering procedures due to the number of fires and available resources to place the resources at the fires with the greatest mobile food needs, as determined by the Government. See Answer to Question #11 for additional details.

15. Question: C.8 (b)(3)(vii), on page 32, states that “NICC shall document the selected MFSU on the Resource Order and maintain appropriate ordering procedure documentation. NICC shall send the documentation to the Contracting Officer at the time of placing the order.” Will contractors be allowed to obtain copies of documentation of the ordering procedures followed (with any proprietary information redacted)?

Answer: The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended), generally provides any person with the statutory right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to Government information. Contractors shall use the FOIA process to obtain Government copies of documentation of the ordering procedures followed.

16. Question: SECTION D CONTRACT DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS, OR ATTACHMENTS pg. # 66 list of approved

Candy/Cookie/Dessert: The list of approved snacks in the lunch provisions lists Twix, Skittles; Grandma’s Cookies;

Lenny & Larry’s The Complete Cookie bar or Equivalent commercially prepared item. Twix, Skittles, Grandma Cookies and Lenny & Larry’s do not meet the requested spec’s. This questions has been asked several times and still has not been addressed so should we assume that these products are okay to use?

Answer: Any combination of quantity packages for Candy/Cookie/Desert meeting requirements for calories and carbohydrates may be used. The examples provided are suggestions only and must meet the specifications to be acceptable for use. The Government does not determine specific manufacturers’ packaging sizes, contents, carbohydrates or calories. It is the responsibility of the Offeror/Contractor to provide acceptable products that meet the requirement. An assumption to use something outside of the requirement would be considered as not meeting a requirement and would be handled as not accepting the terms of the solicitation prior to award and considered a breach of contract after award.

17. Question: Can you please provide the correct solicitation number for this RFP? The RFP lists both 12024B18R9001 and 12024B19R9001

Solicitation 12024B19R9001, National Mobile Food Services Page 5 of 6

Answer: 12024B18R9001 was a typo. The Solicitation number remains 12024B19R9001.

18. Question: What happens to the proposals already submitted? Will your office trash the previously submitted flash drives?

Answer: See Answer to Question #1. Proposals not returned will be destroyed.

19. Question: Would it be possible to extend the due date for any offers in response to this Solicitation? An extension would provide us with the time that we need to make sure that our proposal is not at odds with your responses to any questions that are submitted before the December 30th deadline.

Answer: See the Answer to Question #13.

20. Question: After Amendment 002, B.1 (i), on page 4, no longer states that “the competitive best value determination derived from the schedule of prices proposed in Section B.5 Schedule of Items – MFSU Item Details and Schedule of Prices is intended to be utilized to place the lowest total evaluated priced offerors at the DDP locations with the historical highest activity…”. That Paragraph now says that the Government “intends to award contracts to the offers that represent the best value at the DDP locations with the historical highest activity.” But B.1 (d), on page 2, still says that the “DDPs with the historical highest activity… represent the opportunities where the Government may receive greater benefit through selecting the lowest total evaluated pricing from Offerors at those specific DDPs.” Will the Government give more weight to low prices proposed for DDPs with the historical highest activity than it does to low prices proposed for DDPs at other locations?

Answer: See the Answer to Question #8.

21. Question: C.6 AMENDMENTS TO PROPOSALS (AGAR 452.215-72) (FEB 1988) - Any changes to a proposal made by the Offeror after its initial submittal shall be accomplished by replacement pages. Changes from the original page shall be indicated on the outside margin by vertical lines adjacent to the change. The Offeror shall include the date of the amendment on the lower right corner of the changed pages. Q: With the submission of the proposal being digital with a total of 6 USB flash drives, would it be acceptable to submit the complete proposal package (2 USB Business / 4 USB Technical) in its entirety with the changes marked as outlined within the provision to keep the package complete instead of multiple digital files with single replacement pages?

22. Question: When should we anticipate the revised MS Word working documents to be published of the beta.sam.gov page?

Answer: Revised working documents are provided with the Answers the Amendment 002 Questions.

23. Question: Being that the revised MS Word documents have not yet been published, should we anticipate an extension of the due date?

Answer: See the Answer to Question #13.

24. Question: Is a whole new copy of the bid required (with 4 technical/2 business thumb drives) If a company has no bid changes (with the exception of the sub-total of CLIN 101-107 on Page 10 of the solicitation)?

25. Question: Can we turn in Amendment 002 standard form 30 and the Amendment 002 standard form 1449 [on their own] as an addition to the bid already submitted. If so, should they be on thumb drives or electronically submitted?

Solicitation 12024B19R9001, National Mobile Food Services Page 6 of 6

26. Question: D.1.1 (k), “A Contractor with excessive unavailability during their MAP (20 percent or greater) may result in poor performance evaluation, temporary suspension of the unit, and risk not receiving a renewal of their next Option Year…”

a. What is the government’s intention with the word “may”?

b. What factors will determine whether an MFSU is penalized during the contract period?

c. Will the government accept bids with alternative MAP dates for DDPs which could lower the overall cost to the government?

Answer: Merriam Webster defines the word may – “used to indicate possibility or probability”. The Government uses the word “may” in this section to inform all potential Offerors if there is “excessive” unavailability, there is a probability the Government will remedy the situation as explained in Section D.1.1(k).

The factor is clearly defined as 20 percent or greater unavailability during a MAP at every DDP.

The Government has stated the requirement for MAP durations and dates for each DDP and as such if an Offeror does not agree to the dates in the solicitation, they have not provided an acceptable proposal see Section E.4(b)(1)(i) assent to solicitation terms. However, the Government may accept alternative proposals only after the Offeror has submitted an acceptable proposal.

27. Question: C.8 (b)(1), on page 30, notes that “the number of fire orders in process and actual fire conditions at the time of dispatch may require a deviation from [the listed dispatch] procedures. Any such deviation will be within the discretion of the Government, approved by the Contracting Officer, and will not be deemed a violation of any terms or conditions of this contract.” If the government can deviate from the dispatch procedures set out in the RFP at any time and for any reason, what assurance does a company have of ever being dispatched even if it is under contract and available?

Answer: See the Answer to Question #11.

Please note, all questions received by the deadline, pursuant to amendment 002 of the solicitation were posted above with answers following, including duplicate questions received from separate interested parties.