HomeMy WebLinkAboutRFP_Lyman Transmission RFP_Final
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Lyman Transmission Project
Engineering Predesign Phase Services
CITY OF BOZEMAN
PO BOX 1230
BOZEMAN, MT 59771-1230
MARCH 2025
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Bozeman (City) is requesting proposals from qualified
engineering consulting firms to provide predesign services with a focus on pipeline condition
assessment, for the Lyman Transmission Rehabilitation Project.
Copies of the Request for Proposal (RFP) 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
Microsoft OneDrive 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.
The deadline for submission of response to this RFP is Thursday, April 24th, 2025 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.
The email address for submission is: procurement@bozeman.net
NON-DISCRIMINATION & EQUAL PAY
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.
In addition, pursuant to City Commission Resolution 5169, the entity awarded a contract under
this project 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 these non-discrimination and equal pay provisions is cause for the City to
disqualify the firm from selection.
Administrative questions regarding submittal procedures may be directed to: Mike Maas, City
Clerk (406) 582-2321, procurement@bozeman.net.
Technical questions regarding the project may be directed to Griffin Nielsen, Water Resource
Engineer, gnielsen@bozeman.net. 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 Thursday, April 17rd, 2025 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 26th day of March 2025.
Mike Maas
City Clerk
City of Bozeman
For publication on:
Saturday, March 29th, 2025
Saturday, April 19th, 2025
I. INTRODUCTION
The City of Bozeman (City) is requesting proposals from qualified engineering consulting firms
(Consultants) to provide predesign phase services for the Lyman Transmission Rehabilitation
Project. Qualified firms must demonstrate specific experience with current pipeline condition
assessment practices and technologies and water pipeline rehabilitation.
The City will select the Consultant it deems most qualified upon review of proposals received in
response to this request for qualifications notice. The selected Consultant must demonstrate
expertise in complex municipal water transmission projects and specific prior experience in the
following: current potable and raw water pipeline condition assessment practices and
technologies; potable and raw water pipeline rehabilitation; potable and raw water pipeline
replacement; constructability analyses; environmental permitting; cost estimating; development
of project alternatives, screening criteria, and recommendation of preferred alternatives.
Publication of this RFP shall not commit the City to enter into a Professional Services Agreement
(PSA), to pay any expenses incurred in preparation of a submission responding to this RFP, or to
procure or contract for any supplies, goods or services. The City reserves the right to accept or
reject all responses received for this RFP if it is in the City’s best interest to do so.
This procurement is governed by the laws of the State of Montana and the venue for all legal
proceedings shall be 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 of the City, including, but not limited to, equal opportunity employment practices, safety,
non-discrimination & equal pay, etc.
II. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION
Lyman Creek is the City of Bozeman’s original municipal water supply, dating back to the late 19th
century. The Lyman Creek water system is comprised of a series of spring collectors that divert
Lyman Creek surface water, raw water transmission, an inlet control building with chemical
treatment, 5.3-million-gallon water reservoir, outlet control building, potable water
transmission, and a booster pump station. The system components vary in age and condition
with the oldest components still in use with 100 years of service.
The City is initiating two procurement efforts to provide predesign phase services for the Lyman
Creek systems. This RFP is specific to the system’s raw water and treated water transmission,
referred to here as the Lyman Transmission Rehabilitation Project. A separate RFQ focused on
the Lyman Reservoir is proceeding in tandem, referred to here as the Lyman Reservoir Project.
The scopes of these two projects are distinct, however, there may be a minor overlap. The
selected firm for the Lyman Transmission Rehabilitation Project will be expected to proceed
independently but may be directed by the City to coordinate work schedules with the firm
selected for the Lyman Reservoir Project.
The predesign phase of the Lyman Transmission Rehabilitation Project is intended to identify the
scope of the rehabilitation effort necessary to ensure continued reliable service for systems raw
and potable water transmission mains. A main failure of either portion presents significant risk
to the City. Rather than proceeding with full-scale replacement of the existing transmission
mains, the City’s goal is to identify the scope of pipeline rehabilitation efforts needed to
strategically address pipeline sections of highest risk.
The Lyman potable water transmission main runs approximately two miles from the Lyman
Reservoir outlet building to the Pear Street Booster Station, traversing undeveloped agricultural
lands within the County, developed residential properties in both the City and County and
crossing Bridger Creek and the East Gallatin River. The main is primarily 18-inch cast iron originally
installed in the 1920s, with some minor segments upgraded to ductile iron in 1969, 2006, 2007
and 2021. Segments of the potable transmission main may be taken out of service temporarily
to support condition assessment work activities. The entirety of the transmission main cannot be
taken out of service without simultaneously taking a portion of customers out of service.
