Notice of Intent to Sole Source Lifetyme Model 1652 Tunnel Boat

The Contracting Office of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has a requirement to procure a Lifetyme Model 1652 Tunnel Boat for the ERDC Environmental Laboratory (EL).  The boat must be 16-ft in length, 52 inches in width, with at least a 24-inch side height.  These dimensions are necessary to hold the required research sampling gear and equipment without overloading the boat.  Heavy-gauge aluminum (3/16 inch gauge aluminum for the boat bottom and 0.160 gauge aluminum for the boat sides) is required in order to avoid leaks.  Two bench seats with dry storage and a flute pipe rail along a 36-inch front deck are required.  The flute pipe rail along a 36-inch front deck is required to avoid snagging of gear such as gillnets and to allow ample room along the bow for field personnel to deploy and retrieve sampling equipment.  The trailer must be aluminum for longer service life.  The boat must have a center console and associated steering linkages and switch to accommodate a 40 HP Yamaha jet drive outboard which is already owned by the ERDC Environmental Laboratory.  Lifetyme Inc. is the only manufacturer with the capability to meet all of these required specifications as a package that includes boat, motor installation, and trailer.

This notice is not a request for competitive quotes or proposals.  A solicitation will not be issued.  However, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency.  The information submitted must be provided in sufficient detail to demonstrate the vendor’s ability to fulfill this requirement.  The contractor must also provide a description of their past experience in fulfilling requirements which are the same or similar to this requirement and references for each. 

Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.  A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government.  Verbal communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.  Responses to this requirement may be submitted to Jody Criss at Jody.Criss@usace.army.mil.  The solicitation number shall be included in the subject line of the e-mail submission.  Responses must be received no later than 5 days from the posted date of this notice.