City of Hendersonville, NC

Request for Statements of Qualifications # 277035001

Request for Qualifications # _277035001_

Engineering Services to Support the Water Treatment Facility Residuals Storage Facility Project

Date Issued: September 2, 2026

Due Date: October 2, 2026

Direct all inquiries concerning this RFQ to:

Adam Steurer, PE

Utilities Director

City of Hendersonville asteurer@hvlnc.gov mailto:asteurer@hvlnc.gov

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Project Description

II. Statements of Qualification

III. Evaluation Criteria

I. Project Description

The City intends to contract with one qualified firm to provide engineering services to support the Water Treatment Facility (WTF) Residuals Storage Facility Project (Project). The City’s WTF is located at 4139 Haywood Road, Mills River, NC and has a current permitted capacity of 15.0 million gallons per day (MGD). The project generally consists of the components below, however, the scope may be refined during detailed design and as the project progresses:

Currently, residual solids generated by the WTF is hauled approximately 7-miles southeast to the City’s Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) where it is blended with other residuals before being hauled again to a landfill for proper disposal. The WWTF is currently constructing a biosolids thermal drying facility to improve the quality of its biosolids to a Class-A biosolids product. As such, the residuals from both facilities will no longer be able to be blended together, and a new storage facility is needed to store residuals generated by the WTF.

This project was first recommended in the City’s 2021 Solids Management Plan. A copy of this Plan can be found on the Utility Planning page of the City’s website.

The engineering services related to the contract generally consists of the following; however, the scope may be refined after further inspection, testing, and evaluation of existing conditions:

• Inspection and evaluation of the proposed storage facility area surrounding the WTF’s existing dewatering building.

• Development of detailed alternatives analysis including an engineer’s opinion of costs.

• Identify and complete necessary permitting requirements.

• Development of detailed construction plans and technical specifications including civil, mechanical, electrical, and structural designs.

• Administration, bidding and construction phase support.

Because state and federal funds may be used to fund any or all of the services eligible to be provided under this RFQ for the chosen firm, all responding firms are required to comply with the requirements of the 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”), in addition to the North Carolina Mini-Brooks Act found at North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 143,Article 3D in responding to this RFQ, including but not limited to the identification of subconsultants and subcontractors as a part of the response to this RFQ. Firms should familiarize themselves with the requirements of these applicable laws. The City reserves the right to proceed with all, part or none of the services listed above, in the City’s sole and absolute discretion.

SPECIAL NOTE: Responding firms should be licensed to practice engineering by the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors and have at least one staff member currently licensed as a Professional Engineer in the State of North Carolina.

https://www.hendersonvillenc.gov/water-and-sewer/about-us/utility-planning

II. Statements of Qualification

The format of the Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) shall be submitted per the responding firm’s judgment. In general, SOQs shall be organized in a manner that will facilitate the evaluation of the responding firm and should specifically address each evaluation criteria.

Additional information beyond what is listed for each criterion in the preceding section that is deemed relevant may also be submitted. The SOQ shall be no more than 30 pages in total length.

Firm Information:

• Firm name.

• Address of principal office where work will be performed.

• Phone number, website and e-mail information.

• Name and information of the individual who will be the City’s primary contact and project manager.

• Firm’s current hourly fee schedule.

Proposed project team:

• A summary of the firm’s proposed team to be assigned and their expected roles for the subject project.

• A resume of each team member should detail relevant experience, length of service with the firm, job duties, educational and professional background.

Project Approach and Management:

• Provide a detailed description of your approach and process for completing the scope.

Include a response to the preliminary scope and identify key risks, challenges and concerns anticipated and any mitigation steps to achieve successful on-time delivery.

• Describe the tools and processes your firm uses to provide preliminary time and budget estimates.

