Amendment 0006 Attach-1 Instruction to Offerors 22 May 2020.pdf

Simplified Acquisition Proposal Request (SAPR), Attachment 1 SAPR# FA4855-20-R-0006 Instructions to Offerors/Basis of Award

Amendment 0006

1. Instructions to Offerors:

A. This is a competitive selection conducted in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, set aside for Small Business (SB). Contracts awarded under FAR 13 are not subject to FAR 15.3 procedures. Accordingly, award of a contract under this SAPR, should an award be made, shall follow the procedures outlined in FAR 13, as supplemented.

B. The proposal submitted in response to this SAPR must be in compliance with the terms and conditions of the requirements as stated in the SAPR and attachments, and the Performance Work Statement (PWS). All claimed capabilities to meet the requirements shall be realistic and are subject to verification by the Government. Non-conformance with these instructions may result in rejection of the proposal, an unfavorable proposal evaluation, or being deemed ineligible for award.

C. Offerors shall clearly identify any exception to the SAPR terms and conditions and shall provide complete supporting rationale. The Government reserves the right to determine any such exceptions are unacceptable. Any exception determined unacceptable by the Government may result in the Offeror’s proposal being determined unacceptable and ineligible for award. This information shall be provided in the format and content of the table below within the Offerors proposal cover letter. If no exceptions are taken, include a statement stating so within the proposal cover letter.

SAPR Exceptions

SAPR

Document

Page/ Paragraph

Requirement/ Portion

Rationale

PWS, ITO,

Evaluation Factor, etc.

Applicable Page and Paragraph Numbers

Identify the requirement or portion to which exception is taken

Describe why the requirement can/will not be met

D. The proposal shall be clear, concise, and shall include sufficient detail for effective evaluation and for substantiating the validity of stated claims. The proposal should not simply rephrase or restate the Government's requirements but, rather, shall provide convincing rationale to address how the Offeror intends to meet these requirements. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of their facilities or experience and will base its evaluation on the information presented in the Offeror's proposal.

E. Discrepancies. If an Offeror believes the requirements in these instructions contain an error, omission, or are otherwise unsound, the Offeror shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer

(CO) in writing with supporting rationale as well as the remedies the Offeror is asking the CO to consider as related to the omission or error.

F. Period of Performance.

Base Period 01 September 2020 – 30 June 2021 Option Year 1 01 July 2021 – 30 June 2022 Option Year 2 01 July 2022 – 30 June 2023 Option Year 3 01 July 2023 – 30 June 2024 Option Year 4 01 July 2024 – 30 June 2025 Option Year 5 01 July 2025 – 31 August 2025

The CLIN structure for this contract is detailed on the Pricing Worksheet, Attachment 10.

G. Proposal Submission. Each Offeror shall submit proposals electronically to the email box of Contract Specialist (CS), Ms. Isabel Wimbish at isabel.wimbish@us.af.mil and CO, Ms. Sarah Muraco at sarah.muraco@us.af.mil and 27SOCONS20R0006@gmail.com. The proposals (via email) shall be submitted no later than the required submission due date. For the electronic file, the offeror shall indicate part number and title as described in the table in paragraph I below, and use separate files to permit rapid location of information. The electronic copies of the proposal shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft (MS) Office 2016 suite of applications. The Offeror shall submit proposals for consideration no later than 10:00am (Mountain Daylight Time), Wednesday 3 June 2020. Only one (1) proposal shall be submitted, per company, in response to this requirement. Proposals received after the date/time specified will not be evaluated.

H. To assure timely and equitable evaluation of the proposal, the offeror must follow the instructions contained herein. The proposal must be complete, self-sufficient, and respond directly to the requirements of this solicitation. The response shall consist of two (2) separate parts; Part I – Technical Capability and Part II – Price Proposal (both in electronic folders).

I. Offerors submitting a proposal in response to this SAPR shall submit a technical part and price proposal. Text shall be single spaced, on an 8 ½ x 11 inch sheet with a minimum one-inch margins all around. Font shall be no less than Times New Roman 10 pt. or no more than Times New Roman 12 pt. Tracking, kerning, and leading values shall not be changed from the default values of the word processing or page layout software. Legible tables, charts, graphs and figures shall be used wherever practical to depict organizations, systems, and layout, implementation schedules, plans, etc. These displays shall be uncomplicated, legible, and shall not exceed 11 by 17 inches in size. Pages shall be numbered consecutively within each volume. All proposal information shall be submitted in either MS Word or PDF format except for the Pricing Worksheet (Part II, Attachment 10). Pricing information shall be submitted in MS Excel format (Pricing Worksheet, Attachment 10). Each part shall be submitted as a separately-labeled electronic file. Submit one (1) original electronic copy and one (1) redacted copy Offerors must ensure that pricing information is only included in Part II. Do NOT include any Pricing information Part I. All unit and extended prices provided shall be rounded to the nearest dollar. Extended prices must be divisible by the number of units proposed with no fractional cents. Submit your proposal in accordance with the table below. All electronic submissions shall reference the complete SAPR number in the subject line.

