HomeMy WebLinkAbout22- RFP - WTP Membrane Recycling and Sludge HandlingPage 1 of 12
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)
WATER TREATMENT PLANT MEMBRANE BACKWASH
RECYCLING AND SLUDGE HANDLING IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT
CITY OF BOZEMAN
Bozeman, MT
City of Bozeman
PO Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771-1230
January 2022
Page 2 of 12
NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the City of Bozeman (Owner) is seeking proposals from firms to provide
engineering services for design, bidding and construction administration of a membrane backwash
recycling and sludge handling improvement project at the Sourdough Water Treatment Plant. These
improvements are sought after a year of water treatment plant staff optimizing the operation of the solids
handling systems at the Sourdough Water Treatment Plant.
Copies of the Request for Proposal are available on the City’s website.
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 same, prior to the given deadline.
Deliver RFPs via email to the City Clerk by January 28 at 3:00 PM MST. It is the sole responsibility of the
proposing party to ensure that proposals are received prior to the closing time as late submittals will not
be accepted and will be returned unopened.
The email address for submission is: agenda@bozeman.net
NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL PAY
The City of Bozeman is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Discrimination in the performance of any agreement awarded under this RFQ 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.
In addition, pursuant to City Commission Resolution 5169, the entity awarded a contract under this RFQ
and any subcontractors must abide by the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Section 39-3-104, MCA (the
Montana Equal Pay Act), and affirm it will abide by the above and that it has visited the State of
Montana Equal Pay for Equal Work “best practices” website, or equivalent “best practices publication
and has read the material.
Failure to comply with the above may be cause for the City to deem the submittal non-responsive.
Any administrative questions regarding proposal procedures should be directed to: Mike Maas, City Clerk
(406) 582-2321, agenda@bozeman.net.
Questions relating to the RFQ should be directed to: Jill Miller, Water Treatment Plant Superintendent,
(406) 994-0503, jmiller@bozeman.net.
DATED at Bozeman, Montana, this December 29, 2021.
Mike Maas
City Clerk
City of Bozeman
For publication on:
Sunday, January 9, 2022
Sunday, January 16, 2022
I. INTRODUCTION
The City of Bozeman (Owner), is seeking proposals from engineering consulting firms to provide
professional services necessary for design, bidding andconstruction administration of a membrane
backwash and sludge handling improvement project at the Sourdough Water Treatment Plant. The design
must provide for membrane backwash water to be efficiently directed to the recycle feed wetwell, direct
recycled water to the influent pipe in the head tower, and design an optional piping modification for
further treatment of solids residuals. These modifications are sought after a year of water treatment plant
staff optimizing the operation of the solids handling systems in the water treatment plant. This will allow
for more flexibility in operations and ease of switching between recycling and discharging backwash water.
The Owner intends to enter into a professional services agreement with the selected firm that will include
providing engineering services necessary to design, bid, and support construction of the project. A
preliminary scope of service detailing particular elements of the project is below.
This RFP shall not commit the City to enter into an 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. The Owner
reserves the right to accept or reject all responses received as a result of this RFP if it is in the Owner’s
best interest to do so.
This procurement is governed by the Montana Code Annotated Section 18-8-201 et seq and this RFP
document. Any legal proceedings, should they arise, related to this procurement action shall be held in
the 18th Judicial District Court, Gallatin County. By offering to perform services under this RFP, all
Submitters agree to be bound by the laws of the State of Montana and requirements of the Owner.
II. SCOPE OF PROJECT - PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION
The design of the Sourdough Water Treatment Plant, completed in 2014, provided for the recycle of all
backwash water from the membranes to the head tower. The recycling operating procedure was not
tested until late 2020 in an effort to “preseed” the low turbidity influent water to enhance coagulant
effectiveness.Recycling of the backwash water was not used prior to 2020 due to concerns of polymer
reaching the membranes. Recycling increases available water for treatment by 100-200 gallons per
minute. The location of the recycle discharge pipe in the headtower does not allow for the recycled
water to be fed directly into the current influent pipe. These piping modifications will better ensure the
recycled water continues through the treatment process.
