This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Belfast, Maine. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

The following is the scope of services that the firm chosen as the QEP will be required to perform. Some of these services will be performed exclusively by the QEP, while others will be performed in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities: Task 1: Cooperative Agreement Oversight Activities Specific subtasks to be performed by the QEP (whether exclusively or in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities) under Task 1 include: 2.1.1: assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee and/or a working group (comprised of members of the Brownfields Selection Committee, and potentially USEPA and MEDEP representatives) regarding the procurement of other, non-QEP professional services, including, but not limited to: Historians/Certified Archaeologists; professionals to carry out site reuse/redevelopment planning activities; and Geographic Information Systems/mapping specialists; 2.1.2: preparing, reviewing, and submitting quarterly reports to the Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES) 2.1.3: preparing, reviewing, and submitting additional site information to ACRES; 2.1.4: preparing, reviewing, and submitting Minority-Owned Business Enterprises/Woman-Owned Business Enterprises forms; 2.1.5: preparing, reviewing, and submitting Standard Form-425 Federal Financial Reports; 2.1.6: preparing, reviewing, and submitting Final Report and Cooperative Agreement Closeout materials; 2.1.7: assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee regarding their review of site selection procedures, including reviewing the site selection process, reviewing the site selection criteria, and updating the site application form; and 2.1.8: drafting minutes for Brownfields Selection Committee meetings when in attendance/participating. Task 2: Community Outreach and Engagement Activities Specific subtasks to be performed by the QEP (whether exclusively or in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities) under Task 2 include: 2.2.1: providing individual confidential responses to questions and/or concerns posed by residents, current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective developers; 2.2.2: updating existing community outreach and engagement deliverables, including, but not limited to: frequently-asked questions; informational brochure; and reviewing information for a portion of the City of Belfasts website; and 2.2.3: developing new community outreach and engagement deliverables, including, but not limited to: developing and hosting a public informational meeting; participating in informational meetings of area real estate professionals, banking professionals, and/or other Brownfield-aligned groups (at least 2); reviewing information for news releases; reviewing information to be distributed in local community partners e-newsletters and e-mails; and reviewing information for City of Belfasts and local community partners Facebook posts. Task 3: Inventory, Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, and Phase II Environmental Site Assessment, and Historic Preservation Activities Specific subtasks to be performed by the QEP (whether exclusively or in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities) under Task 3 include: 2.3.1: updating the City of Belfasts existing inventory of potential Brownfields, including, but not limited to: conducting windshield surveys; soliciting community members for potential Brownfields; researching records related to the communitys industrial/economic history; and integrating the inventory into mapping tool(s) (such as MapGeo and/or Geographic Information Systems) (this may be done by a Geographic Information Systems/mapping specialist and not by the QEP); 2.3.2: preparing for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (both for initial assessments and for assessment updates), including: obtaining or confirming eligibility determinations from the USEPA; obtaining or confirming petroleum eligibility determinations from the MEDEP; obtaining access agreements from current property owners; and assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee in reviewing and deciding upon site applications; 2.3.3: conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessment activities (both for initial assessments and for assessment updates), including: performing the assessments; submitting draft assessment reports to the Project Team; receiving comments on the draft assessment reports from the Project Team; finalizing and submitting assessment reports; and discussing final assessment report findings and possible next steps with current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective property developers; 2.3.4: preparing for Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (both for initial assessments and for supplemental assessments; including Hazardous Building Materials Inventories, if applicable), including: assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee regarding reviewing and deciding upon requests from current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective property developers to conduct assessments; submitting USEPA-approved Generic Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) with updated organizational charts; submitting draft Site-Specific Quality Assurance Project Plans (SSQAPPs) to the Project Team for review and comments; receiving comments on draft SSQAPPs from the Project Team; obtaining approvals for SSQAPPs from the USEPA and the MEDEP; finalizing and submitting SSQAPPs to the USEPA and the MEDEP; consulting with the USEPA and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission regarding on-site activities adversely impacting historic properties and determining if Section 106 reviews are required; if required, undertaking a Section 106 review process with the USEPA and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission to avoid, minimize, and/or mitigate adverse impacts; and memorializing the Section 106 review through creating a Memorandum of Agreement between the USEPA, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, and the recipient of the assistance; and 2.3.5: conducting Phase II Environmental Site Assessment activities (both for initial assessments and for supplemental assessments; including Hazardous Building Materials Inventories, if applicable), including: performing the assessments; submitting draft assessment reports to the Project Team; receiving comments on the draft assessment reports from the Project Team; finalizing and submitting assessment reports; and discussing final assessment report findings and possible next steps with current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective property developers. Task 4: Cleanup, Site Reuse/Redevelopment, and Area-Wide Planning Activities 2.4.1: conducting Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives (ABCAs)/Remedial Action Plan (RAP) activities, including: assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee to review and decide upon requests from current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective property developers to conduct ABCAs/RAPs; performing the ABCAs/RAPs; submitting draft ABCAs/RAPs to the Project Team; receiving comments on the draft ABCAs/RAPs from the Project Team; finalizing and submitting ABCAs/RAPs; and discussing final ABCA/RAP findings and possible next steps with current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective property developers; 2.4.2: conducting site reuse/redevelopment planning activities for individual brownfields, including: assisting professionals in their creation of planning activity documents (eligible planning activity documents include brownfields revitalization plans, evaluations of market viability, infrastructure evaluations, market studies, site disposition strategies, site reuse assessments, and site reuse visions) 2.4.3: conducting site reuse/redevelopment planning activities for areas larger than an individual brownfield, including: assisting professionals in their creation of planning activity documents (eligible planning activity documents include brownfields revitalization plans, evaluations of market viability, infrastructure evaluations, market studies, site disposition strategies, site reuse assessments, and site reuse visions); and 2.4.4: enrolling brownfields into the MEDEPs Voluntary Response Action Program. 