Amendment #1 Q&A.pdf

SAP

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal

Amendment 1 Q & A

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400027912 03/10/2025 Jeffery Schwalk (803)737-1018 SchwalkJC@scdot.org SCDOT Procurement Office PO Box 191 Columbia SC 29202-0191

DESCRIPTION: DRUG & ALCOHOL COMPLIANCE OVERSIGHT RFP

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 03/25/2025 14:30:00 (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision) QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 03/04/2025 10:00:00 CLOSED (See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: ONE ONLINE

CONFERENCE TYPE: N/A

DATE & TIME:

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

LOCATION: N/A

AWARD &

AMENDMENTS

Award will be posted on 04/29/2025. 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/ http://www.procurement.sc.gov/ 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:

RFP Section III - Page 15 of RFP indicates deficiency reports are due from contractor to SCDOT 14 days following review.

a. Can SCDOT clarify if this is 14 calendar days or 14 business days?

SCDOT RESPONSE:

RFP Section III - Page 15 of RFP indicates deficiency reports are due from contractor to SCDOT 14 days following review. The 14 days are business days.

QUESTION #2:

RFP Section III – Page 15 lists 23 total public transit providers that will be subject to D&A reviews.

a. Are any of the listed transit agencies “pass-through” entities with zero safety-sensitive employees who utilize a contracted “turn-key” third party operator to provide the public transit service on their behalf?

b. If so, which agencies are pass-through entities?

c. If so, how many contractors does each pass-through entity utilize?

SCDOT RESPONSE:

The COMET is the only pass-through contract from the list of 23 public transit providers. The COMET utilizes three (3) contractors. Two (2) contractors are service (fixed route and paratransit) and one (1) contractor is for security.

QUESTION #3:

RFP Section III – Page 15 lists 23 total public transit providers that will be subject to D&A reviews.

a. Do any of these transit agencies utilize contractors to perform FTA covered safety-sensitive functions on their behalf (i.e., operations contractors, dispatch contractors, etc.)?

SCDOT RESPONSE:

Yes, some transit agencies utilize contractors to perform FTA covered safety-sensitive functions on their behalf.

QUESTION #4:

RFP Section III – Page 15 lists 23 total public transit providers that will be subject to D&A reviews

a. Can SCDOT please indicate how many safety-sensitive employees each of these agencies reported on their most recent DAMIS report?

SCDOT REPSONSE:

The chart below shows the number of safety-sensitive employees each agency reported on their most recent DAMIS report:

Agency Safety Sensitive Employees Aiken COA 38 Allendale COA 11 Bamberg COA 29

BCD RTA 35

City of Seneca 0 Edgefield County Senior Citizens Council 15 Fairfield County Transit 10 Generations Unlimited (Barnwell) 9 Lancaster COA 30 Lowcountry RTA 47 McCormick County Senior Center 21 Newberry COA 22 Orangeburg County Transit (Fixed route) 7 Orangeburg County Transit (Demand Response) 4 Senior Services of Chester 19 Williamsburg County Transit 23 York County COA 18 City of Anderson 23 City of Clemson 62 Pee Dee RTA 63

SWRTA 37

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System 63 Waccamaw RTA 77

Total 663

QUESTION #5:

RFP Section III – Page 13 indicates that a subset of the total 5311 subrecipients will undergo an onsite D&A review each year. Page 15 lists 23 total public transit providers that will be subject to D&A reviews total. Section IV of the RFP requires the proposal to identify a timeline for completion of all deliverables.

a. Can SCDOT please provide an estimate of how many subrecipients will be subject to onsite D&A reviews each contract year? i.e., will SCDOT divide them up over 3 years, 5 years, 2 years, etc.? This information is vital for creating accurate price proposal for this solicitation. This information would be required for any contractor to provide an accurate timeline as required in Section IV of the RFP.

To support the development of pricing proposals, contractors should assume SCDOT will use a three (3) year plan for D & A reviews. Approximately one-third of the total number of subrecipients should be reviewed each year.

QUESTION #6:

RFP Section III – Page 13 indicates that the contract will assist SCDOT for MIS reporting. However, MIS reporting was not specifically listed in the “Tasks and Deliverables” section.

a. Can SCDOT please clarify if the contractor will be required to assist SCDOT in obtaining, reviewing, and submitting DAMIS reports for their 5311 subrecipients each reporting year of the contract?

b. If so, can SCDOT confirm that the contractors should include this expectation when building their price proposal.

