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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBozeman_SOQ_F Page 1 of 1 April 8, 2021 City of Bozeman Stormwater Program PO Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 SUBJECT: Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Construction Site Stormwater Management Training Clean Water Technologies (CWT) is pleased to provide this Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) response to the RFQ released by the City of Bozeman (Bozeman) to provide in-person or online Construction Site Management Training (Training) on their behalf to construction industry professionals. CWT has grown in the stormwater industry since 2000 and has been providing regular training of certifications for construction activity throughout the Western United States since 2006. Over those 15 years, there have been many changes, advancements, and new technologies in the stormwater industry; however, one thing has remained constant, which is that high quality education is often the most effective way of seeing change in a market. CWT is excited to work with Bozeman based on your market demands and timing on a training program that will not only meet requirements of Bozeman’s MS4 permit but will elevate effectiveness and efficiencies of internal staff and the construction industry professionals in your community in managing erosion and sediment control. It is imperative to build a program that not only meet today’s needs but is robust enough to be relevant to the changes of the future and adapt to ever-changing water quality protection standards. CWT trainings are advancing ahead of the curve with not only providing in-person training, but effectively delivering these trainings of equal or better quality in a virtual environment. Attached you will find our formal response to the RFQ, but we have also uploaded several files to the Stormwater Management Training RFQ file on the Bozeman server to showcase training content and deliverables that may be an efficient and productive platform from which CWT can help Bozeman launch and implement their own successful training program through this effort. We look forward to hearing from you soon and are available at any time at 206-226-8820, or nathanh@cleanwaterats.com if you would like any additional information or have questions about this SOQ. Thank you! Sincerely, Nathan Hardebeck, Owner – CWT, LLC www.CleanWaterATS.com Attachments: A) Nondiscrimination Affirmation Form B) Staff Resumes Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT Section 1. Experience Since 2006, CWT, LLC (CWT) has been conducting erosion and sediment control training classes for municipalities, agencies, contractors (large and small), engineering firms, and farmers and growers all over the United States, focusing primarily on specific stormwater needs of the Western United States. The following sections outline the various exceptional construction, municipal, and industrial stormwater trainings CWT is renowned for delivering, including these five credentials: • Program Development: developing programs within businesses and municipalities to manage the reporting requirements and in-field expression of their stormwater plan (SWPPP, SWPCP, SWMP, etc.) for client across multiple locations (within one state or across multiple locations – ex. WM, PODS, Gundies, Lennar Homes, etc.) or within one location or jurisdiction • Consulting support: stormwater plan writing, permitting, reporting, onsite investigations and inspections, sampling, lawsuit defense support • Training and Certifications: annual trainings (industrial and municipal), state and National certifications (CESCL, MT SWPPP Administrator, CPISM, etc.), content development, live, virtual and video based • BMPs: market entry business development, AKART evaluations, treatment technologies, testing protocols • Business Development: marketing and service consolidation for businesses introducing or expanding current service offerings to the stormwater market (ex. introducing a new BMP to market, landscapers expanding their focus at LID facilities maintenance, etc.), committee participation Credential 1: Regulator-approved Provider of CESCL Certifications The CESCL certification is a 16-hour course that includes a field component. The field component is generally a show-n-tell and installation of BMPs or an active site inspection – or some combination thereof. It requires students take an exam. The students leave class with a book of the course material and references, a waterproof BMP pocket guide and a laminated CESCL card. The course content has been reviewed and approved by the WA Dept of Ecology in meeting all the criteria of the certification identified in BMP C160 of the stormwater management manual. This course is taught throughout WA and OR. CWT offers a full CESCL and a recertification class average per month in WA and OR. They are either live or virtual or in some cases both. Since 2006 CWT teaches on about 20-30 courses per year with an average class size of about 20. Classes of over 200 people have been taught at one time. Due to the pandemic, CWT has modified the