Manchester Amendment 0001.pdf

1305M423RNAAJ0007

Manchester Seawater System Construction, Port Orchard, Washington

Amendment 0001

The purpose of this Amendment is to accomplish the following:

(1) Include the Pre-Proposal Conference Sign-in Sheet from the Pre-Proposal Conference held March 2, 2023

(2) Include the NOAA Manchester Seawater Presentation from the Pre-Proposal Conference held March 2, 2023

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

MANCHESTER SEAWATER SYSTEM

CONSTRUCTION

IN

PORT ORCHARD, WA

Solicitation No. 1305M4-23-R-NAAJ0007

Held on-site March 2, 2023

OVERVIEW OF SITE & SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

Thank you to the Facility for hosting this event!

• Emergency Exits

• Restroom Locations

• Fire Drills Meetup

• Leaving Items in the Conference Room?

○ Access to the building/conference room (door code, badge, POC, etc.)

• Designated Smoking Areas

• Restricted Access Onsite

• Eateries/Restaurants Nearby

• Site Overview/Mission

MEETING’S AGENDA

● Please Sign-In

● Introductions/Principal Stakeholders

● Disclaimer

● Opening Remarks

● Pre-Proposal Communications

● Authority for all Changes

● Synopsis

● Solicitation Section Overview

● Proposal Instructions

● Proposal Template

● Proposal Due Date and Delivery Instructions

● Period of Performance

● Liquidated Damages

● Equal Employment Opportunity for Construction

● Basis for Award/Evaluation of Offerors Highlights

● Typical Proposal Shortfalls

● Proposal Conformance Review

● Helpful Websites

● Questions

● Technical Information

INTRODUCTIONS/PRINCIPAL STAKEHOLDERS

Contracting Officer – Ronette C. McBean-Felder

Sr. Contract Specialist – Diana Pickel

Contracting Officer’s Representative – Mark Benne

Onsite Facility Manager -

NOAA Fisheries (Program Office/End User) -

● Program Manager, Facilities Branch - Max Edwards, RA

Government Representative Project Manager – TBD

DISCLAIMER

In the event that there is a conflict between the RFP terms and conditions and the information that is disseminated during today’s conference, the RFP terms and conditions shall control. The formal RFP is the only document that should be relied upon in determining the Government’s requirements. Any changes to the RFP will be with a formal amendment.

OPENING REMARKS

▪ The goal of this meeting is to ensure that the Government’s requirements are clear to the potential Offerors. Ensuring that all Offerors have the opportunity to provide their best proposal to NOAA.

▪ Offerors will be able interact with the facility, investigate the local conditions and survey the site.

▪ Offerors are advised that while the Government may entertain questions during this Pre-Proposal Conference, the responses provided are not binding unless the question(s) is/are officially submitted to the Sr.

Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer as outlined in the Solicitation (via Google Form) and an amendment is issued thereafter providing an official response.

▪ Each offeror is responsible for knowing and understanding the project requirements regardless of what may or may not be covered during this meeting, as this meeting is strictly for advisory purposes

PRE-PROPOSAL COMMUNICATIONS

After RFP release

FAR 15.201, allows “Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals”

»Pre-Proposal Conference constitutes an Informal Exchange of Information

»To provide Offerors with insight into Government Evaluation of Proposals to aid with Proposal Preparation

»Pre-Proposal Conference •No One-on-One discussions •Follow-up comments/questions allowed

FAR 3.104, “Procurement Integrity”

AUTHORITY FOR ALL CHANGES

▪ Only the Contracting Officer (CO) has the authority to issue amendments prior to award and modifications after award.

▪ Contractors shall not contact the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), Project Manager(s) or other members of NOAA (including the facility where the work is being accomplished) during this solicitation process on questions regarding this requirement.

▪ All questions pertaining to this requirement shall be addressed via the Sr. Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer. Additional concerns shall be addressed to the CO directly.

▪ After award a COR will be appointed by the CO with the delegated authority specified in the appointment letter.

