HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINAL_RFP_Water Conservation Plan
WATER CONSERVATION
PLAN
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
CITY OF BOZEMAN
PO BOX 1230
BOZEMAN, MT 59771-1230
MAY 2020
NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the City of Bozeman (City) is requesting proposals from qualified
consulting firms to provide professional services to develop a Water Conservation Plan (‘Plan’).
The Plan will guide the City’s water conservation program development to achieve the demand
reduction target outlined in the 2013 Integrated Water Resources Plan and other program
objectives. The Plan shall provide assessment of existing program measures, identify cost
effective program measures for future consideration, set measurable targets for existing and
future conservation initiatives, and provide an implementation and monitoring plan to establish
and administer cost-effective conservation initiatives to achieve program goals.
The complete Request for Proposals packet is available for download on the City’s website at
https://www.bozeman.net/government/city-clerk/bids-rfps-rfqs.
All proposals must be provided as a single, searchable PDF document file and be submitted
digitally as an email attachment to the RFP Recipient email address below. Respondents are
advised that Recipient’s email attachment size limit is 25MB and that only one PDF file will be
allowed per response. The subject line of the transmittal email shall clearly identify the RFP title,
company name and due date/time. File sizes greater than 25MB in size may be uploaded to
bzncloud.bozeman.net upon special arrangement of the Recipient; however, it is the
respondent’s sole responsibility to ensure the file upload is completed, and that the Recipient is
separately notified via email of completed file upload prior to the given deadline.
The deadline to submit the RFP response is Wednesday June 10th at 3:00 p.m. MST. It is the sole
responsibility of the responding individual to ensure their email transmittal is digitally timestamped
as being sent to the Recipient’s email address prior to the prescribed closing time as late submittals
will not be accepted.
RFP Recipient Email Address: jahlstrom@bozeman.net
NON-DISCRIMINATION
The City of Bozeman is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Discrimination in the performance of any agreement awarded under this RFP on the basis of race,
color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or actual or perceived sexual
orientation, gender identity or disability is prohibited. This prohibition shall apply to the hiring
and treatment of the awarded entity’s employees and to all subcontracts.
As such, each entity submitting under this notice shall include a provision wherein the submitting
entity, or entities, affirms in writing it will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion,
creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual
orientation, gender identity or disability and which also recognizes the eventual contract will
contain a provision prohibiting discrimination as described above and that this prohibition on
discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the submitting entity’s employees and
to all subcontracts.
Failure to comply with these non-discrimination provisions is cause for the City to disqualify the
firm from selection.
Any administrative questions regarding RFP transmittal procedures or noticing materials shall be
directed to: Mike Maas, City Clerk, (406) 582-2321, mmaas@bozeman.net.
Any and all questions or clarifications relating to the RFP scope of services, submittal contents,
evaluation criteria, or selection procedures shall be directed solely and exclusively in writing to:
Jessica Ahlstrom, Water Conservation Specialist, jahlstrom@bozeman.net, 406-582-2265. The
respondent, and any of its associating parties, shall not contact other City staff in the preparation
of its response to this RFP.
Emailed questions or clarifications will be accepted until Wednesday May 27th at 11:59 p.m. MST
after which time the questions will be compiled, anonymized and provided with a posted
response on the City’s RFP webpage. Further questions will not be entertained after the question
period has elapsed.
The City reserves the right to amend or modify any element of this RFP by issuance of an
addendum at any time prior to the given submittal deadline. Any addenda that may be issued
for this RFP will be individually noticed on the City’s RFP webpage. It is the respondent’s
responsibility to determine if any addenda have been issued.
DATED at Bozeman, Montana, this Sunday, May 10th, 2020.
Mike Maas
City Clerk
City of Bozeman
For publication on:
Sunday, May 10th, 2020
Sunday, May 17th, 2020
Sunday, May 31st , 2020
I. INTRODUCTION
The City of Bozeman (‘City’) is requesting proposals from qualified consulting firms to provide
professional services to develop a Water Conservation and Efficiency Plan (‘Plan’
The Plan will guide the City’s water conservation program development to achieve the demand
reduction target outlined in the 2013 Integrated Water Resources Plan and other program
objectives. The Plan shall provide assessment of existing program measures, identify cost
effective program measures for future consideration, set measurable targets for existing and
future conservation initiatives, and provide an implementation and monitoring plan to establish
and administer cost-effective conservation initiatives to achieve program goals.
The release of this RFP alone shall not commit the City to enter into a Professional Services
Agreement, to pay any expenses incurred in preparation of any response to this request, or to
procure or contract for any supplies, goods or services.
II. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION
The City of Bozeman provides water service to approximately 14,000 metered connections, in
which 73% represent single-family homes and 18% represent multifamily residences. Nearly
forty percent of total annual water use occurs in single-family homes followed in magnitude by
multifamily and commercial connections, which account for approximately 24% each of total
annual use. Total annual metered production during the 2019 calendar year was approximately
6,400 acre-feet (AF). Irrigation demands increase substantially during summer months (May –
September), in which fifty percent of total water use during this time goes into lawns and
landscapes. The average annual gallons per capita day (gpcd) water demand over the last five
years (2015-2019) was 122 gpcd (based on metered production).
The City of Bozeman, located in Gallatin County, MT, has been experiencing high growth for the
past seven years, at approximately 4% annually. From 1990 to 2016, the number of single-
family homes in Gallatin County grew by 150%, with the majority being in the Bozeman area.
The City relies on snowpack and surface water for its water supply, receiving 80% of its water
from the Gallatin Mountains and 20% from developed springs in the Bridger Mountains.
Bozeman receives 16-18 inches of precipitation annually and is considered drought prone. The
greater Bozeman area has historically experienced numerous drought events, and future
projections indicate more climate variability, including earlier peak runoffs, more precipitation
in the form of rain than snow, and hotter, drier summers - likely stressing the City’s water
supply. Furthermore, Bozeman is in a closed-basin as it pertains to new water rights, making
the development of additional water supplies to meet growing demands exceptionally
challenging.
The City of Bozeman’s Water Conservation Division, under the Public Works Department, was
developed after the adoption of the 2013 Integrated Water Resources Plan (IWRP), which
recommends alternatives for generating additional water supplies to meet projected future
demands through new supply development and demand management initiatives. Ultimately,
the IWRP recommends that water conservation measures make up 10,100 acre-feet of the City
of Bozeman’s projected 50-year water supply gap.
The Water Conservation Division has implemented various incentive and education-based
program measures since its inception, with a focus on voluntary water conservation measures,
specifically. This includes rebates for indoor and outdoor water-efficient fixtures, free devices
and other incentives, technical assistance and informational resources. In 2017, the City
adopted a Drought Management Plan, which outlines four stages of drought declarations and
temporary response measures to reduce demand during the declared drought, providing the
City with a tool to ensure water availability for essential uses when water supplies are stressed.
The Water Conservation Division goals and objectives are to protect and enhance water
resources through conservation in order to meet the IWRP’s 50-year demand reduction target
through:
• Establishing and strengthening the community’s water conservation ethic by;
• utilizing variety of methods to raise awareness as to the value of water, ways
to conserve, and to encourage participation in initiatives,
• providing equitable distribution of resources and incentives for all customer
classes;
• Ensuring adequate water supplies are available to meet current & future demands, in times
of drought, for emergency response & long term drought mitigation by;
• implementing data driven decision making,
• developing and implementing mechanisms to track current demand patterns,
forecast future demands, and evaluate and modify program elements as
needed.
The goal of this project is to develop a Water Conservation Plan over a minimum 10-year
planning period that sets measurable targets regarding existing and future conservation
initiatives, as well as an implementation and monitoring plan to establish and administer cost-
effective conservation initiatives to achieve program goals.
III. PRELIMINARY SCOPE OF WORK
The preliminary scope of work for this project will involve a series of tasks, deliverables, and key
meetings as outlined below. The City desires for the scope of work to be completed in a diligent
manner. Additional tasks and work elements may be inserted into the scope of work during
contract negotiations with the selected firm. It is also possible that tasks or elements could be
removed during negotiations or not included in an initial contract due to budget limitations. In
its proposal, a firm may recommend addition/deletion of tasks and/or modification of tasks in
describing its particular understanding and approach for the project.
Proposals must clearly identify any elements of the proposed scope of work that would not be
provided by the prime consulting firm. Any sub-consultants which comprise the respondent
team must be identified along with a description of past working history between the firms.