training platform to also provide virtual training for safety reasons. In 2019 and 2020, CWT trained just over 420 students each year. The difference is that in 2019 all the classes were in person and in 2020 half of them were virtual or a hybrid in-person and virtual combined. Credential 2: Regulator-approved Provider Montana SWPPP Administrator and Preparer Certification CWT has met the required course development criteria and been a certified trainer of this course since 2018. The certification covers 14 hours of contact time and includes a field component. The field component is generally a show-n-tell and installation of BMPs or an active site inspection – or some combination thereof. It requires students take an exam. The students leave class with a book of the course material and references (uploaded to the Bozeman server), waterproof BMP pocket guide (uploaded to the Bozeman server), and laminated CESCL card. Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT Credential 3: Stormwater Event Planning and Marketing CWT spearheaded the first stormwater conference offered by NEBC at the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville, WA. Today, it is one of the largest stormwater conferences in the Northwest. CWT is very familiar in developing regionally or industry specific steering committees to form objectives and deliverables for training outcomes. Over the years, CWT has created or participated in stormwater committees and events for several organizations and agencies that act as outreach to the public or staff such as Managing Stormwater Conferences in WA and OR, ODOT BMP workshop, IECA NW Chapter Events, ECOSS ISM 201X, and Washington Stormwater Center events. CWT has years of experience in marketing to interested parties to participate in stormwater-related events. Credential 4: National Certification in Stormwater Training Providers CWT has not only been participatory at the inception of the CESCL certification identifies above, but in 2018 was also contracted in developing the Certified Professional of Industrial Stormwater Management. After several interviews of stormwater industry experts across the nation, CWT was selected and contracted by Envirocert International, Inc. to develop the certification content for the CPISM certification. This certification is focused at the Multi Sector General Permit requirements. This required the development of seven sections of content including, a permit overview, sampling plan development, spill prevention and cleanup, inspections and BMPs. The deliverable was a PowerPoint presentation of content and an associated workbook, along with an exam. Credential 5: Professional-Quality Video Production Nathan Hardebeck is a nationally published photographer and author. Since 2005, he has been involved with several video productions related to stormwater management, including projects with Walmart and Clean Water Services that featured Bill Nye the Science Guy. With the 2020 pandemic, CWT is in the process of developing a video series for erosion control and construction site management that can be utilized by any State to support or develop a certification program for their permits. Currently, CWT is developing a first of its kind, video series of erosion and sediment control BMPs for the agricultural community. Additionally, CWT has recently been hired by the Washington Stormwater Center to develop a video for submission of NOI (notice of intents) and permit reporting that will be available on the Washington Dept of Ecology website. Finally, this summer, CWT is contracted with the City of Missoula to develop a video training for internal staff related to IDDE/Spill Prevention and Control and Small Works ESC for onboarding of new staff and to utilize as a part of their ongoing MS4 staff training requirements. Section 2. Firm Background CWT, LLC started in Seattle, WA in 2000 as a BMP supplier and consultant to a variety of industrial and municipal stormwater permittees, providing services introducing new BMPs to the market, sitting on committees and panels, stormwater sampling, inspections, and reporting. Over the last 20 years, CWT has developed many relationships and has strategic partners with local and national product and service suppliers and vendors to ensure our training offerings are as comprehensive and hands-on as possible for the students. In 2002, CWT began working with ECOSS (Environmental Coalition of South Seattle) which was a non-litigious, non-profit outreach organization that provided trainings and events for stormwater education to businesses, contractors, and homeowners in the lower Duwamish River watershed. In 2005/06, Nathan Hardebeck of CWT worked with the Department of Ecology to develop the CESCL (Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead) program in Washington State. Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT Now, CWT regularly conducts training and education of an exact or similar nature as those solicited in this RFQ, which comprises nearly half of the firm’s workload. Over the years, CWT has done hundreds of trainings related to stormwater and erosion and sediment control. However, with the pandemic, in-person trainings, while still sometimes requested, have fallen out of favor by many for safety reasons. This has fast-tracked CWT video production and online virtual training efforts which has resulted in current development and implementation of a high-quality, professional-level stormwater training series that has relevance anywhere in the country but is also customizable to regional/state-based needs as well as local criteria. Additionally, CWT has begun working with new markets such as the agricultural community to develop training for erosion and sediment control to retain soil health on their operations. Other projects and client needs that CWT delivers include stormwater program development (both for individual permittees but also for multi-location national clients), plan writing, BMP selection, inspection and sampling services, helping companies introduce services and products to the stormwater industry, legal defense support, and participating on agency panels and stormwater groups in discussing policy development, industry changes, event planning and new innovations. CWT has seen many changes in the stormwater industry in these last two decades. CWT prides itself on being on the leading edge of industry innovation to meet the new demands of its clients in water quality protection and management. Section 3. Firm Workload CWT is flexible in working with entities that wish to develop and implement stormwater management trainings and meets them where they are. Consideration for greatest attendance and utilization of staff time include: seasonality; maximizing efficiency to avoid duplication of effort down the road; and creating training components that have relevance and application value to make it a desirable event to staff and employees. CWT has completed so many of these types of trainings in so many different locations in the US and has so many platforms of follow up or support collateral to launch from, it can be relatively easy to conform a course to the City’s desires with less effort than starting from scratch. CWT will maintain flexibility in scheduling with Bozeman to make the training or certification course meet the greatest need and have the greatest impact to the Bozeman market as possible. While CWT’s office is in Washington, we have been proficient at offering these trainings throughout the Western U.S, including the state of Montana. The following graph outlines the number of students CWT has in CESCL training and recertification courses (two days, and one day, respectively) over the course of last four years; this illustration may illuminate both the expertise and experience CWT has with these trainings, as well as average training workload. Anticipating that the first training that Bozeman wants to complete is the late summer and early fall of 2021, CWT should have no problem meeting the desired elements of the program whether in person or virtual or a combination of both, in that time (see Section 6 for more details). This is a good time of year for CWT to really be able to focus and implement a training program based on Bozeman desires and objectives prior to the wet season and snowfall. Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT Section 4. Claims At no time in the last ten (10) years (or at any time whatsoever), has CWT, LLC been assessed and/or paid liquidated damages after completion of a project under a contract with a public owner. We attest and certify there are no claims, past or present, against CWT, LLC. Section 5. Specific Project Examples and Project References Below are examples of training courses and support collateral that demonstrate experience with projects identified by this RFQ. Each project has the contact information of an individual that attended a training or worked with CWT on similar project components and would serve as excellent references for our qualifications: CESCL Certification, Including WSDOT Track 3f – City of Pullman, Thurston CO, City of Oak Harbor, etc. Contact: Shilo Sprouse, City of Pullman Public Works Email: shilo.sprouse@pullman-wa.gov Phone: 509-432-9052 CWT developed and delivered multiple courses offered on behalf of the three municipalities. They were taught to municipal staff and contractors, engineering firms, and builders within their jurisdictions, and included an in-depth field instruction component. These classes have a classroom portion and then we go out to a field location and introduce and install BMPs and then we generate a “rainstorm” with a truck to demonstration erosion and sediment control performance. “Over the past five years Thurston County Public Works has had the pleasure of working with Nathan Hardebeck and CWT to provide us a variety of stormwater training. One of the aspects that has made us a loyal customer is the fact CWT will customize and create a training that will fit the needs of your staff. Nathan is one of the few trainers that does not believe in a canned training approach. His style is interactive and very approachable with real world examples that our staff can relate with. Our field staff will often quote the CESCL class and install BMPs they learned from his training. This past year during the height of the pandemic, stringent restrictions were placed upon us for group events. Nathan developed a Covid-19 safe training. The CESCL training incorporated teleconferencing, limited class sizes and a socially distanced field workshop. Because of his efforts Thurston County Public works was able to maintain a high number of CESCL certifications. Those certifications are important for County to maintain our ESA 4(d) compliance as one example. We look forward to the next five years working with CWT and beyond.” ~Trevin Taylor: Sr. Environmental Coordinator, Thurston County, WA Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT SWPPP Administrator and Preparer Certification – City of Kalispell, City of Missoula, Montana DEQ Contact: Tracy Campbell, Environmental Specialist, City of Missoula Email: CampbellTL@ci.missoula.mt.us Phone: 406-830-5455 In 2019 and 2020 CWT provided Montana SWPPP Administrator and Preparer Certification classes in Kalispell and Missoula. These classes included classroom training as well as field exercises. Cities were provided a marketing flyer(s) to use as outreach and a roster template to collect necessary information. Students were provided course content booklets, reference materials and a waterproof BMP Pocket Guide to use as reference. Each student went away with a laminated certification card and the host cities were provided a letter of thanks to use as support for the MS4 public outreach criteria for their permit. The 2020 class in Missoula was a combo of in-person live, minimized and distanced attendance in the room, while also being recorded and presented live via Zoom. Upon completion of the classroom we met everyone in the field to do the BMP demonstrations and installations. Those not attending the certification class were also invited by the City to participate in the field portion to see the different BMPs in the market and hear a little about the Missoula stormwater program to help satisfy the public outreach criteria. Home Builder and Contractor Outreach Event – City of Kirkland Contact: Ryeann-Marie Tuomisto, Water Quality Program Coordinator, City of Kirkland Email: RTuomisto@kirklandwa.gov Phone: 425-587-3861 In 2018, CWT conducted a “Train the Trainer” event with the City of Kirkland to help inspectors, staff and permit approvers to better understand BMPs and issues in the field. It was broken into two sessions, first related to ESC on hard surfaces and second what spill prevention and response. In 2019, CWT was contracted by the City of Kirkland to develop a Field Guide (uploaded to the Bozeman server) to support the Stormwater Division education for those contractors applying for construction permits through the City. To support the outreach, a two-hour presentation was provided to local contractors, builders, engineers, Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT consultants and City staff to discuss erosion and sediment control on less than one acre sites, and to demonstrate how the guide is used as a reference for BMPs on projects. “Nathan helped the City of Kirkland organize and write a Best Management Practices pocket guide for our Development audience, as well as conducted several on-site trainings. His vast experience and expertise in this field along with being able to deliver complex topics in a very simple manner was a huge success.” ~ Ryean-Marie Tuomisto: Water Quality Program Coordinator, City of Kirkland, WA Erosion and Sediment Control BMP Field Day and Manuals - WSDOT Contact: Gregor Myhr, WSDOT Email: myhrg@wsdot.wa.gov Phone: 360-705-7853 CWT was contracted by the Regional Road Maintenance Forum (RRMF) led by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to develop a virtual field guide that could be used on tablets for maintenance crews doing maintenance activity for roads and freeways (uploaded to the Bozeman server). Over 13 municipalities and agencies participated, with a steering committee of five to develop the field manual. This manual also supports the Track 3f training of WSDOT which is an all-day exercise of ESC BMP installations. The course is conducted 3-4 times per year at one of three locations in the state. The class is taught under canopies and cover and then within walking distance to the field exercise area. A section of BMPs are taught and then the class breaks into teams and installs the BMPs discussed. After two sections, thus twice daily, water is applied via truck to demonstrate performance. The Regional Road Maintenance Forum is a consortium of local road maintenance agencies that incorporate the use of erosion and sediment control BMPs in the course of performing highway maintenance work to achieve environmental outcomes. Over the course of several years our local road maintenance programs have benefited from hands on field BMP instruction provided by CWT, including the development of innovative illustrative guidance on how to select, install and maintain BMPs. CWT is at the forefront of current BMPs and technologies and delivers outstanding training to keep our field crews current with best practices and current regulations. ~Gregor