PART

REFERENCE

TITLE

MAXIMUM

NUMBER

OF PAGES

I Cover Letter No page limit

Factor 1 Technical Capability

II Factor 2 Price No page limit

Page limitations shall be treated as maximums. If exceeded, the excess pages will not be read or considered in the Government’s evaluation of the proposal. Page limitations may be placed on responses to Interchange Notices (INs). The specified page limits for IN responses will be identified in the letters forwarding the INs to the Offerors.

(1) Part I: Cover Letter

Cover Letter shall include the SAPR number, small business status/categories, company primary and alternate points of contact with email/phone and who is authorized to contractually obligate the company, CAGE Code, DUNS number, a statement that the company understands the requirements specified and will meet the performance standards and requirements therein, a statement that the company does or does not take exception to any of the requirements of this SAPR, a statement that the proposal is valid through 01 Sep 20, and specific information if proposing a teaming arrangement.

(2) Part I: Technical Capability

The Technical Proposal should be specific and complete. Legibility, clarity, and coherence are very important. Your responses will be evaluated against the factors defined in Section 2 (Evaluation Factors) below. Provide, as specifically as possible, the actual methodology you would use for accomplishing/satisfying the factor. Address your technical solution for meeting or exceeding the Government’s minimum performance or capability requirements of each technical subfactor. All the requirements specified in the solicitation are mandatory. By your proposal submission, you are representing that your firm will perform all the requirements specified in the solicitation. It is not necessary or desirable for you to tell us so in your proposal. Do not merely reiterate the objectives or reformulate the requirements specified in the solicitation.

(3) Part II: Price

The offeror shall submit pricing information to support the completeness and reasonableness of their proposed prices for all CLINs. The pricing information submitted should fully support the PWS requirements for each major functional element specified in the PWS. This Part shall include the Pricing Worksheet (Attachment 10).

(a) NEW MEXICO GROSS RECEIPTS TAX The State of New Mexico assesses a Gross Receipts Tax for firms conducting business within state. This tax is imposed on the basis of revenue derived from business operations within the state without regard to the location of the business entity. Offeror are advised that any offer received will be presumed to include this cost of business and any request for adjustment of your prices, as a mistake in bid, either before or after contract award, will not be considered. The rate of the New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax may be obtained from the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department (http://www.tax.newmexico.gov) at

(505) 827-0700.

J. The site visit scheduled for Wednesday 13 May 2020 at 0800 Mountain Daylight Time has been canceled. Attachment 11 (WWTP Equipment Slides 1-12) have been added in place of the site visit with photographs and description of the equipment for the WWTP.

K. Point of Contacts (POC): The POCs for this acquisition are: CS Ms. Isabel Wimbish, she can be reached at 575-784-6539 or by email at isabel.wimbish@us.af.mil, and the CO Ms. Sarah Muraco, she can be reached at 575-784-6866 or by email at sarah.muraco@us.af.mil. Any questions regarding this SAPR must be submitted by email to the POCs above by 10:00AM (Mountain Daylight Time), Wednesday 20 May 2020.

2. Basis of Award:

A. This is a Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection. Pursuant to FAR

12.602 contract award will be made using Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with FAR 13.500(a) and IAW with FAR 9.104-1. Vendor’s submissions will be evaluated based upon the following:

B. First, the Government will rank the proposals from lowest price to highest price, in order to establish an Initial Total Evaluated Price (I-TEP). The I-TEP will be calculated as the sum of the Offeror’s proposed prices for the 10-month base period, four 12-month options, and a 2- month option. The 6-month Option to Extend Services will be calculated by dividing the proposed total of option year four by two. Next, the Government will evaluate the technical Part 1 (Factor 1- Technical Capability) on an acceptable or unacceptable basis, starting with the proposal with the lowest I-TEP. If the proposal with the lowest I-TEP is determined technically acceptable, the Government will evaluate the Offeror's I- TEP for price completeness, reasonableness, and balance to arrive at a Total Evaluated Price (TEP). If the lowest priced proposal is technically acceptable and the TEP is complete, reasonable, and balanced this Offeror's proposal represents the best value to the Government and award will be made to that Offeror. If the lowest priced proposal is not technically acceptable, the Government will consider the correction potential and may enter into interchanges with that Offeror. If after interchanges with that Offeror, their proposal is technically acceptable and remains the lowest priced (with the TEP complete, reasonable and balanced), the contract will be awarded to that Offeror. If the Government deems the proposal not easily correctable, or if at any time it becomes other than the lowest priced proposal, the next lowest priced proposal will be evaluated for technical acceptability, followed by an analysis of their I-TEP to verify reasonableness, completeness and balance to arrive at the TEP. Interchanges will take place as necessary or deemed appropriate by the Government. The evaluation process will continue until reaching a technically acceptable proposal with a TEP that is reasonable, complete and balanced, or until all proposals are evaluated.

C. The Government intends to make award based on the initial proposal submissions without conducting interchanges. Therefore, each offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to hold interchanges if, during the evaluation, it is determined to be in the best interest of the Government.

Interchanges are fluid interaction(s) between the CO and the offeror’s that may address any aspect of the proposal and may or may not be documented in real time. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct interchanges using Interchange Notices (IN). Offeror responses to INs with one, some, none, or all offeror’s. Offeror responses to INS will be considered in making the award selection decision. Interchanges may be conducted with one, some or all offeror’s as the Government is not required to conduct interchanges with any or all offeror’s responding to this SAPR.

3. Evaluation Factors:

A. Responses to this SAPR will be evaluated against the following factors:

Factor 1: Technical Capability Factor 2: Price

FACTOR 1: TECHNICAL CAPABILITY

Under this factor, the Government will evaluate the Offeror’s proposed technical capability based on the following:

i. Offeror must show capability to operate and maintain an aeration activated sludge treatment plant working at a minimum 1.5 million gallons per day (MGD) design capacity (ref. PWS para 1 and Appendix B). Such operations must include general operation of plant equipment, valves, and piping, sampling and lab analysis, waste and effluent disposal, and other related services. Facility operations and effluent discharge practices shall comply with all applicable Federal, State and Local regulatory standards, including State Environmental Department rules and regulations. The offeror must submit at least one satisfactorily performed contract that has occurred in the last six years, shows at least three years of satisfactory work experience in performing the technical capability described in this solicitation, and must include the information below. Additional projects may be submitted subject to the overall page limitations listed above.

Contract # Contract Title Place of Performance Prime or Subcontractor Performance Work Statement (PWS) or equivalent of this service Requiring Activity POC: Name, phone # and e-mail

ii. This requirement is met when the offeror provides documentation of properly completed sludge analysis and disposal IAW 40 CFR 503(all) from a previous satisfactorily performed contract that has occurred in the last six years.

iii. This requirement is met if the offeror's plan reflects a sound, logical, and detailed approach to the performance of mission-essential services in accordance with PWS Para 4.11, 4.11.1, 4.11.2, and the Mission-Essential Contractor Services Plan Template (Attachment 3 to the solicitation)

During evaluation of each proposal, the Government will assign each factor a rating, as shown below, to identify an offeror’s ability to accomplish each factor. Offerors will be scored by the following adjectival ratings for Technical Capability Factor:

TABLE A – Technical Ratings

Rating Description

Acceptable Proposal meets the requirements of the SAPR.

Unacceptable Proposal does not meet the requirements of the SAPR.

FACTOR 2: PRICE

A. Price proposals should support the proposed technical capability and will be evaluated for (1) TEP, (2) completeness, (3) reasonableness and (4) unbalanced pricing. Offerors whose price is determined to be incomplete, unreasonable, or unbalanced will not be considered for award.

B. The I-TEP will be calculated as the sum of the Offeror’s proposed prices for the 10- month base period, four 12-month option and a 2-month Option. The 6-month Option to Extend Services will be calculated by dividing the proposed total of option year four by two. The six-month extension of services is IAW FAR 52.217-8, "Option to Extend Services" and will only be utilized if necessary. The six-month extension of services is not to be considered part of any option period and will be a separate option exercised if it is utilized. Offerors are not required to submit pricing for a six-month extension of services. The I-TEP will be evaluated for completeness reasonableness, and unbalanced pricing to arrive at the TEP. Offerors whose price is determined to be incomplete, unreasonable or unbalanced will not be considered for award. Evaluation of options or optional CLINs shall not obligate the Government to exercise such options or optional CLINs.

C. Completeness. The proposal will be reviewed to determine the extent to which all the price elements have been addressed. The Offeror’s proposed price and other information will be evaluated to ensure continuity and traceability of prices to the technical volume and between the initial proposal and any revisions thereto. The review will determine the adequacy of the Offeror’s proposal in addressing and fulfilling the SAPR requirements.

D. Reasonableness. For a price to be reasonable, it must represent a price to the Government that a prudent person would pay in the conduct of competitive business.

The Government will determine prices fair and reasonable through the use of one or more of the price analysis techniques at FAR 13.106-3(a).

E. Unbalanced pricing. Offerors are cautioned against submitting an offer that contains unbalanced pricing. Unbalanced pricing may increase performance risk and could result in payment of unreasonably high prices. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more contract line items is significantly over or understated. The Government shall analyze offers to determine whether they are unbalanced with respect to separately priced line items or sub-line items. An offer that is determined to be unbalanced may be rejected if the Contracting Officer determines that the lack of balance poses an unacceptable risk to the Government.

4. Past Performance

A. Although past performance may not be used as an evaluation factor sources available to the Government such as the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) will be used as part of the responsibility determination made IAW FAR 9.104-1. The Government reserves the right to obtain information relative to present and past performance on its own.