The Department of Veterans Affairs, SAO East, VISN 4, Station 540, Louis A Johnson, VAMC intends to sole source the procurement of metered mail for delivery services to the United States Postal Service (USPS), 478 Wheelers Farm Road Milford, CT 06461-9105 in accordance with FAR 6.302.1 (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). NAICS 491110 size standard $7 million. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. It is not a solicitation or request for offers. No solicitation package is available. A determination not to compete is solely within the discretion of the Government. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. Responses must be received no later than 11:00AM EST on August 13, 2013. No telephone inquiries will be accepted. All responses must be e-mailed to
[email protected]. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Justification and Approval For Other Than Full and Open Competition 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 04, Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center 2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: This is a request for other than full and open competition for metered mail postage to be secured by electronic funds transfer to the United States Postal Service (USPS). Recently, there was a lease agreement for the new mail equipment and postage metering system (Neopost USA) procured by our facility. The metered mail postage will be purchased for the processing of the facility's outgoing mail to be delivered by the USPS. The payment will be made to USPS and transferred to Neopost USA; then Neopost USA will apply the funds to an account referencing our facility to obtain postage for the mail delivery services. 3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs: This request will supply funding to the mail equipment currently on station, to process medical center mail. Only use of this vendor will provide our facility with the necessary funds to equip the machine. Obtaining the metered mail is critical to the operation of our medical center. 4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: (X ) (1) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements per FAR 6.302-1; (X ) (2) Unusual and Compelling Urgency per FAR 6.302-2; ( ) (3) Industrial Mobilization, Engineering, Developmental or Research Capability or Expert Services per FAR 6.302-3; ( ) (4) International Agreement per FAR 6.302-4 ( ) (5) Authorized or Required by Statute FAR 6.302-5; ( ) (6) National Security per FAR 6.302-6; ( ) (7) Public Interest per FAR 6.302-7; 5. Demonstration that the Contractor's Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority): a. Only One Responsible Source (FAR 6.302-1): The metered mail postage can only be purchased from the USPS for mail delivery services. This request is to fund postage for outgoing mail to be processed by the leased the mail equipment. b. Unusual and Compelling Urgency (FAR 6.302-2, 6.303-2(a)(9)(ii)): If funding is not received, mail services at the medical center will cease. All medical center packages requiring USPS delivery will be halted. This will have a direct impact on patient pharmacy shipment and facility administrative needs. 6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: None. The USPS is the only vendor that can provide mail delivery services for the metered mail processed by the mail machine. Since the mail equipment is leased from Neopost USA, no other vendor can provide funding to the equipment. 7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: USPS has negotiated pricing with Neopost USA for metered mail. Prices and fair and reasonable in comparison to those of the USPS. 8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: The negotiated USPS rates are found online and contained within the document named P11 Misc. Emails in the Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS). 9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: N/A 10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: None 11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: N/A