USDA Forest Service, Mark Twain National Forest, 401 Fairgrounds Road, Rolla, MO 65401

X -- FACILITIES FOR EASTERN AND SOUTHERN REGIONS UNIVERSITY TRAINING SESSION SOL FS-WOC-99-18 DUE 040699 POC Provision requests to Faye Stewart, 573/341-7456 or fax 573/364-6844; Solicitation questions to James Meredith, 601/965-4391, ext 155 or fax 601/965-6029 This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation: Proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation FS-WOC-99-18 is issued by the USDA Forest Service as a Request for Proposals. The solicitation document and incorporated clauses and provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-10. There is no set-aside for this solicitation. SIC 7011. The purpose of the solicitation is to obtain the facilities for the Eastern and Southern Regions University, Forest Service, US Dept of Agriculture. US Forest Service, Regions 8 and 9, will be holding a large training session during a consecutive two week period from January 31, 2000 through February 11, 2000 or alternate date of February 21, 2000 through March 3, 2000. The contract will include provisions permittingthe Government to exercise an option to extend the contract to cover Calendar Year 2001 (January 29, 2001 through February 9, 2001 or alternate date of February 26, 2001 through March 9, 2001) and Calendr Year 2002 (February 4, 2002 through February 15, 2002 or alternate date of February 25, 2002 through March 8, 2002). Daily attendance will average 600-1000 attendees and training sessions each weekday will average 25-30 simultaneouusly. This Request for Proposals includes, but not necessarily limited to, sleeping rooms, classrooms, paaarlors (i.e. rooms that can be used as offices for managing the training) and related services. The contract may also include food service, audio visual equipment and service, duplicating service and local transportation including shuttles to and from an airport. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to manage these facilities and services and to be responsive to Forest Service needs in accordance with the best hotel industry practices. The Forest Service shall havea single, prime Contractor for all required facilities. If facilities owned by the Contractor are not sufficient to meet the requirements identified herein, it shall be the Contractor's responsibility to make arrangements for additional facilities on a subcontract basis. The Contractor's proposal shall include (1) the specific ways that the Contractor will meet the Government's requirements; (2) facilities or services that the contractor will provide that are desired but not required by the government; (3) and facilities or services that the Contractor will provide that exceed what is required and desired by the Government. The Contractor's proposal shall become a binding part of the contract. The facilities must be within the US Forest Service, Region 8/9 boundaries, which includes all states east of the Mississippi River, MO, AR, OK,, LA, IA, MN and TX. Cities should be serviced by major airports. Facilities should be included in the national list of places of public accommodations that meet the fire prevention and control guidelines under the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act. If more than one separate facility is to be used, all facilities must be in close proximity and be conductive to the learing and training experience. The Contractor shall be responsible for accepting, coordinating and confirming reservations for all sleeping rooms including those at any subcontracted facility. Reservations will be made by individual participants. The contractor shall provide a method of control or identification to insure that only authorized persons make reservations under this contract. Participants shall remain in the same facility throughout their stay. A method of assuring rooms for late arrivals shall be provided. In addition, the Contractor shall put forth their best efforts to find sleeping rooms for attendees who arrive without reservations, including unexpectedly late or a day or more early. These rooms shall be comparable in quality to the rooms provided to other participants, as close as possible to the other facilities provided and at no greater cost than the contract rate for sleeping rooms. The Contracting Officer shall designate a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) to assist in the administration of this contract. Additional individuals may be designated to administer specific areas such as audio-visual equipment, meeting room requirements and transportation. The Contractor shall designate a primary contact person to work with the COR in administering this contrct. This person shall have the authority to answer questions regarding problems, changes, need for services and assistance, and coordination with subcontractors. Specific Requirements: Sleeping Rooms -- The contractor shall furnish lodging for an estimated 600-800 individuals (estimated 90% single, 10% double occupancy) during the two-week period. The Forest Service prefers the lodging accommodations are in one facility, however if more than one facility is proposed, they shall be located within one quarter mile of each other. If the requireddistance cannot be met, the Contractor shall provide shuttle service between the facilities. The Contractor shall address this in the proposal and include map showing location of facilities. Guest rooms should have inside access only, no direct street access; doors with peepholes for corridor viewing; chain and deadbolt lock; keyless entry system preferred; individual controlled air conditioning/heating, desk or table and chair; color TV; telephone; sufficient space to accommodate clothing for a two week stay; lighting to maintain bright room appearance at all times. Meeting Rooms -- The Contractor shall provide an estimated 25-30 meeting rooms conductive to a learning environment. Six to seven rooms shall accommodate up to 80 students; fifteen rooms shall accommodate up to 50 students and ten rooms shall accommodate up to 25 students. All rooms shall accommodate a variety of audio-visual equipment and be conducive to a variety of set-up options. Each room shall allow a minimum of 18-20 square feet per person. The Contractor shall provide an appropriate sound system (microphones), podiums, tables, chairs and related classroom furniture, including setup in all meeting rooms. Each room must have light dimmer switches to accommodate use of audio visual equipment. Not later than two weeks prior to beginning date, the Forest Service shall provide the Contractor information on room set-up on each day of training. The Forest Service shall have the right to make a reasonable number of channges at no additional charge, up to and including the same day on which the room is to be set up. Executive/Parlor Rooms and Command Center -- Two executive/parlor meeting rooms (minimum 300 square feet) will be