Description
Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Procurement. The Government intends to issue a sole source contract for the privatization of the natural gas distribution system for the Yeager Air National Guard Base (YANGB) located in Charleston West Virginia, to Mountaineer Gas. Privatization is defined as the transfer of ownership and responsibility for the operations, maintenance, repair, future upgrades, and future utility system replacements. The Contractor will assume ownership of the above-mentioned utility systems and will be required to provide expansions to the system to meet future needs of the government. The resulting contract, if awarded, will require the Contractor to furnish all facilities, labor, materials, tools, and equipment necessary to own, maintain, and operate the utility system. The Contractor shall manage the maintenance, repairs, replacement, etc., of the system to ensure continuous, adequate, and dependable service for each Government or tenant connection within the service area. The Contractor shall be responsible for funding all capital investments required to acquire, maintain, and operate the utility system in a safe, reliable condition and to meet the requirements listed in the contract. The utility system will be conveyed via a Bill of Sale upon award of the contract. The natural gas system being privatized is described as follows: Yeager Air National Guard Base is home to the 130th Airlift Wing, which provides staff and operational support for C-130H aircraft. Yeager ANGB is located a Charleston West Virginia and has a total of 74.8 acres under lease. Of this total, 43 acres are located on top of the hill on which the airport was built. Most of this area has been developed. Any expansion requires relocation of existing buildings to other areas, using vehicle parking areas, or acquiring additional land. The lower portion of the base has been developed along the access road to the airfield. This section contains approximately 33 acres. Development has been on benches made from leveling hilltops or cutting into the side of hills. The developed area in this lower section covers 9.3 acres. The remainder is made up of hillsides and ravines which are expensive to develop. The apron and taxiway at Yeager Airport were built in 1949. The first facilities built were Building 101-Base Supply, Building 107-Maintenance Hangar, and Building 102-Headquarters in 1951. The base currently has 31 buildings with a total square footage of 295,051. The natural gas distribution system at Yeager AGS (ANG) is comprised of approximately 4,300 linear feet of polyethylene and steel pipe ranging from 1.25 to 4 inches in diameter, 17 steel plug valves, 2 PE ball valves, 12 regulators and 1 large meter. The most common type of system piping is a 50% mix of PE and steel buried approximately 4 feet underground. Piping and valves are considered to be in good condition with ages ranging from 1951 to present. The delivered PSIG of the system is 30 PSIG and reduced to a 6 to 8 PSIG for service lines. The system has no cathodic protection devices and is metered from one location on base. There are three planned facilities that will require gas service once completed. Competitive proposals were requested in 2000 and no offers were received. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals. The proposed contract action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of DoD Utility Privatization Policy dated 2002. However, interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. This information shall include: confirmation of your understanding that the requirement includes purchasing the distribution system, and then entering into a 50-year contract for the operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of the systems; furnish us with references indicating your prior experience operating, maintaining, repairing and replacing such systems; and indicate how you would meet the emergency response time requirement of one hour. All responses received within ten calendar days after date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.