3-IFB Vol 1 Intro and Bid Sum.pdf

Madison County Mass Transit District Fuel – Biodiesel and Unleaded No. 27-1-26700

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VOLUME 1 INTRODUCTION AND BID SUMMARY

INTRO 1 Invitation

The Madison County Mass Transit District (the Owner) is seeking offers from vendors for the purchase and delivery of B11 Biodiesel fuel and 87 Octane Unleaded Gasoline fuel on an as-needed basis for orders placed January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2027. The intent of this Invitation for Bids is to contract with a single contractor thereby establishing fixed prices for fuel delivery. Fuel prices will be established by an Owner approved rack pricing source.

INTRO 2 Date, Time and Place of Bid Opening

Electronic bids will be publicly opened and read out loud. Bid deadline:

Date: October 20, 2026 Time: 2:00 PM Central time Place: Madison County Transit

Administration Building Board Room 1 Transit Way Pontoon Beach, IL 62040

INTRO 3 Procurement Schedule

Bidders are advised that the Owner will make a good faith effort to adhere to the following schedule for this procurement.

Date Milestone

September 28, 2026 IFB issued October 9, 2026 Deadline for questions, noon Central time October 13, 2026 Anticipated issuance of addendum with answers to questions (if any) October 20, 2026 Bid due date at 2:00 PM Central time November 5, 2026 Anticipated Board approval to award a contract November 19, 2026 Anticipated contract award

The Owner shall be under no obligation to comply with the procurement schedule shown above, provided that all prospective proposers or other interested parties known to the Owner shall be notified equally of changes made to this schedule within a reasonable time after such changes are made. In no event shall any proposer have any redress to the Owner, be it financial or otherwise, in the event that the Owner alters this schedule in any way.

INTRO 4 Owner Procurement Representative

The Owner's designated procurement representative for this IFB is:

Name: J’Vaughn Williams Title: Procurement Project Manager

INTRO 5 Pre-Bid Meeting and Project Site Tours

A pre-bid meeting will not be conducted. Site tour(s) will be available upon request at pre-scheduled time(s).

Appointments shall be made by contacting:

Name: Justin Dixon Title: Fleet Director Phone Number: (618) 578-8491 E-mail: jdixon@mct.org

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INTRO 6 Obtaining Bid Documents

Bid documents may be obtained through the Owner’s Bonfire portal at mct-act.bonfirehub.com. Vendors must be registered in Bonfire to download the IFB documents; registration is free at mct-act.bonfirehub.com.

INTRO 7 Duration of Bid Validity

Bids submitted shall remain firm for a period of 90 calendar days from the final due date for bids.

INTRO 8 Funding Source

This project is being funded by Illinois Department of Transportation, and/or the United States Department of Transportation.

INTRO 9 Basis of Contract Award

Contract award, if any, shall be made to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder as determined by the Total Bid Price (Grand Total). The Total Bid Price must include all costs to the bidder for materials, labor, equipment, supervision, delivery, unloading, handling of material and equipment on site, and any and all items of expense, fees, permits, taxes, bonds, duties, overhead and profit for the full and complete performance of the work as set forth in the IFB. Acceptance of any bid and contract award is subject to approval of the Owner’s Board of Trustees. Bids must be for the contract as a whole.

INTRO 10 Type and Term of Contract

This is an indefinite delivery requirements contract. The contract term will begin January 1, 2027, and expire December 31, 2027. The contract may be extended if mutually agreed in writing by both parties. Orders must be accepted by the successful bidder throughout the contract term, including any orders that may be placed on the last day of the contract term.

INTRO 11 Questions and Approved Equal / Substitution Requests

Questions and substitution requests are due in accordance with the date and time listed in INTRO 3, Procurement Schedule. If there are further questions related to critical and/or contradictory items that come up after this time period, submit these questions to the Owner’s procurement representative without delay so that the Owner can address any issues found prior to the bid deadline. Questions, substitution requests, and other communications must be submitted through the Bonfire portal at mct-act.bonfirehub.com.