3. QUALIFICATION STATEMENT FORMAT, EVALUATION FACTORS Interested firms are instructed to follow the format by providing a cover letter and responding to each of the six evaluation factors (3.1-3.6) listed below; the percentage weight for each evaluation factor follows. Statements that do not follow this format or do not contain the requested information may be considered unresponsive statements and will not be considered by the City of Belfast. The maximum length for a statement is 60 digital pages; this limit applies to the entirety of the qualification statement, whether it is the cover letter, responses to the evaluation factors, appendices, tables, resumes, any other supporting documents, covers, or divider sheets. Any pages that are in excess of the 60 will be removed from the statement and will not be reviewed or considered. While the City of Belfast is not requiring any minimum or maximum font size, spacing, or margins, firms are strongly encouraged to consider readability when preparing their qualification statement. The maximum file size for the statement is 10 Megabytes; this is to ensure successful emailing of the statement. A file that is larger than this size will be rejected and will not be reviewed or considered. Cover Letter: the firms qualification statement shall be preceded by a cover letter expressing the firms interest in working with City of Belfast personnel, the Brownfields Selection Committee, USEPA representatives, MEDEP representatives, and other potential stakeholders. The firm shall affirm that they and all subconsultants used in this project will: 1) meet all requirements of the USEPA Brownfields Program; 2) meet all requirements of the cooperative agreement; and 3) not be found to be debarred or suspended or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal assistance programs, unless an exception has been obtained from the USEPA under 2 CFR 180.135. This letter should be on the firms letterhead and signed by an officer of the firm authorized to bind the firm to all comments made in the qualification statement and shall include the name, e-mail address, and phone number of the person(s) to contact who will be authorized to represent the firm. 3.1: Experience: the firm will provide a list of its recent (within the last 5 years) and current projects, if any, awarded by a city, another type of governmental unit, or a governmental agency, for any brownfield-related projects. For each project, the firm shall include the following information: project start and end dates; current status of project; outputs, outcomes, and results from the project; services performed; and the name of the governmental unit or agency and their contact information (for reference verification purposes). (This evaluation factor is worth 30% of a firms qualification statement score.) 3.2: Local Brownfields Knowledge: the firm will demonstrate a familiarity with: 1) the City of Belfast and its history in regards to the creation of Brownfields, the impacts of Brownfields, and the potential to identify additional Brownfields for assessment; and 2) the history and results of the City of Belfasts Brownfields Assessment Program. (This evaluation factor is worth 10% of a firms qualification statement score.) 3.3: Project Approach: the firm will describe the approach to be taken toward completion of each of the 4 tasks outlined above in the scope of services requested and an explanation of any proposed variations to the work program. In this response section the firm will separately address each of the 4 major tasks listed above under Scope of Services Required. (This evaluation factor is worth 20% of a firms qualification statement score.) 3.4: Cost of Services: the firm will provide a budget for each of the 4 tasks in table form, which will include the estimated number of hours spent by each employee and their hourly rates, and the estimated number of hours spent by each subcontractor and their fees. The firm will also include a schedule of other costs (personnel and other categories) that would be expected to be relevant to this cooperative agreement during its period of performance. The City of Belfasts order of preference with respect to changes in costs of services during the cooperative agreements period of performance is: 1 - highest preference) no changes to any costs of services during the cooperative agreements period of performance; 2) changes to costs of services occurring during the cooperative agreements period of performance but any changes are clearly defined in the qualification statement (e.g. a fixed rate increase after a specified period of time); and 3 - lowest preference) changes to costs of services occurring during the cooperative agreements period of performance but changes are not clearly defined in the qualification statement. No contracts shall be awarded wherein the fee is stated as a percentage of the project cost. $300,000 has been allocated from this cooperative agreement for QEP services. (This evaluation factor is worth 15% of a firms qualification statement score.) 3.5: Capacity: the firm will identify and state its current project workload (both Brownfields-related and not) and its capacity to undertake additional projects. Also, the firm will demonstrate that it possesses sufficient insurance coverage in place for the anticipated scope of services, and that it also possesses sufficient financial capacity to successfully and efficiently complete projects. (This evaluation factor is worth 15% of a firms qualification statement score.) 3.6: Personnel: the firm will identify any and all staff that would be anticipated to be involved to any significant degree in the implementation of this cooperative agreement during its period of performance and describe their expertise. The firm will also provide background information for any subcontractors expected to be used in the implementation of this cooperative agreement during its period of performance. (This evaluation factor is worth 10% of a firms qualification statement score.) Question Deadline 11/17/2022 at 5:00 PM ET Any and all questions regarding this request must be emailed to economicdevelopment@cityofbelfast.org. All questions submitted by this deadline will be answered and posted by 12:00 p.m. local time on Monday, November 21st, 2022. Answers to questions will not be emailed to firms. The method of contractor selection has not been determined at this time.