Amend #1 Q & A.pdf

SAP

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal

AMENDMENT #1

Questions & Answers

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400024507 01/19/2023

JEFFERY SCHWALK

1-803-737-1018 SchwalkJC@scdot.org SCDOT Procurement Office PO Box 191 Columbia SC 29202-0191

DESCRIPTION: ON-CALL PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT SERVICES

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Department of Transportation

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 02/03/2023 14:30:00 (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision) QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 01/12/2023 10:00:00 (See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: ONE

CONFERENCE TYPE: Pre-Proposal Conference

DATE & TIME: 01/10/2023 10:00:00 COMPLETED

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions)

LOCATION: The Pre-Proposal Conference will held via teleconference. Dial-In number: 1- 800-753-1965 Access Code: 7236783. Please register your attendance with the Procurement Officer by 5:00 PM, January 9, 2023.

Attendees may also attend in person at SCDOT Headquarters, 955 Park St., Columbia, SC 29201.

AWARD &

AMENDMENTS

Award will be posted on 03/09/2023. The award, this solicitation, any amendments, and any related notices will be posted at the following web address: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, You agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of ninety (90) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer)

Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

mailto:SchwalkJC@scdot.org http://www.procurement.sc.gov/

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004)

(a) The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov (b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation (1) by signing and returning the amendment, (2) by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two, (3) by letter, or

(4) by submitting a bid that indicates in some way that the bidder received the amendment. (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged. [02-2A005-1]

QUESTIONS FROM OFFERORS - AMENDMENT (JUN 2017)

THE SOLICITATION IS AMENDED AS PROVIDED HEREIN. INFORMATION OR CHANGES

RESULTING FROM QUESTIONS WILL BE SHOWN IN A QUESTION-AND-ANSWER FORMAT. ALL

QUESTIONS RECEIVED HAVE BEEN REPRINTED BELOW. THE “STATE’S RESPONSE” SHOULD BE

READ WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE QUESTIONS. THE QUESTIONS ARE INCLUDED SOLELY TO

PROVIDE A CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE POTENTIAL OFFEROR THAT SUBMITTED THE QUESTION.

QUESTIONS DO NOT FORM A PART OF THE CONTRACT; THE “STATE’S RESPONSE” DOES. ANY

RESTATEMENT OF PART OR ALL OF AN EXISTING PROVISION OF THE SOLICITATION IN AN

ANSWER DOES NOT MODIFY THE ORIGINAL PROVISION EXCEPT AS FOLLOWS: UNDERLINED

TEXT IS ADDED TO THE ORIGINAL PROVISON. STRICKEN TEXT IS DELETED.

QUESTION #1

Page 17 – Provide clarification following the discussion during the pre-proposal conference regarding the submission of a 15-page proposal (versus 15 pages front and back, which would equate to 30 pages), because proposals submitted electronically would not be double-sided.

SCDOT RESPONSE

The following is acceptable for the technical proposal:

• A hard copy proposal consisting of 15 sheets, or a total of 30 individual pages, counting the front of a sheet as one page and the back of a sheet a one page

• An electronic version consisting of a total of 30 electronic pages

QUESTION #2

Page 17 – Modify the following statement to request a minimum of five (5) years: Activities should not be older than three

(3) years.

SCDOT RESPONSE

The statement in Section IV: INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT – EVALUATION is modified as follows:

• Offeror shall describe their experience in developing public involvement materials that were generated as a result of similar project or projects. Activities should not be older than three (3) five (5) years.

QUESTION #3

Page 20 – Clarify that the award will be made to more than one Offeror.

SCDOT RESPONSE

Awards will be made to the two highest ranked, responsive and responsible offerors, whose offer(s) are determined to be the most advantageous to the State.

QUESTION #4

Please clarify page expectation for the Technical Proposal. Is the 15-page limit front and back for a total of 30 pages?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Please see the SCDOT Response to Question #1.

QUESTION #5

Is the Business Proposal subject to the Freedom of Information Act? Does it need to be confidential and should a redacted version be provided?

SCDOT RESPONSE

All portions of your proposal may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Section II A: Instructions to Offeror – A. General Instructions provides guidance on the disclosure of your bid information, submitting confidential information, material subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and redacted document requirements.

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR BID / PROPOSAL and SUBMITTING CONFIDENTIAL DATA (FEB 2021)

(a) According to Section 11-35-410, any person submitting a document in response or with regard to any solicitation or other request must "comply with instructions provided in the solicitation for marking information exempt from public disclosure.

Information not marked as required by the applicable instructions may be disclosed to the public." IF YOU IDENTIFY

YOUR ENTIRE RESPONSE AS EXEMPT FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE, OR IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT A

REDACTED COPY AS REQUIRED, THE STATE MAY, IN ITS SOLE DISCRETION, DETERMINE YOUR BID OR PROPOSAL NONRESPONSIVE AND INELIGIBLE FOR AWARD. (b) By submitting a response to this solicitation or request, Offeror (1) agrees to the public disclosure of every page, or portion thereof, of every document regarding this solicitation or request that was submitted at any time prior to entering into a contract (including, but not limited to, documents contained in a response, documents submitted to clarify a response, and documents submitted during negotiations), unless the page, or portion thereof, was redacted and conspicuously marked "Trade Secret" or "Confidential" or "Protected", (2) agrees that any information not redacted and marked, as required by these bidding instructions, as a "Trade Secret" is not a trade secret as defined by the Trade Secrets Act, and (3) agrees that, notwithstanding any claims or markings otherwise, any prices, commissions, discounts, or other financial figures used to determine the award, as well as the final contract amount, are subject to public disclosure. (c) If your offer includes any information that you claim is exempt from public disclosure, you must submit one complete copy of your offer from which you have removed or concealed such information (the redacted copy). Except for the information removed or concealed, the redacted copy must be identical to your original offer. (d) Do not mark your entire response (bid, proposal, quote, etc.) as confidential, trade secret, or protected. If only portions of a page are subject to some protection, do not redact the entire page. The redacted copy must reflect the same pagination as the original and show the empty space from which information was redacted. The Procurement Officer must be able to view, search, copy and print the redacted copy without a password. If your response, or any part thereof, is improperly marked as confidential or trade secret or protected, the State may, in its sole discretion, determine it nonresponsive. (e) On the redacted copy, you must identify the basis of your claim by marking each redaction as follows: You must separately mark with the word "CONFIDENTIAL" every page, or portion thereof, that you redacted and claim as exempt from public disclosure because it is either (1) a trade secret as defined in Section 30-4-40(a)(1) of the Freedom of Information Act, or (2) privileged and confidential, as that phrase is used in Section 11-35-410. You must separately mark with the words "TRADE SECRET" every page, or portion thereof, that you redacted and claim as exempt from public disclosure as a trade secret pursuant to Section 39-8-20 of the Trade Secrets Act. You must separately mark with the word "PROTECTED" every page, or portion thereof, that you redacted and claim as exempt from public disclosure pursuant to Section 11-35- 1810. All markings must be conspicuous; use color, bold, underlining, or some other method in order to conspicuously distinguish the mark from the other text. (f) In determining whether to release documents, the State will detrimentally rely on your redaction and marking of documents, as required by these bidding instructions, as being either "Confidential" or "Trade Secret" or "Protected". By submitting a response, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the State of South Carolina, its agencies, officers and employees, from every claim, demand, loss, expense, cost, damage or injury, including attorney's fees, arising out of or resulting from withholding information by the State of South Carolina or any of its agencies, that you have redacted or marked as "Confidential" or "Trade Secret" or "Protected". (All references to S.C. Code of Laws.) [02-2A125-3]

QUESTION #6

For the Business Proposal, how should rates be provided? For example, direct rates by individual, fully burdened rates, or average rates by job category, etc.

The goal is to have some written response showing how rates for resources will be billed, and the general cost per resource. Ideally, rates should be by resource type (job category/role) and fully loaded (as they will be billed). You should assume that costs such as travel, food, and lodging will be handled outside of any hourly rate.

