Vermont Department of Health
Sealed Bid
Request for Proposals
Project Title: Community Water Fluoridation Technical Support Contract
Contract Period: July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013
Date RFP Issued: March 10, 2011
Letter of Intent: March 16, 2011
Written Questions Due: March 18, 2011
Response to questions: March 23, 2011
Date of Bid Closing: March 30, 2011
Date of Bid Opening: March 31, 2011
Location of Bid Opening: Vermont Department of Health, Office of Oral Health,
101 Cherry Street, 5th floor, Lake View Conference Room Burlington, Vt 05402
Available funds: Not to exceed $10,000 per year
Single Point of Contact: Linda Greaves
Phone: 802-651-1635 Email:
Contact Address: Vermont Department of Health,
Division of Oral Health
Fluoridation Program
PO Box 70, 108 Cherry Street
Burlington, Vermont 05402-0070
Physical Address: Vermont Department of Health,
Division of Oral Health
Fluoridation Program
101 Cherry Street, 5th floor
Burlington, Vermont 05402-0070
1. Overview
1.1 Requests for Proposals
The VDH is seeking proposals from qualified individuals to provide water treatment technical consultation services for the Community Water Fluoridation Program.
Anticipated contract period will be July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013, with option to renew for two consecutive one year periods.
The contractor must be license as a Certified Class 3 or 4 Water System Operator in the State of Vermont with a minimum of three years of experience in a community fluoridated water treatment plant.
The contractor is to be based in Vermont, licensed through the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Water Supply Division, and familiar with Water Supply Rule Chapter 21 applicable to plants that fluoridate in Vermont.
1.2 Background
The Vermont Department of Health, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Office of Oral Health, Fluoridation Program is seeking proposals to
support for the following activities:
· Conduct assessments and inspections of the 28 fluoridated community water systems
· Be able to provide outreach to local governing boards, facility engineers and water system operators if necessary.
· Develop technical expertise in best practices in water fluoridation
2. Scope of Work
In keeping with the State of Vermont ‘s requirement that state contracts be performance based, the scope of work and payment provisions will be based on measurable objectives.
The measurable objectives are the following:
1) Conduct on site inspections and comprehensive assessments of the 28 fluoridated community water systems in Vermont on a yearly basis.
The primary goals of inspections and assessments of community water fluoridation systems include:
· assisting Vermont communities in determining the feasibility of fluoridation
· monitoring ongoing implementation of community water fluoridation
· providing technical assistance to each facility on fluoridation data received weekly and monthly
· assisting the Community Water Fluoridation Program in documenting, reviewing and updating all current fluoridation equipment.
2) Review engineering plans and/or specifications when water plant construction or facility upgrades involve or impact on the operation of a fluoridation system. The expectation will be less than 2 per year. The reviews must be completed within two weeks of receiving plans.
3) Assist the Community Water Fluoridation Program in determining eligibility of a community to integrate a new fluoridation system into a previously non-fluoridated community. The assessments must be completed within four weeks.
4) Provide community education and outreach for successful implementation of the overall goals of the Community Water Fluoridation Program.
5) Identify or help develop training opportunities relative to technical expertise in best practices in community fluoridation training and principles for current class 3 or 4 water operators.
6) Attend the CDC Water Fluoridation training course designed to build the capability of state fluoridation programs and to help water treatment professionals develop and refine their skills related to operations. The course includes a 3-day annual training on the Principles and Practice of Water Fluoridation and a newly developed 6-hour water plant operator training course template designed for use by state fluoridation programs. The course will be offered periodically in Tennessee and California. Course attendance is limited because of space and facility considerations, so pre-registration and approval is necessary.
The type of documentation needed to support the completion of the above objectives will include but is not limited to be a monthly report to the community Fluoridation Program coordinator.
3. General Provisions
3.1 Contract Terms
The selected contractor will sign a contract with the VDH to carry out the specifications and provide the activities detailed in the proposal. Terms and conditions from this RFP and contractor’s response will become part of the contract. This contract will be subject to review throughout its entire term. The VDH will consider cancellation upon discovery that a contractor is in violation of any portion of the agreement, including an inability by the contractor to provide the products, support and/or service offered in their response.
