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Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

Engineering Services for East Main Street Water and Sewer Extension Projects

Town of Oneonta

Project Description

The Town of Oneonta is issuing this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the qualifications-based procurement of an engineering firm to assist with engineering tasks associated with the East Main Street Water and Sewer Extension Projects. Utilizing a qualifications-based process, the Town will select a consulting engineering firm licensed in the State of New York to design, bid, administer and close-out the water and wastewater projects.

East Main Street Water Extension & Storage Project

The Town of Oneonta, situated in Otsego County, owns and operates two (2) Water Districts: The Woodland Water District and the Plains Water District. The Town is currently finishing construction of a third Water District: the Southside Water District. A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) entitled “Town of Oneonta, East Main Street, Water Extension Project”, dated June 2023 was prepared for the Town by Barton and Loguidice.

The Town’s water system is a combination of wells and water purchased from the City of Oneonta. However, along the East Main Street corridor on the East side of the City of Oneonta (East Main Street) within the Town, there are no public water utilities, and the Town recognizes a need to extend services to this area for the protection public health, water quality, insurance rating, and fire protection. The Town Board is seeking the formation of a Water District under New York State Town Law 12-A. The Town will need assistance with the procedural requirements with establishing the new water district. The new district cannot be formed, nor can the commitment be made to construct the improvements without prior compliance with SEQR.

The Town’s Water Districts consist of two (2) water storage tanks with a total storage capacity of 580,000 gallons. There is also a 250,000-gallon storage tank, privately owned and operated by Health Links at Fox Care (Hospital) on East Main Street. Commercial and residential properties along East Main Street depend on privately-owned groundwater wells. However, due to anticipated commercial development along East Main Street, these privately-owned groundwater resources are proving inadequate to provide the demand and fire flows necessary to conduct business and protect residents.

The Town was notified by Congressman Molinaro to receive Congressional Appropriations Funding up to $4.2 Million towards the water and sewer system on East Main Street.

East Main Street Sewer Extension Project

The Town of Oneonta, situated in Otsego County, owns and operates two (2) small sewer districts, the Plains and West End Districts. These districts include sewer main, 10 wastewater pump stations, and force main piping. The East Main Street Corridor, east of the City of Oneonta, is home to several large businesses, community service providers, and residential homes. Currently, this area of the Town does not have sanitary sewer services and relies on private septic systems for on-site treatment. A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) entitled “Town of Oneonta, East Main Street, Sewer Extension Project”, dated June 2023 was prepared for the Town by Barton and Loguidice.

The Town Board is seeking the formation of a Sewer District under New York State Town Law 12-A. The Town will need assistance with the procedural requirements with establishing the new sewer district. The new district cannot be formed, nor can the commitment be made to construct the improvements without prior compliance with SEQR.

The Town was notified by Congressman Molinaro to receive Congressional Appropriations Funding up to $4.2 Million towards the water and sewer system on East Main Street.

Terms and Conditions

The projects referenced in this RFQ are anticipated to be funded with New York State and/or Federal loan and grant fund opportunities. All project bidding, construction administration, and inspection/closeout activities associated with the project must be performed in accordance with NYSEFC Mandatory Terms Conditions, and USEPA Community Grants State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) Program requirements and regulations.

In keeping with these requirements, the qualifications-based procurement standards for New York

State Environmental Facilities Corporation Certification for Architectural/Engineering Services Procurement for Federally Funded Projects shall apply. Utilizing a qualifications-based process, the Town will select a consulting engineering firm to design, bid, administer and close-out various water and wastewater projects to be undertaken by the Town. Proposals will be received from all firms which wish to be considered for this engagement.

Consultant Selection Criteria

Consultants must demonstrate their level of competence and qualification, and each subcontractor’s level of competence and qualification, with respect to the listed evaluation factors for the needed services.

NOTE: These factors are not listed in order of importance.

Evaluation factors include:

Serve as Engineer-of-Record for the Town for each project.

The ability of the selected firm to provide the technical skills necessary for capital improvement or maintenance projects, or evaluate such projects on short notice, and on an as-needed basis as determined by the Town.

Size and experience of the consultant’s professional and technical staff with respect to the magnitude and complexity of various projects.

Experience of the consultant’s professional staff with water and sewer system improvements.

The consultant’s ability to make practical water and sewer distribution and collection evaluations and storage improvements.

Record of success by the consultant, demonstrated by work previously performed or similar work performed for others.

Individual within the consultant’s organization who will have direct charge of the work.

Whether the consultant has adequate staff and/or other resources to perform the work within schedule and meet federal and state funding program requirements.

The approach the consultant proposes to use for the work and to keep the project within budget and on schedule.

Pertinent new ideas that may be presented by the consultant during the selection process.

Demonstrated ability to run a diverse program including managing and coordinating schedules, deliverables, resources, and multiple consultants/subconsultants.

Submit a list of communities/clients where you have provided similar design services.