Through operations optimization and testing, the Water Treatment Plant Operators have found these
modifications necessary to more efficiently and effectively recycle backwash water from the
membranes. These modifications will make alternating between recycling and discharging water as
conditions warrant less labor intensive and easier to accomplish.
The project includes an optional piping modification design to enhance sludge thickness and quality in
the gravity thickener. This improvement is intended to delay the need for further sludge drying beds or
filter press.
III. PRELIMINARY SCOPE OF SERVICES
The selected firm will work with Owner Water Treatment Plant Personnel, the Owner Engineering
Division,and, applicable suppliers to:
• Facilitate all project meetings with Water Treatment Plant Personnel and Owner Engineers.
• Design piping and valving modifications on the backwash waste pipe and recycle pipe to bypass
the Dissolved Air Floation (DAF) feed wetwell with backwash water from the membranes.
• Consult with the membrane supplier (Pall) to obtain approval of the proposed design to address
any operations and warranty concerns there may be for hydraulics issues with the piping
modifications.
• Consult with Owner SCADA Manager for any controls or instrumentation requirements or
changes.
• Design headtower piping modifications for recycle pipe discharge to be directed into the influent
pipe.
• Comply with all SDWA regulations.
• Obtain all necessary design approvals from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
• Design DAF residuals wetwell to gravity thickener influent piping modifications and additional
valving.
• Provide design alternatives and construction cost estimates.
• Submit drawings to Owner representatives for review and approval before final design.
• Coordinate directly with Water Treatment Plant Personnel for any required shut downs needed
for construction.
• Prepare bid documents, administer the bidding process and make recommendations for
construction contractor award.
• Provide construction administration and start up support services.
IV. TIMELINES, DELIVERY DEADLINE, AND INSTRUCTIONS
Deliver RFP responses to the City Clerk (agenda@bozeman.net) by January 28, 2022 at 3:00 PM MST. It is
the sole responsibility of the proposeding party to ensure that proposals are received prior to the closing
time. Late submittals will not be accepted and will be returned unopened. All proposals must be provided
as a single, searchable PDF document file and be submitted digitally as an email attachment to the RFQ
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 RFQ 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 same, prior to the given deadline.
A. Contact Information
ALL QUESTIONS AND CONTACTS REGARDING THIS RFQ MUST BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING TO:
Jill Miller, WTP Superintendent
P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771-1230
(406) 994-0503
jmiller@bozeman.net
Amendments to Solicitation
Any interpretation or correction of this request will be published on the City’s webpage. The deadline for
questions related to this document is 12:00 PM MST on January 21, 2022.
B. Selection Timeline
Advertising dates: January 9 and 16, 2022
Receipt of RFQs: No later than 3:00 p.m. MST January 28, 2022
RFQ Review Complete by Selection Committee: February 7, 2022
Interviews : TBD at discretion of selectioncommittee
Selection: February 11, 2022
With the exception of the advertising dates and advertised due date, the City reserves the right to
modify the above timeline.
V. SELECTION PROCEDURE
A. STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS
Respondents must comply with the mandatory requirements provided in this solicitation.
The selection process shall be conducted pursuant to all applicable Montana law including
those criteria set forth in §18-8-204, MCA and applicable Owner policy.
1. Evaluation of RFPs. The selection committee shall consist of no less than
three persons representing the Owner. The selection committee will review
conforming RFP responses using the criteria listed above. RFP responses that do
not contain the required documentation will be deemed nonresponsive to this
solicitation and may be rejected.
2. Interviews. After reviewing conforming RFP responses, the selection
committee may decide to schedule interviews with qualified respondents at its
sole discretion.
3. Selection and Final Recommendation. The selection committee will tally
the scores for the RFP. At that time contract negotiations will take place between
the Owner and the most-qualified Respondent. The Owner may negotiate a
contract with the next highest ranked Respondent if a contract cannot be made.