SCDOT may ask awarded contractors for separate project estimates for specific work, and we understand that the rate card may not apply in all cases. However, this will provide a general baseline for initial understanding. The rate card should be included as the separately labelled Business Proposal, which will not be provided to individuals outside of the Procurement team until after any awards have been posted and are effective.

QUESTION #7

Please confirm that Section V Qualifications are only required for subcontractors if requested by the procurement officer.

SCDOT RESPONSE

You are required to disclose the planned use of any subcontractor that meets the conditions as set forth in the following clause:

SUBCONTRACTOR -- IDENTIFICATION (FEB 2015)

If you intend to subcontract, at any tier level, with another business for any portion of the work and that portion either (1) exceeds 10% of your cost, (2) involves access to any "government information," as defined in the clause entitled "Information Security - Definitions," if included, or (3) otherwise involves services critical to your performance of the work (err on the side of inclusion), your offer must identify that business and the work which they are to perform. Identify potential subcontractors by providing the business name, address, phone, taxpayer identification number, and point of contact. In determining your responsibility, the state may contact and evaluate your proposed subcontractors. [05-5030-2]

The procurement officer will ask for any qualifications information, including financial information, needed for those identified subcontractors. Generally, the timeframe for providing the information will be included in the request for the information. The prime contractor should not ask for financial information, or other qualification information, until directed to provide it by the procurement officer.

QUESTION #8

How should Attachment C be submitted? As part of the Technical Proposal, Business Proposal, or as a stand alone submittal?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Attachment C should be completed and included as a separate, clearly labelled document, titled “Certification”.

QUESTION #9

Please clarify how many firms SCDOT intends to select for this contract.

SCDOT RESPONSE

Awards will be made to the two highest ranked, responsive and responsible offerors, whose offer(s) are determined to be the most advantageous to the State.

QUESTION #10

Please clarify what is to be included as part of the 15 page Technical Proposal and which items should be packaged separately from the Technical Proposal.

The following items should be included in the Technical Proposal:

• Explain in detailed and concise terms your understanding of the scope of services required by the RFP.

• Provide a list of projects of a similar nature that have been completed by the offeror or currently in progress.

Provide references for all listed projects including contact person's telephone number.

• Offeror shall describe their experience in developing public involvement materials that were generated as a result of similar project or projects. Activities should not be older than three (3) five (5) years.

• Offeror must describe their typical outreach approaches.

• Offeror should describe any projects which included policy updates and strategy development in similar transportation department planning activities.

• Offeror shall demonstrate their familiarity with SCDOT Public Involvement Director, SCDOT Project

Managers, Planning Office Staff, and Public Involvement Policy for NEPA Compliance (2/2015).

• Offeror shall describe past experience with utilizing DBEs and future DBE utilization plan, providing reference contact names and contact information.

• Offer must describe their mobilization plans and how they will effectively meet compressed project schedules.

• The proposal must respond to all requirements of the RFP. Any other information thought to be relevant should be provided as an appendix to the proposal.

A Letter of Intent should be included in the Technical Proposal, but does not count toward the page total.

Resumes are an adjunct part of the Technical Proposal and are required. However, they do not count against the page limit, and may be submitted as a separate, clearly labelled document titled “Resumes”. Resumes should be provided as described below:

• Include resumes' of key staff members who will assist with this ongoing project, their experience and qualifications. (Resumes will not count as a part of the page limit. Subcontractor’s resumes can be included in this document, and should be labelled accordingly.)

Items requested in Section V: Qualifications should be included in a separate document, clearly labelled “Qualifications”.

Minority Participation Information in Section IV should be submitted as a separate, clearly labelled document titled “Minority Participation”.

Attachment C should be completed, signed, and submitted as a separate, clearly labelled document titled “Certification”.

The requested rate card should be included as the Business Proposal. If you are submitting a hard copy, the bid schedule (Section VIII) should be completed as per the instructions in the tendering text, and also included as a part of the Business Proposal.

A completed Bidding Schedule (Section VIII) should be completed as per the instructions in the tendering text and included as a part of the Business Proposal (This is for hard copy submissions. Online submissions will enter $1.oo as the unit price online).