SYNOPSIS OF CLIN

SYNOPSIS CON’T

▪ This project is being solicited as 100% Total Small Business Set-Aside

▪ Magnitude = $5.0M - $10.0M

▪ A Firm Fixed Price Contract will be awarded

▪ Bonding Requirement = 100% of the contract price for both the Performance and Payment Bond

▪ All solicitation documents are available on SAM.gov

SOLICITATION SECTION OVERVIEW

▪ Solicitation

○ Sections A - M

Section A – SF 1442 (be sure to complete page 2 and have an official authorized to bind the company complete blocks 30 A, 30B & 30C) Section B – Pricing (to include Options if applicable) Section C – Description/Specifications/Work Statement Section D – Packaging and Marking Section E – Inspection and Acceptance Section F – Deliveries or Performance Section G – Contract Administration Data Section H – Special Contract Requirements Section I – Contract Clauses Section J – List of Attachments Section K – Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors Section L – Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors

- Provides Instructions on Preparing your Proposal Section M – Evaluation Factors For Award

- Provides guidance on how the Government will evaluate your Proposal

● Amendments

○ None to date.

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

Proposals

The proposal will consist of two volumes a Technical .pdf document and a Cost .pdf document. Proposals shall be submitted as follows:

▪ VOLUME ONE: CORPORATE / TECHNICAL INFORMATION (Electronic copy via email)

▪ VOLUME TWO: BUSINESS/PRICE/OFFEROR INFORMATION (Electronic copy via email)

Contractor shall also complete Sections A & B of the Solicitation (SF1442).

VOLUME ONE: CORPORATE / TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Shall be in accordance with Section L of the RFP. Proposals must address all technical factors as instructed. Technical factors are:

▪ FACTOR 1: STAFFING APPROACH AND KEY PERSONNEL (Written Material)

▪ FACTOR 2: CONTRACTOR PAST PERFORMANCE (Written Material)

▪ FACTOR 3: TECHNICAL APPROACH AND RISK (ORAL PRESENTATION)

▪ SUBFACTOR 1: Understanding Scope (Oral Presentation)

▪ FACTOR 4: SCHEDULE (Oral Presentation and Written Material Required)

▪ FACTOR 5: CORPORATE EXPERIENCE (Written Material ONLY)

▪ Offeror’s Organization for the Project

VOLUME TWO: BUSINESS/PRICE/OFFEROR INFORMATION

Shall be in accordance with Section L of the RFP:

▪ Acknowledge all Amendments

- Amendments: SF-30 – The offeror shall indicate receipt and inclusion of the amendment by completing and returning the SF-30(s)

▪ Pricing Format

- CLIN 0001 Construction of Manchester Seawater System Replacement

- Proposal Template (NOAA Seawater)

▪ Section K Representations and Certifications (Can be obtained from SAM.gov)

▪ Company Financial Statement

▪ Evidence of Bonding Capability (See FAR 28.204-1 through 28.204-3 for a list of securities instead of a corporate or individual surety for the bond).

▪ Joint Venture Agreement/Signed Statement of JV Intent & Description of Partnership (if applicable)

PROPOSAL TEMPLATE (NOAA SEAWATER)

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS

Proposal Due Date

▪ Questions must be submitted NLT March 8, 2023 (12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time) Questions submitted after the deadline will not be addressed.

▪ Your Proposal is Due March 28, 2023 (12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time) (valid for 120 calendar days)

▪ Oral Presentations will be scheduled during the week of Monday, April 17, 2023 - Friday, April 21, 2023.

▪ Proposal must be signed by an Officer of your company

▪ All amendments must be acknowledged

▪ Only an Electronic Proposal will be accepted

Delivery Instructions

▪ Provide an electronic copy of both Volume I and Volume II via email to Ronette C. McBean-Felder at ronette.mcbean-felder@noaa.gov and Diana Pickel at diana.pickel@noaa.gov

**Please Review Section L of the RFP for a complete listing of requirements for the Proposal Submittal.

mailto:ronette.mcbean-felder@noaa.gov mailto:diana.pickel@noaa.gov

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Period of Performance

▪ The Period of Performance for this requirement is 365 Calendar Days after the issuance of the Notice to Proceed

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES

Liquidated Damages

▪ Liquidated Damages in the amount of $1,846.19 per day will be assessed from the substantial completion date indicated in the contract to the date that substantial completion is actually achieved by the Contractor, as determined by the Contracting Officer.

IAW Section F.3.1:

Operational Liquidated Damages (Loss of Seawater to future and ongoing Experiments) If any buildings on site whereby experiments are actively being conducted, experience a loss of seawater for a period beyond four (4) to six (6) hours (as determined by the specific experiment and defined in the drawings) during the contractor’s scheduled or unscheduled activities required under this contract; the Contractor shall be liable for a one time fee of $46,173.92 per occurrence/per building. The impact resulting from this loss would be catastrophic and permanently terminate ongoing experiments to the impacted facility and ultimately require a restart of all experiments and total loss of all investments to date.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR

CONSTRUCTION

FAR 52.222-23 NOTICE OF REQUIREMENT FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

TO ENSURE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR

CONSTRUCTION

(a) The offeror’s attention is called to the Equal Opportunity clause and the Affirmative Action Compliance Requirements for Construction clause of this solicitation.

(b) The goals for minority and female participation, expressed in percentage terms for the Contractor’s aggregate workforce in each trade on all construction work in the covered area, are as follows:

Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity for Construction, in solicitations for construction when a contract is contemplated that will include the clause at 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity, and the amount of the contract is expected to be in excess of $10,000.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_222_26

EVALUATION OF OFFERORS HIGHLIGHTS

The Government will evaluate the information contained in Volume Two entitled “Business/Price/Offeror Information”. Price proposals will be evaluated for price reasonableness based on the total price proposed for performance of the project as specified in Section B of this solicitation. Analysis shall be performed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 15.305(a)(1) and as described at 15.404-1(b).

The Government anticipates the award of a single contract as a result of this solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose proposal conforms to the requirements of the solicitation and is determined to be the best value to the Government. In determining the best value, the evaluation factors are listed in descending order of importance, as follows: 1) Staffing Approach and Key Personnel, 2) Contractor Past Performance, 3) Technical Approach and Risk, 4) Schedule and 5) Corporate Experience. Staffing Approach and Key Personnel is more important than Contractor Past Performance, which is more important than Technical Approach and Risk, which is more important than Schedule, which is more important than Corporate Experience, which is more important than Price. All evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are significantly more important than cost or price.

Offerors receiving an Unsatisfactory rating for any of the five non-price factors identified above shall not be considered for award.

The five (5) non-price factors play a dominant role in the basis for award; however, an Offeror whose proposed prices are determined not to be fair and reasonable will not be awarded a contract regardless of the Government’s evaluation of the non-price factors of the Offeror’s proposal.

The Contracting Officer may award a contract on the basis of initial proposals received, without discussions or any opportunity to make a further submission. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint.

TYPICAL PROPOSAL SHORTFALLS

▪ Proposal Instructions not followed

- Information not provided as requested

▪ Statements in the proposal are not well supported

▪ Proposals are not well organized

- Does not follow Proposal Instructions structure and makes the evaluator hunt for the information

▪ Experience POCs are not current

▪ Deficiencies -preclude award

- Proposal is non-compliant to the requirements

▪ Not acknowledging published amendments

▪ Not signing Proposal

PROPOSAL CONFORMANCE REVIEW

HELPFUL WEBSITES

● SAM.Gov: https://sam.gov/content/home

○ Solicitation and attachments

○ Wage Determinations

● Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR):

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far

● Commerce Acquisition Regulations (CAR):

https://www.acquisition.gov/car

● U.S. Department Of The Treasury – List of Certified Sureties:

https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/surety-bonds/list-certified-companies .html https://sam.gov/content/home https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.acquisition.gov/car https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/surety-bonds/list-certified-companies.html https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/surety-bonds/list-certified-companies.html

