Northville Fiber Consortium - Self-Provisioned Fiber Cable

The Northville Fiber Consortium, representing school districts in Macomb County and New Haven Village, Michigan, has issued a Request for Proposals for self-provisioned fiber optic cable maintenance and installation services. The procurement encompasses three primary scopes: rebuilding approximately 25 miles of existing fiber infrastructure across 19 school buildings with 24 strands per building, installing new fiber from Northville High School to four Plymouth-Canton Schools locations (5.5 miles), and installing new fiber to Novi High School and South Lyon Salem Elementary School (22 miles), all terminating at Northville High School. Bidders must submit an Intent to Bid Form by October 14, 2024, attend a mandatory facilities walkthrough at 10:00 AM on the same date, and submit sealed bids by 2:00 PM on November 18, 2024, at the Administration Building in Northville. The contract will be awarded for an initial three-year term with two optional two-year extensions, with Board approval anticipated December 4, 2024, and contract execution by December 15, 2024. All bids must include pricing for unscheduled maintenance hourly rates, 100 block hours annually for repairs, estimated annual replacement parts costs, annual line inspections, two emergency response calls, and Miss Dig Services at $1,500 monthly, with costs covering engineering, permitting, make-ready fees, tree trimming, building entrances, fiber cable installation, termination hardware, fire stopping, splicing, testing, and comprehensive documentation. Qualified vendors must provide four references (including one from a school district), submit notarized Familial Disclosure and Iran Linked Business Affidavits, obtain a USF Service Provider Identification Number, maintain commercial general liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, and comply with Michigan prevailing wage and non-discrimination requirements.

This procurement is contingent upon E-Rate FY2025 funding approval through the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), with no invoices dated or paid before July 1, 2025, and the District reserves the right to reduce contract scope if E-Rate funding is less than anticipated. The District is exempt from federal excise and state sales taxes, so sales tax should not be included in bids, and no performance bond is required. Bidders must submit bids in duplicate with electronic copies on flash drives and must include a 5% bid bond. The Northville Fiber Consortium reserves the right to award separate portions of the project to different vendors based on cost-effectiveness analysis and to accept alternative service types including lit fiber, dark fiber, or third-party network solutions if more cost-effective, provided all services meet the 10 Gbps connection speed requirement. Vendors must provide comprehensive warranties covering three years for workmanship and materials. The specific budget or award value for this procurement is not disclosed in the available documentation, though the scope of work spanning approximately 52.5 miles of fiber installation and maintenance across multiple school locations suggests a significant contract value.