Questions_received_final.pdf

Attachment 1 R15PS00114 – Amendment 0001

R15PS00114 – QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Q: Would we be able to approach Canon about potential advertising under this Contract?

For example, having the Canon Logo on the Cardboard Photo Holders etc.?

A: This is not allowable. It gives the appearance that Bureau of Reclamation is endorsing Canon.

2. Q: Does the BOR own the Green Screen on the Ticketing level or is it also the property of Hot Shots?

A: The green screen in the Ticketing level belongs to the current contractor. Section 5.3.4 Photograph Supplies, paragraphs a. and c. address photograph equipment the contractor provides.

3. Q: Could we potentially re-produce some of the old Black and White photos in the Visitor’s Center and on the

Tour to sell as additional Merchandise items?

A: Merchandise items are provided by the Government. Suggestions and ideas for additional merchandise to sell will be taken under consideration by the Government after contract award.

4. Q: Can we possibly post Banners etc. inside the elevators to promote the sales of Memorabilia given the fact that guests are stationary during the one minute ride down and up?

A: Under Section 9.7 Photography and Merchandise Sales Plan, marketing strategies will be considered. In Section 4.1.4 Information and Directional Signage, “Any additional signage shall be approved by the COR.”

4.a.Q: To expand on this, we would also ask to add signage on the plaza level directing people toward the photo and memorabilia sales areas with the same logo / design we would use on all of the banners / signage for continuity. The signage would be portable and moved into our sales area at the end of the day for safe storage.

A: Under Section 9.7 Photography and Merchandise Sales Plan, marketing strategies will be considered. In

Section 4.1.4 Information and Directional Signage, “ Any additional signage shall be approved by the COR.”

5. Q: Could we put a display on the blank screen before and after the film promoting the memorabilia?

A: Under Section 9.7 Photography and Merchandise Sales Plan, marketing strategies will be considered

6. Q: Does the vendor have latitude on packages and pricing?

A: Under Section 9.7 Photography and Merchandise Sales Plan, suggestions of packages shall be in the Sales Plan. Under Section 2.1.3 Fee Schedule Rates, “Reclamation establishes and sets the prices for the photographs and merchandise.” Suggestions and ideas will be considered though.

7. Q: What is a bid price defined as in conjunction with Bid Guarantee?

a. 20% of monthly?

b. 20% annually?

A: 20% of the price for the base year plus all options.

8. Q: Collecting and dispersing of money, done by vendor or done by The Bureau?

A: Under Section 6.4.2 in the Performance Work Statement:

“The Contractor shall deposit funds collected under this contract in its own account with a merchant bank of its choice.” … “Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic funds transfer or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) may be used to transfer all revenues collected and accepted by the Contractor within 1 business day of collection to an account specified and established by the Government.”

a. “The process for depositing various types of revenue will include the following:

1) For currency, coins and checks, the Contractor shall transfer to the Government’s Bank Account an amount equal to the revenue collected on the previous business day, including the amount of revenue collected on any intervening holiday or weekend day, back to the previous business day. Contractor is responsible for any insufficient funds charged for acceptance of personal checks.

2) All credit cards shall be accepted by the Contractor (Visa, Master Card, Discover and American

Express). For credit card payments, the Contractor shall use the merchant bank of its choice to process all credit card payments. The Contractor shall transfer the revenue to the Government’s Bank Account within one business day of collection, including the amount of revenue collected on any intervening holiday or weekend day, back to the previous business day. Contractor is responsible for declined credit card fees and credit card processing fees.”

Under Section 8.5 Contractor Payment, in the Performance Work Statement:

“Computation of the Contractor’s payment for the portion of the work completed will be made following the end of each month.”

9. Q: Sales Counter:

A: The sales counter in place is owned by the current contractor.

In Section 4.1.3 Photography Sales Area, “The Government will make available for Contractor’s use an area on the Exhibit Level of the Visitor Center which is approximately 20 x 6 feet.”