Myhr, WSDOT Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT Erosion and Sediment Control Training Videos – Clackamas Soil and Water, City of Missoula Contact: Lisa Kilders, Education and Outreach Program Manager, Clackamas County Soil and Water Email: lkilders@conservationdistrict.org Phone: 503-210-6002 CWT has partnered on the creation of several videos for the stormwater and ESC industry. Currently, CWT is in production of a series of ESC episodes focused at the agricultural community in northwest Oregon with the Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District. Draft episodes of the training were uploaded to the drive for this RFP. Additionally, this summer of 2021, CWT will be producing a training video for the City of Missoula for staff training on the topics of illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE), and spill prevention and ESC for small works. These videos will be capture of City specific activity to help with onboarding new staff and provide a platform for annual training of City departments. “The Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District worked with Nathan Hardebeck a few years back on modifying a pocket guide on erosion control practices from the construction industry to be appropriate for agricultural producers who harvest in the winter. His idea for the modifications has started a whole program of bringing in new ideas for erosion control practices to our producers. Currently, we are working with him on making a video series that follows the pocket guide. This was our solution to the cancelation of field days due to the pandemic. Nathan is wonderful to work with on these projects. His passion and attention to detail have been fantastic, including his patience with those of us who are new to this type of outreach. I would work with Nathan on future projects in a heartbeat.” ~Lisa Kilders: Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District Municipal Live and Virtual Trainings – ECOSS (formerly Environmental Coalition of South Seattle) Contact: Ann Boyce, Outreach Manager, ECOSS Email: ann@ecoss.org Phone: 206-767-0432 Starting in 2006, CWT was working with ECOSS to develop a series of stormwater trainings for industrial and municipal permit holders. The municipal workshops are put together like a college curriculum with 100, 200 and 300 level courses. The classes are specific to topics of an MS4 program such as IDDE, spill prevention and response, stormwater infrastructure inspections, public works erosion and sediment control, etc. There are thirteen different workshop topics ranging from 1-4 hours in length, some with field and outdoor components. Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT Those that graduate through the series are provided a certificate of completion. The content for the courses was developed by a steering committee of 17 municipalities both large and small and on both sides of the State of Washington. Since 2016, ECOSS has held 51 municipally focused classes with more than 1,100 attendees from over 55 different WA municipalities. In 2020, those classes went to an e-learning platform. “Nathan is an excellent stormwater management presenter and trainer, having years of experience in stormwater management and consulting for both industrial and municipal clients. He has partnered with ECOSS to provide trainings to industrial permittees since 2006, and municipal permittees since 2016. Nathan’s sense of humor makes learning fun and engaging. His presentations always receive high marks from workshop attendees.” ~Ann Boyce: Outreach Manager, ECOSS Section 6. Training Example CWT has uploaded a significant amount of material from past and ongoing trainings of similar nature to that described in this RFP, including the following items for consideration by the reviewer: ▪ MT SWPPP certification handout material ▪ WSDOT field guide ▪ BMP pocket guide ▪ City of Kirkland BMP Guide ▪ Promotional video CWT ensures any certification program they develop follows the criteria of the certifying authority’s protocol, in this case - the Montana DEQ Letter of Authorization (LOA) requirements. However, training classes or workshops may still be customized to meet alternative needs, and in many cases those two objectives can be combined. With each class, there are a few questions/elements that must be discussed before developing any training scope, and they are: 1. Certification or training: Do you want to meet the requirements of a certification or just an outreach training (or both)? Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT 2. Live or virtual (or both): If the classroom limits the number of participants, either due to COVID safety protocol or due to size, the broadcast of that can also be done virtually through a Zoom platform to reach more people. Those people that are learning remotely can join with the in-person group in the field. 3. Recorded: If all or some of the content is desired to be used for ongoing training of Bozeman staff, CWT can video the content to make a training program for staff. 4. Field component: The field component often has the most logistics to developing the course. They are: a. Do we do an inspection of an active construction site or focus our time at going through BMPs (or both)? b. Depending on the above path, we need a safe location, a portable restroom (optional but ideal), and a parking location to accomplish. c. Do you want to install BMPs and test them against a manufactured rain event? If so, there are site features that may need to be constructed ahead of time, access to water and tools provided and BMP deliveries prior to class. d. The field component is a requirement for the certification class, but can also be a means of public outreach and education by allowing those that don’t do projects the size that the permit requires the certification and just want to learn about the BMPs in the industry. 5. Partnering: Does the City want to partner with other local agencies, groups, or organizations to help with cost sharing or marketing? 6. Registrations: There is a lot of information gathering that has to be done prior too a class being conducted and information storage after the class (roster retention, certificates, cards, etc.). Considerations for who is collecting the registrations for the class and how payment for the class is done (per head, lump sum, etc.) are all considerations that are crucial prior to setting up the event. From these elements, all the logistics for the class are formed. CWT and Bozeman work together to delineate tasks to support the success of the course, as well as ensure efficiency in approach and defined budget. With respect to budget, training classes can be variable in cost depending on elements described above. CWT is completely comfortable working within the defined project budget when expectations and objectives are discussed up front. Training class cost can be financed on a “per head” basis or they can be a lump sum (there are benefits and drawbacks to both). Section 5 references can attest to CWT’s ability to develop creative financing that meets everyone’s needs and working within the budget defined for each training. CWT works on best value principles for today and future costs for ongoing programs. Training courses take time, energy, and expense to put together. Recouping the investment of these costs in the short term is critical while creating a platform for future success of repeatable events (if desired) at lower costs. The balance of offering the class at a market reasonable rate for a one-time event versus a repeatable occurrence is important to the investment costs. There are a lot of logistics that need to be handled from determining appropriate classroom and field locations, to desired collateral, to marketing and registration. CWT provides support and leadership in working on those elements but is also flexible in working with Bozeman in dividing tasks to make thing more economically viable or ease workload. Bottomline, CWT will do what it takes to make this training program a success for Bozeman based on Bozeman timeline and budget for meeting criteria of the MS4 permit, providing an opportunity for certification under MPDES, and any other objectives desired. CWT is a great partner in developing training programs that will meet your needs and budget for your market. Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT ATTACHMENT A Nondiscrimination Affirmation Form Construction Site Stormwater Management Training – City of Bozeman, MT ATTACHMENT B Staff Resumes Nathan Hardebeck (Owner – CWT, LLC): CESCL, CPISM, CPSWQ, MT SWPPP Preparer & Administrator Nathan has over 20 years of experience in the environmental and stormwater consulting field with an emphasis on best management practices (BMPs), services and management related to industrial, construction, municipal and commercial stormwater programs. His training experience includes developing programs ranging from a single municipality or company to a state or nationwide certification. He can work with single individuals as well as a steering committee to achieve the most desired result. He is well networked in the stormwater industry and can often bring in other speakers or BMPs to enhance the programming. He is known for his ability to add interest and practical application to complex issues. Work History 2000 - Present Owner, CWT, LLC 2012 - 2015 Stormwater Program Manager, SoundEarth Strategies, Inc. 2005 - 2010 Business Development Director, Clear Water Compliance Services Skills Summary Certified Trainer – CESCL, CPISM, Montana SWPPP Administrator & Preparer ECOSS Municipal Training Series, WSDOT Regional Road Maintenance Program Jennifer Lee (Project Manager – CWT, LLC) As an experienced project manager, Jen actively manages all the trainings that CWT offers and provides support for client projects. Her tasks include marketing and managing all the logistics for training courses, reporting and recordkeeping for CESCL and other certification courses, and project support such as research, plan development, and permitting. Jen has maintained great relationships with government agencies, engineers and many more, making her a vital asset to CWT. Work History 2019 - Present Project Manager, CWT, LLC 2017-2019 Inside Sales, ACF West Skills Summary CESCL, MT SWPPP Administrator