BL017_24 Addendum No 1.pdf

January 24, 2024

Addendum No. 1

BL017-24

Replacement of Water Meters, 2” and Smaller on an Annual Contract

The following addition/changes modify the Bid No. BL017-24 “Replacement of Water Meters, 2” and Smaller on an Annual Contract” Contract Documents, dated January 2024, as first advertised on January 10, 2024.

I. Questions

Q1.

A1.

Q2.

A2.

Q3.

A3.

Q4.

A4.

Q5.

A5.

Please provide a current copy of the pricing of the annual contract that Gwinnett has in place (BL042-19)?

Please see Attachment A1, BL042-19 bid tabulation 2023-2024.

Would the company performing water meter installations for this project be required to have a license in the state of Georgia to complete the work within the Bid?

Contractors as well as all sub-contractors must be properly licensed to do business in the state of Georgia and must hold a valid Georgia Utility Contractors License.

For the purposes of this contract, will meter installers be required to physically enter underground meter vaults/pits to upgrade existing metering applications (ref: “2 person” confined spaces regulations)? If yes, please provide the total number of anticipated sites. (Ref: pg. 4, Section I, Sub-section B, Item 3) Most of our water meter replacements to be issued in this contract will be above ground and not in confined space areas. However, it is likely that a very small percentage of meters issued will be in confined space areas, and the contractor shall have employees properly trained to enter those areas.

Please confirm that the County is to be responsible for the provision of the associated warehousing requirements for the purposes of this contract (ref: facility, inventory management, etc.). (Ref: pg. 5, Section II, Sub-section B) Materials will be issued to the contractor as needed. The transport and storage of these materials will be the responsibility of the contractor.

Will the County’s download file to the Contractor mimic that of their manual meter reading route/route sequencing structure, is the current meter reading route sequencing structure considered as efficient allowing for optimal in-field productivity (e.g., contiguous, “premise-to-premise” with no skips and minimal “dead walks”/downtime)?

If not, please provide associated details.

(Ref: pg. 9, Section III, Item A) Meter will be selected for replacement based on criteria set forth by the Department of Water Resources. This contract is not intended to be a premise-to-premise contract. The read route sequence will be included in the out bound CSV file to the contractor and the contractor can route replacements this way if they wish.

BL017-24

Q6. When replacing meters in a sub-division, will the Contractor be replacing 100% of said meters within the subdivision / route (ref: “The Contractor will post signs in the sub-division to notify residents of the work being performed two weeks prior to start date”)?

(Ref: pg. 10, Section III, Item A)

A6. No, replacements will not be premise-to-premise type (entire subdivision) although some subdivisions may have multiple replacements in them.

Q7. Is it acceptable for the Contractor to send other means of communications/notification to the applicable customers versus posting/erecting physical signs (e.g. test messaging, postcard mailers, etc.)? (Ref: pg. 10, Section III, Item A)

A7. Yes, this is acceptable in addition to the requirements set forth in the invitation.

Q8. Please confirm if the Contractor is to be responsible for the provision and management of all customers related consumables for the purposes of this contract, with said costs being included as part of the Contractor’s associated pricing (e.g., door hangers, postcard mailer (if applicable), etc.).

(Ref: pg. 10, Section III, Item A)

A8. The Department of Water Resources will provide door hangers for notification. Signs and other means of communication will be provided by the contractor.

Q9. Please confirm that night and weekend work will be pre-determined/assigned to the Contractor, versus the Contractor having to provide an “on-call” service format to accommodate County’s ad hoc service requests?

(Ref: pg. 10, Section III, Item A)

A9. Yes, this is correct. Night/weekend work will have to be scheduled and pre-approved by the contract manager.

Q10. As there is no specific line item on the “Bid Schedule”, please confirm that all associated work regarding the replacement of curb stops and/or meter connectors are to be charged under the “Repair Crew Hourly Rate for Pre-Authorized County Directed Services” rate.

(Ref: pg. 10, Section III, Item C)

A10. Changing curb stops and meter connections is not anticipated to be a highly used item on this contract, but this would be billed under line item 13- Hourly rate for County directed services, with pre-approval from the contract manager.

Q11. For pricing purposes should the “minimum 3 photograph” requirement here be considered as “mandatory” per installation versus “minimum”, with any additional photograph requirements being strictly ad hoc based on individual meter installation service issues (e.g. pre-existing leaks, meter box damages, concrete restoration issues, etc.), or is there a potential of the County dictating additional “mandatory” photographs which would apply to all meter installations? If additional mandatory photographs are a potential, please confirm the projected maximum number of potential mandatory photographs that the County is (potentially) considering. (Ref: pg. 11, Section III, Item I)

A11. A minimum of three (3) pictures per meter replacement is required. A picture of the existing meter number, the existing meter reading (take out reading), and new meter number. Any additional pictures will be at the contractor's discretion. Pictures are not required to be submitted by the contractor with each deliverable, but the contractor should store pictures for 90 days past the replacement date if the County has any discrepancies such as billing question or meter number validation.

