26-0217 Water Risk Assessment Analysis

Scope of Work

1 RFP INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 Introduction

The City of Arlington (City) is soliciting proposals to provide a machine learning–based solution for assessing and prioritizing risk exposure of water main network managed by Arlington Water Utilities (AWU). The purpose of this initiative is to apply advanced data analytics to support data-driven planning and prioritization of capital improvements.

The proposed solution should leverage the City’s asset and operational data to develop predictive models that estimate the Likelihood of Failure (LoF), Consequence of Failure (CoF), and Total Risk (TR) for every water main pipe segment where relevant data is available.

The City’s objective is to adopt a solution that can be verified for model accuracy, be continuously refined as new data becomes available, and able to integrate with existing Geographic Information System (GIS) and asset management systems.

1.2 Background

AWU operates and maintains approximately 1,474 miles of water mains ranging from 4” to 60” in diameter.

There are three (3) separate pressure zones, 10,363 fire hydrants, 17,166 main isolation valves, 102 miles of transmission mains and 1,337 miles of distribution mains. Water main materials include asbestos cement, cast iron (CI), ductile iron (DI), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), high density polyethylene (HDPE), and a small percentage of prestressed concrete cylinder pipes (PCCP).

The City is already leveraging a predictive machine learning model to provide a LoF probability prediction for each individual pipe segment but seeking potential solution to replace or enhance the current model to continue supporting capital improvement planning.

1.3 Project Management Documentation

The following information established the expectation of the minimum level of project management documentation to be provided by Proposers as a part of, but not exclusively, the resulting implementation services offered. As part of the implementation scope, the following signing of a contract, the selected vendor shall develop and provide the City with the following items:

• Project Management Plan: a detailed Implementation Project Plan that, at a minimum, includes the following:

o Objectives o Deliverables and Milestones o Project Schedule o Quality Management Approach o Communication Management Approach o Organizational Change Management Approach o Status Reporting

• Data Conversion Plan

• Training Plan

• System Interface Plan

• Testing and Quality Assurance Plan

• Pre- and Post-Implementation Support Plan

• System Documentation

2 PROJECT SCOPE AND DEPLOYMENT MODEL

2.1 Project Scope

The City is seeking proposals for a solution that will:

• Incorporate asset information from the City’s GIS

• Integrate additional relevant and available data sources; and

• Calculate the LoF, CoF, and TR for each individual pipeline segment within the City’s water distribution network

To support the development of the tool, AWU will provide the selected vendor with available data including GIS asset data, including but not limited to:

• Pipe size

• Pipe material

• Pipe age

• Geospatial location of pipe segments

• Historical break data

The solution developed by the selected firm must deliver unique failure probabilities for each water main segment. With the recent advancements in machine learning and data analytics, it is assumed the solution can consider complex relationships between numerous variables (i.e. geohazards such as environmental, weather, system pressures, traffic data, proximity to water bodies, etc.) and incorporate relevant AWU data and data from public sources to predict the LoF, CoF, and TR for each pipeline segment with a proven high level of accuracy.

The selected solution must be capability of performing temporal validation (i.e., validating model accuracy using historical data from different time periods) to confirm that the model reliably predicts pipeline failures in the next one to two years but also over longer durations.

The solution must be capable of integrating results with the City’s enterprise GIS environment and allow the export of resultant predicted data to Microsoft Excel and CSV formats for analysis outside of GIS environment. Additional cloud-based visualization tools that can add value by allowing users to filter data by various metrics are encouraged.

It is imperative that the selected vendor work closely with City staff to identify and resolve any data discrepancies or gaps, and to address related concerns until the final acceptance of the deliverable, provide training sessions and user documentation for City staff, and offer ongoing technical support and maintenance following implementation.

2.2 Deployment Model

The City will consider a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployment model.

In developing proposals, Proposer’s shall clearly define deployment and licensing model.

The City does not have a preference as to a specific hosting location but does have a requirement toward the hosting being within the contiguous United States. Vendors are requested to specify the hosting location in proposal response.

2.3 Contract Term

AWU anticipates an initial one-year contract with option to renew the contract for two additional one-year terms. The selected vendor will be expected to assist with periodic and annual performance reviews of the solution’s resultant predictions as ongoing main break data is collected to ensure continual enhancement of the solutions predictive accuracy.

2.4 Contact Type

The contract resulting from this RFP shall be in form and content satisfactory to the City and shall include, without limitation, the terms and conditions provided for in this RFP and any sample agreement provided by the City, and such other terms and conditions as the City deems necessary and appropriate. The resulting contract from this RFP shall be a not-to-exceed based contract.

The standard of performance for the contract resulting from this RFP shall in in accordance with the highest applicable standards in the municipal government information software industry. The initial contract price will be based on the prices submitted by the Selected Proposer, subject to contract negotiations with the City, and shall remain firm for the initial term of the contract. Price adjustments may be negotiated at the request of either party in the extension periods with mutual agreement of the parties. A party proposing a price change in an extension period must notify the other party at least one-hundred eighty (180) days prior to the commencement of any extension period.

