RFP 2025-097.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

For

Holiday Grease Roundup 2025-097

JULY 2025

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

For

Holiday Grease Roundup

RFP # 2025-097

Sealed proposals will be accepted until 2:00 PM CT, Tuesdayhursday, August 28, 2025, and then publicly opened and read aloud thereafter.

Legal Name of Proposing Firm

Contact Person Title

Telephone Number E-Mail Address

Street Address of Principal Place of Business City/State Zip

Complete Mailing Address City/State Zip

Acknowledgment of Addenda: #1_______ #2 _______ #3 _______ #4 _______ #5 _______

By signing below, you hereby certify that the information contained in this proposal and any attachments is true and correct and may be viewed as an accurate representation of proposed services to be provided by this organization. You agree that failure to submit all requested information may result in rejection of your company’s proposal as non-responsive. You certify that no employee, board member, or agent of the North Central Texas Council of Governments has assisted in the preparation of this proposal. You acknowledge that you have read and understand the requirements and provisions of this solicitation and that the organization will comply with the regulations and other applicable local, state, and federal regulations and directives in the implementation of this contract. And furthermore, that I certify that I am legally authorized to sign this offer and to submit it to the North Central Texas Council of Governments, on behalf of said offeror by authority of its governing body.

Authorized Signature

SECTION 1: OVERVIEW

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (“NCTCOG”) seeks proposals from experienced firms with the background, experience, skills, and capability to provide collection (including containment), transportation, and recycling/disposal services for used cooking oil and grease at multiple drop-off locations across North Central Texas as part of its annual “Holiday Grease Roundup.

1.0 NCTCOG

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (hereafter NCTCOG) is a voluntary association of, by, and for local governments and was established to assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit and coordinating for sound regional development.

NCTCOG serves a 16-county metropolitan region surrounding the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Currently the Council has 236 members, including 16 counties, 168 cities, 23 independent school districts, and 29 special districts. The area of the region is approximately 12,800 square miles, which is larger than nine states, and the population of the region is over

7.0 million, which is larger than 30 states.

NCTCOG's governing structure is as follows: each member government appoints a voting representative from their governing body. These voting representatives make up the General Assembly, which annually elects a 17-member Executive Board. The Board also includes one ex-officio non-voting member of the legislature. The Executive Board is supported by policy development, technical advisory, and study committees, as well as professional staff.

The Environment & Development Department leads and supports collaborative efforts among public entities to progressively address common environmental issues and development challenges due to our region’s rapid growth and urbanization, including addressing wastewater issues, such as Fats, Oils, and Grease, wipes, and more. The Wastewater And Treatment Education Roundtable (WATER) is an educational partnership between the NCTCOG, municipalities, and water utilities in the North Texas region. WATER's mission is to help reduce potential damage to the region's household plumbing systems and wastewater treatment systems as well as to decrease hazards to water quality through educational efforts related to the proper disposal of items such as wipes; paper towels; feminine hygiene and personal care products; medicines; household hazardous waste; and fats, oils, and grease (FOG).

As part of its mission, WATER supports the Annual Holiday Grease Roundup, with the goal to keep fats, oils, and grease out of drains to prevent clogs during the holiday season. The Holiday Grease Roundup traditionally takes place from November to January each year, and has steadily increased participation to over 50 city, county, and special district partners over the years.

1.1 PURPOSE

NCTCOG invites qualified vendors to partner in the Holiday Grease Roundup, to provide residents across the North Central Texas region a safe and environmentally responsible way to dispose of used cooking oil and grease during the holiday season. We are seeking experienced companies to provide collection (including containment), transportation, and recycling/disposal services for used cooking oil and grease at multiple drop-off locations across North Central Texas.

SECTION 2: GENERAL INFORMATION

2.0 CONTRACT INTENT

The intent of this RFP is for NCTCOG to enter into a Master Services Agreement (“MSA”) with one or more Contractors to supply municipalities, counties, school districts and other governmental agencies (“Customer”, “Government Entity”) with assistance to obtain the described services from awarded vendors authorized to do business in the locations selected.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments intends to award Contracts through its purchasing department to multiple Contractors. NCTCOG entities will have the option to utilize these contracts to fulfill their needs. No minimum quantities of FOG are guaranteed by NCTCOG. No minimum level of End User participation is guaranteed by NCTCOG.

There are no scheduled orders at this time, but there is the expectation that needs will arise among the various Customers.

This RFP is expected to be a non-monetary partnership.

2.1 ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDANCE

The information provided herein is intended to assist respondents in the preparation of proposals necessary to properly respond to this solicitation. The solicitation is designed to provide interested respondents with sufficient basic information to submit proposals meeting minimum requirements but is not intended to limit a submission's content or to exclude any relevant or essential data there from. Respondents are at liberty and are encouraged to expand upon the specifications to give additional evidence of their ability to provide the services requested in this solicitation.

2.2 STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The NCTCOG Procurement Standard Terms and Conditions can be found at www.nctcog.org in the “Open Procurement” section, or by clicking here. Proposers shall certify its compliance with these requirements as part of their proposal response by completing the certifications included with the RFP document “Attachments” section. Failure to submit the required certification statement may be grounds for finding the proposal non-responsive.

2.3 INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT

Other governmental entities may be extended the opportunity to purchase from contracts awarded by the NCTCOG, with the consent and agreement of the successful Vendor(s) and the NCTCOG. Such consent and agreement shall be conclusively inferred from lack of exception to this clause in Respondent’s Response. However, all parties indicate their understanding and all parties hereby expressly agree that the NCTCOG is not an agent of, partner to or representative of those outside agencies or entities and that the NCTCOG is not obligated or liable for any action or debts that arise out of such independently negotiated interlocal or “piggyback” procurements.

2.3 NEW SERVICES

New services may be added to the resulting Contract(s) during the term of the Contract by written amendment, to the extent that those Services are within the scope of this RFP and include, but will not be limited to, services which reflect new technology and improved functionality. All requests are subject to review and approval of the NCTCOG.

2.4 ALL OR NOTHING AWARD

“All or nothing” Proposals are not acceptable and will be rejected. Respondent must be willing to accept a partial award for any combination of the services proposed and must be willing to share the business with any other successful Respondents.

The NCTCOG may award contracts to multiple Respondents supplying comparable services, also known as a multiple award schedule, or award the contract to a single Respondent. The NCTCOG’s decision to make multiple awards or a single award will be based upon its sole discretion regarding the type of award that provides best value

2.5 ADDENDA

Addenda to this solicitation will be emailed only to plan holders of record. Addenda will also be posted on Bidnet Direct.

However, it is the vendor’s responsibility to check for any addenda that may be issued for this solicitation. Please acknowledge receipt of addenda by checking the appropriate spaces on the cover sheet of this RFP.

2.6 CONTRACT TERM

Any contract resulting from this RFP shall be effective until February 28, 2026.

2.7 QUESTIONS AND PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

Vendors will have the ability to submit questions in writing via the Bidnet Direct by Sovra (“Bidnet Direct”) platform until the proposal deadline. However, it is important to note that questions received less than seven (7) days prior to the proposal due date may not be answered in a timely manner. Vendor-specific questions about the process will often be answered directly. However, substantive questions that are not properly addressed in the solicitation information will be properly published to all vendors as an addendum or “Question & Answer” document. Pre-Proposal Conferences are not mandatory and NCTCOG reserves the right to determine whether a Pre-proposal meeting shall be held.

Proposers are responsible for reviewing the Bidnet Direct website for any updates related to this RFP prior to the closing date.

http://www.nctcog.org/ https://nctcog.org/getmedia/b9cd1af6-5331-44ac-ad88-a98e8c9bdcf5/TermsConditions.pdfhttps:/nctcog.org/getmedia/b9cd1af6-5331-44ac-ad88-a98e8c9bdcf5/TermsConditions.pdf

2.8 SOLICITATION SCHEDULE

The schedule for the RFP process and the work is given below. All times indicated are Central Time (CT). NCTCOG may change this schedule at any time through the addenda process. It is each Respondent’s responsibility to check Bidnet Direct for current information regarding this RFP.

The anticipated schedule is as follows:

RFP Issued August 4, 2025 Proposal Due Date August 28, 2025 2:00 PM CT Executive Board Meeting October 23, 2025 Anticipated Start Date November 1, 2025

2.9 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

The NCTCOG utilizes Bidnet Direct by Sovra (“Bidnet Direct”) as the central eProcurement portal for all formal procurement opportunities. In order to respond to this RFP, as well as receive notifications, updates, addenda, and other information regarding this solicitation, NCTCOG requires that Respondents be registered with Bidnet Direct.

Registration with Bidnet Direct is free and allows Respondents to view all of the NCTCOG’s active procurement solicitations. The landing page for this project is found here.

Electronic submission of proposals shall be made in English, in searchable PDF format, and must be uploaded via Bidnet Direct no later than 2:00 P.M. (Central Time) – Tuesdayhursday, August 28, 2025.

It is the responsibility of the respondent(s) to ensure that the proposals are received at the NCTCOG address as described above by the designated due date and time. NCTCOG assumes no responsibility for delays caused by postage, mail courier, email, package misdirection or any other form of delivery. Late proposals will be not be opened nor considered in the evaluation of the proposal. Proposals may be withdrawn at any time prior to the submittal deadline, but they may not be withdrawn after the official opening.

Proposals received will be publicly opened after the response submission deadline on Bidnet Direct. Only the names of the vendor submitting the proposal will be read aloud. No other information will be disclosed at that time.

Proposal information is restricted and not publicly available until after award of a contract. All documents associated with the proposal submitted, unless the respondent indicates a portion of the proposal is proprietary, may be subject to public inspection in accordance with the Public Information Act. All information obtained in the course of this solicitation will become property of NCTCOG.

2.10 PROPOSAL OPENING

The public opening for this RFP will be conducted at approximately 2:05 PM CT on August 28, 2025. The meeting will be held digitally via Microsoft Teams, and will be recorded for the RFP file. Please be advised that a large volume of proposals will result in delays in the decryption process. Access information and the meeting invite will be posted to Bidnet Direct prior to the bid opening.

https://www.bidnetdirect.com/texas/nctcog

SECTION 3: EVALUATION AND AWARD

3.0 TIME FOR EVALUATION

Unless stated otherwise elsewhere in this Request for Proposals, all proposals of qualification submitted shall remain valid for a minimum of 90 calendar days after the due date to allow adequate time for evaluation and award.

3.1 EVALUATION PROCESS

All submissions in response to this solicitation will be evaluated in a manner consistent with the NCTCOG and all applicable rules and policies.

A proposal review committee will be assembled to perform the evaluations. In the initial phase of the evaluation process, the evaluation committee will review all proposals that have been received before the solicitation due date. Non-responsive submissions (those not conforming to the solicitation requirements) will be eliminated. Each respondent bears sole responsibility for the items included or not included in the response submitted by that respondent. NCTCOG reserves the right to disqualify any submission that includes significant deviations or exceptions to the terms, conditions, and/or specifications in this solicitation.

Once proposals have been submitted, the NCTCOG evaluates the proposals and determines which of those are determined to be reasonably qualified for award. Those so determined will be reviewed and scored. Best and final offers ("BAFO") for those reasonably qualified may be obtained by allowing the submission of a BAFO before the final decision is made to award a contract.

NCTCOG reserves the right to be the sole judge as to the overall acceptability of any submission or to judge the individual merits of specific provisions within competing offers.

3.2 BAFO AND CLARIFICATION REQUESTS

Once proposals have been submitted, the NCTCOG evaluates the proposals and determines which of those are determined to be reasonably qualified for award. Those so determined will be reviewed and scored. Clarification requests may be requested of firms where clarifying information is necessary to better understand meaning of any part of a bid submission. Best and final offers ("BAFO") for those reasonably qualified may be obtained by allowing the submission of a BAFO before the final decision is made to award a contract.

3.3 ORAL PRESENTATIONS

NCTCOG reserves the right to require a presentation by the firm to supplement their written submission. These presentations will be scheduled, if required, after Proposals are received and prior to the award of the Contract.

3.4 AWARD OF THE CONTRACT

Upon completion of the evaluation process, contracts may be awarded to one or more respondent(s) whose submission is determined to be the most advantageous to NCTCOG.

3.5 PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

The criteria to be used to evaluate submissions are as follows:

Pass/Fail Criteria Description Percentage Points

Key Personnel Points will be awarded on a pass/fail basis for the clear inclusion of the required components of Key Personnel information, as outlined in greater detail in Section 5.0.

Pass/Fail – 5%

References Points will be awarded on a pass/fail basis for the clear inclusion of the required information regarding References, as outlined in greater detail in Section 5.0.

Pass/Fail - 5%

Weighted Scoring Criteria

Weighted Maximum

Percentage Points Project-Related Experience and Qualifications

Points will be awarded based on the clear inclusion and quality of response of response regarding the required information regarding Project-Related Experience and Qualifications, as outlined in greater detail in Section 5.0.

30%

Technical Proposal Points will be awarded based on the clear inclusion and quality of response regarding the required details of the Technical Proposal, as outlined in greater detail in Section 5.0.

60%

TOTAL POSSIBLE PERCENTAGE POINTS 100%

SECTION 4: SPECIFICATIONS

4.0 SCOPE OF WORK

Partnership Model/Roles:

1. Equipment Provision

Supplying clean, labeled, weather-resistant, and tamper-proof containers (e.g., 55-gallon drums or totes).

Delivering containers to designated drop-off sites prior to the event start date.

2. Logistics Coordination

Collaborating with participating cities/utilities to determine container needs and delivery/pickup schedules.

Providing a dedicated point of contact for coordination.

3. Collection & Transportation

Servicing containers on a scheduled or on-call basis throughout the event.

Transporting collected materials to an approved recycling or disposal facility.

4. Recycling/Disposal

Recycling used cooking oil/grease into biofuel or disposing of it in compliance with all applicable regulations.

Providing documentation of recycling/disposal methods and volumes.

5. Event Timeline:

Event Duration: November 1, 2025 – January 31, 2026 (internal note: likely same dates in future years)

Container Delivery: minimum 3 business days before event starts.

Final Pick Up: within 5 business days after event ends.

4.1 DESIRED DELIVERABLES FOR REQUESTED SERVICES:

Respondents must provide a narrative response to the following items, in the order listed. Provide additional pages as needed to provide a sufficient response to each desired deliverable for the services requested in this RFP.

1. Provide dedicated point of contact for coordination

2. Provide containers to designated drop-off sites

3. Provide timely pickup and transportation of collected materials

4. Provide documentation of recycling and/or disposal methods and total volumes per location

5. Provide documentation of any incidents or service issues

Respondents should prepare a proposal that describes the services that they are proposing to provide. Proposals must demonstrate the respondent’s capability to provide all or part of the requested services. A Respondent’s proposal will be evaluated only for the services that they propose.

NCTCOG reserves the right to select the proposal or proposals offering the most advantageous combination, with price and other evaluation criteria considered. Respondent should answer all questions related to services on which Respondent wishes to propose.

NCTCOG will provide entities with a full marketing toolkit for participating entities to use. NCTCOG will assist in the introduction of the vendor to the entity. After which point the entity will take over direct communication to the vendor.

SECTION 5: HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL

5.0 INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDENTS

Please provide a written response regarding ability to meet each requirement as outlined in the Specifications (Section 4). Include any additional pertinent information on how your proposed solution meets each requirement. Provide any pertinent additional functionality and/or services not outlined in the Scope of Work that you wish to offer.

Important Note: Your proposal must consist of your responses to the Required Response Information outlined below and completed Attachments I-X.

Required Response Information

Each section of information should be clearly defined using the following section or heading titles:

Certificate of Offeror and Statement of Understanding

The initial submission pages of your proposal will consist of:

1. Addenda acknowledgment and signature of authorized representative (page 1 of this solicitation document)

2. A brief statement of the respondent’s understanding of the work to be done or desired deliverables requested in the solicitation.

Key Personnel

If applicable in providing services under this contract, attach statements of qualifications or resumes for all managers, supervisors, and other team members who will be involved in the management of the delivery of goods or services under this RFP.

References

Include at least three (3) recent references for customers (preferably public agencies) for whom you have provided services similar to those requested in this solicitation within the last five (5) years. Please include the organization’s name (if applicable), contact person, phone number, and email address for each reference.

NCTCOG reserves the right to contact or visit any of the respondent’s current and/or past customers to evaluate the level of performance and customer satisfaction.

Project-Related Experience and Qualifications

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of experience in performing the requested goods/services.

Provide a written response regarding organization’s and/or individual’s ability to meet each requirement as outlined in the Scope of Work (Section 4.0). Include a brief statement of the respondent’s background, including years in business, proven experience in grease/cooking oil collection and recycling/disposal, valid licenses and insurance, capacity to service multiple locations across the North Central Texas region for the requested services and any additional pertinent information on how your proposed solution meets each requirement. Provide any pertinent additional functionality and/or services not outlined in the Scope of Work that you wish to offer. It should also clearly indicate any major requirements that cannot be met by the organization or individual.

If applicable, identify any subcontractors or third-party services that are utilized in the performance of fulfilling this RFP. Provide a general explanation and chart which specifies project leadership and reporting responsibilities, and how the team will interface with NCTCOG and Participating Entities’ project management and team personnel.

Technical Proposal

This section should constitute the major portion of the submittal. Respondent's proposal should detail their capabilities, knowledge and skills related to the desired deliverables and expectations as outlined in Section 4.0: Specifications. Proposal should also include the respondents’ plan of action to deliver desired deliverables requested in section 4.1.

Failure to provide written response to items indicated in this section will be interpreted by NCTCOG as an inability by the firm to provide the requested product, service or function.

Pricing

This RFP is expected to be a non-monetary partnership. No financial compensation is expected to be exchanged between the entity and the selected partner. If Respondent requires any monetary exchange from the end users, please itemize and provide full explanation for pricing in the proposal. For more information on the counties covered, please refer to Exhibit A.

Required Attachments - Please include signed copies of all ATTACHMENTS (beginning with ATTACHMENT I) located in the “Required Acknowledgment” section of the solicitation. All attachments must be submitted with the proposal, or the proposal may be disqualified as nonresponsive. If an attachment does not apply, please mark as “Not Applicable” and submit with the proposal.

EXHIBIT A:

Service Area

Select the counties you propose to provide services. You are not required to serve all 16 counties. However, you must be prepared to serve the entirety of each county you select.

Collin County Dallas County

Denton County Ellis County

Erath County Hood County Hunt County

Johnson County Kaufman County Navarro County

Palo Pinto County Parker County

Rockwall County Somervell County

Tarrant County Wise County