B. RFP – FORM AND CONTENTS
Submit one (1) original digital copy, prepared as follows:
i. General Instructions:
a. RFP responses must contain a cover letter signed by an officer or principal of your
firm.
b. RFP responses must be contained in a single searchable PDF document not to
exceed 15 pages total including whatever pictures, charts, graphs, tables, and
text the firm deems appropriate to be part of the review of the firm's
qualifications. A separate cover letter, cover page, cover sheets, dividers and
resumes are exempted from the page limit.
c. Schedules may be submitted in addition to the page limit.
ii. Firm Information:
a. Unique Understanding and Paritcular Approach for the Project: Describe the
firms’ unique understanding of the project’s purpose and its particular
approach to addressing the preliminary scope of services. Describe any specific
regulatory, design, or operational challenges that the firm foresees must be
overcome to achieve a successful project.
b. Experience. Respondent must demonstrate successful experience and capacity
to act as a contractor on projects of similar size, type and complexity. Provide
the name and location of each project, the client, and the contact person and
phone number. Describe experience, qualifications, and roles of the
professional personnel to be assigned to this project. Describe your recent and
current work for the City of Bozeman, if any.
c. Firm Background. Provide information about the firm, including location.
Describe the firm’s history. Include information identifying the firm’s strengths
and weaknesses along with special capabilities that may be appropriate to the
Project that will assist in the evaluation. If the respondent is a team of multiple
firms, the discrete functions and expertise of the respective firms shall be
described, as well as a list of previous projects the firms have successful teamed
on.
d. Firm Workload. Provide the status of current and anticipated work within the
firm in terms of time and magnitude for the anticipated Project schedule as it
relates to availability of key personnel and your firm. Describe the firm’s
capability to meet time and project budget requirements.
e. References. Provide detailed contact information for the Owner for at least five
(5) project undertaken by your firm within the past five years.
C. EVALUATION CRITERIA
Qualifications will be evaluated by the Selection Committee who will individually score
them out of a total of 100 possible points based on the criteria below. The scoring criteria
and possible point values are:
1. Respondent’s experience with projects of similar size and design:
Possible Points: 20
2. Firm’s Qualifications:
Possible Points: 20
3. Capabilities to meet time schedule and project budget requirements.
Possible Points: 20
4. Present and projected workloads:
Possible Points: 10
5. Past projects/experience working with the City of Bozeman:
Possible Points: 20
6. Office(s) location:
Possible Points: 10
VI. FORM OF AGREEMENT
The final form of the contract documents will be disclosed to Respondents during contract
negotiations.
VII. CITY RESERVATION OF RIGHTS
All proposals submitted in response to this RFP become the property of the City and public records and,
as such, may be subject to public review.
A SUBMISSION IN RESPONSE TO THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS CONFERS NO RIGHTS UPON ANY
RESPONDENTS AND SHALL NOT OBLIGATE THE CITY IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER. THE CITY
RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE NO AWARD AND TO SOLICIT ADDITIONAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSALSAT
A LATER DATE.
A. This RFP may be canceled or any or all responses may be rejected in whole or in part, as
specified herein, when it is in the best interests of the Owner. If the Owner cancels or
revises this RFP, all Respondents who submitted will be notified using email.
B. The Owner reserves the right to accept or reject any and all submissions; to add or delete
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
proposals; to postpone selection for up to 60 days; 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
are determined by the Owner to be in the public interest.
C. The Owner reserves the right to reject the submission of any person/firm who previously
failed to perform properly to the satisfaction of the Owner, or complete on time
agreements of similar nature, or to reject the submission of any person/firm who is not
in a position to perform such an agreement satisfactorily as determined by the Owner.
D. The Owner reserves the right to determine the best qualified Respondents and
negotiate a final scope of service and cost, negotiate a contract with another
Respondents if an agreement cannot be reached with the first selected Respondents,
or reject all proposals.
