Privatization of the Water and Wastewater Utility Systems at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi

This is a Sources Sought Notice (hereinafter "Notice"). This Notice is an essential step in determining market interest and feasibility in accordance with FAR Part 10 and is for information and planning purposes only. This Notice is solely for the Government's use as a market research tool. This Notice does not constitute a request for proposals, a solicitation or a request for quotes. If determined appropriate, then both a synopsis and a solicitation may be anticipated in the Jan-2017 to Mar-2017 time frame. All responsible sources are encouraged to submit a response to this Notice. All information received will be considered. Failure to respond to this Notice does not preclude a firm from offering on any resultant solicitation; however, a lack of interest in this requirement may keep this effort from moving forward competitively. The potential opportunity for set-asides for small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses will be considered on the basis of the responses received. This Notice shall not be construed as a commitment or authorization to incur costs in anticipation of an award. The Government is not bound to make any awards under this Notice. Interested parties should provide a statement of interest on company letterhead by no later than 4:00 pm EST on October 17, 2016. Responses are preferred via email, but hard copies will also be accepted. If the statement of interest will be provided via hard copy, please notify the primary or secondary point of contact identified herein. At a minimum, the statement of interest shall address the following criteria: (1) capability and experience in the ownership and/or leasing, operation and maintenance of water and/or sewer systems; (2) financial capacity with regard to leasing or ownership interest, expansion, and operation of a utility system; (3) understanding of any applicable state or local utility law or franchise requirements and capability of complying with such requirements; (4) understanding of the federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations and its familiarity and experience with environmental compliance procedures and regulations for the state of Mississippi; (5) a primary point of contact, including phone number and email address; (6) business size (other-than-small, small, or any subcategory of small business) relative to the NAICS codes 221310 and 221320; and (7) status as a regulated or non-regulated utility. If you are interested in this effort, please provide the information requested above to the DLA Energy Contracting Office. Requirement The Defense Logistics Agency Energy (DLA Energy) seeks to identify and obtain information from responsible sources in connection with the acquisition of utility services for the privatization of the water (NAICS 221310) and wastewater/sewer (NAICS 221320) utility systems at Columbus Air Force Base (AFB), Mississippi. Privatization is defined as the conveyance of a utility system to a municipal, private, regional, district or cooperative utility company or other entity. The conveyance may consist of all right, title and interest of the United States in the utility system(s). Utility Privatization (UP) will be accomplished in accordance with 10 U.S.C. - 2688 - Utility Systems: Conveyance Authority. It is intended that privatization will reduce the Government's life cycle costs. The resulting privatization will include ownership, operation and maintenance of the system(s). The new owner shall operate and maintain the system(s) and provide utility services to the Government. The Contractor/System Owner shall furnish all management, supervision, permits, equipment, supplies, materials, transportation and any other incidental items or services required for the complete ownership and provision of utility services by the use of these utility systems being privatized, including operation, maintenance, repair, upgrades and improvements to the utility systems. All responsibility for maintaining reliable service, including such items as environmental compliance, maintenance costs, major system renovations, construction, equipment, manpower and overhead costs shall become the responsibility of the new utility system(s) owner. Installation Description Columbus Air Force Base is home of the 14th Flying Training Wing of Air Education and Training Command's 19th Air Force. The 14th FTW mission statement is "Produce Pilots, Advance Airmen, Feed the Fight." The wing's mission is specialized undergraduate pilot training in the T-6 Texan II, T-38C Talon and T-1A Jayhawk aircraft. Each day the wing flies an average of 260 sorties on its three parallel runways. In addition to the flying training mission, Columbus AFB maintains more than 900 highly trained individuals capable of deploying at a moment's notice to support worldwide taskings and contingencies. Columbus Air Force Base began as an advanced twin-engine flying school during the rearming of America before World War II. Efforts by local civic leaders in the 1930s to secure an airport shifted to obtaining a military flying field as U.S. forces geared up for war. On