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REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)
WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY ON-CALL
ENGINEERING SERVICES
CITY OF BOZEMAN
Bozeman, MT
City of Bozeman
PO Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771-1230
August 2021
Page 2 of 11
NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the City of Bozeman (Owner) is seeking qualifications from firms to provide
professional engineering services necessary to support the operation and maintenance of the City’s Water
Reclamation Facility. Engineering services will be requested on an on-call or task order basis and could
include a wide variety of items including, but not limited to: design, equipment selection, bidding,
construction administration, water quality monitoring and analysis, process troubleshooting and
optimization, industrial automation and controls, and discharge permit compliance. Engineering firms
responding to this RFQ must demonstrate a familiarity and depth of knowledge with advanced wastewater
treatment and biological nutrient removal processes, and exhibit a breadth of experience across relevant
engineering disciplines. The selected engineering firm will be expected to mobilize quickly to provide
engineering services in a timely fashion.
Copies of the Request for Qualifications are available on the City’s website at
https://weblink.bozeman.net/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=239976&dbid=0&repo=BOZEMAN
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.
Deliver RFQ responses via email to the City Clerk by September 15, 2021 at 3:00PM 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, https://wayback.archive-
it.org/499/20210701223409/https:/equalpay.mt.gov/, 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 submittal procedures should be directed to: Mike Maas, City Clerk
(406) 582-2321, agenda@bozeman.net.
Questions relating to the RFQ should be directed to: Griffin Nielsen, Engineer II, (406) 582-2279,
gnielsen@bozeman.net.
DATED at Bozeman, Montana, this August 22, 2021.
Mike Maas
City Clerk
City of Bozeman
For publication on:
Sunday, August 22, 2021
Sunday, September 5, 2021
I. INTRODUCTION
The City of Bozeman, is seeking qualifications from firms to provide professional engineering services
necessary to support the operation and maintenance of the City’s Water Reclamation Facility. Engineering
services will be requested on an on-call or task order basis and could include a wide variety of items
including, but not limited to: design, equipment selection, bidding, construction administration, water
quality monitoring and analysis, process troubleshooting and optimization, industrial automation and
controls, and discharge permit compliance. Engineering firms responding to this RFQ must demonstrate
a familiarity and depth of knowledge with advanced wastewater treatment and biological nutrient
removal processes, and exhibit a breadth of experience across relevant engineering disciplines. The
selected engineering firm will be expected to mobilize quickly to provide engineering services in a timely
fashion.
The City intends to enter into a Master Task Order Agreement term contract with the selected firm and
negotiate scope and fee for individual Task Orders as needs for engineering services arise and budget is
available. The adopted FY22 – FY25 capital improvement plan for the WRF contains $60,000 annually to
fund engineering and optimization projects. The initial term of the contract will be through FY22 (ends
June 30, 2022). Options for up to (2) fiscal year extensions beyond the initial term of the contract will be
included in the agreement if agreed upon by both parties.
II. SCOPE OF SERVICES
Responses to this RFQ must display the qualifications and experience of the consultant for the items listed
below. These items are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are generally germane to the types of
projects and activities the consultant may be tasked with over the contract term. The SOQ must
demonstrate a deep and broad level of engineering experience relevant to the operations and
maintenance of the COB Water Reclamation Facility (WRF).
• Primary, secondary, and advanced wastewater treatment process design and process modeling;
• Biological nutrient removal (BNR) design, start-up, troubleshooting, and optimization;
• Side stream treatment;
• Sludge digestion, dewatering, biosolids handling, and biogas cogeneration;
• Chemical feed systems;
• Final effluent disinfection;
• Major equipment specification and/or principal vendor selection;
• Industrial automation and controls;
• Construction sequencing;
• Regulatory agency approvals;
• Preparation of contract documents, bidding phase services, construction administration and
inspection;
• Effluent and receiving water/watershed quality monitoring and modeling;
Discharge permit compliance;
• Streambank stabilization, restoration and stream permitting (404 permit, 318 authorization,
section 401 authorization, SPA 124 permit, floodplain permitting).
The SOQ must identify any particular items or engineering disciplines that will not be provided by the
prime consultant. Sub-consultants may be utilized to bolster areas of expertise for which the prime
consultant lacks pertinent experience. Respective roles of the consultant team must be clearly set forth
in the SOQ project management chart and a portfolio of past projects for which the team has worked shall
be given.
III. TIMELINES, DELIVERY DEADLINE, AND INSTRUCTIONS
Deliver RFQ responses to the City Clerk (agenda@bozeman.net) by September 15, 2021 at 3:00 PM MST.
It is the sole responsibility of the submitting 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:
Griffin Nielsen, Engineer II
P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771-1230
(406) 582-2279
gnielsen@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 5:00 PM MST on September 7, 2021
B. Selection Timeline
EVENT DATE/TIME
Advertising Dates August 22, 2021 and September 5, 2021
Deadline for RFQ Questions & Clarifications September 7, 2021 at 5:00 PM MST
City Response to Questions & Clarifications September 10, 2021 at 5:00PM MST
Deadline for RFQ Submittals September 15, 2021 at 3:00PM MST
Evaluations of RFQ Responses September 16 to 22, 2021
Interview (if necessary) and Selection Week of September 27, 2021
With the exception of the advertising dates and advertised due date, the City reserves the right to
modify the above timeline.
IV. 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 City policy.
1. Evaluation of RFQs. The selection committee shall consist of no less than three
persons representing the City. RFQ responses that do not contain the required
documentation will be deemed nonresponsive to this solicitation and may be
rejected.
2. Interviews. After reviewing conforming RFQ responses, the selection
committee may decide to schedule interviews with qualified respondents.
3. Selection and Final Recommendation. The selection committee will tally the
scores for the RFQ. At that time contract negotiations will take place between
the City and successful Respondent. The City may negotiate a contract with the
next highest ranked Respondent if a contract cannot be made.
B. RFQ – FORM AND CONTENTS
Deliver one (1) original digital copy (via email), prepared as follows:
i. General Instructions:
a. RFQ responses must contain a cover letter signed by an officer or principal of
your firm.
b. RFQ 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.
ii. Firm Information:
a. Experience. Respondent must demonstrate successful experience and capacity
to act as an engineering consultant 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 and qualifications of
the professional personnel to be assigned to this project by providing resumes.
Describe your recent and current work for the City of Bozeman, if any.
b. Firm Background. Provide information about the firm, including location.
Describe the firm’s history. Information identifying the firm’s strengths and
weaknesses along with special capabilities that may be appropriate to the
Project will assist in the evaluation.
c. Firm Workload. Provide the status of current and anticipated work within the
firm as it relates to availability of key personnel and your firm. Describe the
firm’s capability to meet time and project budget requirements.
d. 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: 30
2. Firm’s Qualifications:
Possible Points: 25
3. Capabilities to meet time schedule and project budget requirements.
Possible Points: 15
4. Present and projected workloads:
Possible Points: 5
5. Past projects/experience working with the City of Bozeman:
Possible Points: 1 5
6. Office(s) location:
Possible Points: 10
V. FORM OF AGREEMENT
The final form of the contract documents will be disclosed to Respondents during contract
negotiations. The general form of the contract is Master Task Order Agreement. Individual task order
scope, fee, and payment terms will be negotiated as needs for professional services arise over the
course of the term contract.
VI. CITY RESERVATION OF RIGHTS
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 QUALIFICATIONS 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
QUALIFICATIONS AT A LATER DATE.
A. This RFQ 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 City. If the City cancels or revises
this RFQ, all Respondents who submitted will be notified using email.
B. The City reserves the right to amend the RFQ; to waive any minor irregularities,
informalities, or failure to conform to the RFQ; and to extend the deadline for submitting
proposals;.
C. The City reserves the right to reject the submission 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 submission 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 best qualified Respondents and to
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 City, that
it finds acceptable.
F. The City 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 and contract negotiation. The
Respondents, by submitting a response to this RFQ, waives all right to protest or seek
any legal remedies whatsoever regarding any aspect of this RFQ.
G. This project is subject to the availability of funds.
VII. 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 has visited the State of
Montana Equal Pay for Equal Work “best practices” website,
https://equalpay.mt.gov/BestPractices/Employers, or equivalent “best practices publication and has
read the material.
VIII. 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 SOQ 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.
IX. ATTACHMENTS
The following exhibits are incorporated in this RFQ:
Appendix A: Non-Discrimination Affirmation
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 has
visited the State of Montana Equal Pay for Equal Work “best practices” website,
https://equalpay.mt.gov/BestPractices/Employers, or equivalent “best practices publication and has
read the material.
______________________________________
Name and title of person authorized to sign on behalf of submitter