E. The successful Respondents will be required to enter into a contract with the Owner,
which will incorporate the Respondents' scope of services, fees and work schedule as
part of the agreement.
F. This RFP does not commit the Owner to award a contract. The Owner assumes no liability
or responsibility for costs incurred by Respondents in responding to this request for
qualifications or request for interviews, additional data, or other information with
respect to the selection process, prior to the issuance of an agreement, contract or
purchase order. The Respondents, by submitting a response to this RFP, waives all right
to protest or seek any legal remedies whatsoever regarding any aspect of this RFP.
G. This project is subject to the availability of funds.
VIII. NONDISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL PAY POLICY
The City of Bozeman requires each entity submitting under this notice shall affirm, on a separate form
provided, that 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, sexual preference, gender
identity, or disability in fulfillment of a contract entered into for the services identified herein and that
this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the submitting entity’s
employees and to all subcontracts it enters into in the fulfillment of the services identified herein.
Failure to comply with this requirement shall be cause for the submittal to be deemed nonresponsive.
The City also requires each entity submitting under this notice shall affirm it will abide by the Equal Pay
Act of 1963 and Section 39-3-104, MCA (the Montana Equal Pay Act), and affirm it will abide by the
above and that it has visited the State of Montana Equal Pay for Equal Work “best practices” website,
or equivalent “best practices publication and has read the material.
IX. MISCELLANEOUS
A. No Oral Agreements. No conversations or oral agreements with any officer, employee, or agent of
the City shall affect or modify any term of this solicitation. Oral communications or any
written/email communication between any person and City officer, employee or agent shall not be
considered binding.
B. No Partnership/Business Organization. Nothing in this solicitation or in any subsequent
agreement, or any other contract entered into as a result of this solicitation, shall constitute, create,
give rise to or otherwise be recognized as a partnership or formal business organization of any kind
between or among the respondent and the City.
C. Employment Restriction and Indemnity. No person who is an owner, officer, employee,
contractor, or consultant of a respondent shall be an officer or employee of the City. No rights
of the City’s retirement or personnel rules accrue to a respondent, its officers, employees,
contractors, or consultants. Respondents shall have the responsibility of all salaries, wages,
bonuses, retirement, withholdings, worker’s compensation and occupational disease
compensation, insurance, unemployment compensation other benefits and taxes and
premiums appurtenant thereto concerning its officers, employees, contractors, and consultants.
Each Respondent shall save and hold the City harmless with respect to any and all claims for
payment, compensation, salary, wages, bonuses, retirement, withholdings, worker’s
compensation and occupational disease compensation, insurance, unemployment
compensation other benefits and taxes and premiums in any way related to each respondent’s
officers, employees, contractors and consultants.
D. Accessibility. Upon reasonable notice, the City will provide assistance for those persons with
sensory impairments. For further information please contact the ADA Coordinator Mike Gray at
406-582-3232 or the City’s TTY line at 406-582-2301.
E. Procurement. When discrepancies occur between words and figures in this solicitation, the
words shall govern. No responsibility shall attach to a City employee for the premature opening
of an SOP not properly addressed and identified in accordance with these documents.
F. Governing Law. This solicitation and any disputes arising hereunder or under any future
agreement shall be governed and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the
State of Montana, without reference to principles of choice or conflicts of laws.
X. ATTACHMENTS
The following exhibits are incorporated in this RFP:
Appendix A: Non-Discrimination Affirmation
Appendix B: Record Drawings
END OF RFQ
Attachment A NONDISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL PAY 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.
In addition, ____________________________________(name of entity submitting) hereby affirms it will
abide by the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Section 39-3-104, MCA (the Montana Equal Pay Act), and affirm
it will abide by the above and that it has visited the State of Montana Equal Pay for Equal Work “best
practices” website, or equivalent “best practices publication and has read the material.
______________________________________
Name and title of person authorized to sign on behalf of submitter