Hotel Accomodations and Conference Space

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items/services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Quotes are being requested and a written solicitation document will not be issued. It is incumbent upon contractors to monitor the FEDBIZOPS web page for any/all subsequent amendments. FEDBIZOPS also contains an option for automatic notification service. This combined synopsis/solicitation document and the incorporated provisions and clauses it contains are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-38. The NAICS code for this requirement is 721110. The size standard is $7.0 million. This is an unrestricted acquisition. The Assistance to Firefighters Program Office operates under the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grant Programs Directorate within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Assistance to Firefighters Program Office has a requirement for Hotel Accommodations, Conference Space, and Hotel Services for conduct of a panel review of grants submitted in response to the Assistance to Firefighters grant (AFG) panel review process. This is not a solicitation for Event Planning Services or 3rd Party Event Planning Services. FEMA will not consider a proposal submitted by an offeror that is not a hotel or conference center. An offer that requires the Government to execute a separate agreement with a 3rd party shall be deemed technically unacceptable. The period of performance for the conference is June 19 - 25, 2010. No other dates will be considered. The location for the conference is Baltimore, Maryland. No other locations will be considered. Hotel/conference center location must be within 30 miles of the Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI). No other facilities will be considered. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation (HSFEEM-10-Q-0060) and is supplemented with additional information included herein. Offeror shall provide the following: A. Lodging for the panelists and staff B. Transportation to and from the servicing airport C. Conference/ballroom space for the conduct of the panels D. Securable breakout rooms or other workable space within the immediate proximity of the conference space for support of the process E. Internet connectivity to support government owned equipment (See Task B-4 for further details) F. Dedicated fax machine, high speed copier, phone, and networked computers/high speed printers G. Meal functions for the panelists and staff, including morning and afternoon snacks with appropriate banquet space. A. Tasks associated the lodging of the panelists and staff for AFG: Task A-1. For the week of panels, contractor shall provide lodging for up to 250 attendees. Generally, lodging will commence on a Sunday to a noon checkout on Friday, except for 10 to 12 staff who will have to arrive on Saturday. Late checkout will be required for the same number of staff for break down purposes on Friday. Lodging is to be available in the same building as the conference facilities. The contract shall pay for the room and associated taxes. All attendees will be responsible for paying any incidental room charges such as phone, pay per view video, room service, etc. Reservations shall be made with the hotel either by the participants or the AFG support contractor within 7 days of the event. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout contract performance period.) Task A-2. Contractor shall provide adequate shuttle service to transport attendees between the local servicing airport and the hotel. It may be necessary to enhance any existing shuttle service during the surge of the arrivals on Sunday afternoon and for departures on Friday. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout contract performance period.) B. Tasks associated with conference space for AFG: Task B-1. Contractor shall provide one large conference room with approximately 7000 - 8000 square feet of space. The room will accommodate 37 large (6 foot rounds) tables spaced throughout. The intent is to have 37 groups of six people at each table. Eight 5-foot tables will be placed in the room to accommodate eight panel chairs and eight quality control reviewers. Room shall also have a podium with microphone, screen, and computer projection. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout contract performance period.) Task B-2. Contractor shall provide, adjacent or within close proximity of the large conference space, one large breakout room for eating (approx. 1,200 square feet) and four additional breakout rooms (approx. 400 to 500 square feet) for file storage (approx. 650 square feet), data entry (approx. 500 square feet), technical review (approx. 400 square feet), and command center (approx. 400 square feet). Alternatively, contractor could provide two larger breakout rooms of no less than 1,200 square feet (one for banquet and one for data entry and file storage) and two smaller breakout rooms of approx. 400 to 500 square feet (for tech review and command). Each breakout room will be set up with 5-foot tables and workstations. The banquet breakout room should be equipped with computers (see Task B-6) and internet connectivity so the panelists can check email. All rooms should be within as close a proximity to each other as possible. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout contract performance period.) Task B-3. All space provided by contractor will be securable 24-hours-a-day with the exception of the dinning space; with access keys provided to government and or contract staff. Offer shall state this clearly. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout contract performance period.) Task B-3.1. Conference space is required to remain reserved (i.e. secured) for government use starting on Sunday for setup and through Friday afternoon for breakdown. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout contract performance period.) Task B-4. All computer terminals shall have Ethernet (hard wire) with high-speed bandwidth internet connectivity in order to accommodate the web based e-grant platform used by the program. Alternatively a dedicated (not open to other hotel users) T1 or equivalent WIFI high-speed connection could be used and must be capable of handling uploads/downloads of 15 plus users. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout contract performance period.) Task B-5. The contractor must provide PC computers to be placed in the work space provided as follows (if providing laptops all computers shall be outfitted with a separate full size key board and mouse): 8 computers in the large conference room, 6 computers in the banquet room, 8 computers in the data entry room networked to 4 high speed printers, 5 computers in the technical review room networked to 2 high speed printers, and 4 computers in the command room networked to 2 high speed printers. The command room will have 1 high-speed copier and 1 fax machine (any associated fees for the fax need to be charged to the contract. The government can not put down a credit card for line activation). IT support shall be provided to respond in a timely fashion to any system, equipment, and internet connection failures. Computers should be securable so as to limit access to the participants. (Completion date: Ongoing throughout the contract performance period.) C. Tasks associated with the meals for AFG: Since the location of the panels will be unknown until this contract is awarded, we cannot assume that there will be adequate eating facilities to accommodate 250 people within a reasonable distance from the conference facility. Due to the strict scheduling that needs to be adhered to for this event we cannot allow participants to be left to their own means for food procurement. Therefore, it is imperative that meals be provided to the participants in order to guarantee their availability during the core hours of the panel. Task C-1. The contractor shall provide buffet-style meals (three per day, Monday through Thursday; breakfast and lunch only on Friday) throughout the panel process. Task C-2. The contractor shall provide healthy, light snacks as well as juice, water, and a variety of sodas for morning and afternoon breaks for the participants. Coffee shall be continuously available during the conference hours each day, Monday-Friday. Task C-3. The contractor shall provide banquet space for the meals (in addition to the space designated above for breakout rooms) within close proximity of the conference room. Technical and/or administrative questions must be submitted in writing to chance.caione@dhs.gov no later than 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, Wednesday, April 7, 2010. Individual responses will not be given. Responses to all inquiries will be published by amendment to the solicitation on the FedBizOps site. Inquiries and information received after the established deadline shall not be considered for this particular acquisition. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. Only written inquiries will be accepted. E-mail inquires must be in MS Word, Excel, or PDF format. SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS: Lodging and meals shall be proposed at the Government rate in accordance with Federal per diem rates and all requirements must be in compliance with the Federal Travel Regulations. Per Diem rates are available at: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=17943 Information regarding the Federal Travel Regulation is available at: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=24030 The hotel/motel shall honor standard cancellation policy regarding any cancellations, and any billing policy for no-shows, meaning that no-shows will be billed for the date that would have been the date of check-in only. Any attendee requesting an earlier arrival or later departure than the specified period of performance shall be personally responsible for payment of those additional days. The quoted price shall represent the total price (fixed rates proposed for all services) for the entire period for which the conference will be held. The quote for blocking the number of guests rooms should be structured in a format that indicates if the break/snack costs are included as part of the quoted room costs (whether or not the conference facilities/space are included as part of the package covering the cost of the guest rooms to be blocked) or if this will be a separate charge in accordance with the offeror's standard contract terms and conditions. The per night lodging price and daily meal rate shall not exceed the Federal per diem rates. Without exceeding the per diem maximum nightly room rate, offerors must include the price of the refreshments as part of the per night room price. Additionally, offerors must clearly indicate the price of the audio-visual requirements if not included as part of the conference facilities/space. If the break/snack price, the conference facilities/space, and the price of the audio-visual are not provided as an integral part of the price of guest rooms to be blocked in accordance with the hotel's standard contract, the price of the conference facilities and audio-visual requirements must be clearly listed as separately priced items. Offerors shall also provide a copy of their standard contract listing all terms and conditions upon which the quote is based. The hotel/motel shall only invoice the Government for, and the Government shall only pay for the actual number of guest rooms occupied by conference attendees during the period of the conference in accordance with the hotel's standard contract terms and conditions. Upon final determination and payment of all allowable charges payable by the Government in order to satisfy the terms of the hotel's accepted contract, all remaining funding on the purchase order will be de-obligated. EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD: The Government intends to award a Firm Fixed Price purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer is the Best Value, price and other factors considered. The technical and past performance factors, factors a. and b. below, combined are significantly more important than price and are listed in descending order of importance. However, price may become a critical factor in the event that two or more offerors are determined to be essentially equal following evaluation of technical and past performance factors. Evaluation of price will be based on the offeror's total price for all line items. The factors identified below are in descending order of importance and will be the evaluation factors used to evaluate all offers received. a. Technical (1) Offerors shall provide in sufficient detail a technical quote that demonstrates the offeror's experience in providing services similar in nature and scope to this requirement. In addition, the quote must meet or exceed each of the requirements identified in tasks A-1 through C-3. The offeror must demonstrate ability to provide the requested number of guest rooms/nights and associated conference facilities as described and on the dates indicated. (2) Offerors must be actively registered with the CCR system prior to award per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 4.1102. Failure to be actively registered will result in disqualification from award consideration. Website is http://www.bpn.gov. Further information may be obtained at website http://orca.bpn.gov or http://www.ccr.gov. (3) Offerors must be FEMA approved and listed on the U.S. Fire Administration Hotel and Motel National Master List found as http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/applications/hotel. FEMA contracting officers may contract only with listed hotels or motels on the above lists to conduct meetings, conventions, conferences, or training seminars. Offerors whose proposed facilities that are not listed will be rejected as technically unacceptable. (4) Offeror's facility must be compliant with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (Public Law 101-336) (42 U.S.C. 12101 et. Seq.). Proof of compliance shall be provided with proposal. (5) A completed 52.212-3 (Mar 2005), Offeror Representations and Certifications/Commercial Items or certification that annual representations and certifications have been completed via the Online Representation and Certification Application (ORCA) via the ORCA website at www.bpn.gov. b. Past Performance - Offerors shall list at least three recent contracts of similar size and complexity held within the last three years. Past Performance information shall contain the names and phone numbers of the contracting officer or other individual who can verify past performance information. In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance the past performance will be rated as neutral. c. Price - Offerors shall provide a firm fixed price in response to this combined synopsis/solicitation. Nightly room rates and daily meal rates shall not exceed the authorized per diem rate identified for the Baltimore City, Maryland area currently identified as $161and $71 per night respectively. The offeror's initial quote shall contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a purchase order without discussions, but reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government reserves the right to award to other than the lowest priced offeror if the Government determines that a price premium is warranted due to technical merit. The Government reserves the right to award to other than the highest technically rated offeror. The Government reserves the right to make no award as a result of this solicitation. PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES: All referenced FAR provisions and clauses may be accessed electronically at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vffar1.htm and HSAR provisions and clauses may be accessed electronically at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/VFHSARA.HTM. All quotes must include a completed 52.212-3 (Mar 2005), Offeror Representations and Certifications/Commercial Items or certify that annual representations and certifications have been completed via the Online Representation and Certification Application (ORCA) via the ORCA website at www.bpn.gov. Of the available clauses, the following apply and are incorporated by reference: 52.212-1 (Jan 2006), Instructions to Offeror -- Commercial Items. The clause 52.212-4 (Sep 2005), Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is incorporated by reference. The clause 52.212-5 (Jan 2006), Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes Or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items: 52.233-3, Protest After Award (AUG 1996); 52.222-50 -- Combating Trafficking in Persons; 52.222-3, Convict Labor (June 2003); 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Feb 1999); 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (Apr 2002); 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (Dec 2001); 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (Jun 1998); 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (Dec 2001); 5.225-1, Buy America Act-Supplies (June 2003); 52.225-2, Buy America Act Certificate (June 2003); 52.225-3, Buy America Act-Free Trade Agreement-Israeli Trade Act (June 2006); 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer Central Contractor Registration (Oct 2003). All offers must contain descriptive literature to include sleeping rooms, meeting room space, diagrams and square footage, and information regarding amenities of hotel. Quotes along with descriptive literature shall be submitted to the Department of Homeland Security/FEMA, National Emergency Training Center, Attn: Chance Caione, Bldg. D/Room 104, 16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727, via fax on (301) 447-1242, or via e-mail to chance.caione@dhs.gov (email quotes are preferred). Quotes shall be submitted no later than 2:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, Wednesday, April 14, 2010.