2.5 Contract Changes

Written requests for price changes, during the implementation process or thereafter, resulting from a change of scope, as initiated or requested by the City, must be submitted in writing to the City via Change Order. Any increase will be based on the Contractor’s actual cost increase only, as shown in written documentation. All Change Order requests must be in writing, must not constitute increases in profit, and must contain data establishing or supporting the increase in cost. At the option of the City, (1) the request may be granted; (2) the Change Order may be modified to include a greater, or lesser, scope; or (3) the City and Proposer may continue with the Contract without change. The City will accept or reject all such written requests within ninety (90) days of the date of receipt of Contractor’s request for price increase or receipt of proper written documentation, whichever is later.

If a price increase is approved, the City will issue an amendment or change order to the contract specifying the date the increase will be effective. All Services and related accessories are to be billed at prices in effect at the time the service was rendered, or order was placed. If a price increase is rejected, the Contractor will be notified and, at the option of the City, the Contract may be (1) cancelled and the solicitation may be re-advertised; or (2) continued without change.

All other Contract changes will be effective only on written agreement signed by both parties.

2.6 Contract Approval

The City’s obligation will commence only following execution of the Contract by both parties, which may include Arlington City Council approval of the Contract. The City will not be responsible for any work done or expense incurred by the Contractor, even such work done or expense incurred in good faith, if it occurs prior to the Contract start date set by the City.

3 SUBMITTAL RESPONSE FORMAT

3.1 General Instructions

The following instructions must be followed by Proposers submitting Proposals. Offers that do not comply with all instructions contained herein may be disqualified.

Proposers may amend Proposals prior to the deadline set for receipt of Proposals. In the event an Addenda is issued and a Proposer has previously submitted a Proposal in response to this RFP, the Proposer shall notify the City via email of the need to submit an amendment, and clearly outline the reasons in writing.

No amendments will be accepted after the deadline unless they are in response to a request of the City.

Proposals shall include cover letter, table of contents, and section dividers, using margins not smaller than 1.0" and font size not smaller than 12. The proposal should include, but not be limited to the following:

1. Qualifications of the vendor submitting the proposal. Include company size, years in business, overall number of current clients, and number of current clients in Texas.

2. Qualifications for staff who will be assigned to deliver solution. Include length of tenure each staff member has with the company.

3. Description of the proposed solution and how it meets AWU requirements and description of any additional functionality the solution can provide.

4. Description of at least five (5) completed projects of similar scope, including model prediction accuracy and success rates. At least three (3) projects must have been for municipal or state client references. Include contact information for each project owner/client.

5. Proposed schedule for implementation of the solution including planned future updates to the predictive model(s).

6. Duration of the license or SaaS agreement and detailed description of available ongoing support after delivery of the solution.

3.2 Cost Proposal

The vendor must submit a separate cost proposal that covers the following items:

1. Cost of the initial solution licensing to include all initial implementation services. Include a detailed breakdown of individual services or add-on options.

2. Cost for renewal of the solution license for two (2) additional one (1) year terms.

3. Cost of the ongoing support services for initial and additional renewal terms.

4 TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following terms and conditions, as well as the City terms and conditions, apply to this RFP solicitation process and will be incorporated into the resulting contract as applicable.

4.1 Waiver of Claims

Each Offeror by submission of a response to this RFP waives any claims it has or may have against the City, and their respective employees, officers, members, directors, and partners. Submission of proposal indicates Proposer’s acceptance of the evaluation technique. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each Proposer acknowledges that the basis of selection and that the evaluations may be made public in accordance with applicable law and waives any claim it has or may have against the above-named persons, due to information contained in such evaluations.

4.2 Statutory Information

Any contract or agreement resulting from this RFP shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas. Any litigation between the parties arising out of, or in connection with, the contract shall be initiated and prosecuted in federal or state court in the City of Arlington, Texas.

4.3 Rights of Use

The Contractor agrees that the City will own and have the right to use, apply as it desires, any data, reports, analyses, and materials which are collected or developed by the Contractor or anyone acting on behalf of the Contractor as a result of this contract.

4.4 Ownership of Data and Transition

Any and all City data stored on the Contractor’s servers or within the Contractors custody is the sole property of the City. The Contractor, officers, agents, and assigns shall not make use of, disclose, sell, copy, or reproduce the City’s data in any manner, or provide to any entity or person outside of the City without the express written authorization of the City.

In the event resulting Agreement is terminated for any reason, or upon expiration, and in addition to all other rights to property set forth, the Selected Proposer shall:

1. Incur no further financial obligations for materials, Services, or facilities under the Agreement without prior written approval of the City;

2. Terminate all purchase orders or procurements and any subcontractors and cease all work, except as the City may direct, for orderly completion and transition; and

3. Make available to the City, at no cost, all City data stored within the system, stored on the Contractor’s servers, or within the Contractor’s custody, within fifteen (15) days of termination or City request. Such data shall be provided in a machine-readable format as agreed-upon by the parties.

In the event resulting Agreement is terminated for any reason, or upon expiration, and in addition to all other rights to property set forth, the City shall retain ownership of all data, work products, and documentation created pursuant to the resulting Agreement.

4.5 Data Privacy and Security

Contractor shall comply with all relevant federal, state, and local laws and regulations on security and privacy. Contractor shall have and follow a disaster recovery plan. Contractor shall only store and process City data within the continental United States. If applicable to the Contract, the Contractor shall back up all City data daily to an offsite hardened facility.