Similar Projects:

• Five projects similar to the subject project completed or in progress within the last ten years. Similar projects shall be covered facilities intended to house and handle bulk products. At least three projects should be related to facilities in the water or wastewater or similar industry.

o Project name and location.

o Nature and detailed description of the project.

o Project start and completion dates.

o Project construction cost including all construction change orders and the firm’s engineering design fees including engineering amendments.

o Project staff and their role. Personnel on the firm’s proposed team must have been actively involved in the similar project(s).

o Owner’s name, title, and current contact information (email address and phone number)

III. Evaluation Criteria

Primary evaluation criteria and anticipated weights the City intends to utilize to select the most qualified firm are listed below. Representatives of the City will read, review and evaluate the qualifications independently based on the evaluation criteria. Selection of the most qualified firm by the City will be final and not subject to re-evaluation by the firms submitting SOQs. The following factors will be used in the initial evaluation process:

A. Project Team Qualifications (30 points possible):

• Experience in providing similar services of comparable size and complexity.

• Appropriate experience and technical qualifications of the proposed team to provide services as described herein.

• Organizational structure of the proposed team – defined line of communication and clearly defined roles for personnel.

B. Project Approach and Management (20 points possible):

• Ensure that the proper approaches are used for the project.

• Ensure the reports/deliverables are accurate, thorough, and delivered on time.

• Adequacy of firm’s technical review process.

C. Similar Projects (40 points possible)

• Experience of the firm and project team providing engineering services on projects similar in nature as defined herein.

• Favorable responses from project references.

D. Ability to provide services in a timely and efficient manner (10 points possible).

SOQs shall be submitted in PDF format via e-mail. Submissions must be emailed to Adam Steurer, Utilities Director, at asteurer@hvlnc.gov by 11:00 AM local time on October 2, 2026.

SOQs received after this deadline will not be considered. PDF files must contain the signatures of company representatives who are authorized to execute documents on behalf of the firm.

Questions regarding this request should be directed to Adam Steurer (email only) and will be accepted until September 23, 2026. Answers to questions will be posted in an addendum on the City website.

mailto:asteurer@hvlnc.gov

Maintaining the integrity of the RFQ process is of paramount importance for the City. Please do not contact members of the City or their staff regarding this contract until the award is presented for approval, other than the City’s designated contact person.

Firms are placed on notice that all or a portion of the funding for the project may be from federal funds, therefore compliance with the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR Part 200, will be required.

Selected firms may be required to acknowledge in writing compliance with the Uniform Guidance will be required in all aspects, including the selection of subcontractors and subconsultants. Contracting with a federally debarred firm is specifically prohibited. If awarded, the contract with the chosen firm will incorporate all terms found in Appendix II of the Uniform Guidance. Bidders should familiarize themselves with the City’s Uniform Guidance Procurement Policy, available at:

https://library.municode.com/nc/hendersonville/munidocs/munidocs?nodeId=456131a88735e.

The selected firm will be notified by telephone or e-mail and will be expected to enter into an agreement with the City as soon as possible after notification. In the event an agreement cannot be negotiated with the selected firm, negotiations with that firm will be terminated and initiated with the next best qualified firm.

The City reserves the right to select and enter into an Agreement with firm that is best qualified in accordance with the evaluation criteria to support the project. Firms are put on notice that the contract will be negotiated and entered in phases, as the project progresses, and selection as the best qualified firm does not guarantee that all phases of the project will be contracted. For the avoidance of doubt, the City reserves the right to go out for a request for qualifications competitive process for any phase(s) of the project. The City will compensate the firm for services provided on the most appropriate basis determined at the time of the contract negotiations for each phase of the project as determined in the sole and absolute discretion of the City, and as required by terms of the applicable federal and state funding requirements, if any.

The City accepts no responsibility for expenses incurred during the preparation or delivery of SOQs. The City reserves the right to: reject any and all statements of qualification, select the firm most qualified for the referenced work, waive technical errors and informalities, and to accept the statement of qualification, which, in its sole judgment, is presented by the best qualified firm. In the event of limited response, the City also reserves the right to extend the submittal deadline as appropriate in order to assure a competitive procurement process.

It is the policy of the City that all original documents, reports, studies and other data produced as a direct result of the services performed under the contract shall become the property of the City. Copyrighting of material produced as a result of the services performed shall be in the City’s name. Where licensed material is incorporated as an integral component of the services provided the firm shall register the City as a licensed user and shall provide the City with one complete copy of the licensed material.

https://library.municode.com/nc/hendersonville/munidocs/munidocs?nodeId=456131a88735e