RFP-DEM Disaster Recovery Services Staff Augmentation. Technical Questions and Answers

Transcription

1 RFP-DEM Disaster Recovery Services Staff Augmentation Technical Questions and Answers 1) Will you be awarding one contract for this work or to multiple companies? A: The Division will award one contract for this work. 2) Section 30.2 Criteria for Evaluation provides the point system for scoring technical proposals. Absent from the point value criteria is anything related to corporate qualifications related to past State Emergency Management PA/IA work experience. Is having prior State level PA experience important to the selection process and if so how will that past experience be scored? A: Criteria 4 References relates to past State Emergency Management PA/IA work experience. It will be scored from 0 5 points. The level of importance of having this experience is based on the maximum scoring for this criteria. 3) Exhibit C Price Proposal includes a list positions that the State is seeking hourly rates for. Will the State consider additional positions that could be essential to the State s administration of the PA and IA programs? Are proposers allowed to submit a supplemental rate schedule for consideration by the Department? A: The positions listed in Exhibit C match the requirements needed for the work. As such, additional positions are not being considered. A supplemental rate schedule will not be accepted for consideration by the Department. 4) RFP item Executive Summary indicates that companies must include financial information in this section along with several other items. The section is

2 limited to five (5) pages. Does financial information documentation count toward the page limit? A: No, financial information does not count toward the page limit for these criteria. 5) RFP item Proposer s Management Plan indicates that resumes are to be included in this section along with a fairly extensive amount of other information/detail. The section is limited to ten (10) pages. Do resumes count toward the page limit? A: No, resumes do not count toward the page limit for these criteria. 6) RFP Exhibit A states In response to the RFP, [t]he Contractor shall provide recent audited or reviewed financial statements prepared by an independent certified public accountant (CPA) that shall include, at a minimum, a balance sheet, income statement (i.e., profit/loss statement) and cash flow statement. The audited financial statements must reflect the most recent quarter of the Contractor s financial status. The RFI that preceded this RFP allowed privately held companies, which are not normally required to produce audited financial statements, to meet this requirement by submitting bank letters and certification from the firm s Chief Financial Officer/Controller attesting to the company s financial stability in lieu of audited financial statements. Is this also acceptable in response to this requirement for the RFP? A: Yes. 7) Do you intend to make only one award or are you considering multiple awards for contractors who can provide staff augmentation capacity? A: See answer to question #1.

3 8) Is maintaining a facility within the State of Florida to manage the disaster recovery services staff augmentation needs of the Division a requirement for the awarded contractor? A: No. However, the Project Manager assigned by the Contractor must be able to report daily to an office provided at the Florida Division of Emergency Management in Tallahassee, FL. 9) Will the state be providing an application system to work with? A: The state uses FloridaPA.org, an MB3 product. 10) Is there specific EMI curriculum most relevant to the state that specialists and other staff would be expected to complete/maintain? A: Contractor must ensure staff is trained in PA process. Completion of FEMA Independent Study Course 100, 200, 700, 800 and the Professional Development Series are highly recommended. 11) Will contractors be engaged in project close-out or assistance related work for projects/grants that may still be in progress, or will task orders be related to new disasters. A: The awarded vendor will be working on existing projects/grants/disasters and task orders may be drafted to address work on new declared disasters. 12) Who are the contractor(s) currently providing this service to the state? A: Disaster Strategies and Ideas, Inc. 13) Exhibit B to the RFP lists seven (7) positions. Are these the total number of positions to be filled under the terms and conditions of the RFP or are there additional staffing and managerial positions available to be funded as part of the

4 Proposer s management plan pursuant to Section 21.2 of the Technical Proposal and as part of pricing under Exhibit C? A: These are the total types of positions required as of this RFP. The number of positions may vary based on future negotiations with the awarded vendor and may or may not include the (7) listed but submitted proposals must fit within the position descriptions as described in Exhibit B. 14) Is there a budget template or other approved format for technical and personnel resources, costs and/or expenses available other than the hourly categories as listed in Exhibit C to the RFP? A: No. Proposals must be based on hourly rates per position. 15) Are there provisions available for the funding of travel, equipment, personnel and/or other costs associated with Purchase Order Requests issued by the Florida Division of Emergency Management (the Division) as listed under the Scope of Work in Exhibit A to the RFP? A: No. Additional funding will not be available for these items as described in Exhibit A. 16) Under Exhibit A (Scope of Work), the RFP requires all equipment and resources necessary to fulfill the obligation of this contract to be provided by the Contractor. Is there a separate a template or format for these costs items to be borne by the Contractor in addition to the hourly categories as listed in Exhibit C to the RFP? A: No. There is not a separate template or format for these costs items. 17) To be a qualified vendor, must the prime contractor perform the disaster recovery services or may it fulfill the scope of work by associating itself with one or more contractors who will perform the work under its direction?

