2024-092 - Water and Wastewater Engineering & Professional Consulting Services to the City of Merritt RFQual

Through this Request for Pre-Qualification, the City of Merritt (the “City”) invites organizations that are experienced in the provision of engineering and professional consulting services related to municipal water and wastewater infrastructure, to provide non-binding Submissions for the provision of such services to the City on an ‘as and when’ needed basis related to various water and wastewater infrastructure capital upgrade projects that the City has in its infrastructure program.  Assignments that may be restricted to organizations Pre-Qualified from this process will focus on, but not necessarily limited to, the following projects:

• The Kengard Well groundwater supply: a project to solve issues where manganese levels regularly exceed Health Canada guidelines on this well, which is one of several groundwater supplies to the City’s drinking water system.
• Improvements to the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, located at 1298 Coldwater Avenue, Merritt, BC: which are expected to include several upgrades over the next few years, as identified in the City’s recent Wastewater Treatment Plant Master Plan (WSP, April 2023). Improvements are expected to include:
  • Aeration pipe replacement,
  • Dewatering upgrades, and
  • Headworks improvements.
• Other Water, Wastewater and related project engineering, including but not limited to; operational and engineering assistance related to wells, pumping, treatment, and water/wastewater mechanical works.

• As an outcome from this RFQUAL, the City will shortlist up to 3 Respondents that will then become ‘Pre-Qualified Organizations’.
• The Pre-Qualified Organizations will be ranked in order from 1st to 3rd (with the 1st-Ranked Organization being the highest, and the 3rd-Ranked Organization being the lowest) according to their total weighted scores from the RFQUAL Evaluation.
• For all future engineering and professional consulting service assignments required in support of the City’s Water and Wastewater infrastructure program, including any related projects or assignments which may not be specifically identified in this RFQUAL (collectively referred to herein as the “Assignments”), the City may at its sole option either:
  • Provide a right of first refusal to the Pre-Qualified Organizations, in order from 1st-Ranked to 3rd Ranked*, for the Direct Award of a contract of any value for the Assignment; or
  • Invite the Pre-Qualified Organizations to participate in a ‘by-invitation’ only 2nd-stage RFP process for the specific Assignment; or
  • Conduct a public-Request for Proposals process open to both Pre-Qualified Organizations and non-Pre-Qualified organizations, where the specifics of the Assignment warrant a further public process at the sole discretion of the City.

• The Pre-Qualification of organizations from this RFQUAL will be valid for a period of 3 years, in accordance with the requirements of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).    No further notices to solicit Submissions for inclusion in the Pre-Qualified list will be issued during the three-year period.