Interpretive_Plan_Proposal_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (ELCA) National Historic Trail Interpretive Plan Proposal Questions Questions for this RFP shall be due no later than 1:00pm CDT (12noon MDT) on Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Send to veronica_brick@nps.gov.

1. Approximately how many organizations or individuals do you consider among the stakeholders? A guess is 5 – 20 depending upon location along the trail. In some areas might be lots of interest, in others not so much.

2. What level of participation do you anticipate for the public meetings? Don’t know but don’t expect it to be huge

3. Will any project materials be in Spanish, thereby requiring translation? No

4. Should a translator be provided for public meetings? Probably not necessary. Most Spanish speakers also speak English

5. The link to the Trail Management Plan in the RFP doesn’t work. Can you update the link or provide another means to obtain the Plan. The plan is on the trail website, on this page.

6. Per Optional Line Item A:

a) How much coordination is/has there been with the Mexico portion of the Trail regarding interpretive themes and potential media? A joint Mexico and US meeting about the Trail (and a second Camino) was held in 2017. This brought together Trail staff and supporters to present their work and discuss ways of collaborating. A report was printed. A database workshop was held in 2018. Work is ongoing to continue conversations. None of this was specifically about interpretation and the Mexican delegation views interpretation differently than we do, but they do have museums etc. along the Trail.

b) Which organizations and agencies have been involved so far? Unsure, but know of NTIR and

INAH (Mexico). Our office has travelled to Mexico for trail-related projects but not specifically for interpretation.

c) Can you provide information on existing documentation or plans? A plan is printed but not available online.

d) Do you anticipate Option A to include travel to Mexico and coordination with local partners and stakeholders? Depends how the contract thinks he/she can do the work. Seems like it might be hard without doing so.

e) Does NPS have any constraints or limitations in regards to including a subconsultant of

Mexican citizenship on the project team? I will need to get back to you on this.

7. Budget:

a) Has a budget been determined for this project? We can’t answer this.

b) Have separate budgets been identified for the core line item tasks and the optional line item tasks? Base line item is funded. Option line will be based on funding availability.

https://www.nps.gov/elca/getinvolved/planning.htm

8. Please confirm the proposal due date, time, and preferred method of delivery. 8/9/2019 Quotes can be sent to veronica_brick@nps.gov.

9. Based on the extent of our questions and the importance of receiving answers to inform our proposal, is it possible to extend the deadline to Friday, August 16th? I can look at extending it until

8/14/2019.

10. NPS project team:

a) How is the NPS internal project management team structured for this project? NTIR only has

20 employees, and we all work collaboratively on projects. The core team responsible for this will be the interpreters, but all other disciplines will be involved when needed, such as for

Tribal consultation or review of materials for historical accuracy. Our teams are History, Cultural Resources, Interpretation, Landscape Architecture, and Management. We are heavily involved in projects with multiple partners year round and this would be just another project, albeit a large one. To learn more about our office visit nps.gov/ntir

b) What are the roles and responsibilities of the team? COR, coordinate and manage project and keep core team (one BLM, two NM state employees and one TX state employee) engaged appropriately, provide materials mentioned in RFP, review and respond to contractor, see above

c) Who is the main point of contact? Chief of Interpretation, Carole Wendler

d) Where is the team based? NTIR’s main office is in Santa Fe, NM

SOW Page 1 Last paragraph

How much funding will NPS and BLM be providing this project? We can’t answer this.

Can you elaborate on the kind of support NMHS and THC be contributing to this project? NMHS and THC own many of the properties along ELCA and are fully engaged in the process and outcome. At this time they are not contributing funding but may have ability to do so in the future if needed.

SOW Page 3 Core Line Item Tasks (#4)

Is there a preferred webinar platform or application NPS and/or BLM use for their own organizations and community stakeholders? NPS uses Google Hangouts or WebEx, but it's not critical that the contractor use these platforms. The platforms used must be accessible to the NPS/BLM however. We are looking for the contractor to suggest the best method of doing this in discussions with the NPS and BLM.

SOW Page 4

Optional Line Items (C)

Can all organizations of the Core team provide a brand/style guide for outreach efforts? I’m not sure what this question is getting at.

Optional Line Items (D) Is there an online platform that the NPS and/or BLM has seen used in any other projects of their own that worked well for their organizations and community stakeholders? The NTIR office has not done anything specifically like this. See answer to Core item task #4.

SOW Page 5 Travel and Meetings

Will representatives from the Core Team be present at all public meetings? If so, will all organizations be represented? Representative from the Core Team will attend as many of the public meetings as they are able to attend but may not attend all of them and different members of the Core Team may attend some meetings and not others. For part two of this question I’m not quite sure what is being asked but the Core Team does not represent all organizations that should be invited to attend public meetings. The Core Team is only six-seven people.

Pg. 5 notes that the contractor will be required to hold three to six public planning workshops, at various locations along the NHT. Five potential cities are listed (Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Socorro, and Las Cruces, NM, and El Paso, TX). Will it be required to hold a Public meeting in each of the five locations? As stated, meetings will be held at different locations along the trail and we are asking for the contractor to hold a minimum of three and up to six of these meetings and the suggested locations are listed.

Public Meetings

Is there a checklist of expectations as to what a federally-funded meeting looks like in terms of community participation? (e.g. ASL interpretation, childcare, A/V considerations) I am unaware of an actual checklist. The facility should be accessible and if needed ASL interpretation provided.

SOW Page 8 Provided Service and Materials

Can the consultant provide recommendations for public meetings? Unsure what is being asked here.

Are printing costs included in "GIS services for map development?" No.

Will Pueblo and Tribal consultation be singled out for purposes of the public meetings? Meaning, we should not expect/need to worry about Pueblo and Tribal attendance/participation in the three to six planned workshops in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Socorro, Las Cruces, and El Paso? (Asking for additional emphasis.) Federal agencies will conduct formal Consultation, but the tribes should still be invited and allowed to participate in public meetings if they choose to do so.

Can the core team provide regularly contracted ASL and daycare providers? No Can the Core Team staff meet during the evening and on weekends (outside of workday)? Generally no. An individual or two may be able to meet outside of workdays but the full team should not be expected to be able to do so.

Can the Core Team staff provide food for meetings? Federal agencies are prohibited from doing so. I cannot speak to whether NMHS or THC can or will do this.

SOW Page 9 Bid Submittal Requirements

Could you please clarify whether the Proposal should be submitted via email or hard copy? Please email quotes to veronica_brick@nps.gov.

The original solicitation notes that all submissions are due by 1700 MST. Does this time of submittal still apply to the amended response date of August 9, 2019?

If a public meeting is canceled for whatever reason, effecting the timeline of the project, what is the process for updating the timeline? We will allow enough time for the project to be completed. If something happens and a modification to the period of performance is needed, then a request will need to be send to the CO –Veronica Brick at veronica_brick@nps.gov for review.

SOW Other Questions

What is the intended budget for this interpretive planning project? Again, I will not answer this question.

mailto:veronica_brick@nps.gov