SPECIAL NOTICE
C -- Notice of Intent to Sole Source Architect-Engineering Services for the Alternatives Analysis and Conceptual Design for the Lower Prut Irrigation Initiative in Moldova
- Notice Date
- 7/10/2013
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541330
— Engineering Services
- Contracting Office
- Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, Washington DC, 875 Fifteenth Street, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia, 20005
- ZIP Code
- 20005
- Solicitation Number
- MCC-13-MDA-0117
- Archive Date
- 8/26/2013
- Point of Contact
- Jennifer M. Crouse, Phone: 2025213593
- E-Mail Address
-
crousejm@mcc.gov
(crousejm@mcc.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. Under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements, under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541330, the Millennium Challenge Corporation intends to negotiate on a sole source basis a contract to Keller-Bliesner Engineer, LLC. This sole source contract is required for Architect-Engineering services for the completion of an alternatives analysis and rapid conceptual design project for two Central Irrigation Systems on the Prut River in Southern Moldova. The period of performance is for a base year with a one year option. MCC provides large grants to qualified, selected countries in the form of Compacts, which are pre-designed to fund specific projects addressing key constraints to economic growth in the country. The Moldova Compact, which must be implemented in its entirety by the Moldovan entity the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2015, is comprised of two projects: the rehabilitation of the M2 road, and the Transition to High Value Agriculture (TVHA) project. The THVA project is in turn made up of four separate but closely inter-related sub-activities: Access to Agricultural Finance (AAF), Growing High-value Sales (GHS), Irrigation Sector Reform Activity (ISRA) (including a sub-activity on River Basin Management (RBM), and the Centralized Irrigation System Rehabilitation Activity (CISRA). The CISRA project has encountered serious implementation challenges, primarily with the reliability of feasibility studies and the creation of detailed designs for the 11 Central Irrigation Systems that were targeted for this project. While these challenges have been largely addressed, they have resulted in delays to construction that will likely render at least two of the systems impossible to construct according to original plans during the compact period. These two systems, located in Southern Moldova on the Prut River, also face environmental, financial, technical issues that raise concerns regarding the suitability of the original plans for these systems. While the original implementation plan has been determined to be impossible, MCC and MCA are attempting to find a way of supporting the stakeholders in these two systems through an alternative approach to irrigation. This contract will contribute to a land use approach that will address the economic and environmental challenges of the area, integrating agricultural, both irrigated and non-irrigated, and non-agricultural uses for land. On June 5, 2013 MCC posted a Sources Sought notice (MCC-13-RFI-0104) to FBO for 7 days seeking information from interested small businesses for an extremely time sensitive, integrated and technically specific project in Moldova. MCC issued the Source Sought notice to ascertain whether there were qualified small businesses with a core competence in developing solutions for integrated water management, particularly for agriculture. At the closing of the notice on June 12, 2013 at 5:00pm, MCC received two responses. Only one source, Keller-Bliesner Engineering, LCC, demonstrated the ability to meet the required qualifications. As stated in the Sources Sought notice, MCC requires a small business specialized in the development and implementation of irrigation, land and water use projects that combine excellence in cutting edge irrigation technologies with responsible environmental stewardship and community engagement, with the goal of supporting sustainable and economically viable agricultural land use. Particularly, MCC requires a small business with an experienced and qualified team leader that can deliver on the objectives stated above. Therefore, it is important that the team leader meets the minimum qualifications of having an advanced degree in irrigation engineering and water resources management and at least 15 years of experience designing irrigation systems. Moreover, given the extreme time sensitivity of this project, it is crucial to be able to procure firms that have experience working with MCC and the MCA models and with experience working internationally with donor funded projects and with contexts similar to the Moldova context. Keller-Bliesner is a firm with 40 years of experience focused exclusively on irrigated agriculture and environmental management. The team leader and president of the firm, Andrew Keller, has 38 years of international experience as an irrigation and water resources engineer. Under his leadership, Keller-Bliesner provided MCC and MCA-Moldova most recently with an alternative analysis for irrigation with specific recommendations to the proposed designs for nine irrigation systems in Moldova, which resulted in significant savings and improved efficiency of the water delivery of the systems. Given that the team leader and the firm had the opportunity to work under the MCC model and work with the MCA-Moldova as partners, they have critical knowledge of the specific dynamics, challenges and conditions that are likely to affect the progress and outcome of this irrigation alternatives initiative under the Moldova Compact. This firm has worked with other international donors including USAID, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute, International Water Management Institute, among others. The capabilities of all other team members demonstrate extensive experience in irrigation engineering, agricultural engineering, conducting feasibility studies for irrigation projects river basin modeling and hydrological modeling and assessing water quality and environmental impact of proposed irrigation systems. Based on the unique qualifications of Keller-Bliesner and the need for the completion of an alternatives analysis and rapid conceptual design project for two Central Irrigation Systems on the Prut River in Southern Moldova, it is in the Government's best interests to enter into a sole source contract to obtain the services of Keller-Bliesner Engineering, LLC. THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. All responsible sources that feel they should be considered qualified to provide the foregoing services may submit a response to this notice within 30 days of notice publication to Jennifer Crouse at jennifer.crouse@mcc.gov. Information furnished shall include enough detailed documentation to allow the Government to perform a proper evaluation. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for any information received from potential sources as a result of this notice. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/MCC/MCCMCC/MCCMCC01/MCC-13-MDA-0117/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Moldova & United States, United States
- Record
- SN03111794-W 20130712/130710234733-52b5b7233c8a73de0f26cd88513d0c06 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |