Bid # H00226 - Library Courier Services - Addendum #1 - Amendment #1 and Q A.pdf

Library Courier Services

Addendum # 1

RFP # H00226

To: All Potential Offerors

Date: September 4, 2026

Subject: Addendum #1 to Bid #H0022600226 dated August 25, 2026

Title: Library Courier Services

Addendum #1 is issued to add Amendment #1 to page 8, Section 2. Specific

Requirements as item g., and to address the following Questions & Answers.

Amendment #1:

Page 8, 2. Specific Requirements

2. g. Courier services shall not be contracted out to subcontractors. The City of

Staunton will not accept subcontractors for this IFB.

Questions & Answers

1. Would the City consider a bidder responsive and responsible if the bidder is a newer entity without three completed agency contracts, but proposes either (a) a qualified key person whose documented experience includes at least three comparable agency courier projects within the last two years, or (b) a qualified teaming/subcontracting arrangement whose proposed partner has that experience, subject to the City's prior written approval under Procurement Guideline 46?

If either structure may be considered, please identify the documentation the City would require and whether the three references may include the qualifying projects of the key person or approved partner.

Per Amendment #1, the City of Staunton is not accepting bids from Primary

Contractors using sub-contractors. The City expects the primary contractor or its direct employees be experienced in the type of services requested.

2. We also request confirmation whether workers' compensation coverage may be adjusted or waived for an owner-operated company with no employees, under the phrase "or such other insurance as is satisfactory and may be approved by the City" in Procurement Guideline 42.1.

Donmus understands that any required general and automobile liability coverage must be in place before performance and that the City must be listed as an additional insured.

The City follows the policy of the Virginia Workers' Compensation

Commission, which reads “Virginia law requires that an employer who regularly employs more than two part-time or full-time employees carry

Virginia workers' compensation coverage.”

3. General IFB Submission # 5 states that the contractor must have completed at least three projects with agencies of similar size and complexity within the last two years. Must those three projects have been contracts held directly by the bidding company, or may relevant courier and delivery experience performed by the company’s owner/principal also be considered?

Yes, the contracts should be ones that were/are held directly by the primary contractor who is submitting the bid.

4. For purposes of that experience requirement, would commercial courier or delivery contracts of similar scope and responsibility qualify, or must the previous projects specifically have been performed for governmental or public agencies

Commercial courier or delivery contracts of similar scope and responsibility will qualify. Previous projects could be commercial, governmental, or public agency contracts.

5. If a bidder intends to use an approved subcontractor for some or all route performance, may the qualifications and experience of the proposed subcontractor be considered in satisfying the experience requirement?

Per Amendment #1, the City of Staunton is not accepting bids from Primary

Contractors using sub-contractors. The City expects the primary contractor or its direct employees be experienced in the type of services requested.

6. Regarding Section 46, must a proposed subcontractor be identified and submitted for approval as part of the original bid response, or would the successful bidder submit the proposed subcontractor’s information for written approval after award and before beginning service?

Per Amendment #1, the City of Staunton is not accepting bids from Primary

Contractors using sub-contractors. The City expects the primary contractor or its direct employees be experienced in the type of services requested.

7. For pricing purposes, will the Base Circuit and any selected options be paid as fixed monthly amounts as entered on the Bid Offer Form, and are invoices expected to be submitted monthly under the stated Net 30 terms?

Base Circuit and selected options will be paid as a fixed monthly amount as entered on the Bid Offer Form. Invoices are expected to be submitted monthly under the stated Net 30 terms.

8. The solicitation identifies insurance requirements. Is proof of the required insurance coverage required with the bid submission, or may the successful bidder provide the required certificate of insurance, including the City of Staunton as an additional insured, following notice of award and prior to commencement of services?

Proof of insurance is not required with bid submission, but the awarded bidder must provide it prior to contract execution.

9. The solicitation states that the successful contractor must obtain the required City of Staunton business license prior to beginning work. Please confirm that this license is not required at the time of bid submission but will be required from the successful bidder before services begin.

City of Staunton business licensure is not required with bid submission, but the awarded bidder must provide it prior to contract execution.

10. The IFB states that the contractor must have a minimum of three projects with agencies of similar size and complexity completed within the last two years. Would successfully performed ongoing contracts that have been active during the last two years satisfy this requirement?

Yes, ongoing contracts would satisfy the requirement.

11. For that same experience requirement, may comparable commercial courier/logistics contracts be used, or must all three projects have been performed specifically for public/government agencies?

Commercial courier or delivery contracts of similar scope and responsibility will qualify. Previous projects could be commercial, governmental, or public agency contracts.

