SS 424- NOTICE OF PROPOSED SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE.pdf

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

Notice of Intent to Certify Sole Source

#SS 424

The University of Mississippi (UM) anticipates purchasing the item(s) listed below as a sole source purchase. Anyone objecting to this purchase as a sole source shall follow the procedures outlined below.

Commodity or commodities to be purchased (manufacturer, model, description):

Emriver EM3 River Simulator-Emriver, Inc

The need to be fulfilled by this item(s) and why it is the only one that can meet the specific needs of the department:

Emriver EM3 River Simulator - a stand-alone 3m x 1m fully functional, interactive river model that demonstrates the interactions between water flow, sand transport, and river slope. No other company makes a river table this large and with this many features, including precisely controlled water pump allowing for change in discharge, ability to adjust drain plug to simulate changing sea levels, ability to adjust tilt of table to simulate various tectonic scenarios, color-coded different density media to highlight zones of faster flow vs slower flow, scale models of various weirs and culverts to explore engineering solutions to water flow issues, wave-generating attachment to simulate coastal processes, base with casters to allow transport of the table to different labs or common areas for outreach activities. Discharge control will be used to teach students how changing river velocity affects erosion rates, and this will be related to storm intensity and flood recurrence intervals;

changing sea level will allow students to see how rivers respond to rising or falling sea levels and evaluate possible hazards; tilt mechanism will show students how fluvial styles vary given recent mountain-building events vs older, highly eroded slopes, as well as infiltration vs runoff on different angled slopes; color coding enables easy identification of fluvial land-forms, including meander pattern, thalweg, cut bank, point bar, floodplain, levee; engineered structures provide empirical data to test calculations that students will perform to predict performance; coastal process modeling will teach students about wave erosion and long-shore drift, including wave refraction and ideal placement of jetties and groins to prevent erosion, as well as modeling different types of deltas.

Name of company/individual selling the item and why that source is the only possible source that can provide the required item(s):

Emriver, Inc., Kathrine Poulos; kate.Irrd@gmail.com; (618) 529-7423; 550 North University Avenue; Carbondale, IL 62901. No other company makes a stream table of this size that is a portable stand-alone unit with as many features. These features include: The Emriver models and flumes are designed and built for many years of hard use with very little maintenance. They are optimized for size and portability. All other moveable bed river models (MBRMs) use lightweight plastic boxes or tubs to contain the modeling media and water. Emriver models use very strong, engineered aluminum boxes.

Why the amount to be expended for the commodity is reasonable:

The amount of the purchase is reasonable given the high degree of craftsmanship that goes into constructing the items, the degree of customization to fit our allotted space needs, and the high flexibility of topics we can teach with all of the included accessories.

Efforts that the agency went through to obtain the best possible price for the commodity:

Multiple meetings with vendors, internet searches, other professionals who specialize in river/water studies, etc. The maximum education discount is applied, which was a fiscal bonus and can be seen in the quote.

Submission Instructions and Format of Response from Objecting Parties:

Interested parties who have reason to believe that the item(s) above should not be certified as a sole source should provide information in the following format for UM to use in determining whether or not to proceed with awarding the Sole Source purchase.

1.1 Interested Party Information

1.1.1 Contact Name, Phone Number, Address and email address

1.1.2 Company Website URL, if applicable

1.2 Objection to Sole Source Certification

1.2.1 Interested parties must present specific objections to the Sole

Source certification using the criteria listed above.

1.2.2 A statement regarding the Interested Party's capabilities as related to this Sole Source Certification Request.

1.3 Comments will be accepted any time prior to Tuesday, March 18, 2 0 2 5 at 10:00 am (Central Time) to Frank Kemp or Jeff Wells at solesource@olemiss.edu (with Cc: to jeffw@olemiss.edu ) at The University of Mississippi Procurement Services Department, 164 Jeanette Phillips Drive, PO Box 1848, University, Mississippi 38677. Responses may be delivered by hand, via regular mail, overnight delivery, or e-mail.

The e n v e l o p e or emai l should r e f e r e n c e t h e sole source n u m-be r .U M WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYS IN THE DELIVERY OF RESPONSES. It is solely the responsibility of the Interested Parties that responses reach UM on time. Interested Parties may contact Frank Kemp or Jeff Wells to verify the receipt of their Responses.

Responses received after the deadline will be rejected.

If after a review of the submitted notice and documents, UM determines that the commodity in the proposed sole source request can be provided by another person or entity, then UM will withdraw the sole source certification and submit the procurement of the commodity to an advertised competitive bid or selection process.

If UM determines after review that there is only one (1) source for the required commodity, then UM will appeal to the Public Procurement Review Board for approval to purchase.

mailto:solesource@olemiss.edu mailto:%20jeffw@olemiss.edu