The specifications contained in this IFB indicate the Owner’s specific preferences. Descriptions of products in the specifications are not intended to unduly restrict competition. Wherever particular brands, manufacturers or product names are used, they are included solely for the purpose of establishing a description of the minimum quality of the item. Such references should not be construed as advocating or prescribing the use of any particular brand, item or product. Minor variances to the specifications will be considered by the Owner and will be evaluated based on the respective quality and condition of such variance and the degree to which it may affect performance in the Owner’s application. In the Owner’s sole judgment, determinations will be made based on the best interest of the Owner; such decisions will be considered final. The Owner approved variance will be made known to all bidders via addenda. Requests submitted with a bid will be rejected. Substitution requests must come from Prime bidders/contractors;

substitution requests from subassemblers/subcontractors/suppliers will not be reviewed.

INTRO 12 Amendments to this Solicitation

Any or all changes, additions, or clarifications in connection with this solicitation shall be issued by the Owner in the form of written addenda posted in the project file at mct-act.bonfirehub.com. Bidder must acknowledge all addenda issued as part of its submittal. Oral comments, responses and/or representations shall not be binding upon the Owner. Any addenda will be made available to all known bidders and shall become part of any resulting contract agreement.

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INTRO 13 Bidder’s Terms and Conditions

Bidder imposed terms and conditions submitted with their bid which conflict with this solicitation are considered counter offers and, as such, may cause the bid to be rejected. Terms or conditions that a bidder would like to have considered by the Owner should be submitted according to the requirements of Section INTRO 11, Questions and Approved Equal / Substitution Requests. Requests that are acceptable to the Owner will made available to all prospective bidders.

INTRO 14 Execution of a Contract

The Solicitation, Offer and Award Form, will serve as the bidder’s offer to furnish the items and/or services as described in this solicitation and will also serve as the Owner’s award document upon acceptance. Upon contract award, the Contractor shall provide the Owner with proof of insurance in accordance with the contract terms.

INTRO 15 Responsive and Responsible Bidder

All bids received in accordance with the requirements stated in this solicitation shall be screened initially in order to confirm the responsiveness of the written bid, including minimum qualifications, if any.

A responsive bid complies with all material aspects of the solicitation, both as to the method and timeliness of submission, and as to the substance of any resulting contract. The Owner shall ensure that all offers received prior to the deadline stated in the solicitation contain all required forms, signatures, attachments, and other information as specified herein. Offers that do not comply with all material aspects of the solicitation will be rejected as non-responsive.

A responsible bidder is an individual, firm or team that exhibits adequate organization, financial condition, personnel qualifications, facilities, record of past performance, and other characteristics necessary to carry out work related to this solicitation with a high degree of quality and timeliness.

INTRO 16 Withdrawal of Bid

The Bonfire portal permits an electronically submitted bid to be withdrawn prior to the final bid deadline.

After the bid deadline, no bid may be withdrawn for the period of time stated in Solicitation and Offer Form.

Negligence on the part of a bidder in preparing its bid shall not confer a right of withdrawal after the bid deadline.

INTRO 17 Organizational Conflict of Interest

Unless specifically exempted from the conditions of this provision by the Owner, any Owner contractor, subcontractor, subsidiary, or other entity which is legally related and which develops or drafts specifications, requirements, statements of work, or solicitations, is excluded from competing for the directly ensuing procurement.

INTRO 18 Owner’s Tax Status

The Owner is a governmental entity exempt from the payment of applicable Retailer’s Occupation Tax, Service Occupation Tax, Use Tax, Service Use Tax; the Owner’s Illinois governmental exemption certificate number is E99897751 expiring on 03/01/2030.

INTRO 19 Consideration of Offers

The Owner shall not be obligated to award a contract solely on the basis of any response made to this solicitation, nor does the Owner intend to, nor will it be obligated to pay for the information solicited or obtained. The Owner maintains the right, but shall be under no obligation, to award a contract to the responsive and responsible bidder whose offer is deemed by the Owner to be most advantageous. The Owner reserves the right:

a) To reject any offer and to remove from mailing lists for future procurements the names of any firm or team engaging in collusive or other unlawful practices.

b) To award contract(s) without discussion based upon the initial offers.

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c) To waive informalities and minor irregularities in bids received if it believes there is a sound documented business reason for doing so, and to request clarifications or responsibility information when doing so does not permit a Bidder to materially alter its bid or gain an unfair competitive advantage.

d) To reject any offer if, in the Owner's sole discretion, the offer is incomplete, the offer is not responsive to the requirements of this solicitation, the bidder does not meet the qualification requirements set forth herein, if any, or it is otherwise determined to be in the best interest of the Owner to reject the offer.

e) To supplement, amend, substitute, or otherwise modify the terms of this solicitation at any time prior to the execution of a final contract.

f) To accept or reject any or all of the items in any offer and award a contract for the whole or only a part of any offer if the Owner determines, in its sole discretion, that it is in the Owner's best interest to do so.

g) To reject the offer of any bidder that, in the Owner's sole judgment, has been delinquent or unfaithful in the performance of any contract with the Owner, is financially or technically incapable, or is otherwise deemed to not be a responsible bidder.

h) To waive any informality, defect, non-responsiveness and/or deviation from this solicitation that is not, in the Owner's sole judgment, material to the offer.

i) To permit or reject, at the Owner's sole discretion, amendments (including information inadvertently omitted), modifications, alterations, and/or corrections to offers by one or more of the bidders following bid submission.

j) To request additional or clarifying information.

k) To investigate the qualifications of any and all individuals and firms under consideration, to confirm any part of the information furnished in an offer, and to require further evidence of managerial, financial, or professional capabilities which are considered necessary for the successful performance of work described in this solicitation.

l) To cancel the procurement at any time during the process if it appears that the offers received are not suitable for any reason whatsoever.

m) To reject offers that are materially unbalanced, i.e., that contain high unit prices for some items and/or low unit prices for other items.

n) To evaluate offers based on unit prices which will govern over extended prices.

o) To award this contract to a single or multiple service providers deemed to best meet the Owner’s specifications and needs.

p) To award tie bids by drawing lots.

INTRO 20 Representations and Certifications

By responding to this solicitation with a bid, the bidder certifies the following:

a) It has no direct or indirect pecuniary or proprietary interest, and that it shall not acquire any interest which conflicts in any manner or degree with the work required to be performed and/or provided under this contract, and that it shall not employ any person or agent having any such interest. In the event that the successful bidder, its agents, employees or representatives hereafter acquire such a conflict of interest, the successful bidder shall immediately disclose such interest to the Owner and immediately take action to eliminate the conflict or to withdraw from this contract, as the Owner may require.

b) No person or selling agency except bona fide employees or designated agents or representatives of bidder has been employed or retained to solicit or secure this contract with an understanding that a commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee would be paid; and no gratuities in the form of entertainment, gifts or otherwise were offered or given by bidder or any of its agents, employees or representatives, to any official, member or employee of the Owner or other governmental agency with a view toward securing this contract or securing favorable treatment with respect to the awarding or amending, or the making of any determination with respect to the performance required under, a contract with the Owner.

c) The number and amount of other contracts and awards pending which the bidder is or will be obligated to perform, now and during the course of this project, will not interfere with or hinder the timely prosecution of work.

d) The bid price has been arrived at independently, without consultation, communications, or agreement for the purpose of restricting competition.

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e) It has not offered any money or other valuable thing to any person to induce them not to bid on this project, or as recompense for not having bid on this project.

f) The bidder is properly organized and qualified to do business in the State of Illinois and has any and all approvals, registration, and licenses to do business in the State and with the Owner and that the person executing the bid on behalf of the bidder is the duly authorized representative of the bidder and has the requisite authority to do so.

g) It acknowledges receipt of the IFB documents directly from the Owner; other sources are invalid.

h) It has examined the site and bidding documents and It will accomplish the work in accordance with the contract.

i) It has read and understands the terms and conditions set forth in this solicitation and agrees to them with no exceptions.

INTRO 21 Law Governing

Bidder shall recognize that all applicable Federal and State laws, including, but not limited to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, certifications, municipal ordinances, and rules and regulations of all authorities having jurisdiction over the services to be provided shall apply to the Contract throughout, and they will be deemed to be included in the Contract the same as though herein written out in full. All matters of law pertaining to this Contract shall be governed by, and construed according to, the laws of the State of Illinois, excluding, however, choice of laws principles.

INTRO 22 Freedom of Information (FOIA)

Access to the Owner’s records is governed by the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/1). The Contractor acknowledges that the Owner is subject to the requirements of FOIA and shall assist and cooperate with Agency for Community Transit and the Owner to comply with its information disclosure obligations. The Contractor shall not charge Agency for Community Transit or the Owner for reasonable costs associated with freedom of information requests.

INTRO 23 Protest Procedures

Any protest initiated by a protesting party concerning procurement actions will be administered in accordance with the agency's Protest Procedures, which are available at www.mct.org/procurement.

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