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Department of Property&Procurement "32. Goverment of the United States Virgin Islands en 3274 ESTATE RICHMOND, CHRISTIANSTED, U. S. VIRGIN ISLANDS 00820 8201 Sus BASE, 3RD FLOOR, ST. THomas, U. S. VIRGIN ISLANDS 00802 ST. CROIX MAIN OFFICE: 340.773.1561 | ST. THOMAS MAIN OFFICE: 340.774.0828 ST. CROIX FAX: 340.773.0986 | ST. THOMAS FAX: 340.777.9587 AMENDMENT TWO (2) HTTP://DPP.VI.GOV July 24, 2015 TO: SUBJECT: RFP-017-2015 (P) Implementation of a Behavioral Risk Surveillance Survey, St. Croix. INSERT: Question & Answers 1. Section J: Contents of Proposal — Pg. 6 of RFP a. Introductory letter about applicant — Could you please explain the following phrase in more detail; “Type of service for which Firm is qualified”? What services does your Division of the University provide? 2. Section J: Organization a. Names of Principals of Firm — As we are a university and not a Firm, could you please with Who/what would you would want listed here? Individuals managing the Division of the University that’s submitting the proposal. b. Copy of Article of Incorporation — The University is not a corporation. As such subsections b — e would not be applicable to us. Is there specific information pertaining to our university you would like us to provide for these subsections? Any documentation verifying your existence and your legal right to perform services outside of the University. G Copy of Certificate of Resolution — same as “b.” d. Copy of Valid Business License — same as “b”. & Copy of Certificate of Good Standing - same as “b”. 3. Section L: License Requirement — We are not a Firm or Business located in the Virgin Islands, and the work site where the project work would be done would not be in the Virgin Islands. Would the requirement to obtain a Business License to do similar business in the Virgin Islands still apply to our organization? No RFP-017-2015(P) 2 Amendment Two (2) 4. Section J: Cost Proposal — Is there a particular format you would like the Cost Proposal to be in. How detailed is it required to be? There is no particular format but services should be itemized with a cost and a total cost for all services. 5. RFP timeline indicates calling to start in July - Any information on what the new timeline will be? Data collection should begin 3 weeks after contract award. 6. Do I understand sample size correctly - 1,000 completed interviews for 2015, 1,500for2016? That is correct. The 1500 completed interviews for 2016 is for fuller understanding of the direction the survey is heading, however your cost proposal should cover the 1000 complete interviews required in the months remaining in 2015. Optional renewals will be negotiated for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and will be dependent on final required completion totals, cell phone percentages, and added modules/questions. 7. Can we have last year's response rate and sample report as documentation to help us understand typical implementation experience (e.g. sampling plan and response rate table). The U.S. Virgin Islands has not conducted the BRFSS survey since 2010. 8. Can we have a copy of 2015 (this year's) final instrument (English only is fine) to see what optional and "state added" modules are being fielded. 2015 will consist solely of the core questions. Optional modules and state added questions are possible for 2016 and later and those details will be part of negotiations for those option years. 9. Do Spanish translations already exist for 2015 for any "state added" modules? 2015 will consist solely of the core questions. Optional modules and state added questions are possible for 2016 and later and those details will be part of negotiations for those option years. 10. What is the number or percentage of BRFSS interviews GVI require to be completed in Spanish quarterly? For 2015 there will be no minimum number or percentage of BRFSS interviews required to be completed in Spanish. Optional modules and state added questions are possible for 2016 and later and those details, as well as possible percentages of completed interviews in Spanish, will be part of negotiations for those option years. 11. Funding Source/s — Is the source of funding for the project from the CDC, territorial, local, or a combination of sources? Funding for the 2015 survey is solely from CDC. Other resources may be available for follow-on option years. 12. Attachment One, Scope of work to be performed - The RFP states that the contractor will begin interviews during the month of July 2015. The due date for responses to this RFP is July 30, 2015. As such data collection cannot start in July of 2015. The end date is March 30, 2016. As data collection cannot start in July of 2015 what start date should we use for the project/contract. And will this push the RFP-017-2015(P) 3 Amendment Two (2) [3. 14. iS. 16. Lt. close date past March 30, 2016? And if so what end date should we use for the project/contract? Data collection should begin 3 weeks after contract award. The cost proposal should cover the 1000 complete interviews required in the months remaining in 2015. Optional renewals will be negotiated for 2016, 2017, 2018. and 2019. Table 1, Summary of Interview Requirements: The table states that 500 interviews will be conducted each quarter starting July 2015, and 375 interviews will be conducted per quarter starting January 2016. Based on this and the end date of March 30, 2016 contained in the RFP we take this to mean a total of 1,375 total interviews will be conducted. Is this correct? In addition as data collection cannot start in July of 2015, does this mean we will conduct fewer interviewers over the course of the project so account for lost data collecting time, or the same amount of interviews just in a compressed time frame. The cost proposal should cover the 1000 complete interviews required in the months remaining in 2015. Optional renewals will be negotiated for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and will be dependent on final required completion totals, cell phone percentages, and added modules/questions. Table 1, Summary of Interview Requirements: The table states that 375 completed surveys will be done each quarter starting in January of 2016. The end date in the RFP is March 30, 2016. We understand this to mean there will be only 1 data collection quarter in 2016, starting January 1, 2016 and ending March 30, 2016. Is this correct? The cost proposal should cover the 1000 complete interviews required in the months remaining in 2015. 