Q12. Please confirm that the Contractor is permitted to submit monthly invoicing related data via a softcopy format versus hardcopy, as long as it is in the requested Excel format. (Ref:

pg. 12, Section III, Item J)

A12. Yes, this is confirmed.

Q13.

A13.

Q14.

A14.

Q15.

A15.

Q16.

A16.

Q17.

A17.

Q18.

A18.

Q19.

A19.

Q20.

A20.

Please confirm that the County is to be responsible for replacements being inspected before payment is made, as noted here.

(Ref: pg. 12, Section III, Item J) Inspections of meters replaced will be conducted before payment is processed. Any discrepancies will be corrected before payment is processed, or the discrepancies will be removed from the invoice before payment is processed.

For staffing projection/pricing purposes, should the Contractor consider that all meter installation will require a “change in the lay length”? If not, please provide the anticipated percentage of meter installations that will require a change in lay length. (Ref: pg. 13, Section IV, Items 1-8) Meter lay length changes are rare as the meters used have been standardized. Conditions may occur where installing the new meter may be difficult due to pipe settling or compressed gasket thickness. These changes should be less than ¼” and shall be considered common.

As there is no accurate way of determining where “after hours” service requests will be (ref: non-productive windshield time to/from the associated service address), is it acceptable to base the associated “Item #” rates on “per hour” versus “per unit”? (Ref:

pg. 13, Section IV, Items 1-8) After hours replacements will be paid per “each” meter replacement and not an hourly rate.

Once service orders/requests have been assigned by the County to the Contractor, what timeframe does the Contractor have to complete said service orders/requests until they are deemed/consider as being “behind schedule” (e.g. allowable flexibility of 5 business days from date of assignment to complete service orders / requests)?

Replacement assignments will be given in bulk. The contractor should be equipped to replace meters at a rate of 300 per week.

Does the technology being deployed require a “like-for-like” in-field service requirement, with no additional programming/initialization of the new meter (ref: “plug and play” technology), or will the Contractor be required to program and/or initialize the new meter while on-site?

Meters that are being replaced under this contract will be manual read meters and will be replaced with manual read meters with digital encoders. No technology is being deployed with this contract.

If the Contractor is required to initialize/program the new water meter, what is the average time required on-site to initialize/program the new meter post-installation?

No meter technology is being deployed with this contract.

If the Contractor is required to initialize/program the new water meter, who is responsible for the provision of the vendor-specific initializing/programming hardware (ref: County or Contractor)? If Contractor, please provide the associated details regarding said hardware (ref: manufacturer, product name, make, model).

No meter technology is being deployed with this contract. Manual read meters will be installed.

Does the County intend to apply SLA, performance-based penalties and/or liquidated damages for the purposes of this contract? If yes, please provide associated details, including penalty / LD amounts.

Please refer to Contract Specifications, Section L. Contractor Level of Performance.

Q21. To what precision are the capturing/recording of GPS coordinates to be based on (e.g.

+/- 3 meters)?

A21. GPS points will not be required under this contract.

Q22. Is the provision of call centre/appointment scheduling related services required for the purposes of this contract? If yes, who is to be responsible for the provision of said services County or Contractor?

A22. The contractor will be responsible for scheduling replacements.

Q23. As part of the County’s download file for the Contractor, will there be account specific notes (special instructions) and codes indicating physical meter locations, access issues, safety issues/alerts, etc. (e.g., “key” numbers, “bad dog”, “meter in backyard”, etc.)?

A23. An example of the outbound file from the County is shown on page 17 of the invitation to bid.

Q24. Will the County provide overnight parking for the Contractor’s fleet vehicles (secure or other)?

A24. Contractor shall provide their own parking for the Contractor vehicles.

Q25. Do prevailing wage requirements apply for the purposes of this contract (ref: Davis-Bacon

Act)?

A25. No, there are no prevailing wage requirements for this contract.

Q26. Is the Contractor required to utilize unionized field personnel for the purposes of this contract?

A26. No, there is not a requirement to utilize unionized field personnel for this contract.

Q27. Please confirm that there is not a requirement for bid, performance and/or payment bonds for the purposes of this contract.

A27. Confirmed, there is no requirement for bid, performance, and/or payment bonds for this contract.

Q28. Given the general size/scope of this bid, plus to allow the Contractor adequate time to complete detailed on-site analysis of the various service divisions, would the County consider an extension to the Bid due date (e.g. 2 week extension)?

A28. No, it is the intent of the County to open this bid on schedule. Bids will be received until 2:50 P.M. local time on February 02, 2024 at the Gwinnett County Financial Services - Purchasing Division –2 nd Floor, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30046. Any bid received after this date and time will not be accepted. Bids will be publicly opened and read at 3:00 P.M.