The Lyman raw water transmission main starts as a 16-inch ductile iron pipe for a mile and a half
before transitioning to 18-inch asbestos concrete which runs for approximately 1,000 feet before
transitioning to an 18” cast iron pipe for its run to the reservoir’s inlet building. This predesign
effort will focus on the 18-inch asbestos concrete, which was installed in 1969, and the 18” cast
iron pipe, which was installed in 1941. The City may consider expanding the condition assessment
scope to include the 16-inch ductile iron main, which was installed in 1989. The entirety of the
raw water main is located on open undeveloped lands with a mix of private and City ownership.
The raw water transmission main may be taken out of service for limited periods during low
demand periods.
III. PRELIMINARY SCOPE OF WORK
Release of this RFP with the preliminary scope of services contained herein does not commit the
City to contracting with a selected firm for all scope items identified. For purposes of this RFP
the term ‘selected consultant’ can mean a single engineering consulting firm, or a prime
engineering consulting firm together with sub-consultant engineering firm(s) forming a
respondent team.
The preliminary scope of work involved for this project is 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 because of regulatory uncertainty, budget limitations, contracting strategy or any
combination thereof. 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 engineering consulting firm. Any sub-consultants that comprise the
respondent team must be identified along with a description of past working history between
the firms.
Condition assessment technologies that require temporary or permanent alterations to the
system, or present risks to the City’s operation of the system (such as from an in-service pipeline
probe) as determined by the City, may require special insurance and bonding requirements.
Task 1 – Condition Assessment
• Review all available information for the transmission mains and consult with the
City to define the requirements for the project (including objectives and
constraints, options for equipment and/or personnel, operational needs access to
transmission mains, schedule, and budgetary limitations) to prepare a
recommended condition assessment plan outlining progressive examination steps
that will be taken; including the data that will be gathered, method and location
obtainment, physical and operation requirements, schedule, and triggers for
progression identified for each step.
• In coordination with the City, implement the condition assessment plan; including
procuring, deploying, managing, and/or operating any necessary technologies or
services to obtain all necessary data. Obtain any required approvals from
governmental authorities or private entities having jurisdiction. Act as the City
representative during any construction activities. Receive, review, and determine
the acceptability of all data obtained.
• Prepare a condition assessment report detailing the findings and conclusions
along the length of transmission mains as well as recommendations for continued
monitoring. The report shall include a risk ranking of distinct sections of each
main. All collected data and/or reports shall be included with the report.
Task 2 – Predesign Report
• In consultation with the City, identify the serviceability objective for each main.
• Provide a pre-design report with recommendations for repairs, rehabilitation or
replacement of each transmission main. Recommendations for each transmission
main shall identify distinct projects with alternatives including opinions of
probable design and construction cost, permitting and regulatory requirements,
constructability requirements, and limitations. The report, as appropriate, may
contain schematic layouts, sketches, and conceptual design criteria with
appropriate exhibits to indicate requirements, considerations involved, and the
Engineer’s recommended solution(s).
IV. SCHEDULE AND BUDGET
The City has an available budget of $500,000 within the current fiscal year, however, the budget
shall be divided between this project and the Lyman Reservoir Project Predesign Services. An
additional budget of $1.5 million will become available at the start of the next fiscal year, July 1st,
2025 for design and bidding of preferred alternatives selected by the City for the Lyman Reservoir
and transmission main projects.
The City desires to have the Lyman Transmission Project’s predesign deliverable completed by
early summer of 2026. The City has several other water supply capital projects in progress
including the Sourdough Tank Rehabilitation and Sourdough Intake Improvements. Lyman
transmission main shutdowns will need to be closely coordinated with the City. Shutdown of the
Lyman Creek system will not be allowed during periods when these projects are limiting the City’s
ability to store or deliver water.
V. RFP DEADLINES & SELECTION TIMELINES
Consultants must provide their proposal submissions in response to this RFP via email to the
City Clerk at procurement@bozeman.net by Thursday, April 24, 2025, at 3:00pm local time.
Submissions must be provided as a single, searchable PDF document file as an email
attachment. Consultants are advised that the email attachment size limit is 25MB and that only
one PDF file will be allowed per response. The subject line of the submission email shall clearly
identify the RFP title, company name, and due date/time. File sizes greater than 25MB in size
may be uploaded to the City Clerks’ Office upon special arrangement with the City Clerk. If this
arrangement is made, it is sole responsibility of the Consultant to ensure the file upload is
completed, and that the City Clerk is separately notified via email of the completed transmittal,
prior to the deadline given in this notice. Late submittals will not be accepted.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR QUESTIONS
Questions concerning this RFP or Project shall be directed in writing to the following individuals.
Project Manager
Griffin Nielsen, P.E.
gnielsen@bozeman.net
Procurement Timeline
EVENT DATE
RFP Notice Dates Saturday, March 29, 2025; Saturday, April 19, 2025
Deadline for Technical Questions Thursday, April 17rd, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. MST
Proposal Submission Deadline Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 3:00pm MST
City Evaluation of Proposal April 28 – May 9, 2025
Interviews (At City’s Discretion) Week of May 12 - 16, 2025
Selection Decision May 16, 2025
Contract Negotiation May 19 – June 13, 2025
Contract Authorization June 24, 2025
Except for the RFP notice dates and proposal submission deadline, the above procurement
timeline may be modified without notice by the City.