SCDOT RESPONSE:

The contractor will be required to assist SCDOT in obtaining, reviewing, and submitting DAMIS reports for their 5311 subrecipients each reporting year of the contract and should include this expectation while building their price proposal.

QUESTION #7:

RFP Section III – Page 14 indicates that the contractor will be required to create and provide to each 5311 subrecipient a “collection site review checklist” that would be used by the sub-recipient to conduct evaluations of their collection site. However, it is not 100% clear whether or not SCDOT will require the contractor themselves to visit each subrecipient’s collection site as part of the on-site field evaluation of the D&A program.

a. Can SCDOT provide clarification indicating whether the contractor for this scope of work will be required to conduct on-site field evaluations of each subrecipient’s collection site as part of the onsite visit to each transit agency?

b. If so, can SCDOT clarify that the on-site field evaluation would require the contractor to evaluate the collection site is procedures for both breath alcohol testing as well as urine specimen collections for drug testing?

c. If onsite field evaluations of the collection site will be required, if any transit agency uses more than one collection site, will the contractor only be required to do an on-site field evaluation of the primary collection site used?

SCDOT RESPONSE:

Contractor will be required to conduct on-site filed evaluations of each subrecipient’s collection site as a part of the onsite visit to each transit agency. The evaluation will require the contractor to evaluate the collection site’s procedures for both breath alcohol testing as well as urine specimen collections for drug testing. If multiple collection sites are used by the subrecipients, the contractor will only be required to evaluate the primary collection site.

QUESTION #8:

RFP Section IV indicates that bidders should submit copies of resumes in the TECHNICAL PROPOSAL. However, on Page 16, the RFP also indicates that bidders should submit resumes as part of the BUSINESS PROPOSAL.

a. Can SCDOT please clarify where each bidder should include resumes of key personnel?

Should the resumes be included in the TECHNICAL PROPOSAL or the BUSINESS

PROPOSAL?

SCDOT RESPONSE:

The terms ‘Business Proposal’ and ‘Technical Proposal’ were mistakenly used interchangeably in that section.

They should be considered the same in that context. Resumes should be submitted as a part of the Technical Proposal. Resumes will not count towards the page limitation. The Price/Business Proposal (or Business/Price Proposal) is a separate document. See the revision of the section in the Response to Question #9, below.

QUESTION #9:

RFP Section IV Page 16 indicates a 30-page limit for the BUSINESS PROPOSAL.

a. Is there a page limit for the TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

SCDOT RESPONSE:

The term ‘Business Proposal’ was mistakenly used interchangeable with the term ‘Technical Proposal’. They should be considered the same in this context. The Price/Business Proposal is a separate document and does not have a specified page limit, although respondents to the RFP shall be complete, but concise, with their Price/Business Proposal submission.

That section is revised as follows:

INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT -- EVALUATION (JAN 2006)

In addition to information requested elsewhere in this solicitation, offerors shall submit the following information for purposes of evaluation:

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL:

1. Cover Letter: Offerors shall submit a cover letter which includes the solicitation name and number, the proposers name and business address, and the name and contact information of the principal contact.

2. Table of Contents: The proposal shall include a table of contents.

3. Organization Description: The submission shall include a brief description of the Proposer’s firm or organization.

4. Project Approach: The submission shall include a narrative addressing the required tasks and deliverable items. The narrative shall provide clear and thorough approaches to delivery against the specifications in Section III of this document. This narrative shall also address the Proposer’s overall understanding of the scope of the project as well as address the application and the degree of innovation and creative of proposed concepts to meet the project goals and objectives.

5. Work Plan: The proposal shall include a concise explanation of how the Proposer will carry out the objectives of the project. In the work plan, the Proposer shall describe each project task and the proposed approach to the task as clearly and thoroughly as possible.

6. Timeline: A project timeline in bar-chart form shall indicate all work plan tasks and their durations. The timeline shall clearly identify project deliverable dates.