Q29. Is it acceptable for the Contractor to include pricing notes for clarity purposes as part of their bid response?

A29. Contractor should include complete unit pricing per line items. Pricing notes are not required.

Q30. Is the Contractor required to make more than one (1) initial site visit in the attempt to install the new water meter for circumstances out of their control (e.g., access and/or safety related issues)? If yes, how is the Contractor to be compensated for additional in-field visits/attempts (ref: per attempt)?

A30. The contractor will only be compensated for meters replaced. In the event of a failed attempt to replace the meter, the contractor shall communicate this with the contract manager. The contract manager shall work with the contractor and customer to resolve any issues so that a meter replacement can occur.

Q31. Is it mandatory for the Contractor to maintain a local office for the purposes of this contract, or will the County provide a small space within their facility?

A31. It is not a requirement to have a local office in order to submit a bid. An office contact and field contact are required as stated in Section II, Contract Specifications, A-K. The County will not provide space within Gwinnett County facility. The contractor must have personnel that are able to respond to requirements as set forth in the invitation.

Q32. Are there any daily work assignment restrictions (e.g. maximum 20 service orders per day/per FSR), or is this to be left up to the discretion of the Contractor?

A32. The contractor should be equipped to replace meters at a rate of 300 per week as described in Section I, General Specifications, A.

Q33. Are there any unique meter installation related service requirements (e.g. boats, ferries, ATVs, etc.)?

A33. All meters shall be installed at the County road right-of way and easily accessible. If any unique meter installation related services are needed they will be discussed first with the contract manager.

Q34. Are these services currently being outsourced and if yes, who is the current service provider?

A34. The current contract in place is BL042-19 awarded to UWS, Inc. Please see the current bid tabulation, attachment A1.

Q35. What is the current total number of meter installation personnel being utilized for the purposes of this contract, including on-site supervisory related personnel (ref: total full-time personnel and total part-time personnel)?

A35. This varies based on the current contract needs and staffing levels. For this contract, the contractor should be equipped to replace meters at a rate of 300 per week.

Q36. Are there any mandatory County hosted training sessions for the Contractor’s field personnel (e.g., County hosted “health & safety orientation”)? If yes, how long is the session or sessions (e.g., ½ day)?

A36. No, there are no mandatory County hosted training sessions for the contractor’s field personnel.

Q37. How is the Contractor to be compensated for metering applications which cannot be changed due to circumstances out of their control (e.g., fences built too close, decking, blocked, etc.)?

A37. The contractor will only be compensated for meters replaced. In the event of a failed attempt to replace the meter, the contractor shall communicate this with the contract manager. The contract manager shall work with the contractor and customer to resolve any issues so that a meter replacement can occur.

Q38. What metering technology is to be deployed (e.g., Itron, Sensus, other.)?

A38. No meter technology will be deployed as part of this contract.

Q39. Please confirm that the in-field service requirement is to be primarily sporadic versus a

100% contiguous, “premise-to-premise” service requirement.

A39. Meters will be selected for replacement based on criteria set forth by the Department of

Water Resources. This contract is not intended to be a premise-to-premise contract.

Q40. With the exception of ad hoc emergency service requests, is it the County’s intension to provide/assign the Contractor with an evenly dispersed service requirement/totals, thus allowing for consistent in-field personnel staffing levels?

A40. The contractor should be equipped to replace meters at a rate of 300 per week as described in Section I, General Specifications, A.

Q41. Do you have a specification for the meter pits?

A41. Please see attachment A2. for meter box specification.

Q42. Are there meter pits located in sidewalks?

A42. Meter boxes may be in sidewalks, but generally the County tried to avoid that condition, if possible.

Q43. Are there meter pits located in streets which would require traffic control? If so, is the

County able to assist with traffic control signage?

A43. No, meter boxes are in the right of way near the customers’ property line.

Q44. What are the criteria for meter pit replacement?

A44. If the contractor finds a broken meter box while replacing meters, the box would be replaced at the same time.

Q45. Will the available work issued be kept within a specific area or zone, or will it be anywhere within the County?

A45. Work will be distributed across the County. The outbound file will be in a CSV format, and work can be sorted by area by the contractor.

Q46. How many do you anticipate replacing per year?

A46. The County intends to replace approximately 15,000 per year at a rate of 300 per week.

Q47. Will the meters be strictly Change Outs / Rehabs, or will new meter installations be part of the services as well?

A47. This contract will strictly be for replacement of meters as described in the invitation.

Q48. Will any water service line installations be needed or only the meter replacement?

A48. This contract will strictly be for replacement of meters as described in the invitation.

