Phase 2 NOAA UxS Program Michigan

***NOAA's Acquisition & Grants Office, Western Acquisition Division-Boulder, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), intends to negotiation, on a sole source basis, under authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with Hibbard Inshore LLC to purchase Phase 2 of the NOAA UxS program in Michigan.

***The sole source determination is based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requirement that Hibbard Inshore LLC, is the only provider of this service. NOAA teamed with Hibbard Inshore on a proposal submitted to the NOAA Unmanned Systems Operations Center (UxS) program. After a competitive selection process, the GLERL/Hibbard team was chosen to receive funding from the NOAA UxS program. This is for Phase 2 of work on this project and is the logical follow on to Phase 1. This work is to demonstrate the capability of the Saab Sabertooth autonomous underwater vehicle to be deployed from the GLERL Lake Michigan Field Station. The five day demonstration will focus on successful navigation, during the late fall to late winter field season, in and out of the Muskegon piers and the collection of high-resolution, geo-referenced multibeam and photo imagery obtaining extent and characteristics of invasive mussel reefs from 10m to 100m offshore.  This vendor is the only one with access to Phase 1 data. Work to be performed from 09/30/2021 – 03/31/2022.  

***THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS AND NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, FIRMS THAT BELIEVE THEY CAN FULLY MEET THE GOVERNMENT'S REQUIREMENTS MAY SUBMIT SUBSTANTIATING DOCUMENTATION IN WRITING TO THE IDENTIFIED POINT OF CONTACT WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION OF THIS SYNOPSIS. SUCH DOCUMENTATION WILL BE EVALUATED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT THIS PROCUREMENT ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS. A DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO CONDUCT A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT, BASED UPON RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE, IS SOLELY WITHIN THE DISCRETION OF THE GOVERNMENT. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.