Border Patrol Station-Freer, TX

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT notice; a market survey, for information only, to be used for preliminary planning purposes. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS NOTICE. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information or industry response to this notice or any follow up information requests. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future procurement. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized in the Government-Wide Point of Entry (GPE). It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the GPE for additional information pertaining to this requirement. Responses to the sources sought will be utilized with other market research methods to establish the planned acquisition strategy. The planned acquisition strategy will be posted as a change to this synopsis, as required by regulation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District has a requirement for the above subject.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Fort Worth District has been tasked to solicit for and award a competitive, firm-fixed price, Design-Build contract for construction of a Border Patrol Station in Freer, Texas. The government intends to issue a solicitation; however, the results and analysis of the market research will finalize the determination of procurement method. The type of set-aside, if any, decision to be issued will depend upon the capabilities of the responses to this synopsis.

The purpose of this sources sought announcement is to gain knowledge of interest, capabilities and qualifications of various members of industry, Large Businesses and Small Businesses are highly encouraged to respond to solidify the acquisition strategy.

This project will be solicited as a Two Phase design build in accordance with FAR 36.3. The Government’s current evaluation factors are as follows:

            Phase I:

            Past Performance

            Technical Approach

            Phase II:

            Design (will include a 35%)

            Summary Schedule

            Small Business Participation

Project Information:

1. This complex project with options is to construct a new 125 agent border patrol station on a new 30 acre site that may include the following: 25,000 sq. ft. administration/ training/ processing/ holding facility, 3 bay vehicle maintenance facility, facility maintenance / admin facility, 8 run short stay kennel, two 12,000 gallon above ground fueling station, 2 bay vehicle wash, 140 ft. antenna tower, 257 vehicle parking area, septic system, and electric/ water utilities.

Specifics rooms within each facility identified for communications and security shall be turned over 60 days prior to Beneficial Occupancy Date (BOD). The supporting facilities listed above excluding the administration/ training/ processing/ holding facility may be executed as options based on funding constraints.

Additionally, coordination and installation of site electrical power is the contractor responsibility. Contractor is responsible for obtaining all permits related to water well, septic system, fueling system, antenna tower, and highway. Furniture and equipment will be provided for all areas as required by the design. Appropriate site stripping, site signage and lighting will be provided in accordance with Texas Department of Transportation and design requirements. Border Patrol security and communications standards will be utilized throughout site layout to include local and remote cameras, network video recorders (NVR), secure access readers (U.S. Government Personnel Identification Verification card readers), radio communication equipment, and data/telephone equipment.     

The contractor must understand Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) card access requirements as it pertains to physical access control systems. Also, the contractor must understand the permitting process for antenna towers, fueling systems, water wells, and state/ federal highways.      

To be qualified for this project the Contractor must:

    1) Have a clear understanding of border patrol operations as related to security, processing, and detention with projects of similar type and magnitude.

    2) Demonstrate competency in procuring and coordinating detention grade hardware installation in accordance with U.S. Department of Homeland Security or Federal Bureau of Prisons requirements.

    3) Demonstrate a clear understanding and ability to coordinate among multiple local, state, federal agencies similar to U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs & Border Protection with prior projects of similar magnitude and scope. Coordination and management experience shall include, but not limited to, partnering meetings, construction scheduling, and warranty follow-up.

    4) Demonstrate certification experience with Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) on similar type projects.

2. Completion Time:  Estimate duration 730 calendar days. NOTE: The project duration in the actual solicitation could be increased or decreased.

3. Estimated magnitude for this effort is between $25,000,000.00 and $100,000,000.00.

4. NAICS Code 236220, Commercial and Institutional Building Construction

5. SB Size Standard is $45M for construction.

6. PSC Code:  Y1JZ, Construction of Miscellaneous Buildings

7. Bonding Requirements:  The Contractor will be required to provide the Performance and Payment Bonds within 3 calendar day after award. The contractor shall begin work within 5 calendar days after acknowledgement of the Notice to Proceed.

8. Questions concerning this Sources Sought should be emailed to the Contract Specialist, Ms. Patricia Dickson at Patricia.L.Dickson@usace.army.mil.

9. Anticipated solicitation for issuance of Phase 1 is on or about February 2025, and the estimated proposal due date will be on or about March 2025. The official notice citing the solicitation number will be issued via the GPE and firms are to register electronically to receive a copy of the solicitation when it is issued.

Should this action be solicited as Full and Open Competition, a Small Business Participation Commitment Document will be identified as an evaluation factor in the solicitation. Large Businesses must comply with FAR 52.219-9 by submitting an acceptable Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

Prior Government contract work is not required for submitting a response under this sources sought synopsis. However, all construction performance must be in compliance with the USACE Safety and Health Requirements Manual, (EM 385 1-1, and must also comply with all Federal, State and local laws, ordinances, codes and/or regulations).

FIRMS RESPONSE SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

1. Firm’s name, address, point of contact, phone number, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and email address.2.

2. Any concerns that may affect your company submitting a proposal when it is solicited.

3. Will the firm submit a response as a Joint Venture or other arrangement?

4. Firm’s Bonding Capability (construction bonding level per contract and aggregate construction bonding level, both expressed in dollars). State whether your firm can provide a Bid Bond (20% of total bid amount), Performance and Payment Bond (100% of the contract amount).

5. Is there anything else other than the factors listed above we should consider in our evaluation?

6. The magnitude of construction for this project is between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000 and may be subject to a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). Please provide responses to the following PLA-related questions:

1. Do you have knowledge that a PLA has been used in the local area on projects of this kind? If so, please provide supporting documentation.
2. Are you aware of skilled labor shortages in the area for those crafts that will be needed to complete the referenced project? If so, please elaborate and provide supporting documentation where possible.
3. Are you aware of time sensitive issues/scheduling requirements that would affect the rate at which the referenced project should be completed? If so, please elaborate and provide supporting documentation where possible.
4. Identify specific reasons why or how you believe a PLA would advance the Federal Government’s interest in achieving economy and efficiency in Federal procurement.
5. Identify specific reasons why you do not believe a PLA would advance the Federal Government’s interest in achieving economy and efficiency in Federal procurement.
6. Identify any additional information you believe the Government should take into consideration regarding the use of a PLA on the referenced project.
7. Does your company intend to bid/propose on this project if a PLA requirement is included in the solicitation? Does your company intend to bid/propose on this project if a PLA requirement is not included in the solicitation?
8. What are the likely cost impacts, if any, to your bid/proposal price if a PLA requirement is included in the solicitation? Please provide as much detail as possible regarding any anticipated cost impacts (positive or negative) of the inclusion of a PLA requirement, including any information you can provide about the magnitude of the anticipated impact.

7. Subcontracting Goals: The Government intends to propose the following subcontracting goals: 

• Small Business: 30%
• Women-Owned Small Business: 5%
• Small Disadvantaged Business: 5%
• Veteran-Owned Small Business: 5%
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business: 5%
• HUBZone Small Business: 3%

       Please provide feedback on the achievability and appropriateness of these goals.

8. The Government is seeking input from potential offerors on any additional factors, issues, or risks that may impact the successful execution of this requirement. Please provide any feedback that the Government should consider during solicitation development. 

9. Qualifications:  Responses to this sources sought announcement shall indicate specialized experience and technical competence in:

    1) Contractor must be experienced in completing work outlined under the paragraph above for “Project Information”.

    2) Provide information on the most recent up to five projects that demonstrate experience as a Prime Contractor to perform a contract of this magnitude and complexity, including the firm's capability to execute construction comparable work performed within the past five years, with contract number, project location, description of work requirements, reference name and phone number for each effort.

    3) Provide a list of your present commitments and completion dates.

Firms responding to this sources sought announcement who fail to provide ALL of the required information requested will not be used to help the Government make the acquisition decision, which is the intent of this sources sought announcement.

This announcement and all information will be issued via the Government Point of Entry, and Offerors must be active in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be eligible for award of Government contracts, including documenting  Sec. 889 Compliance in SAM that includes FAR 52.204-24 and FAR 52.24-25. Contracting will verify the 889(a) and (b) compliance – per FAR 52.204-26.

The Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) is the Department of Defense, authorized application to retrieve supplier performance information. SPRS is a web-enabled enterprise application that gathers, processes, and displays data about the performance of suppliers and must be completed prior to an award in accordance with DFARS 204.7303(b)(1), DFARS 204.7304(e), DFARS 252.204-7020, DoDI 5000.79. Review NIST SP 800-171 for further information.

Interested Firms shall respond to this Notice no later than 10 November 2025, 4:00 PM (CST). Email your response to Patricia Dickson at  Patricia.L.Dickson@usace.army.mil and Nicholas Johnston at  Nicholas.I.Johnston@usace.army.mil.  

*EMAIL IS THE PREFERRED METHOD WHEN RECEIVING RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE.