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<br />Public Notice
<br />Kittitas County, Ellensburg WA
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<br />REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS
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<br />SELECTING COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH QUALIFIED BROADBAND PROVIDERS TO DELIVER BROADBAND SERVICE TO UNSERVED COUNTY LOCATIONS USING THE BEAD PROGRAM
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<br />All submittals received after 5:00 pm local time on August 29, 2024 will be discarded
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<br />PURPOSE:
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<br />Kittitas County, Washington (hereinafter the “County”), desires to use the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) delivering Broadband Services to rural unserved residents. The County proposes to partner with qualified service providers through collaboration and risk sharing. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 makes this opportunity available. Kittitas County has completed the required public portions of the location and availability challenge process and believes that we understand the requirements for middle mile service and for last mile service in Kittitas County. This RFQ (Request For Qualifications) is designed to align the requirements of the upcoming Washington State Broadband Office Notice of Financial Offering (NOFO) service expectations with qualified providers to apply for project areas in Kittitas County.
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<br />SCOPE OF PROJECT:
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<br />The preliminary project areas for Kittitas county can be found at
<br />https://expressoptimizer.net/public/Washington/index.htmlhttps://expressoptimizer.net/public/Washington/index.html. It is anticipated the project area boundaries will be refined at the completion of the availability challenge process which should be completed by August 1, 2024.
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<br />The firm(s) selected as part of this RFQ will be required to design, build, operate and maintain the broadband internet network to provide high-speed broadband internet service to the identified areas for a defined period of time.
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<br />A combination of in-ground, aerial, and wireless infrastructure is anticipated being required to meet the needs of middle mile and last mile service delivery in project areas. Adherence to all requirements of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and final Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) from the Washington State Broadband Office, is the minimum performance standard whereby all responses will be evaluated.
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<br />PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTAL:
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<br />If you wish to be considered for work under this Statement of Qualifications (SOQ), you must be a registered consultant on the Municipal Research and Service Center of Washington – Shared Small Works and Consultant Roster (
<br />https://mrscrosters.org/https://mrscrosters.org).
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<br />Interested Broadband service providers are encouraged to reach out to the County in advance of formally responding to this request for qualifications. Please direct inquiries to: Joe Poire at (509) 850-6335 or via electronic message at
<br />mailto:joe@jrpintegratedsolutions.comjoe@jrpintegratedsolutions.com. When formally submitting a response, please limit said response to twenty (20) pages, double-sided including cover letter and provide a minimum of twelve (12) point font. Send responses to: BEAD RFQ, c/o Josh Fredrickson, Kittitas County Public Works Director, 411 North Ruby Street, Suite 1, Ellensburg, WA 98926. Please provide four (4) copies of the response. Submittals will be reviewed by an internal selection committee with support from the County’s Broadband Consultant, Joe Poire. A standard Kittitas County professional services agreement is available upon request.
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<br />For your records, the County will provide a confirmation email to the contacts provided in the submittal confirming receipt of your interest in this solicitation. Submittals received after 5:00 PM local time on August 29, 2024, will be disregarded. Kittitas County encourages disadvantaged, minority and women owned consultant firms to respond.
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<br />The County reserves the right to retain the services of the successful firm for any subsequent phases associated with this project. The County reserves the right to reject any and all submittals.
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<br />SELECTION PROCESS AND PROPOSED SCHEDULE:
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<br />Responders are required to address all criterion provided below to receive complete scoring:
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<br />1. Project understanding and solution approach to last mile. (40 points)
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<br />2. Workforce development and fair labor practices. (20 points)
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<br />3. Local coordination. (20 points)
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<br />4. Service approach, commitment, and history. (30 points)
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<br />5. Maintenance commitment and history. (20 points)
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<br />6. Managerial and financial capabilities. (20 points)
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<br />7. BEAD compliance commitment. (30 points)
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<br />8. Project delivery schedule. (20 points)
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<br />Adherence to all requirements of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and final Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) from the Washington State Broadband Office is the minimum performance standard whereby all responses will be evaluated.
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<br />Civil Rights:
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<br />The selection process shall be in accordance with the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d to 2000d-4) and the Regulations, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full and fair opportunity to submit statements in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.
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<br />Kittitas County in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) commits to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability, in all of its programs and activities. This material can be made available in an alternate format by electronically mailing Candie Leader at
<br />mailto:candie.leader@co.kittitas.wa.uscandie.leader@co.kittitas.wa.us or by calling collect 509-962-7523.
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<br />SOQ Schedule:
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<br />Deadline for SOQ submittals - August 29, 2024
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<br />Internal Review complete, Partners recommended for Contracting - September 13, 2024
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<br />Board of County Commissioner (BOCC) affirmation of Partner(s) selected for Collaboration - September 17, 2024
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<br />Completion of BEAD project area applications. Professional Services Agreement(s) Finalized - December 31, 2024
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<br />WSBO/NTIA approval of project area applications. Finalize contracts. - July 1, 2025
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<br />The above noted schedule is tentative and may be changed based on the number of statements received. Statements will be evaluated immediately with final selection targeted for mid-September 2024.
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<br />AGREEMENT OF SERVICES:
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<br />Selected partners for BEAD service(s) and collaboration will be required to enter into a standard Kittitas County Professional Services Agreement. Previous Broadband grant awards have been completed utilizing the County’s Professional Services Agreement with Technical Appendices. The County expects to follow a similar award process under this BEAD solicitation.
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<br />Persons with disabilities may request this information be prepared and supplied in alternate forms by calling collect (509-962-7523).
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<br />Kittitas County reserves the right to accept or reject one or more statements or any items or part thereof or to waive any information or irregularities in the provided response. Kittitas County shall have the sole discretion to determine the most responsible responder.
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<br />INQUIRIES AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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<br />Pre-submittal inquiries should be directed to: Joe Poire at (509) 850-6335 or via electronic message at
<br />mailto:joe@jrpintegratedsolutions.comjoe@jrpintegratedsolutions.com.
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<br />Direct all inquiries regarding this Statement of Qualifications to: Josh Fredrickson - Department of Public Works at (509) 962-7523, or via electronic message at
<br />mailto:josh.fredrickson@co.kittitas.wa.usjosh.fredrickson@co.kittitas.wa.us.
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<br />Dates of publication: Ellensburg Daily Record – July 18, 25 and August 8, 2024.
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<br /> Daily Journal of Commerce – July 18, 25 and August 8, 2024.
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<br /> Clerk of the Board Publish:
<br />Daily Record: 7/18/24, 7/25/24, 8/8/24
<br />Daily Journal of Commerce: 7/18/24, 7/25/24, 8/8/24
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