Cover Letter- General.docx

U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Federal Correctional Institution

November 18, 2024

Re: 15B10225Q00000001

Dear Offeror:

This letter precedes a solicitation package for various subsistence items for delivery to Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, KY. This package contains all necessary information for you to submit a price quote to the government. The following MUST be completed and submitted with your offer.

Standard Form (SF) 1449 - Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items and continuation sheets

Quoters are advised the government reserves the right to make single or multiple awards based on best value. The Government will award to the responsible quoter(s) whose quote, conforming to the solicitation, is most advantageous to the Government based on best value. Best value will be determined by evaluating each quotation for one or more of the following: price, past performance, quality, comparison with other offers, and administrative cost. The award may be issued with a purchase card or purchase order. Line item quantities are for delivery as required by FCI Ashland. Please quote only on those items specified. Do not change the item description or the unit of issue. Do not use phrases such as “minimum award amount”, “All or none”, or any other phrases that would limit the government from awarding by line item. ANY CHANGES TO THE SOLICITATION CAN RESULT IN THE GOVERNMENT REJECTING PART OR ALL OF THE QUOTE SUBMITTED. Be sure to complete blocks 17a, 23, 24, 30a, 30b, and 30c of SF-1449 and the continuation sheets. Please include your telephone number in block 17a.

Short delays happen, that's why Federal Acquisition Clause 52.212-4 is incorporated into every award. 52.212-4(f) defines acceptable delays, but more importantly in our case, it states that the Contractor is responsible for notification of delays, and follow up on those delays. We shouldn't have to reach out and ask where a shipment is, the vendor should be notifying us "setting forth the full particulars in connection therewith."

Every Pre-solicitation, and Solicitation that we post has a letter that explicitly lists our evaluating factors as Price, Technically Acceptable, and Past Performance. Not abiding by the terms of the above said clause will be saved to the Contract File as an example of past performance.

The completed package should be returned no later than 2:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time, December 2, 2024 to lbonner@bop.gov.

If you have any questions regarding this solicitation, please do not hesitate to contact me, Luke Bonner at (606) 929-4086.

Sincerely, Luke Bonner Procurement and Property Specialist

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