S -- PRIVATIZATION OF FORT MEADE UTILITY SYSTEMS

This solicitation is utilizing FAR PART 41 ACQUISITION OF UTILITY SERVICES.The following NAICS codes apply: 221310 Water Supply & Irrigation Systems 221320 Sewage Treatment Facilities DESC: The Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), in conjunction with the United States Army, plans to offer the privatization of the water and wastewater systems at Fort Meade, Maryland. Privatization is defined as the transfer of ownership and responsibility for the operations, maintenance, repair, future upgrades, and future utility system replacements. As a result of this solicitation, the firm will be selected to assume ownership of the above-mentioned utility systems. The successful firm will be required to provide expansions to the systems to meet future needs of the government. The resulting contract, if awarded, will require the Contractor to furnish all facilities, labor, materials, tools and equipment necessary to own, maintain, and operate the utility systems. The Contractor shall manage the maintenance, repairs, replacement, etc., of the systems to ensure continuous, adequate, and dependable service for each Government or tenant connection within the service area. The Contractor shall be responsible for funding all capital investments required to acquire, maintain and operate the utility systems in a safe, reliable condition and to meet the requirements listed in the contract. Offerors will not be required to submit offers on all of the utility systems and may submit offers on individual system(s) at Fort Meade, Maryland. For purposes of economic comparison required by 10 U.S.C. 2688, each system will be analyzed and considered for award separately. The Utility Systems being privatized are described as follows: Installations: Fort Meade, Maryland Location: Fort Meade, Maryland is located within the communities Odenton, Laurel, Severn and Columbia. FORT MEADE, MARYLAND Located midway between the cities of Baltimore, MD; Washington DC, and Annapolis, MD, Fort Meade is home to approximately 9,350 military personnel as well as 31,669 civilian employees. Approximately 5,959 family members reside on post. The installation lies four miles east of Interstate 95 and one-half mile east of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, between Maryland State Routes 175 and 198. Fort Meade is situated within the communities of Odenton, Laurel, Severn and Columbia. Fort Meade is a part of the Military District of Washington (MDW) Command with the mission of providing support to more than 78 organizations from all military-affiliated personnel and to several federal agencies assigned to Fort Meade or located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Fort Meade provides support and services for more than 100 tenant units which include the National Security Agency and Defense Information School. Fort Meade serves approximately 9,350 active-duty military: 5,134 Army; 1,190 Navy; 2,662 Air Force; 353 Marine; 10 Coast Guard; 1 International; 5,959 Family members on-post; 2,285 Family members off-post; 53,211 Retirees; 106,422 Retiree family members; 31,669 Employees (NAF, DA, DoD, volunteer, contract, other). Current Statistics: 1. Fort Meade and NSA combined equals the largest employers in the State of Maryland. 2. Fort Meade has the 4th largest workforce of Army installations in the continental United States 3. Fort Meade's workforce has approximately 39,000 members, composed of military, civilian and contractor personnel. 4. Fort Meade is one of the largest joint service centers in the U.S. 5. Population of 109,000 in addition to thousands of visitors daily. 6. Contributes nearly $4 Billion to the Maryland Economy. Additional installation information may be located at: www.ftmeade.army.mil Utility Systems to be privatized: The following is provided only to give an approximation of the size, scope, and general description of the system. Any numbers should only be used for estimating purposes. The following system parameters are approximations. POTABLE WATER SYSTEM The Ft. Meade potable water utility system includes six groundwater wells, a low-lift pumping station, two high lift pump stations, a water treatment plant, three clear wells, one booster station, four elevated storage tanks, three ground storage tanks, and a potable water distribution system containing approximately 90 miles of pipe. The raw water supply sources include both surface water and groundwater. The Installations primary source of water is the surface water from the Little Patuxent River, which provides approximately 80 percent of water