2-1. RFP-209-25 Specifications and Information.pdf

Boulder County Purchasing 1325 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO 80302

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

BACKGROUND:

The Boulder County Parks and Open Space Department (BCPOS) is soliciting qualification proposals from firms with experienced engineering professionals to provide expert water resources engineering services on an as-needed basis to support the Parks & Open Space Department’s water resource planning and engineering administration work.

BCPOS owns, manages, and holds conservation easements on over 105,000 acres of open space including an associated water rights portfolio. These water rights support 25,000 acres of agriculture production, ecosystems, recreation, and watershed restoration projects throughout the Open Space Park system.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected consultant should be available to discuss, advise, and complete assigned tasks on an as needed basis.

As part of the Agricultural Resources Division, the Water Resources team is responsible for all activities associated with the administration and protection of the County’s water resources portfolio including water rights evaluations, planning, defense, and development. In addition, the division is responsible for day-to-day management and operations, long term asset management, and infrastructure upgrades and expansions.

CONTRACT LANGUAGE:

The successful proposer will be required to enter into a Contract for Services, scheduled to begin on January 1, 2026, and continue through December 31, 2030, not to exceed a five (5) year period, and meet all insurance requirements as required, for the duration of the contract and prior to any work beginning.

In the event the selected contractor is unable to commence work as agreed to, the Boulder County Commissioners may rescind the bid award and proceed to award the contract to another proposer based on the RFP, re-bid the work, or proceed in any lawful manner the County deems necessary.

AUTHORIZATION TO START WORK:

The selected Contractor will be issued a Notice to Proceed (NTP) once the contract has been executed. Work of any kind, will not commence until the Contractor has received the NTP from the County. The designated Project Manager will assign Work Tasks for the duration of the contract.

W-9 REQUIREMENT:

A copy of your business’ W-9 submitted with your bid is required.

CERTIFICATE OF GOOD STANDING:

A copy of your business’ State issued certificate submitted with your bid is required, if awarded.

Contractor shall be authorized to do business in the State of Colorado and shall provide the county a current Certificate of Good Standing evidencing such authorization. Furthermore, contractor shall be responsible for all applicable sales and employment taxes.

INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS:

The insurance requirements are specified in the Exhibit A attachment. Current Insurance Certificates must be on file with the Parks and Open Space Department prior to any work relating to this Project commencing.

All bidders are instructed to thoroughly review all the stated insurance requirements for this Project, the insurance requirements stated are the minimum and standard for Boulder County Government, for this Project. All hired contractors are required to meet the insurance requirements, as stated, for contracted services as part of the Boulder County contracting process. Owner/Sole Proprietors/Officer are not Exempt from the county’s insurance requirements and coverage limits. Please refer to the Insurance Requirements in this RFP.

PAYMENT FOR SERVICES:

Contractors are instructed to review the Data Requirements section specifically for all data related deliverables. Payment will be retained until the data submitted is 100% compliant with the County requirements as detailed.

The selected Contractor will be paid for on-call services when invoiced on a monthly basis and once said deliverables are inspected and approved by the County, at the County’s discretion.

Contractor will submit, in writing, to Boulder County, a request for payment. Individual invoices will be submitted on company letterhead and will include, but not limited to, depending on the service completed:

a. designated project name; and

b. the date(s) the service was requested; and

c. the full name of the BCPOS employee requesting the service; and

d. in detail, the type of work performed; and

e. the open space property name; and

f. the amount of time spent on the service; and

g. the rate of the individual and title of individual performing the service; and

h. a not to exceed amount; and

i. the designated completion date; and

j. a copy of the email confirmation from the County designated Project Manager will accompany the invoice request.

Invoices not including the information listed above will be rejected and returned to the Consultant for re-submittal. Additionally, all invoices should contain the current date, invoice number, amount due and current return address. Payment for awarded Project is subject to the terms and conditions of the Boulder County issued Purchase Order.

PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING:

A Pre-proposal meeting will NOT be held for this Project.

ATTACHMENTS:

The following documents are part of this RFP:

EXHIBIT A – Insurance Requirements issued by Boulder County Risk Management

1. Attachment A: Data Specifications

2. Attachment B: Confidential and Sensitive Information Sharing Agreement

3. Attachment C: Purchase Order Terms and Conditions

4. Attachment D: Sample Contract

DATA REQUIREMENTS

Contractors are required to meet 100% compliance for all data deliverables. Payment will be retained until the data submitted is 100% compliant with the County’s requirements as detailed:

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) DATA DELIVERABLE REQUIREMENTS:

Please refer to Attachment A.

CONTRACTORS’ NOTE:

In order for Contractors to access the Boulder County Secure FTP site to download the files, Contractors will need to install and use the WinSCP freeware program to connect to Boulder County SFTP server. Site Instructions pertaining to this solicitation will be disclosed to the selected Contractor after the Project RFP Bid Award process has been completed.

NON-SPATIAL DATA DELIVERABLE REQUIREMENTS:

Please refer to Attachment A.

CONFIDENTIAL AND SENSITIVE INFORMATION SHARING AGREEMENT:

The selected contractor will execute the Agreement with the County in order to complete the Project as described. Please refer to Attachment B.

OWNERSHIP OF WORK PRODUCT:

All work product, property, data, documentation, information or materials conceived, discovered, developed or created by the selected Contractor pursuant to this bid and subsequent Contract will be owned exclusively by the County. To the extent possible, any Work Product will be deemed to be a work made for hire. The selected Contractor unconditionally and irrevocably transfers and assigns to the County all right, title and interest in and to any Work Product.

The selected Contractor will agree to keep confidential all County Data, and will agree not to sell, copy, modify, reproduce, republish, assign, distribute, data mine, search or disclose any such confidential information to any other person or entity without the County’s written permission, including metadata (e.g. aggregations of county data or analysis of county data content).

The Contractor shall not access County accounts or County Data, except in the event as required by the express terms of a written contract between the mutual Parties and/or at the express written request of the County. All data obtained by the Contractor in the performance of this solicitation resulting in a contract shall become and remain the property of the County. The Contractor shall not use any information collected in connection with the service issued from this solicitation for any purpose other than fulfilling a County contract for this RFP. Contractor may use Work Product as part of the Contractor’s portfolio solely for advertising and promotional purposes so long as Contractor obtains the County’s prior written consent.

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS:

Proposers responding to this RFP should possess qualifications in the following areas:

a. Relevant experience should be in the South Platte River Basin (Division 1),

b. Preference will be given for work in the St. Vrain Basin (District 5) and the Boulder Creek

Basin (District 6) of Division 1

Water Resources Engineering Services

1. Technical and engineering support for the County’s involvement in Division No. 1 Water Court and internal administration of its portfolio.

2. Provide advice and technical support regarding river administration and related water rights issues.

3. Analysis and modeling of County’s water rights interests and technical support of staff’s efforts to manage the County’s water supply.

4. Provide technical support and analysis for County’s water court applications, including preparing expert reports and providing expert witness testimony, attending expert meetings, and assisting in settlement negotiations.

5. Support the County’s statements of opposition cases, including cases involving both surface water and groundwater.

6. Collaborate with County Attorney’s Office and the County’s outside legal counsel on water court resume review and recommendations.

7. Provide quality assurance and quality control for County’s water rights accounting requirements when requested.

8. Evaluation of climate change impacts on the County’s water supply and drought management.

9. Evaluation of the adequacy of the County’s water supply and ability to meet water supply goals.

10. Ability to help county staff with external communications related to water supply planning efforts.

11. Assist in water rights valuation and yield analysis, including due diligence review.

12. Computer modeling of the County’s water supply and water resources portfolio.

13. Assist with groundwater well assessments and State permitting.

14. Other associated tasks as needed.

BOULDER COUNTY RESPONSIBILITIES:

a. Provide guidance and information related to consultant requests in a timely manner.

b. Respond to phone call messages and emails in a timely manner.

c. Review and submit consultant invoices for payment according to invoicing terms and

Department procedures.

d. Attend and schedule meetings with consulting engineers as well as other parties as needed.

e. Provide property access when necessary.

f. Provide background information.

g. Project progress coordination.

h. Coordinate and provide necessary information from County agricultural lease tenants who are familiar with on-farm water deliveries to the selected consultant.

CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

The County has discretion to determine if the Contractor has submitted sufficient documentation.

a. Complete a variety of requested engineering tasks in a timely manner. Tasks may include modeling, engineering analysis, historical consumptive use analysis, provide guidance related to river administration and water court filings, supply/demand analysis, as well as others.

b. Provide monthly invoices as outlined in this RFP.

c. Respond to phone call messages and emails in a timely manner.

d. Respond by email to Task Order requests by confirming with County Project Manager.

e. Attend and schedule meetings with County staff as well as other parties as needed.

f. Represent engineering analysis related to the County water rights interests in water court.

g. Produce reports, models, maps and figures, spreadsheets, and other deliverables.

h. Coordinate with other parties related to the County’s water rights interests.

i. Meet stated deadlines and notify the County of upcoming deadlines related to water court decrees.

DELIVERABLES:

All services provided by the consultant, including, but not limited to, phone discussions, email exchanges, expert water engineering advice, meeting attendance, reports, expert testimony etc., will be task oriented including any on-call services. Each request from the County will be documented thoroughly according to each task assigned. The consultant will respond by email to all task order requests from the County by confirming or declining requests.

PERMITS, LICENSES, LOCATES AND CODES:

The selected Contractor shall have full responsibility for identifying and obtaining, prior to the start of work, and for maintaining throughout the term of the Project, any permits and licenses which may be required in order to carry out the work. The Contractor shall also be responsible for following all State and County codes, which may be required in order to carry out the Project.

The Contractor shall also be responsible for all "locates" of all public utilities related to performing work under the terms of this Contract. The Contractor shall also be responsible for insuring that any of its subcontractors performing work on the Project satisfy the provisions of this paragraph.

Contractor is responsible to contact and coordinate with utility companies regarding protection of existing utilities and special requirements at utility crossing locations, as well as, other conditions where work is nearby existing utilities. Contractor shall be responsible for all costs of coordination with utilities including, but not limited to, outages, protection or support and any fees for costs from the utility.

CONTRACTOR LICENSING:

It is the responsibility of the selected Contractor to apply for and ensure the appropriate Contractor’s license is obtained.

General contractors, HVAC contractors, and roofing contractors require licensing through the Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting Department. Electricians and plumbers are required to be licensed through the State of Colorado and registered with the Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting Department. Furthermore, it is required for all Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors to be fully-licensed through the State of Colorado.

SUBCONTRACTORS:

Contractor is required to disclose to County the complete business name(s) of all potential subcontractors that will be assigned to this Project, should the Contractor be selected. Contractor acknowledges that it is completely responsible for the actions or inactions of its subcontractors.

Contractor shall be responsible for the compliance of all subcontracting parties with the terms of the Contract and with any applicable local, state or federal laws or regulations. Contractor shall be solely responsible for timely payment of its subcontractors.

PROJECT COMPLETION SCHEDULE:

The date of completion will be December 31, 2030.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

Any party that has developed, designed or drafted specifications, requirements, statements of work and/or has participated in planning activities for this Project may be excluded from consideration for the award of this Project.

CHANGE ORDERS:

Any unplanned, change orders, modifications or additional services to this Project, shall be submitted by the Contractor, in a separate, written document, including a fee schedule and completion schedule and presented to the County for review. Approval from the County, in writing, must accompany all change order requests.

OVERNIGHT CAMPING:

Boulder County prohibits any overnight camping; all operational staff, including designated security staff, are not authorized to be present at Project site from sunset to sunrise, the open space property will remain closed during these hours to the contractor and its subcontractors and/or designated representatives and/or agents, unless specifically authorized by a BCPOS representative.

HOURS OF OPERATION:

Contractor work hours will be designated as Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Work on Saturdays and Sundays, nights, and designated Federal Holidays shall not be allowed unless approved, in writing, by the County.

CONFIDENTIAL AND SENSITIVE INFORMATION SHARING AGREEMENT: