11._meeting_minutes_from_pre-proposal_conference.docx

MINUTES

Solicitation Number SAQMMA17R0213 The pre-proposal conference Oasis Hotel Jericho

09:00 AM

March 22, 2017

In Attendance:

Anthony Liberta, Celestar Corporation Bahjat (Ben) Saleh, US21 Thomas Barnes, US21 David Calhoun, US21 Mel Booker, GovSource Inc Douglas Alvin Cox, BlueForce Inc Michael Terry Caldwell, BlueForce Inc Brittany Chiang, Flatter & Associates Robert S. Miller, IEA Corp.

Bobbie Boykin, IEA Corp.

Micheal McManamon, SGI Global LLC Amy Ngoc-Hoang Wrona, IDS Basil Awartani, IDS Alfred Leggett, Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, LLC Maureen Britell, Orion Mgmt LLC Kevin Thad Wheeler, The Kaizen Company Trevor Conrad Baim, The Kaizen Company Nathan Anderson Kelly, The Kaizen Company Douglas Frank McCollum, ATSG Corporation Ronald Jeffrey Dervish, ATSG Corporation Allison Eastridge, VxL Enterprise LLC Justin Lee McQuown, Phalanx Group LLC and RMGS Jeanine Hadnot, Creative Corrections Ihab Barghothi, RSLS Asia Qawasmi, RSLS

Welcome & Opening Remarks – Tim Farrell, COR:

· Tim welcomed the attending members. He introduced himself and explained the purpose of the meeting and gave a brief description on the role of INL and JIPTC in the region while LTC Jeffrey Schamehorn from USSC described the role of USSC.

· Tim handed out a copy of the 30 questions he got so far from the bidders and asked them to submit any additional question they might have in the same format. During the course of the meeting, Tim answered some of the questions and informed the companies’ representatives that the answers he provided are not official until the CO approves them. Once they have the final answers, they will post an amendment to the contract.

· All the companies should submit all their question by March 30. The final decision comes from the CO.

Review RFP/SOW:

· A bi-weekly and a monthly report will be required from the contractor but we’re looking into changing it to a monthly report.

· Each company should attach a transition plan to their proposal.

· The winner contractor has a choice of having the company’s office in Jerusalem or Ramallah, or Jericho keeping in mind that the operating cost is more expensive in Jerusalem than it is in the West Bank.

· 2.3 Warehousing: The winner company should have a warehouse in the West Bank. INL buys many things for the Palestinians and it’s more convenient for us to have a warehouse in the West Bank.

· 2.9 Medical service: the winning company should obtain a general basic in-country medical service for all its personnel.

· In the monthly report, the winning company needs to list of names of the people they have on sites.

· In the statement of work, it states that the company is responsible of recruiting 6 SME. However, 7 SME positions are required.

· The Program Manger position is preferable to be a US base position but the Deputy Program manager should be located in Jerusalem, Jericho or Ramallah.

· The work week for TM and SME is 5 days a week, 10 hours a day.

· The pricing should be based on the anticipated staffing shown in table 1.2, page 10.

· Travel and ODCs: Travel expenses are basically a cost reimbursement basis. The ODC might include small purchasing items such as certificates, office supplies, printing manuals, anything but not food. Purchase requests should be sent to Tim/COR first for his approval.

· Visa and visa renewals: visas are a big problem in this country. INL can provide the winning company with letters to facilitate processing the visas for your staff. Currently all the MTTs have official passports. However, the procedures have changed to semi-official passports. We will have all the details in the amendment. We will look into the given transition time to include the time you will need for obtaining the semi-official passports.

· The wining company will have to provide INL with the list of housing they have in the West Bank or Jerusalem.

· Equipment procurement and logistics: we do a lot of procurement to the PA. Under the current contract, we bought equipment for more than 3 million dollars. We procured computers, furniture, helmets, pens, sheets and pillows. The amount varies based on the need that comes up.

· Clearing customs in Israel is very difficult. The winning company needs to recruit a customs clearing position. Nothing can get to the WB without the COGAT’s approval.

Other questions:

· One of the companies representative asked if the only thing they are allowed to sub-contract is the Language Assistant services. Tim said he needs to get some direction from the CO as he is aware that this contract wouldn’t be easy to manage for a small business.

· Another company representative asked whether all the staff should have a security clearance. Tim said that the main three positions (PM, DPM & ADPM) should acquire a secret clearance from DS.