Minutes_for_Landscape__Gardening_March_152019_(003).docx

MINUTES OF LANDSCAPING & GARDENING SERVICES PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE HELD AT THE US EMBASSY NAIROBI KENYA ON MARCH 15, 2019 AT 09:30 AM Present Lance Posey – GSO/Contracting Officer Dan Okumu – Procurement Supervisor Eric Kamau – Contracting Specialist Hussein Kitsomo - Contracting Officer Representative 19 prospective bidders from various Landscape & Gardening Services

Introduction

· Sign in sheet was distributed to all the attendees.

· Brief Introduction was given by the Contracting Officer.

· The Contracting Officer introduced the Embassy Team and their expertise followed by the offerers introduction

· The Contracting Specialist inquired if there were any written questions by the offerers.

· The Contracting Specialist informed all the bidders that all contractual questions should be written and submitted via email to NairobiGSO-Contracts@state.gov. The answers to all the questions will be disseminated to all the bidders.

· The Procurement Supervisor took the offerers through the amendment of the solicitation and brought to their attention on the description of the amendment.

· Contracting Officer informed the offerers that the changes that warranted the amendment are in line with the removal of R02002 in the entire solicitation and the change in the submission date from March 21,2019 to March 27,2019

Review of Solicitation Process

· The Contracting Specialist (CS) informed the offerers that the meeting was to enable the prospective bidders to familiarize with the solicitation document – He gave the overview of the contract and areas of concerns from the Cover letter, the SF1449 form and the Schedule.

· The CS asked the offerers to give special attention to the Pricing Schedule in Section 1 and the SF 1449 (fill out blocks 12, 17, 19-24,30a, 30b, 30c) cover of the solicitation.

· The CS addressed to the offerers on the period of performance of the contract which was also elaborated by the CO in detail.

· The Contracting Officer (CO) pointed out that this Contract will be for one (1) base year, but if the performance goes well, then it could be extended for up to four (4) additional optional years.

· It was noted that the Contracting Officer Representation (COR) is the point of contact for this contract.

· COR advised the vendors to have the proper tools and also to provide the material data sheet for approval by the POSHO team.

· The CS indicated that service can only be provided after receipt of a signed Task Order. In cases where service required is outside the contract, a Purchase Order will be processed.

· The CO encouraged offerers to give equal consideration to all the properties if the award is made, irrespective of the size of the property.

· The CS noted the importance of getting conversant with the clauses in Section 2, referred to in the solicitation document and that the clauses are available online.

· The CS reiterated the importance of registering under DUNS and SAM. There was need to provide all requested documents and fully complete the forms. The process takes approximately one month to complete.

· The CO emphasized that US Government cannot carry out business with an entity unregistered in DUNS and SAMs. If any Company wants to conduct business with the US Government they should begin the registration process immediately.

· Offerers raised their concern on registering the DUNs and the SAMS. The CO informed the offerers that the instruction on how to apply the DUNs and the SAMs will be posted on the website.

· The CS clarified on the insurance issue that at the time of the award the offerer should have demonstrated that he/she can get the insurance cover.

Evaluation Factors:

The CS informed the Offerors about the evaluation factors which are:

· Proposals must be prepared in accordance with Section 3 and 4, and must meet all the requirements set forth in the other sections of the solicitation.

· Proposals will be evaluated in two phases: Technical Evaluation and Price Evaluation.

· Price Evaluation: The CO will evaluate the price and consider only the lowest priced, technically acceptable offer.

· The award selection will go to the lowest priced, technically acceptable offeror.

Submittal Requirements

· Proposal should be submitted by or before Wednesday March 27,2019 at 12:00 pm (local time)

· Technical and Price Proposals should be submitted separately, one original and two copies.

· The Proposals should be submitted in a sealed envelope to the US Embassy Truck Transfer- along UN Avenue, addressed to the Contracting Officer indicating the solicitation number on the envelope 19KE5019Q0001. Proposals submitted in soft copies will not be accepted.

· Late proposals will not be considered for evaluation.

· Bidders should pay specific attention to requirements under section 3. This will be the basis of the proposal evaluation.

Questions & Answers:

The Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer Representative and Contracting Specialist answered technical questions that were asked during the pre-proposal conference meeting by the prospective bidders. The bidders were advised to send in questions in writing via email.

The CO informed the prospective bidders that the answers to the written questions will be posted on the Embassy website for access to all potential bidders.

The conference adjourned at 11:00 am followed by a site visit.