12. Our company currently provides scheduled transportation services through transportation brokers and maintains commercial vehicles, qualified drivers, backup vehicle coverage, and the required operational capabilities. Regarding the requirement for three similar projects completed within the last two years, would the City accept transportation brokers or contracted transportation platforms as references? If individual reference contacts are unavailable, may we instead submit contracts, payment records, invoices, or other documentation demonstrating our experience?

References should be related to similar courier type services such as the City is requesting in this IFB.

13. Are the required insurance certificates/endorsements ($2M general liability, $1M auto, $1M workers’ compensation, and City of Staunton as additional insured) required with the bid submission, or may the successful bidder provide them after award and before performance begins?

Proof of insurance is not required with bid submission, but the awarded bidder must provide it prior to contract execution.

14. For purposes of the minimum experience requirement in Section 5 and the reference requirements, may a prime bidder proposing an experienced subcontractor use the proposed subcontractor’s qualifying project experience and references, or must all required experience and references belong directly to the prime bidder?

Per Amendment #1, the City of Staunton is not accepting bids from Primary

Contractors using sub-contractors. The City expects the primary contractor or its direct employees be experienced in the type of services requested.

15. Can you elaborate on "Services Begin ASAP"? What is the timeframe between being awarded and implementing services?

Services would need to commence immediately upon Contract Execution.

16. Pages 9-12, Forms: Other than the forms provided on pages 9-12, is there anything else that needs to be provided as part of the submission?

All requirements for submission are outlined in the bid documents.

Acknowledgement of this Addendum should also be submitted (see end of document.)

17. Pages 9-12, Forms: Should the forms on pages 9–12 be uploaded individually in the portal or combined into a single document? If they should be combined, should they be arranged in the same order as they appear in the solicitation?

Please upload these as a single document in the same order as they appear in the solicitation.

18. Is there a current incumbent providing this service, and if so, what is the current contract price?

Yes, Custom Deliveries of Harrisonburg, VA and the current contract price is

$1,850.00 per month.

19. What is the current contract number?

The City does not utilize contract numbers.

20. Which options (Base, A and B) are currently being utilized?

None. Our needs have been updated and revamped since the 2021 solicitation.

The utilization structure from the previous solicitation is no longer valid as our needs have changed since the prior contract. The Base and some locations have remained the same, but the prior solicitation did not utilize an A and B Option based bid.

21. What is the existing price per month for the base circuit? What is the existing price per month for Option A? What is the existing price per month for Option B?

The Current contract price is 1850.00 per month. This price does not represent our current needs. The last solicitation did not have a Base/Option A/Option B structure as our needs from the prior solicitation have changed significantly.

22. On page 10, it mentions that if a bidder does not have a VA SCC number, that we should refer to Procurement Guidelines Item 26.2. Item 26.2 is not listed in the solicitation. Can the state please provide these guidelines and details?

On page 10, the reference should read Procurement Guidelines Item 27.2.

27.2. Any bidder that is not required to be authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth as a foreign business entity under Title 13.1 or Title 50 or as otherwise required by law is required to include in its bid or proposal a statement describing why the bidder is not required to be so authorized, and must attach opinion of legal counsel to this form which accurately and completely discloses the undersigned Offeror’s current contacts with Virginia and describes why those contacts do not constitute the transaction of business in Virginia within the meaning of § 13.1-757 or other similar provisions in

Titles 13.1 or 50 of the Code of Virginia.

23. There are no instructions for the offeror in terms of a narrative proposal for this solicitation. Would the state prefer that the contractor just provide the bidder information form and the bidder offer form OR is the offeror also able to submit a formal narrative proposal along with the bidder information form and bidder offer form. If so, please provide specifications on length, page number, font size, etc.

Please only include the bidder information form and the offer form. No narrative is needed as this is an IFB not an RFP.

24. The solicitation requires a minimum of three projects with agencies of similar size and complexity completed within the last two years and requests three references for similar services.

For a newer courier company, will the City consider relevant experience and references of the owner and/or key personnel, or must all three qualifying projects have been performed specifically under the bidding company’s name?

Qualifying projects need to have been performed by the Bidder/owner whether under the current company name or as the principal of a prior owned company.

25. If available, could you please provide or direct us to the bid tabulation/results from the prior Library Courier Services solicitation, Bid

G00121 (2021)? This would help us better understand the historical scope and pricing structure

The bid tab is posted on the City’s procurement website.

The link to the old solicitation.

https://www.ci.staunton.va.us/Home/Components/RFP/RFP/189/150?npage=

26. May the contractor optimize the sequence of stops as long as all required locations are served and the complete round trip is performed between

9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.?

Yes, the contractor may determine the best optimized route for all required locations in consultation with and approval from the libraries.

27. What is the estimated total round-trip mileage for the Mandatory Base

Circuit per day?

Depending on the route the driver takes, it could be between 26 - 45 miles.

28. If one participating library or branch is closed but the other locations remain open, should the courier complete the remainder of the scheduled circuit and omit only the closed location?

Yes, libraries that remain open would still send and receive deliveries, and

Augusta County will provide keys/access to the drivers for any locations that are outside of staffed hours

29. Are there specific pickup and drop-off time windows at each location, or only the overall 9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. window?

The libraries only require that pick up and drop off occurs during the overall

9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. window, and Augusta County locations will provide keys and/or access to the drivers for any locations that are outside of staffed hours.

30. Are there estimated daily volumes for the courier service, such as the average and maximum number of books, totes, bins, or containers transported on the Base Circuit and Options A and B? Are there any minimum vehicle-size or cargo-capacity requirements?

The number of totes varies every day depending on the volume of items that the public drops off at locations other than the owning library or requests to be sent to another location for pick up. One example is that Staunton Public Library alone receives between one to twelve bins from other libraries per day depending on these factors. On average, the Staunton Public Library will send https://www.ci.staunton.va.us/Home/Components/RFP/RFP/189/150?npage=5 https://www.ci.staunton.va.us/Home/Components/RFP/RFP/189/150?npage=5 out six totes per day to the other libraries, though this varies depending on the day of the week and the volume of materials returned/requested by the public.

The libraries pack individual library items into totes. The weight will vary depending on the types of items and how many fit inside. Totes measure H

12.5” x W 15” x D 21.5”.

Totes are not weathertight, so they must be transported inside of a closed vehicle. A vehicle would need to be no smaller than a standard minivan to safely transport the required number of bins.

31. What vehicle is currently being utilized for the existing service?

A standard minivan is being used.

32. How many people are utilized to transport these materials each service day?

Currently, one driver picks up and drops off all materials.

33. Who is responsible to provide any totes / packaging?

The libraries jointly purchase and provide the totes.

34. Does the courier perform any sorting or check-in of materials, or strictly transport sealed totes between locations?

The courier performs transport between locations only.

Totes are packed by library staff and labeled with the destination library’s tag on the exterior of the bin. There is no handling of individual materials or sorting of items by the delivery driver.

The driver will be responsible for carrying the loaded totes into and out of each library. Library staff do not load or unload the totes from the vehicle.

35. Are all items unloaded from the vehicle at the end of each day’s route or are some materials left in the vehicle overnight?

No materials are to be left in the vehicle overnight.

36. To save time / costs is it possible to leave materials in the vehicle overnight?

To avoid potential theft of library materials, the libraries do not wish to leave items in vehicles overnight.

37. What is the current route start and end time each day for the service currently being utilized?

The route typically arrives at the first library between 9 - 10 a.m. and is finished by 2 p.m.

38. Is the monthly bid price intended to remain fixed during months containing holidays or library closures, assuming all scheduled operating days are fully covered?

Yes.

39. Please confirm whether the successful courier will have access to all designated library locations during the required 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

service window on the days identified in the route schedule, including locations whose public operating hours may begin later or that may not be open to the public during a portion of the required courier window.

Augusta County locations will provide keys/access to the drivers for any locations that are outside of staffed hours

40. Is parking available at Fisherville for the vehicle to be parked overnight if needed?

Overnight parking at Augusta County Fishersville location is approved.

However, neither the City nor the County will be liable for any damages to or theft of the contracted vehicle while it is parked overnight at this location.

41. Under what conditions would libraries choose to utilize Options A and B?

Cost and budget limitations will be the deciding factors in the utilization of

Options A and B

42. Who chooses / decides to utilize Option A or B?

As the Augusta County Library Locations are the ones requesting additional stops, the utilization of Option A and B will be at the discretion of the August

County Library.

43. Once Option A or B are decided to be used, for how long would they be utilized?

The duration of the Option A or B utilization will be for 1-year increments, to be addressed each year at the 1-year renewal of the contract. Augusta County

Library will use this renewal period to periodically evaluate operation needs and either renew or cancel the Optional deliveries.

Note: A signed acknowledgement of this addendum must be received by this office prior to the due date and time, or must be attached to your bid. Signature on this addendum does not constitute signature on the original bid document. The original bid document must also be signed per bid instructions.

Company Name:

Signature:

Type/Print Name:

Title:

Date: