Description
The Maritime Administration intends to award a contract for continued project management service of the Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project to Integrated Concept & Research Corporation, located in Anchorage AK, on a Sole Source basis. The anticipated award date is in May 2008, for one year with four one-year options. Integrated Concepts and Research Corporation (ICRC), a subsidiary of Koniag Development Corporation has been the project manager since November 2003, under the Small Business Administration's Alaskan Native Corporation program. In June, 2007, ICRC ws purchased by VSE, a large business. Under Federal Acquisition Regulations 19.812(d), the 8(a) contract must be terminated, absent a waiver from the SBA. In January 2008, the SBA declined to issue such a waiver. Since inception of the program, ICRC has managed all aspects of the project, developing expert knowledge of the project and forging key relationships with State, local, Federal agencies, and the local contractor community. ICRC has the expertise, and established business relationships to manage a major construction project in a challenging environment such as Anchorage, with critical economic implications for the entire state of Alaska and strategic port implications for the nation's security. Changing prime contractors at this stage would present a significant and unacceptable setback to the project's progression, and would be contrary to the public interest. The integrated master schedule and budget and overall complex project implementation has been developed by ICRC after four years of research, lengthy negotiations, and frequent communications with all project stakeholders. ICRC has compiled substantial background information related to the project and developed internal controls to maintain the voluminous materials which describe the existing baseline and as-built conditions which are integral in establishing the phased implementation of the project. In addition, ICRC has also established procedures and controls necessary to maintaining progress on a multiplicity of contracts, subcontracts, tribal arrangements and payments for commercially awarded contract instruments. In addition, ICRC has been an integral part of attaining all required permits for the project including negotiations of permit conditions, permit modifications, preparation and maintenance of compliance documents, and all public involvement including multi-agency meetings with those having jurisdiction over multiple trust resources. ICRC maintains a database of open permits, and evidence of project permit compliance, for approximately 100 mandates at the local, State, and Federal regulatory levels. ICRC remains integral to the development and implementation of an interagency approved compensatory Mitigation Plan for the project. In addition, ICRC staff possesses the innate project knowledge, background, and experience and is relied upon heavily by the Maritime Administration and Port Of Anchorage on a daily basis. ICRC's staff has substantial institutional and historical knowledge necessary to move the project forward efficiently and effectively. ICRC is instrumental in continuing the complex relationships and has intimate knowledge of all binding agreements between Maritime Administration and the U.S. Air Force, Elmendorf AFB (EAFB) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These agreements establish unique partnerships that allow the majority of earth materials required for the project to be excavated on EAFB, transported to the port without the use of public roads, at no royalty cost to the Government, through a unique partnership. The working relationships and trust required to achieve and maintain these agreements represent a significant investment on the part of ICRC and the Government and could not be replaced even at significant cost and time.