36C24221Q1441 0003.docx

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

PAGE OF PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

BPA NO.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE

CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office.

is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30

PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243 (Type or print) (Type or print) (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (If other than Item 6) (Specify type of modification and authority) (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

NONE

Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office (NCO) 2 2875 Union Road Suite 3500 Cheektowaga

NY

14227 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office (NCO) 2 2875 Union Road Suite 3500 Cheektowaga

NY

14227 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C24221Q1441 09-15-2021

X X

X The purpose of this modification is to provide clarification to vendor questions. Please see pages 2-5.

Bid Deadline remains unchanged and is due 09/24/2021 10:00 AM EST.

This is the 3rd set of clarification questions and answers.

Megan Ross Contracting Officer

CONTINUATION PAGE

1. In the solicitation is written “Contractor ratings must be 4 star and above from reliable sources”. By contractor, do you mean lodging facility? Also, since there are few 4 star hotels available with 10 miles from VANJHCS, will hotel with rating of AAA 3 diamond be technically acceptable?

The rating portion shall be determined by the specific lodging facility.

The statement listed above “Contract ratings must be 4 star and above from reliable sources” shall be considered removed from the statement of work. The rating will be reviewed on a comparative basis of the bidding facilities. A lodging facility with a 3.8 will be viewed more favorably on this rating question then a rating of 2.8, etc. AAA ratings shall not be used on this evaluation as they are not a performance-based review process. Per the evaluation factors this will specifically be based on the following publicly available ratings:

-TripAdvisor -Expedia -Google

The governmental review systems will be checked for the bidding company’s determination of responsibility for any debarments, financial stability issues, or performance issues based on the governmental performance-based review site FAPIIS and internal reviews. Additionally, public sources may be checked such as the BBB.

These three review sites were selected as they are named 3 of the top 5 lodging review sites based on their internet traffic rate.

2. Regarding meals, are only continental breakfast and buffet dinner required? No requirement for lunch?

Meals are not required. A kitchenette of sorts is required, to explain this further: a microwave and mini fridge shall be considered to be acceptable; but a kitchen with stove, sink, dishes, cooking utensils, and dishes shall be seen more favorably on that rating factor.

No bid shall receive the rating of “not acceptable” for the lack of providing a continental breakfast, but a bid that provides a hot break and evening reception shall be seen more favorably then a facility with no services.

What is not allowed under these terms: If the hotel offers a continental breakfast as a standard amenity to guest, the occupants of these rooms cannot be denied that access. If dishes are provided as standard in the room, they cannot be denied in these rooms. This is not a common practice in most modern hotels modern standards, but the intention is to prevent a hotel/lodging facility from appearing to promise one standard while not providing it in an attempt to cut costs and provide a less then honest bid.

3. About tax, in one part in solicitation is written rate shall be inclusive of all tax and fee while in another part is stated The VAMC is a Federal institution and therefore exempt from paying sales tax. Would you please make a clarification if the rate must be inclusive of tax or not?

The VA is sales tax exempt, however, the VA is not exempt from local lodging rate fees which are also sometimes stated as terms such as “stay tax, occupancy tax, room tax, tourist tax, lodging tax, or hotel tax”. The VA would be exempt from the lodging rate if one room was booked for more then 30 days, but it is the assumption that the vast majority of these bookings would be for less then 30 days. On the bid, we do not want to see the lodging tax as a separate line item, please include it with the rate which you bid to be inclusive if it is applicable to your location.

4. Our hotel currently offers government rates to all government travelers, will working with the VA be any different from how things are currently done with the government travelers? Does this bid offer a different way of doing business?

Yes, this will be a different way of doing business. Most travel that occurs on the situation you list above are government employees with access to government travel cards and can call directly to book a room under the GSA Government Lodging Rates. This travel will be for veterans and their care givers that are under current care of the VA medical center for specific procedures. They do not have access to travel cards and these room will be invoiced to the government using the Tungsten network which will then be paid in a EFT payment.

With the amount of room nights this contract will create the historic trend is that the lodging rate is expected to be below the GSA Lodging Rate.

Additionally, this contract has requirements that are outside of GSA Lodging requirements, such as the need for a kitchenette and transportation.

5. Can I bid multiple room rates?

No. Only bid one flat nightly rate.

6. How many hotels will be selected?

It is the intent of the NJ VA Medical Center to only select one hotel, this makes reservations and performance management more streamline.

7. Will the veteran call to make the reservation or will a VA Representative? If VA, who will the contact(s) be.

VA Representative(s) will book these rooms, a contact name and information shall be given at the time of award to the awardee.

8. Recommendation for SDVOSB Set-Aside

The market research and notice of sources sought did not result in the expectation of two or more VOSB or SDVOSB vendors being able to perform more then 50% of this contract. Therefore, it has been determined that that a Total Small Business Set-Aside is most appropriate for this solicitation.

9. Recommendation for Service Contract Act (SCA) Exemption on the basis of this being a commercial procurement:

Simply being a commercial procurement does not exempt requirements from the SCA requirements. However, FAR 52.222-53 could potentially be applicable but that cannot be determined at the time of solicitation. 52.222-53(c) states “Each service employee who will perform the services under the contract will spend only a small portion of his or her time (a monthly average of less than 20 percent of the available hours on an annualized basis, or less than 20 percent of available hours during the contract period if the contract period is less than a month) servicing the Government contract.” Creates an area of uncertainty and excessive oversight and could be dependent on the size of the facility which can not be determined in the pre-bid stage of the procurement as it would be dependent on the hotel size and occupancy load.

10. Recommendation for a Best Value decision of Technical and Past Performance being significantly more important that price factors.

Please see the evaluation criteria starting on page 47. E.7 52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial items. This has been determined to be a Best Value bid process with evaluation factors.