1500 completed interviews for 2016 is for fuller understanding of the direction the survey is heading, however your cost proposal should cover the 1000 complete interviews required in the months remaining in 2015. Optional renewals will be negotiated for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and will be dependent on final required completion totals, cell phone percentages, and added modules/questions. Is it possible to shift the proposal due date back to allow prospective bidders to incorporate the response to the questions into their cost estimates and proposal documents? United Parcel Service (UPS) indicates it takes 4 days, at minimum, to send a package to Virgin Islands. Depending on when the answers to the questions are posted it could be extremely challenging to meet the proposal due date with the best/most relevant proposal possible. Due to the number of questions, and given the challenges with shipping to the United States Virgin Islands, the revised proposal due date is August 7, 2015. Would the Government of Virgin Islands (GVI) be willing to accept electronic copies of the proposal sent via email? The Government of Virgin Islands (GVI) is unable to accept electronic copies of the proposal sent via email. We can only receive hard copies of proposals (1 original and 6 copies). When and where will the answers to questions be available? This document shall be considered the answers to the questions. RFP-017-2015(P) 4 Amendment Two (2) 18. 19: 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. Approximately what percentage of households in the Virgin Islands are cell phone only? Note, Marketing Systems Group (MSG), the telephone sample vendor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), does nor have a cell phone only percentage (CPO) estimate for the Virgin Islands. The CDC has indicated that for 2015 sample, 30% of completed interviews shall be to cell phone users. For follow- on years, CDC will assist in determining cell phone percentages and these shall be used in negotiating optional renewals. It is very challenging to determine appropriate cost estimates for the landline and cell phone surveys in absence of recent data collection performance data. Can average completed survey per interview hour (CPH) estimates be provided for the landline and the cell phone surveys? If not, would the Government of Virgin Islands (GVI) be willing to conduct landline and cell pilot projects in 2015 to determine key data collection performance indicators to facilitate accurate and fair pricing? Contractors should use the numbers/percentages of complete landline and cell phone interviews indicated in the RFP to determine level of effort required. Section J.4.a: The estimated cost of current and past BRFSS projects is highly dependent on data collection performance, which varies widely depending on a number of factors, as well as the complexity of the deliverables and services provided beyond data collection. Cost information divorced from a_ solid understanding of these other project parameters can be misleading. We can provide general ranges in terms of cost per completed landline and cell phone interviews for our current projects. Are we correct in assuming this information is sufficient to meet the RFP requirement for estimated cost of completed projects? Contractors should use the numbers/percentages of complete landline and cell phone interviews indicated in the RFP to determine level of effort required. Section J.5: How many references are required? At least one (1) Section J.5: It may be difficult and burdensome for individuals who are asked to serve as references to provide notarized written consent. Could this requirement be fulfilled by either: a) a statement in the proposal indicating the individuals listed have agreed to serve as references; or b) a statement (notarized by our firm) in the proposal indicating the individuals listed have agreed to serve as references? No. Section J.7:; What time period / contract period should the cost proposal represent? The cost proposal should cover the 1000 complete interviews required in the months remaining in 2015. Optional renewals will be negotiated for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Attach. 1: Regarding 2015 Project Timeline. Given the proposal due date is July 30, 2015 it is not feasible to begin interviewing in July of 2015. Can a more reasonable timeframe for 2015 data collection be developed given the anticipated proposal review and contract negotiation periods? Data collection should begin 3 weeks after contract award. RFP-017-2015(P) Amendment Two (2) 25. What is maximum available budget for 2015 data collection? What is the maximum available budget for 2016 data collection? That information is unnecessary for determination of cost of services this contract. 26. Is our assumption correct that the project contract would cover the months remaining in 2015 and have optional renewals in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019? That assumption is correct. All other terms and conditions remain the same. A copy of this amendment must be returned with your bid.