Onslow News

Town of Surf City issued the following announcement on Jan. 3.

The Town of Surf City invites qualified professional engineering firms (PEF) to submit qualifications to provide Wastewater Reclaim Treatment and Distribution planning, infrastructure management and design, and consulting.

Request for Qualifications

The Town of Surf City (Town) Department of Public Utilities (Department) is soliciting Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) from professional Wastewater Treatment planning/engineering firms to lead and facilitate the development of a comprehensive Design and Implementation, Cost of Service and Rate Study associated with a Wastewater Reclaim System for the Town.

Department Profile

The Town of Surf City is located in eastern Pender County and Onslow County, North Carolina with a population of approximately 5,600 residents. It’s city limits encompass approximately 5.3 square miles. Surf City has a tourism and service-based economy. Surf City’s current sanitary sewer system consist of 50 regional pump stations that transfers sewage to a 1.5 MGD sequential batch reactor wastewater treatment plant with .767 MGD of spray irrigation disposal. The Town also has 4500 potable water connections of which 660 are dedicated to irrigation services.

The Town of Surf City is seeking expertise in wastewater treatment utility engineering to provide an overall comprehensive design to treat wastewater to reclaim standards is distribute the effluent to local irrigation systems, to include suppling irrigation to a new established dune line, as well as assessing data to compile rate structures that will be needed to support the reclaim water system within the Town.

The Town intends to award a contract to the firm whose solution most closely meets the requirements defined in this Request for Qualifications (RFQ). The firm’s ability to provide a clear project path and approach towards the successful implementation of a reclaim utility are critical factors in the selection process.

Initial Scope of Work

The initial scope of work for the reclaim utility implementation is generally described within the following elements:

1.    The Consultant will be expected to work with the Army Corps of Engineers and all required sections of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to gain permissions and permits to utilize reclaim quality water on dune plantings in conjunction with the upcoming beach nourishment project. 

2.    The Consultant will be expected to work with local plant nurseries to select dune plantings that will have beneficial use of reclaim water that will allow the Town to receive capacity credit and to support a stronger dune line.

3.    The Consultant will develop a design and oversee construction of the complete reclaim water utility. The design and implementation should include the following:

•    Develop a dune irrigation system that will be included in the master design of the beach renourishment project.

•    Design a reclaim water distribution system for the primary purpose of suppling reclaim water to the beach renourishment project but can be expanded to supply irrigation water to other sections of town.

•    Design a reclaim treatment facility utilizing existing town properties and infrastructure.

•    Determine possible rate structure models to be considered that encourage reclaim water over domestic water supplies while maximizing revenue.

•    Provide training and operation and maintenance schedules to Town staff on new infrastructure.

•    Present options of fee structures for plan implementation to the Town Council.

Submittal of Qualifications

Interested firms shall submit five (5) copies of their qualification statements and project proposals, which shall contain the following:

•    Introductory Letter - Provide an introduction letter summarizing the unique qualifications of your firm to meet the needs of this project. The letter should be presented on the firm’s official letterhead and signed by an authorized representative who has authority to enter into a contract with the Town on behalf of the firm. Include the name, address telephone and email address of the individual who serves as the point of contact for the solicitation.

•    Objectives – The firm’s preliminary interpretation of the objectives to be achieved in the development of the design and implementation of the reclaim water utility as well as the development of the rate structure.

•    Project Understanding, Approach and Schedule – Provide a comprehensive narrative, outline, and/or graph demonstrating the firm’s understanding and approach to accomplishing the tasks outlined in Scope of Work section of this RFQ. A description of each task and deliverable as well as the anticipated schedule for accomplishing each shall be included.

•    Provide Company Background

o    Include background information on the firm and provide detailed information regarding the firm’s experience with similar projects. Provide a list of all similar contracts in the past five years, accompanied by at least three references (contact person, organization, telephone number and email address).

o    How many years has your company been in business?

o    Please describe the ownership of your organization (Sole proprietorship, partnership, privately or publicly held corporation). If a corporation, please provide evidence that the firm is in good standing and qualified to conduct business in North Carolina.

o    How many reclaim utilities are you currently engaged with and providing assistance? How many of these are within coastal communities in North Carolina? Please provide examples.

•    Experience – Provide specific project experience in working with similar organizations in leading, facilitating, and developing plans as described in the RFQ. Each example should include the name and size of the organization as well as a short description/overview of the services provided. Please provide the name, title, and contact information for a person(s) from the organization familiar with the services the firm provided.

o    Project Team Experience – Provide proposed staffing, deployment, and personnel to be assigned to this project. This shall include information as to the qualifications and experience of all executive, managerial, legal, and professional personnel to be assigned to this project, including resumes citing experience with similar projects and the responsibilities to be assigned to each person. Also please include, a project-specific organizational chart which clearly illustrates the roles, responsibilities, and the reporting relationships of personnel anticipated to work on this project. The project manager should be clearly identified with qualifications, experience, and expertise highlighted as directly relevant to this project. 

•    Include Proof of Certificate of Insurance (COI) and appropriate licenses.

•    Preferences will be given to firms who can demonstrate a successful track record in the assistance in obtaining grants.

•    The RFQ schedule is summarized below:

o    01/19/2023 – Issue and publicize Request for Qualifications.

o    02/9/2023 – Consultant questions due by 2:00pm

o    Any questions regarding the RFQ must be in writing via email to dprice@surfcitync.gov and it is the responsibility of the submitter to confirm receipt by the Town: Questions should reference the RFQ page number and section.

o    02/16/2023 – Response to consultant’s questions sent to all submitters and posted on the Town’s website by 2:00pm.

o    Responses will made available via the provided email address that the service providers have confirmed.

o    03/2/2023 – Submittals due by 2:00pm                          

Original source can be found here.