PLANNED SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT WITH VEMCO DIVISION, InnovaSea Marine Systems Canada Incorporated, FOR THE "Acquisition of Telemetry Equipment for Asian Carp Monitoring, USACE-CHICAGO DISTRICT PROJECT"

In compliance with FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b) & 13.501(a)(1)(i) coupled with the provisions set forth by FAR Subpart 5.101(a)(1), this Notice is hereby published to inform of the following: The Chicago District intends to award a sole source contract to Vemco Division, InnovaSea Marine Systems Canada Incorporated, FOR THE "Acquisition of Telemetry Equipment for Asian Carp Monitoring, USACE-CHICAGO DISTRICT PROJECT." The applicable Size Standard is North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 334419, with a Small Business size standard of 750 employees. The requirement is to purchase ultrasonic transmitter fish tags and receiver equipment to monitor Asian carp and surrogate species in the CAWS in vicinity of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Additionally, the movements and behaviors of bighead carp, silver carp, and surrogate species will be monitored via telemetry to assess the threat to and effectiveness of the electric barrier constructed to stop the dispersal of aquatic invasive species. VEMCO is the sole developer, manufacturer and supplier of VEMCO acoustic telemetry receivers, transmitters, receiver upgrades and receiver accessories and all associated software. VEMCO coded transmitters and monitoring receivers use VEMCO owned proprietary technology and coding techniques. These are not based on an open standard. This technology provides vast numbers of unique tag IDs to allow for interoperability and compatibility of over 20,000 VEMCO receivers deployed worldwide VEMCO Tag IDs and deployments are managed through the VEMCO tag ID database which is solely owned and accessible by VEMCO. VEMCO monitoring receivers and coded transmitter are only warranted to operate with VEMCO Products. All VEMCO support services including study advice, data analysis, VR2W positioning system (vps) data analysis, false detection analysis, determining foreign ID tag ownership etc., can only be provided to users with datasets generated using the complete VEMCO acoustic Telemetry System as we are unable to validate nor analyze detection files from other manufacture's receiver or transmitters. Based on the foregoing reasons, it is in the best interest of the government to sole source the required supplies to VEMCO. This notice does not constitute a solicitation for offers, proposals, etc. However, interested firms must send a capabilities statement NO LATER THAN 10:00a.m. CDT on September 29, 2020. Statements should be sent to the attention of Annette Lakes at annette.h.lakes@usace.army.mil AND Regina G. Blair at regina.g.blair@usace.army.mil. Please ensure that the subject line of your email includes "Solicitation Number W912P620Q0015. Award is anticipated on or about September 30, 2020. This announcement is in accordance with FAR Part 5.101(a)(1). The CONTRACTING points of contacts are: Annette Lakes at annette.h.lakes@usace.army.mil AND Regina G. Blair at regina.g.blair@usace.army.mil. ** Please include Solicitation Number W912P620Q0015 on your corresondence. **