Questions for Gadsden Solicitation - 28.doc

1. Pursuant to the Solicitation No. DOL121RP20475, Gadsden Job Corps Center, and the deadline for questions as of today, May 29, 2012, we request for the copies of the Center's reports as follows:

· CTT-10 from March 1, 2011 to April 30, 2012

· MSO-20 from March 1, 2011 to April 30, 2012

2. 1. The SF 33 presents the solicitation number of DOL121RP20475; however, numerous areas in the solicitation present solicitation Number DOL121RP20488. Please confirm the correct Solicitation Number

3. CTT Offerings in the Solicitation list Advanced Human Services Worker, Residential Advisor....20 Slots. Please clarify if this CTT offering is in fact an advanced trade?

4. 1. Page 19: Section F.3 states that the period of performance is a "base period of twenty-five months." Is this correct? RFPs for JC contracts always have a base period of 24 months. Is the 25th month the Transition Month?

5. Page 20: Section E.3 refers to the Incentive Fee Schedule as G.1.C.2. Should this read G.3.B.2 instead?

6. Page 109: Part 3, Cost Proposal, lists schedules to be provided on CD. Bullet #3 asks for table G.1 A. Should this be G.3 A instead? Also, bullet # 4 asks for table G.1.C.2. Should this be G.3.B.2 instead? Last, bullet #5 asks for table G.3. Should this be G.4 instead?

7. Page 112: The last sentence of the first paragraph discusses the incentive fee and references Section G.1.C.2. Should the reference be made to G.3.B.2 instead?

8.

“Contractors that provide technical assistance, curriculum development and or staff development to Job Corps or individuals who were previously under contract to provide technical assistance, curriculum development and/or staff development for Job Corps are not eligible for award as the prime contractor, subcontractor or consultant under this contract.”

· Please clarify the government’s intent in restricting competition and the entities that would be ineligible for award of the contract. For example, since almost all center operators are contracted by Job Corps and provide technical assistance, curriculum development and/or staff development to Job Corps the clause can be interpreted to mean that any experienced Job Corps operator (small or large) is prohibited from bidding or being included in the Gadsden contract (as a subcontractor or consultant).

· Does this restriction apply retroactively, meaning to contractors who are ineligible due to previous or current contracts, but who were not informed of this restriction on their ability to bid on contracts for center operations prior to entering into those contracts, as indicated in the RFP which now makes them ineligible?

· Are potential bidders, which have provided subcontracted services to other companies which, in turn, have previously contracted to provide technical assistance, curriculum development and/or staff development for Job Corps, ineligible for award?

“Therefore, we are requesting that you provide the following information regarding our performance on the contract identified below. Please complete Sections B-F of this Questionnaire and return it directly to the address shown below no later than 12:00 p.m., (date).

ATTN: Contracting Officer

Office of Job Corps, Region

(Address)

(City, State, ZIP)”

Please clarify the date and address.

9. Page 102 states that Parts 1 & 2 of the proposal shall be separately bound. Does this mean separate from each other or bound together separate from the other Parts?

10. Page 102 states that Part 3 of the proposal shall be separately bound in 2 sections (3.1 and 3.2). There is no discussion of a 3.2. Page 114 states that a subcontracting plan is not required but a listing of subcontracts that are anticipated are requested. Is this listing of subcontracts 3.2 and is it to be bound separately from the cost?

11. Page 111 in the discussion under Narrative Cost Detail – Center part 2) please clarify the statement “For the purpose of this RFP, the inflationary rate used in projecting costs shall be to be announced by the offeror.” Should this read that the Contracting Officer will provide the inflationary rate to be used in projecting costs for the second base year?

12. Page 109 – “In addition to the written cost proposal, offers shall provide the following on CD” - Estimated Cost, Fixed and Incentive Fee table (G.1A). There is no table in that section. Will this table be provided?

13. Page 109 states that “Offerors must complete Section A of Attachment J-9, Past Performance Confirmation Questionnaire, for each past performance reference indentified above.” Then on page 54 Section J- List of Attachments it states that J-8 is the Past Performance Confirmation Questionnaire but J-8 is not provided in the RFP.

14. Page 118, M.1 Evaluation of Proposals: Will each evaluator read and evaluate the entire proposal? This is important to know in order to determine when and where we need to be repetitive with some of the proposal information.

15. What is the deadline by which the Past Performance Confirmation Questionnaire (Attachment J-18) has to be submitted to the Contracting Officer?

16. The header on the RFP itself has the RFP number as DOL121RP20475 up to page 58. Starting with page 59, the header changes RFP number to DOL121RP20488. Please confirm the correct RFP number.

17. Page 12, item 13 Career Technical Training: The list of trades in the table includes "Advance Human Services Worker, Residential Advisor." Please confirm whether this is an advanced CTT trade offering.

19. The RFP does not identify and/or address the inflationary factor/rate that should be used in pricing the effort.

Please identify the applicable inflationary factor/rate.

20. Under Section F.3 “Period of Performance” it states in part that the period of performance is a base period of twenty-five months, with twelve-month option periods. It also states in part the contractor shall perform necessary functions related to transition for a period of one month from the date of award (the first month in the twenty-five month base period)”.

Please identify the first month in the twenty-five month base period so that necessary functions related to and accurate costs can be developed to cover the one month transition period.

21. DOL has recently issued two JCINs pertaining to GSA vehicles. In the first, JCIN 11-05, DOL had centers perform a GSA vehicle analysis. The second, JCIN 11-70, to which a response is due next week, directs centers/operators to select GSA vehicles to return to GSA by June 30, with a goal of 10% reduction in the number of leased vehicles. Which GSA vehicles on the list provided has the incumbent center/operator selected to return to GSA by June 30, 2012?

22. On page 109 of the RFP, Section 3.1 Cost Proposal it indicates items that the offerors shall provide on CD. It appears the references, (G.1A), (G.1 C.2), and (G.3) are not correct. Please clarify.

23. Past Performance Questionnaire, Attachment J-18, does not include a due date and the name of the contracting officer that the questionnaires should be returned to is missing.

24. Can we obtain a listing of GSA vehicles with the annualized mileage over the past year in order to determine costs for insurance, mileage, and determine potential under-utilization?

25. Can we obtain a target for the estimated costs or provide the award amount of the most recent contract year?

26. Two statements on p. 122 seem to be contradictory. Please provide clarification.

a. The Offeror's and its teaming partners [sic] past performance will be evaluated based on information furnished by the references identified in Section L and any other available sources. The Government will evaluate the quality of performance relative to the scope, size, and complexity to the work described in the solicitation.

b. The Government will consider Past Performance information for the offeror or entity and/or its principals proposed as the prime contractor. Only that Offeror’s performance as a prime contractor or as a principal of the prime contractor will be considered. Past performance of proposed subcontractors will not be evaluated.

27. Question 1.

As indicated on the Solicitation Cover Page (SF 33) proposals are due on June 22, 2012. Does the government anticipate extending the posted proposal submission date? Essentially, the June 22, 2012 date is 29 calendar days from the date of the Pre-Bid. Given the scope and detail involved in preparing a quality proposal and the time involved with packaging the proposal (at least three days) the posted window for proposal development seems very limited when compared to the historical 45 days for previous proposal development on other like solicitations. It would be helpful to offerors to allow a 45 day proposal development window as the government will likely receive a higher quality response from sources electing to submit a proposal.

28. Question 2.

Does the Gadsden Job Corps Center and/or the Department of Labor, Office of Job Corps hold any "special" operating Memorandums of Understanding with the Gadsden State Community College, Local Government, or any such entity that offerors need to be aware of when preparing our response to this solicitation?