VI. PROPOSAL CONTENTS AND FORMAT
Proposals must contain the following information and be organized under the headings below.
A. Proposal Contents
1. Firm Background: Provide general information about the firm, its history,
strengths/weaknesses, and special capabilities that set the firm apart from its
competitors. If the Consultant consists of a team of firms, provide the specific
capabilities for each respective firm and the value that a team approach provides.
2. Project Overview: Provide a high-level overview of the Project to demonstrate the
Consultant’s understanding of the purpose and need for the Project.
3. Project Approach: Describe the specific approach to completing the Project within
a detailed scope of services. The submittal should include specific scope items and
deliverables that are proposed to meet the City’s stated objective for the Project. If
the Consultant is comprised of a team of engineering firms, the proposal submittal
contents must clearly indicate which firm will be the prime firm for the PSA, and
clearly distinguish the respective aspects of the detailed project approach each firm
will be working on.
4. Management Approach Staff Qualifications: Describe the Consultant’s project
manager and principal-in-charge and their particular qualifications along with their
respective office locations. Describe the experience and qualifications of
professional personnel to be assigned to the project team and their individual roles
in delivering the scope of services described in the proposed specific project
approach.
5. Related Experience on Similar Projects: Describe the Consultant’s recent or current
work with the City, if any. Provide a description of not less than three projects of
similar size and scope that the Consultant has successfully completed within the past
5 years. The project description shall include a brief overview, overall construction
costs, overall engineering fees, and contact information for the project owner.
6. Proposed Schedule and Consultant’s Workload: Provide a proposed project
schedule with major milestones identified as well as the status of current and
anticipated workload for identified staff members.
7. Sign Nondiscrimination & Equal Pay Affirmation Form: Provide the
Nondiscrimination & Equal Pay Affirmation Form included as Attachment A, signed
by an authorized representative of the consultant.
i. Failure to provide a signed Nondiscrimination & Equal Pay Affirmation is cause
to disqualify the firm from selection.
B. Proposal Format
1. Proposals shall be provided as a single, searchable, PDF document file.
2. Proposals shall contain a cover letter signed by an officer or principal of the responding
prime firm.
3. Submittals shall be a total of twelve (12) 8.5”x11” pages or less, with margins not smaller
than 0.50”, and font not smaller than 11-point type.
a. The following pages are exempted from the 12-page limit: cover page, cover
letter, table of contents, divider pages, personnel resumes, and signed Non-
Discrimination and Equal Pay Affirmation Form.
b. A project schedule sheet is exempted from the 8.5”x11” page size limit and may
be of larger format but is included in the 12-page submittal limit.
VII. SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL
By submitting its 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.
VIII. SELECTION PROCEDURE
Procurement of engineering 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 three (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 a 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. The City may choose
multiple selected firms for contract negotiations if in its discretion it believes that discrete
selected firms are most qualified for particular scope items and that the City will receive superior
service and results than if all scope items are completed by a single selected firm.
Contract negotiations will proceed after selection and 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.
IX. 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.
X. FORM OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
Consultants are notified that the form of the PSA contract must be substantially similar to
template PSAs commonly utilized by the City in contracting for professional services. The City
will determine which template PSA is most conducive for the professional services being
contracted for after its selection of the most qualified Consultant is made.
Consultants are also notified that condition assessment plans which include conditional
assessment technologies or processes that require temporary or permanent alterations to the
system or risk to the City’s operation of the system (such as from an in-service pipeline prob) as
deemed by the City may require additional insurance, bonding and/or changes to the PSA.
XI. CITY RESERVATION OF RIGHTS / LIABILITY WAIVER
All proposals submitted in response to this RFQ 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
CONSULTANTS 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
QUALIFICATIONS AT A LATER DATE.
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.
XII. 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 a City, officer, employee,
contractor, or subconsultant of a Consultant 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. Consultants 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 Consultant 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 Consultant’s officers, employees, contractors and
subconsultants.
D. Accessibility. Upon reasonable notice, the City will provide assistance for those persons
with sensory impairments. For further information please contact the City’s ADA
Coordinator 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 a response to this RFP 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.
XIII. ATTACHMENTS
The attachments below are incorporated in this RFP:
• Attachment A: Non-Discrimination & Equal Pay Affirmation Form
XIV. OTHER RESOURCES
Below are documents, information or data that may be germane to the preliminary scope of work
contained in this RFP and are publicly available on the internet, or housed by other government
agencies, so they are not being provided by the City with this RFP.
• City of Bozeman’s Infrastructure Viewer contains relevant data, including links to record
drawings for the Lyman Transmission System and approximate pipeline location.
END OF RFP EXCEPT FOR ATTACHMENTS
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 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