Section 2.4.4 Protection of Existing Installations and Structures states:

The Contractor shall safeguard the existing facilities, structures, installations, and equipment from any potential harm resulting from operations. Any materials furnished by the Contractor to provide protection of the existing facilities, structures, installations, and equipment shall remain the property of the Contractor and, upon completion of the work, shall be removed from the job-site by the Contractor.

a. The Contractor shall furnish, install, and maintain adequate protection, as needed, to safeguard personnel and existing facilities from harm due to the Contractor’s planned method of operations.

Such protection shall be subject to approval by the CO. The materials furnished by the Contractor to provide protection shall remain the property of the Contractor and, upon completion of the work, shall be removed from the jobsite by the Contractor.

c. The Contractor shall repair, at the Contractor’s expense, any damage to real or personal property caused by Contractor action or by failure of the Contractor to adequately protect the property. If the Contractor fails to make such repairs in a timely manner, the Government may elect to repair the damage and to charge the Contractor the costs of repair.

10.Q: The Contract seems to indicate that the contractor will collect revenues on behalf of the Government and that the

Government will make payments to the contractor out of these revenues, as opposed to the contractor collecting revenues and then remitting payments to Reclamation. Assuming the foregoing is correct, would the revenues that the contractor collects on behalf of Reclamation be tax exempt?

A: See the answer to question 8, for revenue collections. Sales tax is not collected on the sales of photographs or merchandise at Hoover Dam. The Contractor does not pay taxes on our revenue they collect daily and submit to our bank daily. The Contractor DOES pay taxes on their monthly income, just like any other business who gets a monthly paycheck.

11. Q: Can you please explain how the “Bid Guarantee” discussed in Section 1.5 of the Solicitation is calculated? We understand that it is 20% of the bid price, but are not sure we understand how the “bid price,” as opposed to the “Original contract price” referenced in the next section, is calculated.

A: The Bid Guarantee is calculated on the amount of the proposal for the base year plus all options. This is to protect the Government should an awardee fail to execute further contractual documents and the Government must award to another offeror. The bid guarantee replaces the difference between the price of the awarded proposal with the increase in price of awarding to another offeror.

The “original contract price” is the award price of the contract. In this solicitation the “original contract price” is the price of the base year without options. For Option Year 1, the “original contract price” would be the price for that option year without the base year and without any other option year. This applies to each subsequent option year.

12. Q: Can you please confirm that the Transition Period Preparations payment referenced in the Schedule of Services in Section B.2 of the Contract will be paid by Reclamation, as opposed to the Contractor?

A: The contractor will submit a price on Price Schedule 1 for the transition period. The transition period is the mobilization period where the contractor will set up their operation, install equipment, etc. When the contractor has completed the mobilization, the contractor will bill the Government for the amount stated in the price schedule.

13. Q: Can you please clarify the nature of the protection that the performance and payment bonds referenced in

Section 1.6 of the Solicitation are intended to provide to Reclamation? In other words, under what circumstances would Reclamation be entitled to demand payment of the bond amounts?

A: Performance bonds are required to protect the Government’s interest should the contractor fail to perform or fail to continue performance on the contract.

Payment bonds are required to protect the Government’s interest should the contractor fail to pay supplies, services, or labor.

14. Q: The files are asked to be send over on a disc as well as hard copies. Is the form of a disc firm or are the files acceptable on a USB drive?

A: The disc requirement is firm. According to Reclamation IT policy, we cannot plug anything not issued by

IT into our computers. This includes USB drives, cell phones, DVD/CD drives, etc.

15. Q: Is an irrevocable letter of credit, by itself, an acceptable form of bid guarantee?

A: An irrevocable letter of credit (ILC) is an acceptable form of bid guarantee. However, if used, the ILC cannot expire sooner than 60 days after the close of the bid acceptance period. ILCs that expire sooner than the 60 day time frame will be rejected.