QUESTIONS

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

• Site Background

• Design Overview

• Government Furnished Equipment

• Construction

• Concerns

• Environmental Concerns

SITE BACKGROUND

Former US Navy Firefighting facility. Transfer to NOAA completed in 1975

Manchester Research Station (MRS) is a major research site located on 22 acres in Manchester, WA. It is the largest marine research station within NOAA, which includes offices, analytical labs, a large floating marine net-pen system, a freshwater artificial stream for salmon research. a fish behavior lab, the Ken Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration, facilities for macro- and microalgae culture and 77,000 SF of land-based tank rearing space supplied by 2500 gpm of filtered and UV treated seawater. Core research includes both restoration and commercial aquaculture of shellfish and anadromous and marine finfish. The NWFSC has been a leader in development of aquaculture for salmon and steelhead as well as new marine species for commercial aquaculture.

All of this research depends on a fully functioning seawater intake, treatment, distribution and depuration system.

SITE BACKGROUND

The seawater processing and distribution system at the MRS has been incrementally developed over the past 30 years as individual projects have come on-line and funding became available. While it has proved effective, it has major deficiencies, born out of its incremental growth and age that pose risks to animal biosecurity, human safety, and cost-effective operation and is in need of major improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs of operation.

Accordingly, NOAA has obtained funding to design and construction a new seawater system to fully support research at this site for the foreseeable future.

DESIGN OVERVIEW

Design is for a new distribution, filtration, and sterilization system including a common open air head tank capable of supplying the entire facility, constructing a distribution manifold from the head tank with valves feeding to the main research areas throughout the station.

Because the Station requires a continuous flow of seawater, the new seawater system is to be constructed in a new location, such that the existing system could remain operational while the new system is constructed in such a way that the switch-over could occur without impacting existing research.

Recent improvements have been made to physically stabilize the seawater pump platform that houses four pumps (two 60 HP primary and two in-water 50 HP backups) including upgrading the pumping infrastructure, pump electrical system, distribution manifold, pump intakes and other components to deliver water the three high density polyethylene (HDPE) lines supplying the Manchester Research Station. Two lines are in continuous use and one line remains fallow, is back flushed monthly, and the three lines are rotated in this fashion to minimize biofouling. This portion of the Manchester Research Station’s seawater will remain and the new seawater system will connect into these HDPE lines.

Design drawings and specifications are included as part of solicitation.

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT

• Government pre-ordered equipment due to long lead times

Equipment ordered includes:

• Three (3) 1500 gpm, 10 micron Drum Filters

• Three (3) debris screens

• Two (2) Aeration Modules

Estimated delivery 9/1/2023

Vendor will certify equipment is fully operational at the beginning of the construction contract. Contractor will assume all risks associated with damage at this time.

Equipment details are included in the specifications.

• Additionally, 4 Pentair UV Filters are currently on site for incorporation into the final project.

• Site Plan

• Division 1 – Specifications

• QA/QC Program

• Technical Specifications

CONCERNS

Impacts of construction on research

Approach to avoid impacts to facility operations

Coordination/Communication with government during construction will be key to a successful project

• Research LD’s - In place due to the critical nature of ongoing research

• Seawater System Cutover

• Plan included in the design BUT contractor is responsible for ensuring its viability/functionality.

• Unknown utilities. Ground Penetrating Radar was performed as part of the design including inputs from site facilities staff. Additional, Ground Penetrating Radar is required.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Appointment of Environmental Manager for coordinating contractor compliance with environmental requirements.

• Environmental Assessment (EA) will be made part of the final contract. Contractor needs to understand the requirements and comply with the applicable best management practices and mitigation measures.

• Preparation of Construction Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan

• Protection of wetland on site. Construction activities must avoid impacts to the wetland. Wetland will be delineated/marked in the field

• Potential to encounter contaminated soil and groundwater. Contamination include Petroleum and PFAS.

• Environmental Media Management Plan (EMMP) will be made part of the final contract. Soil and groundwater (if generated) must be disposed of in accordance with the EMMP.

• Protection of archaeological and cultural resources. Unanticipated discovery plan must in place to protect archaeological and cultural resources.

• Protection of biological resources. Must conduct pre-construction survey for nesting birds

Pre-Proposal Conference (Manchester Seawater System Construction)