required. These rooms shall be available for the two week duration, including weekend. These rooms will be used by the Forest Service as offices. Command Center -- one are, approximately 3,000 square feet, to be used as an administrative site and available for two week duration, including weekend. Storage Area -- will be provided four days prior to beginning date thru the duration of the two week period. This area will be a minimum of 800 square feet, accessible 24 hours, restricted to designated Forest Servie personnel and will be used to house supplies, equipment and other items. Parking -- shall be available for approximately 150-200 private vehicles. Include in the proposal safety, cost, proximity to hotel, in/out priviledges for all attendees including those who commute to the facility rather than utilize contracted sleeping rooms. Accessibility -- The Contractor shall provide barrier free, accessible guestroom and facilities which are in full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Address this in your proposal including entrances, guestrooms, restaurants seating, meting rooms, restrooms and public elevators connecting all levels. Communication: The following requirements will be required. Meeting Rooms -- approximately 25% of the rooms will require a telephone line for computers during training. Forest Service shall install additional telephone lines. Approximately two weeks before beginning date the Forest Service will specify which rooms will require additional telephone lines and dates thay are needed. Forest Service will order any additional phone lines needed through FTS. Training rooms used for computer based training must be on a continuous block. Forest Servie will be installing personal computers and additional hardware and will be allowed to accomplish this without additional charge. Sleeping Rooms -- rooms must be identified as being able to use a modem from the room as some guest will be bringing portable computers with modems. This requires a modular jack (RJ-11, RJ-45) to connect the modem to the telephone line, and that the PBX is compatible with modem (DTMF) dialing. This shall be provided by the Contractor. Command Center -- requires two phone lines which does not go through a switchboard. If the Contractor requires that calls go through the switchboard the Forest Service must be able to hire the local telephone company to install two commercial lines directly to the room. Building engineer -- Contractor will provide one building engineer to work out problems with telephone and data wiring during the two week duration. Audio-visual Equipment -- Forest Service desires, but does not require, the Contractor provide a complete array of audio-visual equipment on an as-needed basis. This service shall include setting up and taking down equipment, troubleshooting problems, operating procedures, storage and assuming responsibility for loss or damage and related services. Two weeks prior to beginning date the Forest Service shall provide the Contractor a list of actual equipment needs. This will include date and location where each piece of equipment is required. The Forest Service shall have the right to make a reasonable number of changes to its requirements on a daily basis up to and including the same day that the equipment is scheduled to be usedat no additional expense. Proposals whould include a list of available equipment with complete pricing information. Restaurant Facilities -- there shall be sufficient restaurant facilities to accommodate all participants available within a "safe and reasonable walking distance" of the facility. This is generally considered to be no more than a mile depending on the highways or other obstacles that are difficult to cross and whether crime is a problem in the specific walking area. Additionally, it must be possible for all participants (up to 700 or more) to obtain lunch within no more than one hour either at the facility or within a very short distance of the facility. To fulfill this requirement, the Contractor may provide lunch on a pay as-you-go basis to attendees. Transportation -- The Contractor shall provide and/or ensure that suitable transportation servie between the nearest major airport and the lodging facility is available for the attendees. This service shall be available at both the airportand lodging facility at least once an hour between 6am and 11pm for the two week duration. Transportation shall be vans, buses, airport limousines or equivalent. Independent taxi service alone is not suitable unless the Contractor agrees to subsidize the fares. Transportation must be accessible to persons with disabilities and wheelchairs and must meet all government safety regulations. Address in the proposal what public transportation is available and what transportation service will be provided. Payment -- shall be made after acceptance by the Government and at the conclusion of the two-week period and after receipt of the Contractor's itemized invoice. Charges for sleeping rooms shall be supported by individual invoices or statements signed by the occupant upon check-out. The Contractor may allow meals, phone calls or other items to be charged to individual sleeping rooms but must collect all charges other than the room charge from the occupant at time of check-out. The Government shall only pay for the actual number of rooms occupied per night, payable at the contract rate, inclusive of all taxes payable by the Government. Audio-visual equipment shall be paid for at the contract rate for each day the equipment was actually used. Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3 Offerors-Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items. FAR 52.212-2 carries the following addendum: The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers using a process called Choosing by Advantages: Technical, price and past performance. Technical and past performance when combined are more important than price. Technical factors include availability to meet specifications and availability of both meeting and lodging rooms. Award will be made on a best value basis. FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions applies. FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes of Executive Orders-Commercial Items applies and includes FAR clauses 52.222-25, 52.222-26, 52.222-36 and 52.222-37. A copy of the provisions referenced may be obtained upon request by contacting Faye Stewart at 573/341-7456 or by fax 573/364-6844. Questions concerning this solicitation should be directed to James M. Meredith, Contracting Officer, at 601/965-4391, ext 155 or by fax 601/965-6029. Proposals should be mailed to US Forest Service, Attn: James Meredith, 100 West Capitol, Suite 1141, Jackson, MS 39269. Proposals are due by 2:00 P.M., April 6, 1999, local time at place of opening. Posted 03/03/99 (W-SN304145). (0062)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0122 19990305\X-0002.SOL)