P03 Sole Source Justification - Police Radios - Redacted.pdf

VHAPG Part 813.5 Simplified Acquisition Procedures for Certain Commercial Items Attachment 1: Request for Sole Source Justification Template >SAT-$7.5M under FAR13.5

Effective Date: 11/15/24 Page 1 of 4

REVISION: 01

Acquisition ID#: 36C244-25-AP-4272

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION UNDER SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL

ITEMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 13.5

Acquisition Plan Action ID: 36C244-25-AP-4272

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, Network/Program Contracting Office NCO4, located at 1010 Delafield RD, in support of VISN 04 VA Health Care System at VA Pittsburgh Medical CTR, University DR C, Pittsburgh PA 15240. PR # 646-25-4-0535.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: This procurement is for the purchase of 50 handheld PA-StarNet compatible Motorola APX 8000 radios (to include 50 connecting handheld microphones, 50 earpieces, 50 individual charging bases, 50 holsters & 8 reconditioning charge docking stations), 10 Police car Motorola APX 8500 radios, 4 Police dispatch Motorola APX Consolette radios (along with 4 stand microphones, 4 foot/knee speaking toggle pedal, 5 headsets) and 4 Motorola MCD 5000 Deskset System.

This action will be awarded as a Sole Source, firm-fixed price contract to Motorola Solutions, who will provide and install the radios in accordance with established PA-Star Net guidelines.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency’s Needs: The Pittsburgh VA Medical Center Police Department requires the purchase and installation of Motorola radio equipment to include the necessary programming, provisioning, and training in accordance with the established guidelines and regulations with the PA StarNet Radio System. These radios will replace the outdated radio equipment utilized by VAPHS Police Officers who travel and are stationed in multiple geographic areas. These radios will allow for and provide communication amongst local Federal, State, County/City, and municipal first responders and emergency services.

The expected dollar value is

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Restricted Competition:

FAR 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The statutory authority for applying the Simplified Procedures for Commercial Items of FAR 13.5 is 41 U.S.C. § 1901 and is implemented by FAR 13.106-1(b)(2) for restricting competition on this procurement. Competition is restricted on this procurement for the reason below:

(X) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements

( ) Unusual and Compelling Urgency ( ) Industrial Mobilization, Engineering, Developmental or Research Capability or Expert

Services ( ) International Agreement ( ) Authorized or Required by Statute ( ) National Security ( ) Public Interest

Effective Date: 11/15/24 Page 2 of 4

Acquisition ID#: 36C244-25-AP-4272

5. Demonstration that the Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority): The VAPHS VA Police requires a new radio infrastructure due to the existing system failing periodically. VA Pittsburgh Police Services is utilizing the State of Pennsylvania’s Law Enforcement communication system – PA Starnet.

Motorola holds the contract with the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) to operate PAStarNet.

PAStarNet is a Law Enforcement communication system that provides secure communication. In order to provide secure communication without vulnerabilities that could place law enforcement officer at risk, the system is proprietary and must receive approvals to allow compatibility. Only certain devices are allowed to operate on the system and they must be approved by the State. The system prohibits certain features such as email, which the radios, are capable of doing, but are prohibited because they introduce vulnerabilities. A final determination for access is solely based upon PA StarNet, due to their high equipment standards for FCC and program compliance.

All the devices: radios, mobile radios for the vehicles, consolettes, and the in-building amplification all require programming that provide the integration of the devices on to the system and provide the digital encryption to eliminate the vulnerabilities to safeguard the officers. Motorola operates the system and via their subcontractor they provide all the programming that allows the radios to communicate without introducing vulnerabilities, which put officers at risk, into the system.

The VA police Officers may not be doing anything high profile, but they will operate on the same system as elite law enforcement groups throughout the state (all broken out into separate “talk groups”). Introducing any vulnerability into the system by allowing someone other than Motorola and their sub, Capital Area Communication, to work on the system could put the lives of officers at risk. Capital Area Communications is the only authorized contractor and responsible source to encode and program Motorola products for PA StarNet and there are no other possibilities for bid, as this is a proprietary software owned by PA StarNet provided to Capital Area Communications.

Because of the particular avenues in place regarding the necessary approvals to utilize this network, it is a proprietary system.

In addition to the unique programming requirement, utilizing the existing radio system provided by PSP offers a vast cost savings as the VA Pittsburgh Police Service will not have to procure a whole new radio infrastructure.

VAPHS Engineering’s current radio infrastructure project established and installed an in-building distributed antenna system that uses existing PA-StarNet RF donor sites. Through utilization of PA- StarNet compatible equipment, this will allow for a fully operational radio network.

Accordingly, Motorola Solutions, in conjunction with their approved programming company, is the only firm capable of providing the supplies and services described in Section III above without the Veteran’s Health Administration experiencing substantial duplication of cost that could not be expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements.

6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable:

SBA DSBS Portal: A search was conducted in the VetCert system using NAICS code 928110;

423690; 516210, which yielded no contracts that are available for outside agencies.

Effective Date: 11/15/24 Page 3 of 4

Acquisition ID#: 36C244-25-AP-4272

Review of Product Literature: Several Manufacturers were reviewed, including Motorola, and EJ Kenwood. No alternatives were found that could meet the requirements for system compatibility through PA StarNet Radio System.

Contact with OEM: Police Services contacted Motorola, and it was confirmed that Motorola and their authorized programmers, could provide the required radios based on the proprietary technology that meets the Government’s needs.

7. Determination by the CO that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost is fair and reasonable based on previous procurement history and pricing benchmarks for similar communications devices.

The firm-fixed price nature of the contract ensures cost stability. In addition, a price comparison with similar products available through authorized distributors was conducted to validate the reasonableness of the pricing.

8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: In accordance with FAR Part 10, VAAR Part 810, and PPM 2016-05 (REVISED AUG 2019) comprehensive market research was conducted to determine whether the procurement of the Motorola equipment could be accomplished in a manner that supports competition and considers service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) and veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs), as required by Veterans First Contracting Program.

Given the required approvals of equipment to be able to utilize the closed system for the PA StarNet Radio system, market research is limited to the specific equipment that has been approved for use on this Radio System.

Market Research Techniques Used:

GSA eLibrary- Contracter Listing/ NAICS code 334220 and NAICS 334210, 334112, 334111 which listed 869 Contractors between the 4 NAICS codes.

SBA DSBS Portal Search: was used to search for vendors using the keyword “Motorola” It identified 65 potential vendors.

Contacting Industry Experts and OEM: Police Services reached out to PA StarNet and Capital Area Communications and verified that only Capital Area Communications can program the PA StartNet proprietary software on specific approved Motorola devices.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: PA Star Net system is a closed system that only authorized single source vendors with the established capabilities to be approved. The vendor is the direct manufacture of Motorola Solutions, with Capital Area Communication programming of the PA StarNet systems. The radio infrastructure upgrades requested are approved and have been tested for the P25 features as required to be on the PAStarNet system.

10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: Initial process in which quoted pricing established 2/11/24 completed the identifying requirements for OEM. No certification required as this will be directly purchased from the manufacture. This is system and models are established for State, Federal, County & business partners of PA State Police only, and will be joined as part of the established radio system.