The Cover Page and Page Two should be submitted as a separate attachment labelled “Cover Pages”. Any additional amendment acknowledgements you submit may also be included in that attachment.

Current estimated SCDOT workloads should be provided as a separate document, labelled “Current Workload”.

QUESTION #11

There is no language in the RFP requesting an organizational chart which seems unusual. Is an organizational chart required as part of the 15 page Technical Proposal?

SCDOT RESPONSE

No, an organizational chart is not required at this time.

QUESTION #12

Page 17 states that “resumes and letter of interest shall not count toward the 15 pages”, does this include the key staff resumes that are requested in the first bullet that follows the statement? If yes, should key staff resumes be included with other resumes in the separate Qualifications section?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Resumes are not part of qualifications. Please see the answer to Question #10, above.

QUESTION #13

Under Section VIII, Bidding Schedule, what is the purpose of the table shown? Is that a form item tied to the online submittal that needs to be completed or is it related to the rate card?

SCDOT RESPONSE

The table shown is the bidding schedule. Since the online system requires a price entry for the line item, the hard copies will also require submission of the completed table. Please see the item tendering text for instructions for completing. For hard copy submissions, this schedule should be included as a part of the Business Proposal.

QUESTION #14

Under Section VIII., it is stated that “hourly rates should be submitted for personnel that will be as-signed to this work”. Is this billing rates (w/ OH, FCCM, profit) or raw hourly rates? Does personnel name also need to be provided or just position/rate?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Please see the answer to Question #6, above.

QUESTION #15

Can the 15-pages be printed on both sides of a sheet of paper (double-sided)? If so, can the electronic submission be 30 pages?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Please see the answer to Question #1, above.

QUESTION #16

Given yesterday’s pre-proposal call, can you confirm that the below restatements of the heard audible responses are accurate?

The current financial position and last two fiscal year financial statements (or audited versions of those statements) are requested only of the Prime respondent at this time.

There are three separate pieces requested of consultants which will be clearly marked and uploaded as individual PDF files to the SCDOT procurement portal:

1. Technical Proposal (Section IV. INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT – EVALUATION as described on page 17 up to the mark [04-4005-1])

2. Qualifications (Section IV after the mark [04-4005-1] INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT – GENERAL as described beginning on page 17 through Section V QUALIFICATIONS on page 19, and including ATTACHMENT C on page 35)

3. Price Proposal (Hourly Rates for personnel as described on page 31)

SCDOT RESPONSE

Please see the answer to Question #10, which breaks this down in detail.

QUESTION #17

Can you confirm that the page limit for the technical proposal is 15 pages double sided (30 pages total)?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Please see the SCDOT response to Question #1, above.

QUESTION #18

Are covers and tabs included in the page limit in the technical proposal?

SCDOT RESPONSE

No.

QUESTION #19

Is the 2 page Offeror Form included in the page limit?

SCDOT RESPONSE

No. See the answer to Question #10 for more detail.

QUESTION #20

Do we need to provide a list of our current active workload in our response or will the Department be calculating this?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Please provide that list as a separate attachment, labelled “Current Workload”. We will cross check against SCDOT records.

QUESTION #21

When you say ‘front and back’ pages are fine for the 15 page technical proposal, that turns it into a 30 page proposal. There is a huge difference between a 15 and a 30 page proposal. Can you please clarify the maximum page count for the technical proposal?

Please see the answer to Question #1, above.

QUESTION #22

We understood that there should be a few separate documents submitted for this. The technical proposal, the qualifications, the rate card, and any redacted documents. Is that correct? Will the SC procurement website be set up to allow submission of multiple PDF documents?

SCDOT RESPONSE

Please refer to the answer to Question #10, above.

Multiple .pdf documents may be attached in the online submission portal.

All other terms, conditions, bidding instructions, and specifications remain unchanged. If there are any questions or if any confusion or uncertainty arises as a result of this amendment, it is the sole responsibility of the offeror to contact the procurement officer for clarification. Contact information can be found in the top right-hand corner of the cover page of this amendment. Reference the “duty to inquire” clause in the original invitation for bid.