3.2 Contract Award
The VDH may award one or more contracts and reserves the right to make additional awards to the same vendor or other vendors who submitted proposals at any time during the first year of the contract if such award is deemed to be in the best interest of the VDH.
3.3 Ownership of Work Product and Intellectual Capital
Except for proprietary or commercial software, the VDH will have all ownership rights to the documentation designed, developed, and/or utilized for this contract. All data, technical information, materials gathered, originated, developed, prepared, used or obtained in the performance of the contract, including, but not limited to, all reports, surveys, plans, charts, literature, brochures, mailings, recordings (video and/or audio), pictures, drawings, analyses, graphic representations, notes and memoranda, and, written procedures and documents, regardless of the state of completion, which are custom developed and/or are the result of the services required under this contract, shall be and remain the property of the VDH and shall be delivered to the VDH upon 30 days notice by the VDH. A vendor shall not sell a work product or deliverable produced under a contract awarded as a result of bids without explicit permission from the VDH.
3.4 Subcontractors
Any subcontractors hired by the primary contractor must adhere to the same standards and contract provisions applicable to the primary contractor. The primary contractor retains overall responsibility for contract performance. The primary contractor must advise the VDH of intent to hire a subcontractor and provide the name of company, name of president/owner and location of company. The VDH reserves the right to reject the hiring of subcontractor during the term of contract.
3.5 Invoicing
All invoices are to be submitted by the Contractor on the Contractor's standard invoice. The invoice must include the following: a signed signature, name and address for remittance of payment by the state, the contract number, the date of performance, and a brief description of the service or product.
3.6 Contractor Staffing
Key staff member(s) must be assigned to this contract for the full duration proposed. None of the key staff member(s) may be reassigned or otherwise removed early from this project without explicit written permission of the VDH.
The Contractor must identify staff member(s) who will remain on this project until completion, unless indicated otherwise in the Contractor’s proposal. The Contractor may propose other staff members as “key” if desired. The Contractor will make every reasonable effort to ensure that the early removal of a key staff member has no adverse impact on the successful completion of this project.
3.7 Key Contractor Responsibilities
The selected Contractor must assume primary responsibility for the implementation of the contract specifications and activities.
3.8.1 The Contractor will successfully implement the plan to accomplish the tasks described and defined in the Scope of Work.
3.8.2 The Contractor must abide by all State policies, standards and protocols as provided, and defined in this contract.
4. Management Structure and General Information
4.1 Project Management
The Contractor will be accountable to Linda Greaves, Fluoridation Technician Coordinator and holds responsibility for the project deliverables, schedule and adherence to contract provisions. The Contractor must abide by all VDH standards and protocols as defined by Linda Greaves.
4.2 Status Reports
The contractor will submit reports to Linda Greaves Fluoridation Technician Coordinator. Reports shall include but are not limited to, detailed comprehensive inspections of the plant and all fluoridation equipment, meetings or phone calls with water operators, presentations for any educational outreach to community governing boards and new integration of fluoridation in an eligible community.
The contractor shall meet monthly with Linda Greaves to review the status of the monthly report and any current issues or activities with Community Fluoridation Water Plants.
5. Proposal Requirements
5.1 Proposal Guidelines
This RFP defines the scope of services required and work/management structure within which the chosen Contractor must operate. In order to be considered for selection, bidders must complete all responses to this RFP in the format described in this document. Proposals not meeting the requirements described in this RFP will not be considered.
5.2 Single Point of Contact
Linda Greaves is the sole contact for this proposal. All communications concerning this RFP are to be addressed in writing to the attention of Linda Greaves listed on cover sheet of this proposal. Attempts by bidders to contact any other party could result in the rejection of their proposal as determined by the VDH.
5.3 Letter of Intent
The Department requests that interested parties submit a non- binding letter of intent to the RFP contract by March 16, 2011, no later than 3:30 pm. Letters can be submitted by email, fax or US Mail to Linda Greaves. A letter of intent is not required in order to submit a proposal nor does it bind a bidder or organization to submit a proposal. However, any subsequent information related to this RFP will be forwarded to only those who have submitted a Letter of Intent. Please include contact name, name of the company, mailing address, phone number, fax number and email address in the letter of intent.
5.4 Question and Answer Period
Any bidder requiring clarification of any section of this proposal or wishing to submit questions may do so according to the 5.5 Timetable schedule listed in this section. Questions may be e-mailed, faxed or US Mail to Linda Greaves listed on page 1 of this proposal. Any clarification or questions submitted following the last day of the question period to the RFP are waived.
5.5 Timetable
The table below presents the VDH schedule for this RFP and contracting process. Please note that the VDH may change this schedule at any point.
RFP published / Date: March 10, 2011Letter of Intent / Date: March 16, 2011
Written questions due / Date: March 18, 2011
Response to questions / Date: March 23, 2011
Proposal due (see Section 5.6 for detailed instructions on proposal format and submission instructions) / Date; March 30, 2011 3:30 pm EST
Public Bid Opening / Date; March 31, 2011
Contract negotiation period / Date: March 31, 2011-April 13,2011
Anticipated “Start Work Date” / Date: July 1, 2011
A public bid opening will be held at the Vermont Department of Health, Office of Oral Health, 101 Cherry Street, 5th floor, Lake View Conference Room, Burlington, Vermont at 3:00 p.m. EST on March 31, 2011.
The State reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals. Selected State staff will evaluate proposals. The chosen Contractor will be invited to negotiate a contract for all or part of the activities outlined in this RFP. Work to be completed under this contract will commence no later than July 1, 2011
5.6 Proposal Submission
Bidders must submit original and 5 hard copies of the proposal with a signed cover letter.
The State reserves the right to eliminate from further consideration any proposal deemed to be substantially or materially unresponsive to the requests for information contained herein.
Please note that any and all pages of the bidder’s proposal containing confidential and proprietary information must be clearly marked “Proprietary and Confidential.” After completion of this bid process, all proposal materials are in the public domain. Proposals may not be marked “Proprietary and Confidential” in their entirety.
The proposal must be organized in the order described below. Use the numbering designations outlined in 5.8, Response Sections I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X. The numbering designations will allow evaluators to score areas appropriately. Failure to use number designations may result in scores of zero, as reviewers may be unable to find answers that correspond to numbered specifications/requirements.
Bidders will submit their proposal to:
Linda Greaves, Fluoridation Technician Coordinator
Mailing Address: Vermont Department of Health/Office of Oral Health
Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
108 Cherry Street, PO Box 70
Burlington, Vermont 05402-0070
Physical Address: Vermont Department of Health/Office of Oral Health
Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
101 Cherry Street, 5th floor
Burlington, Vermont 05402-0070
The closing date for the receipt of proposals is 3:30 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on March 30, 2011.
Bids must be delivered to the Linda Greaves at the address listed above prior to that time. Proposals or unsolicited amendments submitted after that time will not be accepted and will be returned to the bidder. There are no exceptions to the closing date conditions.
Delivery Methods:
U.S. MAIL: Bidders are cautioned that it is their responsibility to originate the mailing of bids in sufficient time to insure receipt by the State prior to the time of the bid opening.
EXPRESS DELIVERY: If bids are being sent via an express delivery
service, be certain that the RFP designation is
clearly shown on the outside of the delivery
envelope or box.
HAND DELIVERY: Hand carried bids must be delivered to a representative of the Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, if Linda Greaves is unavailable prior to the bid opening.
ELECTRONIC/EMAIL: Electronic bids will not be accepted.
FAXED BIDS: Faxed bids will not be accepted.
5.7 Proposal Format
Proposals must be no longer than 4 pages, excluding staff résumés, the cost proposal and references.