Y--Emergency crypt project 818CM2030-A Mass National Cemetery This project is due to a major that fell behind schedule and this will provide burial sites to keep the cemetery from closing.

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition This sole source justification is being submitted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), National Cemetery Administration (NCA), Construction Support Division (CSD), 811 Vermont Ave NW, Washington DC 20571, for a project at Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne MA. Solicitation VA-786A-10-RP-0093 is for an emergency gravesite expansion project at the Massachusetts National Cemetery. The request is for this solicitation to be sole sourced in accordance with PL 109-461 and the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 657f), to a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) . One of VA's primary missions is to assure that the burial needs of veterans and their families are met. In Fiscal Year 2008, funding was appropriated for the development of an expansion to Massachusetts National Cemetery at Borne, Massachusetts. Delays beyond the control of VA are seriously jeopardizing the agency's ability to fulfill our mission. The Capital Improvement Proposal (CIP) and Budget Prospectus for the anticipated project design placed the AE contract on a path to completion of Contract Documents by January 2010, a construction start by May 2010, and completion date of April 2010. An early turn-over of 2100 gravesites was included in the scope of the project to ensure the availability of new gravesites in December of 2010. This date was determined by program planning staff at NCA's Memorial Service Network 1 office located in Philadelphia after the review of current gravesite layout plans and an extensive onsite staff survey for any remaining potential for gravesite development opportunities. VA's design consultant, retained on March 31, 2009 to prepare Construction Documents notified the Project Manager, shortly after the delivery of the 95% Construction Document submission, that the firm was closing their business and unable to complete the project under the original terms of the contract. The contract has since been terminated for default. Massachusetts National Cemetery, located on the Cape has been open continuously since 1980 to casketed and cremain burials. This facility is the 15th busiest national cemetery in the nation and serves as the only burial option available to Veterans and their dependents in the greater Boston area and eastern Massachusetts. Since December 6, 2001, the National Cemetery Administration has interred 20 soldiers serving in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom at this cemetery. Massachusetts National Cemetery serves a veteran population of approximately 400,000 veterans within the 75 mile service area. The temporary lost of this final lasting benefit to Veterans and their families would be onerous and cause a significant public outcry and controversy. The lack of available national cemetery burial sites in eastern Massachusetts will require veterans be temporarily interred at other facilities such as Massachusetts State Veterans Cemetery in Agawam or Winchendon, located respectively or a two hour drive to either location, until space becomes available at Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. This arrangement would become a sizable burden on the state veteran cemetery operation that is budgeted by the state for a significantly smaller scale of operation. These options are an additional expense to the veteran and are not consistent with the VA's mission or policy. Massachusetts National Cemetery has an annual first interment rate of approximately one thousand four hundred (1,400) full casket burials per year. With less than one thousand (1,000) burial sites left, the demand for first interment burials will exceed available supply in approximately seven (7) months. As of the date of this request, the Cemetery projects a total depletion of burial sites by December 2010. This project will keep Massachusetts National Cemetery operational, in lieu of being closed. There have not been any written expressions of interest in this project, but it will be advertised, as required, on FedBizOpps. Sole sourcing to a SDVOSB at this particular time, is in the best interest of the Government. To the best of my knowledge and belief the facts as stated above are true and correct. Michael J Hannum Contracting Officer