5 A: Please see subparagraph 2.d. of paragraph 21.2; please also see Exhibit A, entitled Scope of Work. 18) FEMA Response and Recovery Policy entitled Payment of Contractors for Grant Management Tasks states that: Contractors on one contract may not oversee their own work performed under another contract, nor oversee work which may create a conflict of interest situation. Given this applicable federal policy, will a contractor that has a current contract to perform Public Assistance functions for potential applicants, such as counties or state agencies, be prohibited from being deemed a qualified vendor? What if the contract was not held by the contractor itself but rather by a wholly-owned, associated, or jointly controlled entity? A: In order to comply with FEMA Response and Recovery Policy , the Division evaluates each vendor s situation on a case-by-case basis. 19) Section (17) of the Florida Statutes states that: Each agency must avoid, neutralize, or mitigate significant potential organizational conflicts of interest before a contract is awarded. Given this applicable state procurement law, will a contractor that has a current contract to perform Public Assistance functions for potential applicants, such as counties or state agencies, be prohibited from being deemed a qualified vendor? What if the contract was not held by the contractor itself but rather by a wholly-owned, associated, or jointly controlled entity? A: In order to comply with Section (11), Florida Statutes, the Division evaluates each vendor s situation on a case-by-case basis. 20) Is the Division aware that by not weighting the expected utilization of each position by stipulating the number of each position likely needed in the accumulative hourly rate, as set forth on Exhibit C (the Price Proposal), that the expected costs of the

6 services provided pursuant to the RFP will not be accurately reflected in the proposals received? For example, there will likely only be one Program Manager but perhaps 25+ Public Assistance Specialists, yet the hourly rates for each position count the same in the accumulative hourly rate. Will the Division issue an addendum that properly weights these positions? A: The Division will not stipulate the number of positions likely needed as it will be dependant on available workloads, which vary throughout the year. The number of positions will be later determined through negotiations with the awarded vendor. An addendum will not be provided. 21) Will the cover page, transmittal letter, and/or table of contents be included within the page count of any of the proposal sections set forth in Section 21.2 of the RFP? A: No, a cover page, transmittal letter, and/or table of contents will not count toward the page count set forth in Section 21.2 of the RFP. 22) Is the Division s statement in Section 20.2 of the RFP that subcontractors may appear in more than one proposal a mistake given that the Division stated in Section 11.2 of the RFP that all personnel proposed by a vendor be committed to the project for its duration? A: Section 11.2 stipulates that the individuals be committed to the project for its duration. It does not specify that the sub-contractor itself, in its entirety, must be committed to the project for its duration. 23) Will staff and subcontractors committed to one vendor by contractual oaths of loyalty and confidentiality (as noted in the proposals submitted) be considered as possible staff or subcontractors for another vendor if they appear in a proposal or will their presence in the second proposal be discounted?

7 A: The Division will score each proposal based on merit. 24) Will the experience and qualifications of the contractors be considered for scoring anywhere in the proposals other than the references section? A: As stated in Exhibit D, the Division will evaluate the Executive Summary (10 points maximum) based on the following, four factors: Capabilities; Qualifications; Experience; and, Approach. Additionally, the Respondent can incorporate its experience and qualifications in the Proposer s Management Plan. As specified in paragraph 21.2, the Organizational Structure/Administration and Management component of the Proposer s Management Plan should include your leadership capabilities, qualifications, and relevant experience. 25) As drafted, the RFP only seems to provide 5 points out of 100 for the past experience of the proposing contractor. Is this a conceptual error or is it FDEM s intent to award the RFP based 55% on the ability of a firm to provide a well-written proposal, 40% based on a low price, and only 5% based on a firm s proven ability to provide disaster recovery services? A: Please see answer to question #24. 26) What are the consequences of a proposer providing staff resumes and/or company information that exceeds the established page limits? Will points be deducted in scoring? Will the proposal be deemed non-compliant and therefore not scored? A: See Section 20 of the RFP: Responsiveness of Proposals. 27) Will additional company sales material be accepted as an addendum even if it exceeds established page limits? If not, will points be deducted in scoring? Will the proposal be deemed non-compliant and therefore not scored?

8 A: See Section 20 of the RFP: Responsiveness of Proposals. 28) What individuals will serve on the evaluation committee for this procurement? A: Mark Helms, Leo Lachat, Evan Rosenberg, Linda McWhorter, Miles Anderson. 29) Will multiple vendors be awarded a contract under this procurement? A: No. See answer to question #1. 30) Will the state be open to alternate staffing proposals, including additional and alternate labor categories? A: No. See answer to question #3. 31) Are travel expenses reimbursable? A: No. See answer to question #15. 32) Is the required disclosure of current clients in the State of Florida to prevent conflicts of interest? A: The disclosure will assist the Division in complying with all applicable statutes, rules, and regulations. 33) Section 30.2 Criteria for Evaluation does not assign a specific point value to corporate qualifications related to past state-level public assistance (PA) experience. Given that this is a significant project for the State, having a firm that has contractually worked as the prime contractor on other state PA projects would be in the State's best interest. Historically we have seen that most other RFPs assign a value between points for corporate (not individual staff) past performance and references. Should the State not consider including more significant weighting (more than 5% for references currently included) for past State PA corporate experience for priming one or more state PA contracts as an important factor in the selection

9 process? Would the State consider raising the point value for past corporate performance/references to ensure the state obtains the services of a firm that has proven itself on similar contracts in the past? A: Please see answer to question #24. 34) Can additional positions and associated hourly rates that may be essential to the fulfillment of the State s proposed project be included in our proposal? A: No. See answer to question #3. 35) Will the State consider removing the accumulative hourly rate and instead provide a standardized form with estimated hours by position? This would allow the State to establish an apples-to-apples price comparison based on actual level of effort by position and would avoid vendors potentially bid loading certain rates (assigning an abnormally low hourly rate to a position not used significantly post award) to appear to be the lowest bidder. If this is not a feasible option, then we would like for the State to consider adding a specific point value/weight to each position listed. A: No.