Tasks:
Completion of tasks shall generally conform to best practices outlined in the American Water
Works Association M52 Water Conservation Programs Planning Manual and meet the American
Water Works Association/American National Standards Institute (AWWA/ANSI) G480 Water
Conservation Program Operation and Management Standard.
1. Existing Water Use Characterization and Future Demand Projection
Analyze water production, metered customer use, service area information, and any other
relevant data to characterize existing water use by customer class and develop future demand
projections. Data readily available includes; historical populations, daily plant production,
monthly metered customer use, customer class connections, parcel size, ground cover type
raster, and taxable property assessment data.
2. Outdoor Water Use Weather Normalization
Develop a weather/climate normalization method to compare year-to-year water conservation
results from outdoor end use program measures. This methodology will more accurately
attribute outdoor water use reductions to actual conservation efforts, while accounting for
year-to-year changes in weather.
3. Evaluate Effectiveness of Existing Water Conservation Program Measures
Quantify water conservation potential for each existing program measure by performing a
benefit/cost analysis including a thorough evaluation of avoided utility and customer costs,
benefits, estimated water savings (as AF/year) and demand reduction (as gpcd) of each
measure, and cost savings per unit volume of water. Quantification of water conservation
potential shall account for confounding factors including but not necessarily limited to; program
staffing (FTEs) and budget; passive savings; forecasted market penetration; and demand
hardening.
4. Evaluate Effectiveness of Additional Water Conservation Program Measures
Quantify water conservation potential for additional water conservation program measures not
presently being implemented by the City. Identify a suite of additional program measures and
perform a qualitative screening to arrive at a list of selected additional measures for
benefit/cost evaluation. The benefit/cost analysis will include a thorough evaluation of avoided
utility and customer costs, benefits, estimated water savings (as AF/year) and demand
reduction (as gpcd) of each measure, and cost savings per unit volume of water. Quantification
of water conservation potential shall account for confounding factors including but not
necessarily limited to; program staffing (FTEs) and budget; passive savings; forecasted market
penetration and demand hardening. City desires to include the following types of additional
measures in the qualitative screening process, in addition to others brought forward by
consultant: educational programming, rebates/incentives, tools and resources, technical
services, municipal codes/ordinances, and pricing signals.
5. Develop a Capital Improvement Plan
Identify potential capital improvement projects and equipment that conserve water or increase
water use efficiency for city owned and operated assets. Estimate water savings (as AF/year)
and demand reduction (as gpcd) as well as total project cost for each capital improvement.
Prioritize capital project scheduling using a benefit/cost approach.
6. City Operations Water Use Optimization
Recommend operational improvements to optimize city water use efficiency for city owned
assets. (e.g. irrigation schedules for city owned property and public parks.) Estimate water
savings (as AF/year) and demand reduction (as gpcd) for each recommended optimization
effort.
7. Develop a Comprehensive Water Conservation Implementation Plan
Based on information from the above-listed tasks, develop a comprehensive implementation
plan to guide overall conservation program development over the minimum 10-year planning
period. The implementation plan will provide program recommendations on an annual basis
for program measures, capital improvements, water use optimization, program FTEs and
annual budgets. The implementation plan will present estimates on an annual basis of water
savings (as AF/year) and demand reduction (as gpcd) for each program initiative included in the
Plan.
8. Deliver a Program Measure Effectiveness Evaluation Spreadsheet Tool
Develop a spreadsheet tool to perform effectiveness evaluations for program measures, capital
improvements, and optimization efforts. The tool shall support City staff in evaluating
observed results from the comprehensive implemented plan and will allow for modifying
predicted values with observed values as needed in order to more accurately align observed
water savings and demand reductions with initial estimates. This tool will provide capability
for, at a minimum: benefit/cost analysis; avoided utility and customer costs; estimated water
savings (as AF/year) and demand reduction (as gpcd) of each measure, capital improvement
and optimization effort; and cost savings per unit volume of water. Provide training and user
guide with details on instructions for use; data sources; and assumptions.
9. Water Conservation Plan
Deliver in an organized format all relevant and presentable content developed in completion of
tasks above.
