SW250403.pdf

This document is a Solicitation Waiver Request and Justification Form from the State of Nevada's Department of Administration Purchasing Division, specifically involving the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) and Timmons Group. The contract is for a comprehensive wildfire preparedness and planning project valued at approximately $430,000, with a contract term from 5/1/2025 to 4/30/2030. The scope of work includes four key components: 1) enhancements to the Wildfire Community Assessment Tool (CAT), including training video creation, 2) data maintenance for the West-Wide Wildfire Risk Assessment (WWRA), 3) five years of annual hosting and data services for Nevada's Natural Resources and Fire Information Portal, and 4) development of a Living Community Wildfire Protection Plan tool to help communities identify wildfire risk mitigation strategies.

The contract will be funded through federal grants, specifically the Community Assessment Tool (CAT), West-Wide Wildfire Risk Assessment (WWRA), and Living Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Timmons Group has been the established vendor for these tools, having previously developed and maintained the systems since 2022, which have been used to assess over 180 communities. The waiver request justifies a sole source procurement, arguing that competitive bidding would require scrapping existing $475K investments, incur significant re-evaluation costs, and disrupt current wildfire mitigation planning. The estimated annual hosting fees range between $15,000 and $17,000, with $16,500 used in the current estimate. The document emphasizes the unique nature of the tools and the vendor's proprietary coding and design.