June 26, 1941, the War Department announced Columbus' selection as the site for an Army Air Corps pilot training school. Construction got under way in 1941. Pilot training began in 1942. The base was closed in 1945 and remained inactive until the nation again faced the prospect of war, this time to defend South Korea. Columbus Air Force Base reopened in 1951 as a contract flying school. Air Training Command's 3301st Pilot Training Squadron oversaw the contract flight instruction of about 3,000 pilots in PA-18 Piper Cubs and T-6s. With the Korean War at an end and pilot production needs dropping, the decision was made to close the contract flying school at Columbus. Columbus became part of the Strategic Air Command in April 1955. After a rebuilding program, the base became home to a B-52 bomber squadron and a KC-135 tanker squadron in 1958. Beginning in 1965, Columbus' 454th Bombardment Wing deployed to the western Pacific, completing more than 100 missions to South Vietnam without losing a single bomber to enemy aircraft fire. After 14 years as a Strategic Air Command base, Columbus rejoined Air Training Command on July 1, 1969, and resumed its original mission of training pilots. Additional information is available at: http://www.columbus.af.mil/AboutUs.aspx Secure Documents If sufficient interest is identified and this requirement proceeds in a competitive action, several of the solicitation documents will be posted as "secured" on the Federal Business Opportunity ("FedBizOpps" or "FBO") website. In order to view those documents, vendors will need to obtain special access. The process of obtaining access is somewhat lengthy, therefore all interested vendors are encouraged to begin that process as soon as possible. Instructions for obtaining access are provided below. Instructions for access to the FBO Secure Site To access the secured, but unclassified, documents in the FBO system, vendors must follow these instructions: 1. Register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. For assistance with SAM, please contact the SAM help desk. Contact information is available at https://www.fsd.gov/. 2. Once registered in SAM, go to the FBO website at https://www.fbo.gov/ and log in. Verify your SAM registration within the FBO system. For assistance with FBO, please consult the FBO Vendor Guide, which is available at https://www.fbo.gov/downloads/FBO_Vendor_Guide.pdf. 3. After your SAM registration is verified in the FBO system, please follow the steps as outlined below: a) Begin by clicking on the secured document link, which should then provide you with the corresponding link for the DD Form 2345, Military Critical Technical Data Agreement. The DD2345 is also available at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/JCP/forms/DD2345Form.pdf. b) Fill out the DD 2345 and submit a hard copy of the original form, together with all required documentation, to the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS), U.S./Canada Joint Certification Program (JCP), at the address listed on the form. c) JCP will return an approved and signed certified form, which will include your certification and expiration date. Please note that delays may be incurred if forms and/or required documentation are incomplete or incorrect. d) For assistance with the DD2345 or to inquire about the acceptability of electronic provision of documentation, please contact the U.S./Canada Joint Certification Office, DLIS. Contact information is available at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp/team.aspx. DLA Energy is not involved in the approval process and cannot provide assistance with processing. e) Once approval is received, it can take up to 24 hours for the JCP information to reach all systems. 4. Once you receive the approved DD2345 from JCP and have verified your status on the JCP website, enter the FBO system and click on the secure document link. The FBO system will require you to enter your Marketing Partner ID Number (MPIN). If you are not prompted to enter a MPIN, please contact the FBO help desk. Contact information can be found at https://www.fsd.gov/. a) The MPIN is a mandatory data element created by the SAM registrant which must have nine characters [consisting of at least one letter (upper or lower case) and one number, with no spaces or special characters permitted] b) The MPIN allows access to related acquisition systems (i.e. ORCA and PPIRS). It also validates access to sensitive, but unclassified, documents associated with a notice posted to FBO. 5. Following verification of the MPIN in FBO, vendors must then submit a request for explicit access to the secure documents through the FBO system by clicking on the secure document line, then clicking the "Request Explicit Access" button. Upon requesting explicit access in the FBO system, vendors should send an email notification to the DLA Energy personnel assigned to the procurement, so that they can approve the request in the FBO system. Vendors will receive an email once the access request has been approved by DLA Energy. Once the MPIN has been verified in the FBO system and explicit access has been granted, vendors will be able to enter the system and view the secure documents.