Q49. Regarding the Service Line Replacements, will the copper and fittings be replaced (and who provides these materials), and are they long or short sides and how is the vendor to delineate that on the bid form?

A49. This contract will strictly be for replacement of meters as described in the invitation.

Q50. Will any required milling and paving be separate so that the invoices for the sub for this work may be submitted with invoices, and is a markup for subs provided for or does this need to be included in the pricing?

A50. Paving should be all inclusive and priced per the bid schedule on the invitation.

Q51. Who will provide the copper, saddles etc. if needed, and any other necessary fittings?

A51 The materials for meter replacements that will be provided by the County are described on

Page 5, Section B, Materials of the invitation.

Q52. Will the contractor have the ability to pick up materials in advance or only per meter?

A52. Material withdrawal procedures are described on Page 5, Section B, Materials of the invitation.

Q53. Please provide the specifications required for materials on a typical meter installation.

A53. This contract will be strictly for the replacement of water meters. Installation of new meters is not part of this contract as described in the invitation.

Q54. What is the Contract Period (1 year -2 year etc. with renewals)?

A54. This contract is a 12-month annual contract with a possibility of four (4) additional 12-month renewal periods.

Q55. Are the meters concentrated in a specific area or spread throughout the water system?

A55. Work will be distributed across the County. The outbound file will be in a CSV format, and work can be sorted by area by the contractor.

Q56. Is there a line item to provide hourly billing/rates for any meters that may need to be done at night depending on if water can be shut down, or for unforeseen circumstances?

A56. There are four (4) line items (2, 4, 6, and 8) for after hour meter replacements. There is also an hourly rate line item (13) for County directed services. These line items must have prior approval from the contract manager.

Q57. Who will provide permits?

A57. Permits will not be required for work on this contract.

Q58. How will restoration be paid (paving, sidewalk, sod grassing...)? Will sub invoices for these services be approved to be submitted or hourly rates for contractor?

A58. The County anticipates little to no restoration that will be needed as a part of this contract.

Pricing should be all inclusive for line-item rates. Separate invoices for subs will not be accepted.

Q59. How will Traffic Control and/or Plates for road cuts/sidewalks be addressed? Do these need to be included in the bid price or billed separately as cost per job?

A59. Pricing should be all inclusive for line-item rates.

II. Attachment

A1. BL042-19 Bid Tabulation 2023-2024

A2. Contract Specifications, Section L. Contractor Level of Performance.

All bidders shall acknowledge receipt of this addendum by inserting its number and date in the Bid Form.

Failure to do so may subject bidder to disqualification. This addendum forms a part of the Contract

Documents.

Sincerely, Brittany Bryant, CPPB

Purchasing Associate III

BID TABULATION PAGE 1

BL042-19

ITEM # DESCRIPTION

2023-2024

UNIT

PRICE

TOTAL

PRICE

1a. 3/4” Meter 15,000 EA $38.74 $581,072.76 1b. Add / meter for non-Business Hour Work $607.75 2a. 1” Meter 150 EA $38.74 $5,810.73 2b. Add / meter for non-Business Hour Work $607.75 3a. 1-1/2” Meter 100 EA $243.10 $24,310.13 3b. Add / meter for non-Business Hour Work $607.75 4a. 2” Meter 100 EA $243.10 $24,310.13 4b. Add / meter for non-Business Hour Work $607.75

5. Meter Box Installation-Residential 500 EA $72.93 $36,465.19

6. Meter Box Installation Commercial/ Industrial 35 EA $243.10 $8,508.54

7. Concrete Replacement 50 SY $182.33 $9,116.30

8. Asphalt Replacement 50 SY $182.33 $9,116.30

GPS Location of Meter (usage of this line item is contigent upon cost and budget availability)

EMERGENCY REPAIRS - Additional fee per meter

Recommended Vendor:

UWS, Inc.

Attn: Zach Hughes PO Box 516 783 Tate Rd.

Trion, GA 30753 Phone: 706-734-0577 Fax: 706-734-0805 zach.hughes@uwsinc.net

$635,503.74

5% increase 5% increase

5% increase

$63,206.33

$698,710.07

Replacement of Water Meters, 2” And Smaller, on an Annual Contract

APPROX. QTY.

May 08, 2023 through May 07, 2024 Renewal Period

Department of Water Resources

Water Meter Replacement, 3/4” up to 2”

Optional Services

$1,215.51

$3.04

5% increase

Will Vendor Hold Pricing Firm? Renewal Option 4

Overall total (Items 1a -8):

Will Vendor Hold Pricing Firm? Renewal Option 1

Total (Items 1a-4b):

Total (Items 5-8):

Will Vendor Hold Pricing Firm? Renewal Option 2 Will Vendor Hold Pricing Firm? Renewal Option 3

EA

EA

Related Services

UWS, Inc.

(L)

5% increase bt mailto:zach.hughes@uwsinc.net