Valley View Farm Free-stall Barn and Manure Management – Solicitation Summary

This is a solicitation document issued by the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District for design and construction services related to agricultural infrastructure development in North Stonington, Connecticut. The project encompasses construction of a 136'-8" x 336' x 14'/27' free-stall barn with two attached 48' x 50' x 14' buildings, a 120' x 12' concrete manure storage tank with 858,906-gallon operational volume, a 44' x 10' reception and pump chamber, concrete pads, approximately 1,143 linear feet of gravel access roads, three grass-lined diversion swales, subsurface drainage infrastructure, and associated earthwork and erosion control. The facility is designed for dairy housing including maternity and special needs pens, milk room, and equipment storage. Written questions are due October 3, 2026, with a mandatory pre-proposal conference and site visit scheduled for October 13, 2026. Proposals are due November 1, 2026, with builder selection expected by November 16, 2026. The anticipated Notice to Proceed is March 16, 2027, with construction beginning in April 2027 and targeted completion in October 2027.

All work must conform to NRCS Construction and Material Specifications, Connecticut Department of Transportation specifications, ASTM standards, ACI 350 standards for concrete, and Connecticut State Building Code and IBC 2021 provisions. The manure storage tank requires 4,000 PSI cast-in-place reinforced concrete with dual mats of reinforcement. The selected contractor must provide a 5% bid guarantee, performance bond for 100% of contract value, and payment bond for 100% of contract value, along with required insurance including $2,000,000 aggregate/$1,000,000 per-occurrence general liability and $1,000,000 per-person/$3,000,000 per-occurrence automobile liability, plus statutory workers' compensation. Funding sources include the Long Island Sound Futures Fund through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Resources Conservation Service, and Valley View Dairy, LLC. The contract is subject to federal Buy America provisions under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Equal Employment Opportunity requirements, and Copeland Anti-Kickback Act compliance. Proposals are evaluated based on qualifications and experience, in-house staffing with licensed professionals, technical capability and project management approach, financial terms, project schedule adherence, and official statement of proposer. Contact information: Dan Mullins, Eastern Connecticut Conservation District, 139 Wolf Den Road, Brooklyn, Connecticut 06234, 860-319-8808 or Dan.Mullins@comcast.net.