7. Staffing Plan: The Plan shall include the following, in a table format:

a) A project organization chart

b) Name of key proposed project team members and any identified subcontractor(s). Only those personnel who will be work on the project should be included

c) The role and responsibility of each proposed team member

d) Percent effort (time) of each team member for the contract period/project duration

e) The role and level of required SCDOT staff support, if any

8. Resumes: Include resumes for principal/senior staff members who will be assigned to the project. The resumes shall demonstrate their member’s experience with this type of project work, define any special skills, and demonstrate knowledge of South Carolina and its subrecipient programs, program activities, and the respective requirements

9. Recent Project Examples and References: Proposers shall include a listing and short description of experience in developing Drug and Alcohol Compliance Monitoring programs in states other than South Carolina. Descriptions should include:

a) Date of Project

b) Name and address of client organizations

c) Names, role (title), email, and telephone information of the individual in the client organization who had responsibility for the respective project

d) A brief description of the project, including any innovation development and analysis strategies

e) A description of the project team makeup, including number of team members involved, and their respective roles

The Business Technical proposal shall be clearly labelled and submitted (or uploaded) as a separate document.

The total number of pages for the Business Technical Proposal should not exceed thirty (30) pages. A page is a single side of a sheet of paper. The following items are EXCLUDED from the page count:

o Cover Page o Table of Contents o Resumes o Tab Appendices o Blank Pages o Any forms and cover pages required to be submitted as a part of the RFP response.

o The Price/Business Proposal

PRICE/BUSINESS PROPOSAL

The Price/Business Proposal shall be a clearly labelled, separate document (or electronic upload for those utilizing online submission). The Proposal shall be created using Microsoft Excel and shall not contain any locked cells, or formulas which are not viewable.

The proposer shall develop and complete a Price/Business Proposal Worksheet which is aligned with their submitted Technical Proposal. The Price/Business Proposal which shall clearly identify each task within the Technical Proposal and related any related cost, including all time, materials and labor proposed or necessary to complete project tasks necessary to meet all specifications. Any assumptions used to develop the Price/Business Proposal shall be clearly documented.

Proposers who are submitting via online bidding shall upload the Price/Business Proposal as an attachment. Proposers who submit a paper copy shall provide both a hard copy of the file, and a single copy via electronic media.

[04-4005-1]

QUESTION #10:

RFP indicates the contractor will be required to conduct training for SCDOT and subrecipients.

a. Can SCDOT identify if such training will be onsite or virtual via webinar?

b. How many training sessions are expected each contract year?

c. Will the training sessions be full day courses or less than full day courses?

d. Without clear identification of quantity training, submitting a price proposal will be difficult.

Does SCDOT just want a bidder to list a “per hour” price for training instead of trying to estimate an actual cost?

Administering the training videos and setting a deadline to complete the training may be easier to manage. In-person classes, especially when it comes to reasonable suspicion training, would be more desirable.

Respondents to the RFP should make their recommendations for the best approach(es), and document any corresponding assumptions in their Price/Business Proposal.

These courses should be half-day courses.

In regards to mandatory drug and alcohol training, it should be annually, and then once every three years for supervisors who must complete reasonable suspicion training.

Respondents to the RFP should list a per hour price for training activities.

QUESTION #11:

For the Price Proposal, the RFP does not appear to provide any standard format or requirements for how the price proposal should be calculated.

a. Should the “Cost per hour” provided by each proposer be a “fully burdened” rate which includes direct salary, overhead, and fee?

b. Because the Scope of Services requires on-site visits, how should each proposer reflect expected travel costs and other direct expenses associated with onsite visits within the Price Proposal?

c. Should each proposer include travel and other direct expense within the hourly rate they list so that the “cost per hour” listed is inclusive of Direct Salary, Overhead, Fee as well as Travel and Other Direct Expenses?

d. Or should each proposer separately itemize expected/estimated travel costs and other direct expenses?

SCDOT RESPONSE:

It is expected that there will be variations to each proposal, due to unique recommendations and approaches set forth by the submitting contactor.

Contractors should refer to the specification set forth in the RFP specific to Price/Business Proposal:

The proposer shall develop and complete a Price/Business Proposal Worksheet, which is aligned with their submitted Technical Proposal. The Price/Business Proposal which shall clearly identify each task within the Technical Proposal and related any related cost, including all time, materials and labor proposed or necessary to complete project tasks necessary to meet all specifications. Any assumptions used to develop the Price/Business Proposal shall be clearly documented.

Cost per hour provided by the proposer shall be the final price per hour SCDOT would be charges, inclusive of all overheads and fees – expect for travel or direct expenses.

Travel costs and other direct expenses should be reflected based on the assumptions included in the proposer’s Price/Business Proposal, which should include the number of site visits, number of billed resources, etc. Travel and other direct expenses should be billed separately and not included in the cost per hour. They should be itemized and included in the Price/Business Proposal.

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.