Valley View Farm Free-stall Barn and Manure Management

Eastern Connecticut Conservation District is requesting proposals for design and construction of a free-stall barn and manure management facility at Valley View Farm in North Stonington, New London County, Connecticut, with proposals due November 1, 2026 and a mandatory pre-proposal conference and site visit on October 13, 2026. Written questions are due October 3, 2026.

The scope encompasses a 136'-8" x 336' x 14'/27' freestall barn with two attached 48' x 50' x 14' buildings, a 120' x 12' concrete manure storage tank with 858,906-gallon operational volume, a 44' x 10' reception and pump chamber, concrete pads, approximately 1,143 linear feet of gravel access roads, three grass-lined diversion swales, subsurface drainage infrastructure, and associated earthwork and erosion control. The barn is designed for dairy housing, maternity and special needs pens, milk room, and equipment storage. All work must conform to NRCS Construction and Material Specifications, Connecticut Department of Transportation specifications, ASTM standards, ACI 350 standards for concrete, and applicable Connecticut State Building Code and IBC 2021 provisions. The manure storage tank requires 4,000 PSI cast-in-place reinforced concrete with dual mats of reinforcement, and all structural components are subject to preconstruction meetings and NRCS inspection at specified key points, with final inspection required prior to contractor departure. The NRCS Inspector is Chris Dodge (860-412-5261 cell). No modifications to design are permitted without NRCS engineering staff approval. The contract is subject to federal Buy America provisions under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Equal Employment Opportunity requirements, Copeland Anti-Kickback Act compliance, and debarment and suspension certifications.

The anticipated Notice to Proceed is March 16, 2027, with construction beginning in April 2027 and completion targeted for October 2027. Builder selection is expected by November 16, 2026. Funding includes the Long Island Sound Futures Fund through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Resources Conservation Service, and Valley View Dairy, LLC. The selected builder must provide a 5% bid guarantee, performance bond for 100% of contract value, and payment bond for 100% of contract value. Required insurance includes $2,000,000 aggregate/$1,000,000 per-occurrence general liability and $1,000,000 per-person/$3,000,000 per-occurrence automobile liability, plus statutory workers' compensation. Proposals are evaluated on qualifications and experience, in-house staffing with licensed professionals, technical capability and project management approach, financial terms, project schedule adherence, and official statement of proposer. Contact Dan Mullins at Eastern Connecticut Conservation District, 139 Wolf Den Road, Brooklyn, Connecticut 06234, 860-319-8808 or Dan.Mullins@comcast.net.