Atch_6_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

18 May 2015 Questions and Answers

FA4855-15-R-0002

Question 1: How many instances were there each year calendar year of the previous contract (i.e., over the last five years) where the contractor was required to perform over and above work as described in the current PWS? For example, how many times each year was the contractor required to exceed 40 total labor hours or more than $ 1,500 total direct material costs for the contract?

Answer 1: In the last five years (Base Year plus four Option Years), there have been approximately twelve instances where corrective maintenance resulted in repair expenses that were over the monetary threshold specified in the current contract. During the same timeframe, there were only four hours of overtime, beyond the 40-hour threshold.

Base Year: Four (4) instances and four (4) hours overtime.

Option Year 1: One (1) instance.

Option Year 2: No recorded instances.

Option Year 3: Two (2) instances.

Option Year 4: Five (5) instances.

NOTE:

a. The current contract does not have a CLIN titled Over and Above Work, but does contain three separate CLINs for Labor, Materials, and Sludge which are similar to the proposed Over and Above Work

CLIN.

b. Above references listed in current contract are based upon recorded instances that exceeded 40 total labor hours and/or $1,000.00 in total direct material costs.

Question 2: Please describe why the government modified the previous Cannon AFB WWTP contract on 8/1/14 by increasing the total contract by approximately $ 98,226 for “new equipment.” This amount is a considerable increase based on the previous four years worth of publicly available contract information.

Answer 2: The wastewater treatment plant was expanded in Dec 2013 under a MILCON project. This increased the plant’s total capacity from approximately 0.75 million gallon per day (MGD) to approximately 1.5 MGD. The modification in Aug 2014 entailed the additional operation, maintenance, and repair of the new equipment to include one headworks (two screw pumps and one Huber Grit and Grease unit), one AquaDisk Filter unit with cloth media, one raw wastewater storage basin with one pump, one effluent storage basin with three pumps; one aerobic digester, one Solar Bee, one sequencing batch reactor (SBR), one Parshall Flume flow meter, one new aeration blower, and one auto sampler unit (Influent).

In addition, the modification encompassed repairs to the AquaDisk filter unit, and expanded the contractor-maintained (grounds maintenance) land size by 5.2 acres.

Question 3: Can the government provide a general list and approximate relative costs for chemicals used over the previous five years?

Answer 3: The WWTP uses two chemicals during processing that are tracked/reported by the Government as necessary: Sodium Hypochlorite (12.5%) and Sodium Bisulfite (40%). Approximately 7,800 gallons of Sodium Hypochlorite and 16,300 pounds of Sodium Bisulfite are used annually.

Pricing for both chemicals is available commercially.

Question 4: Can we request and review the Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) for the WWTP?

Answer 4: Due to Force Protection concerns, technical drawings of base facilities will not be publicly released. Drawings, diagrams, operations and maintenance manuals will be available to the awardee upon contract award.

Question 5: Who is responsible to clean up over flow conditions caused by weather?

Question 5: No sanitary sewer overflows were caused by weather in the 15 years the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit has been in effect. Cleanup of overflows that occur within the wastewater treatment plant compound would be the responsibility of the WWTP operators; however, no such overflows have occurred. All overflows have occurred outside of the WWTP compound (primarily due to blockages, but other types have occurred; e.g., natural/man-made damage to a pressure relief valve).

Question 6: Have there been any permit violations in the past 10 years?

Question 6: There were 8 sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) reported since July 2005. SSOs violate the NPDES permit. Please note that the permit issued between the SSO on 26 Aug 05 and the SSO on 2 Nov 12 did not require reporting of overflows; as such, there were overflows that occurred during this period that were not tracked by the Water Quality Program Manager. However, any such overflows would not have occurred within the WWTP compound. There has never been a water quality standard violation since the first permit was issued in 2000.

Question 7: Have there been any lost time accidents in the past five years?

Answer 7: No.

Question 8: Can we obtain and review state inspection reports for the previous two inspections?

Answer 8: Please refer to NPDES Compliance Inspection Reports in New Mexico website at https://www.env.nm.gov/swqb/NPDES/Inspections/index.html

Question 9: Please list any failed WET tests to include time, date and root cause failure analysis.

Answer 9: There has never been a Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) test failure.

Question 10: Who is responsible for Programmable Logic Controller Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, Human Machine Interface (PLC/SCADA/HMI) troubleshooting, repair and maintenance?

https://www.env.nm.gov/swqb/NPDES/Inspections/index.html

Answer 10: The contractor is responsible for PLC/SCADA/HMI troubleshooting, repair and maintenance.

Reference PWS paragraph 1.1.: “Wastewater treatment facility operations shall be conducted in order to provide continuous, cost effective, and efficient treatment of all wastewater delivered to the facility.

This is for the operation, maintenance and repair of all equipment at the WWTP…”

Question 11: In light of the concerns voiced by the State of New Mexico regarding appropriate staff level at the Wastewater facility why doesn't contracting simply ask each Contractor responding to this request for Proposals to include a response to the following question:

*Please indicate the total number of full time and certified employees that will be assigned on a Full- Time Basis to this project?*

Answer 11: As a performance-based acquisition, the Government has described the requirements in terms of measurable outcomes contained in the Performance Work Statement and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit. The Contractor is responsible for achieving the desired outcomes in accordance with the stated performance standards and any other requirements in the contract.

Question 12: Under section 1.3 of the PWS Corrective Maintenance; once a repair exceeds $1,500 in material costs or 40 hours in direct labor and becomes an Over and Above, is the contractor responsible for the first $1,500 in material costs for the Over and Above?

Answer 12: As stated in paragraph 1.3.2, “The Contractor’s liability under the firm fixed-price portion of the contract shall be limited to the first 40 hours and $1,500.00 in total direct material costs per repair or corrective maintenance job.” If a repair or corrective maintenance job exceeds the stated threshold and becomes an Over and Above Work request, the Contractor is still responsible for the first 40 hours and $1,500.00 in costs.