After initial review of the submittals, a short list of consultants will be developed for further consideration. These firms may be invited for an interview. The best qualified firm or firms will be selected based on its demonstrated competence and qualification for the services required for the project. A more detailed scope of work and fee schedule will be negotiated with the best qualified firm or firms. If negotiations are not successful with any selected firm, the Town will terminate negotiations with that firm and initiate negotiations with the next best qualified firm. When a fair and reasonable fee is established, a contract award recommendation will be made to the Town of Oneonta Board of Trustees for its consideration.

Engineering Firm Insurance Requirements

The firm must meet the following insurance requirements.

Proof of Workers Compensation insurance coverage.

General Liability $1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate. The Town must be listed as additional insured and endorsement requi4ed.

Auto Liability Insurance $1,000,000 per occurrence combined single limits applicable to claims due to bodily injury and/or property damage. The Town must be listed as additional insured and endorsement required.

Professional Liability not less than $2,000,000 per loss.

Project Schedule

Below outlines the project RFQ selection process scheduled:

DATE	DESCRIPTION
October 14, 2024	Request for Qualifications Advertised
October 22, 2024	Statement of Qualifications Received
October 23, 2024– November 4, 2024	Review Qualifications and Short List Consultants, Begin Interviews, if needed.
November 13, 2024	Award to consultant at Town Board Meeting

Submission

Please provide a copy of your qualifications and related materials via electronic submission. The proposal response should not be more than five (5) pages in length. Proposals may be transmitted electronically in a PDF format consisting of a Statement of Qualifications no later than 3:00 pm, October 22, 2024, the submittal deadline date. Please mark your response “REQUEST FOR ENGINEERING QUALIFICATIONS - Town of Oneonta” and e-mail your response to:

Town Clerk/Collector

Ryan F. Pereira

Clerk@townofoneonta.org

Oneonta Town Hall

PO Box A

3966 State Highway 23

Proposal Evaluation

The Town will review and rank the proposals using the factors /rating scale listed below to select the preferred consultant based on qualifications. Based upon the evaluation of the proposals, the Town reserves the right to invite any or all consultants for an interview before making a final selection. Such an invitation does not commit the Town to pay any costs incurred in participating in said interview.

The evaluation factors are:

Knowledge and experience with water and wastewater distribution/collection systems, and water storage systems.

Maximum Points: 20

Project Management Approach: Response as outlined regarding the Firm’s Project Management Approach and the performance of the identified services as well as the timeliness of project deliverables.

Maximum Points: 25

Availability of Staff and Experience of the Project Team: Having the right team helps deliver a project within budget and on schedule. The Town will give considerable weight to the individual qualifications of the project team members who will be assigned to do most of the work identified. Considerations will include the individuals’ qualifications, experience, and location of key personnel.

Maximum Points: 30

Experience with NYSEFC, and USEPA Community Grants State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) Program Mandatory Terms and Conditions. The Firm’s familiarity and experience in successfully satisfying funding agency construction documents and MWBE/DBE requirements will be reviewed and ranked.

Maximum Points: 25

Following the review of the Statement of Qualifications, no guarantee of work assignments or projects can be made, however, the assignment of projects will be based on the Town’s needs.

The selection of the consultant will be valid for a period of five (5) years from the date of Town Board approval and the Town reserves the right to renew the selected consultants for an additional two (2) years.

Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer

All qualified engineers will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, or national origin. The Town encourages MWBE/DBE and Section three (3) firms to submit.

Rights

The Town shall be the sole judge of whether a submittal conforms to the requirements of this RFQ and of the merits and acceptability of the individual submittals. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Town reserves the right to take any of the following actions in connection with this RFQ: amend, modify or withdraw this RFQ; waive any requirements of this RFQ; require supplemental statements and information from any respondents to this RFQ; award a contract to as many or as few or none of the respondents as the Town may select; to award a contract to entities who have not responded to this RFQ; accept or reject any or all proposals received in response to this RFQ; extend the deadline for submission of proposals; negotiate or hold discussions with one or more of the respondents; permit the correction of deficient proposals that do not completely conform with this RFQ; waive any conditions or modify any provisions of this RFQ with respect to one or more respondents; reject any or all proposals and cancel this RFQ, in whole or in part, for any reason or no reason, in the Town’s sole discretion. The Town may exercise any such rights at any time, without notice to any respondent or other parties and without liability to any respondent or other parties for their costs, expenses or other obligations incurred in the preparation.

Questions regarding this RFQ should be directed to:

Town Clerk/Collector

Ryan F. Pereira

Oneonta Town Hall

PO Box A

3966 State Highway 23

(607) 432-2900

Attachments:

Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) entitled “Town of Oneonta, East Main Street, Water Extension Project”, dated June 2023.

Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) entitled “Town of Oneonta, East Main Street, Sewer Extension Project”, dated June 2023.

NYSEFC Mandatory Terms and Conditions.

Town Board Meeting Second Wednesday of every month at 07:00pm

2024 TOWN OF ONEONTA ADOPTED BUDGET

2024

2024 Committee Appointments

Town Supervisor/Appeals

Randal I. Mowers

3966 State Hwy 23

PO Box A

West Oneonta, NY 13861
(607) 432 - 2900

supervisor@townofoneonta.org

Term Expires: 12/31/25

Board Members

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