Deliverables & Key Meetings:
1. Water Use Characterization and Future Demand Projections Spreadsheets
2. Technical Memorandum on Weather Normalization Method for Outdoor Water Use
3. Program Measure Effectiveness Evaluation Spreadsheet Tool
4. Draft Water Conservation Plan and Presentation to City Commission
5. Final Water Conservation Plan
IV. PROPOSAL CONTENTS AND FORMAT
Proposals must contain the following information and be organized under the headings below.
A. Proposal Contents
1. Firm Background
2. Project Overview
3. Project Approach
4. Management Approach
5. Staff Qualifications
6. Related Experience on Similar Projects
7. Proposed Schedule
8. Nondiscrimination Affirmation Form (see Attachment A)
i. Failure to provide a signed Nondiscrimination Affirmation is cause to disqualify
the firm from selection.
B. Proposal Format
Respondents shall provide proposals as a single, searchable PDF document file format.
1. RFP responses shall contain a cover letter, not exceeding one page in length, signed
by an officer or principal of the responding prime firm. Digital signatures are
acceptable.
2. RFP responses must be contained within 20 total pages or less, including whatever
graphics, charts, tables, figures and text narrative the firm deems necessary and
appropriate. Page size shall be no larger than 8-1/2 x 11 inches, with margins no
smaller than 0.75 inches, and text information no smaller than 11-point type.
3. The following pages are exempted from the maximum 20-page limit: Cover Page,
Cover Letter, Table of Contents Page, Divider Pages, and Resumes. Page size for
exempted pages remains limited to 8-1/2 x 11 inches, with no smaller than 0.75”
margins, and text no smaller than 11-point type.
4. An exception is granted to the otherwise required 8-1/2 x 11 inches page size for a
project schedule sheet, which may be provided at a page size of 11 x 17 inches. The
schedule sheet does apply towards to maximum 20-page limit.
V. RFP DEADLINES & SELECTION TIMELINES
EVENT DATE/TIME
Publication dates of RFP Sunday May 10th, 17th, and 31st, 2020
Deadline for RFP questions & clarifications Wednesday May 27th at 11:59 p.m. MST
City Response to questions & clarifications By Wednesday June 3rd, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. MST
Deadline for transmittal of proposals Wednesday June 10th at 3:00 p.m. MST
Evaluation of proposals June 11th - June 19th,2020
Interviews (if necessary) and Selection Week of June 22nd, 2020
Contract Negotiation June 29th – July 7th, 2020
Contract Authorization & Notice to Proceed July 20th, 2020
The timeline of events following deadline for transmittal of proposals is aspirational and is not
predetermined. The City endeavors to conduct these post-deadline events diligently in order to
arrive at contract authorization and notice to proceed by the date shown. Failure to reach the
notice to proceed milestone by the date shown imparts no liability on the part of the City.
VI. SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL
By submitting a proposal, the consulting firm makes an incontrovertible and unequivocal
representation that it understands, respects, and agrees to be bound by the terms and processes
described herein that the City will employ in its review, evaluation, selection and contract
negotiations occurring under this RFP procurement action. The proposal shall be submitted as
stated in the notice.
VII. SELECTION PROCEDURE
Procurement of professional services under this RFP is governed by Sec. 18-8-201 MCA et. Seq.
and the specific processes contained within this RFP. Proposals meeting the submittal
requirements and deadline will be distributed to a project selection committee for review and
evaluation. The selection committee will consist of no fewer than 3 City staff members whose
identities will remain anonymous ahead of the submittal deadline.
Proposals will be distributed to the selection committee where they will be individually evaluated
against the selection criteria below. Upon review, each member will assign an ordered ranking
of the proposals from most-qualified to least-qualified. The most-qualified proposal will be
assigned an ordinal value of one (1), the second most-qualified an ordinal value of two (2),
continuing in this fashion until the least qualified proposal is found and given an ordinal value
equaling the total count of proposals received. Ordinals assigned to each proposal by each
committee member will then be summed together and sorted from lowest ordinal sum to highest
ordinal sum, producing the selection committee’s initial ranking list from most-qualified to least-
qualified. The selection committee will review the initial ranking list and determine at its sole
discretion whether it will conduct interviews with the top ranking firms of its choosing, or it may
determine that it will forego interviews and simply select the most-qualified firm from the initial
ranking list to enter contract negotiations. Should the selection committee determine it will
conduct interviews, it will select the firm it determines to be most-qualified upon a combined
evaluation of the firm’s written proposal and interview performance.
The firm determined by the selection committee to be most-qualified will be deemed the
‘selected firm’ for which the City will enter into contract negotiations. To begin contract
negotiations, the initial draft of the Professional Services Agreement between the City and the
selected firm will incorporate the scope of work and schedule as presented in its RFP submittal.
Contract negotiations will take into account the estimated value of services to be rendered, as
well as the scope, complexity and professional nature thereof, in order to arrive at a contract
that the City determines to be fair and reasonable. If the City is unable to negotiate a satisfactory
contract with the consultant initially selected at a price the City determines to be fair and
reasonable, negotiations with that consultant will be formally terminated and the City will select
another consultant in accordance with Sec. 18-8-204 MCA and continue until an agreement is
reached or the procurement process is terminated.
VIII. SELECTION CRITERIA
Proposals will be evaluated on the criteria listed below. These are minimum criteria listed in Sec.
18-8-204 MCA as well as an additional criterion capturing the consultant’s specific project
approach and understanding. These criteria are not assigned point values for relative weighting
in the evaluation and ranking process. Instead, selection committee members will review and
evaluate the proposal as a whole to assign proposal rankings from most- to least-qualified.
The consultant’s specific project approach and understanding;
Qualifications of professional personnel to be assigned to the project;
Capability to meet project time and budget requirements;
Location of the consulting firm;
Present and projected workloads;
Related experience on similar projects;
Recent and current work for the City.
IX. CITY RESERVATION OF RIGHTS / LIABILITY WAIVER
A. All proposals submitted in response to this RFP become the property of the City and are
considered public records and, as such, may be subject to public review.
B. The City reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals; to add or delete
preliminary scope items and/or quantities; to amend the RFP; to waive any minor
irregularities, informalities, or failure to conform to the RFP; to extend the deadline for
submitting questions or proposals; to postpone contract authorization and notice to
proceed for any length of time it determines necessary; to award one or more contracts,
by item or task, or groups of items or tasks, if so provided in the RFP and if multiple
awards or phases are determined by the City to be in the public interest; and to reject,
without liability therefore, any and all proposals upon finding that doing so is in the public
interest.
C. The City reserves the right to reject the proposal of any person/firm who previously failed
to perform properly to the satisfaction of the City, or complete on time agreements of
similar nature, or to reject the proposal of any person/firm who is not in a position to
perform such an agreement satisfactorily as determined by the City.
D. The City reserves the right to determine the most-qualified consultant and negotiate a
final scope of service and cost, negotiate a contract with another consultant if an
agreement cannot be reached with the first selected consultant, or reject all proposals.
E. This RFP does not commit the City to award a contract. The City assumes no liability or
responsibility for costs incurred by firms in responding to this request for proposals or
engaging in the selection process, prior to the issuance of a contract. The consultant, by
submitting a response to this RFP, waives all right to protest or seek any legal remedies
whatsoever regarding any aspect of this RFP.
F. The City reserves the right to cancel, in part or in its entirety, this RFP including, but not
limited to: selection procedures, submittal date, and submittal requirements. If the City
cancels or revises this RFP, all consultants who submitted proposals will be notified using
email.
G. Projects under any contract are subject to the availability of funds.
X. ATTACHMENTS
The attachments below are incorporated in this RFP:
Attachment A: Non-Discrimination Affirmation Form
XI. OTHER RESOURCES
The City’s 2013 Integrated Water Resources Plan (IWRP), 2013 IWRP Implementation Plan,
2014 Water Awareness and Conservation Survey, and 2017 Drought Management Plan can be
found on the City of Bozeman Water Conservation webpage under ‘Drought Management’.
Direct Plan links are listed below:
2013 Integrated Water Resources Plan
2013 IWRP Implementation Plan
2014 Water Awareness and Conservation Survey
2017 Drought Mangement Plan
END OF RFP EXCEPT FOR ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A
NONDISCRIMINATION AFFIRMATION
____________________________________(name of entity submitting) hereby affirms it will not
discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin,
or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability and
acknowledges and understands the eventual contract will contain a provision prohibiting
discrimination as described above and this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring
and treatments or proposer’s employees and to all subcontracts.
______________________________________
Name and title of person authorized to sign on behalf of submitter