used at FT. MEADE. The other raw water source, which provided the remaining 20 percent of the Installation?s raw water requirements, is groundwater pumped from wells. The Low Lift Pump Station (LLPS) adjacent to the river houses three electric pumps total combined capacity rated at 13.4 MGD (9,300 GPM). The well field draws from a confined aquifer at depths of 400 feet to 785 feet below ground level and has an aggregate capacity of 8.28 MGD (5750 GPM). The raw water is pumped from the LLPS through three 12-inch diameter water mains, approximately 4,000 feet long, to the water treatment plant. Groundwater pumped from wells, with a combined total capacity of 5750 GPM. The groundwater is pumped to the water treatment plant through two 16-inch and one 12-inch diameter water pipelines. All wells are operated manually from the water treatment plant. Initially constructed around 1919, the treatment plant facilities were upgraded in 1942, 1956, 1968, 1984, and most recently in 1986. The chemical feed has been replaced to use liquid chemical feed. The treatment plant had an original design capacity of 8.3 MGD. The present day actual design capacity is 7.2 MGD. Recent average daily capacity has been 3.4 MGD. The treated water is (approximately 3.4 MGD) is pumped into the distribution system through High Lift Pump Stations (HLPS) No. 1 and No. 2. The Water Treatment Plant has an emergency generator with enough capacity to sustain full plant operations. The water distribution system transports the water from the treatment plant, providing domestic, industrial and fire protection water throughout the Installation. The distribution system consists of approximately 90 miles of piping, valves, meters, fire hydrants and booster pump stations. Four elevated storage tanks and three ground storage, with a combined capacity of approximately 3.035 million gallons, support the potable water distribution system. All tanks have recently undergone extensive renovation. WASTEWATER COLLECTION AND TREATMENT The wastewater collection system includes nine sewage lift stations, 58 miles of pipe/force mains, an advanced wastewater treatment plant, and effluent pipeline used to water the Installations 36-hole golf course. There is one wastewater pre-treatment facility in the NSA Complex, which is not a part of this privatization effort. Wastewater Collection All industrial and domestic wastewater collected from Ft. Meade, the NSA Complex and the D.C. Childrens Center is conveyed to the Fort Meade Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWTP) via 305,270 linear feet of sewer line, ranging from less than 4 inches in diameter to 30 inches in diameter, with the majority of the pipe size being 8 inches. The large majority of the pipe is terra cotta clay. There are 1,210 manholes. Most of the wastewater collection system was constructed between the 1920s and the 1970s, with only replacement and upgrade work being completed since the 1970s. In 1998, upgrades to some of the trunk lines and manholes were performed. The work included relining of pipes, upgrading of manholes and some pipe replacement. NOTE: If further information is required on this prior to issuance of the RFP, please visit our website at: http://www.desc.dla.mil/DCM/DCMSolic.asp?SolicID=836 as all pertinent information is listed there in the RFI document. The Contractor(s) shall furnish all facilities, labor, materials, tools, and equipment necessary to own, maintain and operate the utility system(s) in a safe and reliable condition. The Contractor(s) shall manage the maintenance, repairs, replacement, etc., of the system(s) to ensure continuous, adequate, and dependable service for each Government or tenant connection within the service area. The actual inventory of items sold will be conveyed to the Contractor using the Bill of Sale shown in RFP at the time the system is transferred. Past performance information from potential Offerors shall be submitted as directed in the RFP. All responsible sources may submit an offer, which shall be considered. Interested sources shall contact Wendy Clare at 703.767.3415 or Candi Mullen at 703.767.9403 to be added to our bidder mailing list. A copy of the solicitation will be available after issuance, on the Internet at the below listed URL. The anticipated date for release of the solicitation is on or before March 31, 2008. LINKURL: http://www.desc.dla.mil/DCM/DCMPage.asp?pageid=246 LINKDESC: http://www.desc.dla.mil EMAILADD: wendy.clare@dla.mil or cassandra.mullen@dla.mil Contracting Officer Angela Mattox, Contracting Officer, Phone 703.767.1348, Fax 703.767.2382, Email angela.mattox@dla.mil