Addendum 1
7/9/15
Question: In order to prepare a fully responsive proposal response, will the County be willing to extend the due date of the RFP two weeks to August 6?
Response: Lake County will consider the request to extend the due date after the pre-bid meeting on Tuesday July 14.
Question: Will the County respond to questions as they receive them or will the questions be answered and released all at once, and if so, when does the County anticipate releasing those answers?
Response: All questions will be answered and posted to the website as the questions are received. The deadline for submitting questions is Thursday 07/16/2015 at 2:00 PM CST.
7/10/15
Question: Would the DOT consider leveraging the County’s Oracle ERP by using their own autonomous Department-based implementation of Oracle EAM?
Response:Yes, the DOT is open to considering this option.
Question: Does the County mandate the use of Oracle EBS for all purchasing transactions or does the DOT purchase independently from the ERP system?
Response: The DOT does not purchase independently from the County ERP system.
Question: The County states that all signs are stored in a MS Access database, but the County also states that the vendor will be responsible for collecting attribute data on all signs. Are we to infer that the MS Access database is not complete and will need additional data added for all signs?
Response: In order to have a complete and accurate solution to start, the DOT is requiring the vendor to gather accurate information from all signs.
Question: The County requests that insurance be submitted with the proposal; however, the County also states in the same section, “..and provide the County with a Certificate of Insurance 15 days before the start of the project…”
Please clarify when the County would like proof of the require insurance – with the proposal or 15 days before the start of the project?
Please clarify what the County would like submitted at the time requested in ‘A’ above. Is a Certificate of Insurance acceptable, or would the County like copies of full insurance policies?
Response: The intent of the request for a copy of the insurance certificate is to verify that a vendor is able to provide the coverage required and that the company selected meets the requirements with a company with a A.M. Best rating of A or above (AA or AAA). Prior to the commencement of the contract with the awarded vendor Lake County will request an updated insurance certificate naming Lake County as additional insured.
Question: The Pre-Proposal Meeting is to be held on Tuesday, July 14th and questions are due by Thursday, July 16th. Given that the due date for the response is only 1 week after the deadline for questions, will the County consider providing an extension on the due date for the responses to allow for adequate time to prepare a thorough proposal after the Pre-Proposal Meeting and question deadline?
Response: Lake County will consider the request to extend the due date after the pre-bid meeting on Tuesday July 14.
7/16/2015
The proposal due date has been changed to 7/30/2015, final date for questions will remain 7/16/2015 at 2:00 p.m.
Please use the new cover page when submitting your RFP.
Updated Proposed Timeline:
RFP Due - 7/30/2015
Initial Review - 7/30/2015 through 8/20/2015
Shortlist Interviews - 9/3/2015
Contract Negotiations - 9/7/2015 through 10/6/2015
Committee Approval - 10/7/2015
County Board Approval - 10/13/2015
Question: Installation of bar codes on current inventory of signs?
Response: The County is asking the vendor to add an identifying label to the sign that is readable by an electronic device.
Question: How many signs do we typically make in a month or a year?
Response: Annually we make about 4000 signs and about 1000 decals. (L.S.)
Question: Signs that in a County right of way, a sign that is in an unincorporated area/subdivision do we want those recorded?
Response: We want all County owned signs recorded. At roadways intersecting the County highway for example, the STOP AHEAD and STOP signs are LCDOT signs. There are also LCDOT signs found on other roadways. Lake County has a list of those signs and will assist the vendor in recording those locations
Question: Informational signs that are provided by other groups to be on a public right of way do we want those recorded?
Response: All signs in the County Highway will be identified. Signs belonging to other agencies will be identified as such in the data.
Question: What kind of systems we are currently using to track the inventory and workflow?
Response: Inventory is in an Access Database. Workflow is done using paper.
Question: What do we plan on doing for nighttime assessment?
Response: The County completes an annual night sign inspection of the highway signs annually. Assistance is not necessary on completing a nighttime assessment. The proposed database should contain a field where the date of the last night time sign inspection can be added.
Question: The materials we use, who is the manufacturer, the main body? Are we building from starch or from components?
Response: All of our materials are 3M products mounted on aluminum and some temporary signing mounted on corrugated plastic. We cut vinyl and print on vinyl. We build from scratch and use some components.
Question: What is the current GIS software the county is using?
Response: ArcGIS 10.3
Question: Is the inventory being done in house or subcontracted?
Response: The current inventory process is being done in house.
7/17/2015
Question: How many miles of roadway does the County cover?
Response: 300 center line miles, 864 lane miles.
Question: What is the current count of deployed signs?
Response: Approximately 20,000.
Question: Above and beyond what is listed in the draft specifications are there other sign Attributes that the County seek to capture?
Response: The County is interested in capturing all attributes of the sign. Vendors are encouraged to include other attributes in their proposal in addition to the ones listed in the RFP.
Question: Do you seek to leverage existing systems to manage materials inventories and integrate to Signage work order systems, or do you prefer a stand-alone Signage Management system, that integrates to your procurement processes?
Response: The County is looking for a stand-alone Sign Management System that will manage material inventories as well as the inventory of signs on the highway system.
Question: Are you handling the sign fabrication and sign installation with full time Lake County employees, or are you contracting this work out currently?
Response: Sign installation and fabrication is done with full time Lake County employees.
Question: Sections D2 and D3 appear to suggest that the vendor will be responsible for going out in the field to locate signs, document their attributes (e.g. gps coordinates, height, post, size, etc), take photographs, and barcode. Can you please confirm that this is the expectation?
Response: Yes, the County is interested in having the vendor acquire all sign attributes.
Question: Item D.6.2.- Is it acceptable for the vendor's product to utilize an alternative mapping software (google maps) and allow for integrations with ArcGIS?
Response: As long as the data can be integrated into ArcGIS as well, this is acceptable.
Question: Item Z.4.1 - Will vendors be considered if they have 3 projects references of smaller scope?
Response: The County is looking for vendors who have done similar sized projects in the past.
Question: How many user of the system will there be?
Response: There could be up to 20 users of the system including fabricators, installers, managers, traffic department personnel, and administrative staff.
Question: Excluding the roads in the Lake County Government Libertyville Campus, does the County have a maintenance agreement for any State, municipal, or other third party road(s) which would require sign inventory data collection in accordance with this RFP, but is not identified in this RFP?
Response: No, the County does not maintain other roadways. There are, however Lake County signs on other roadways such as junction and information signs that will need to be captured.
Question: Has the County entered into any road maintenance agreement with the State, municipalities, or other third party turning over the maintenance of certain sections of County roads (including signs) to that third party, and if so, how will that impact the collection of sign field data in those areas?
Response: The County does have maintenance agreements with a few municipalities where they are responsible for maintenance. Signs on these roadways are to be included in the inventory and data will be collected on these well.
Question: The RFP states approximately 60 miles of bike trails. Does the County maintain any snowmobile trails/crossings, equestrian trails/crossings, or other trails that may have signage on them for this RFP?
Response: No.
Question: Are signs for railroad, trolley, streetcar and other such rolling stock crossings maintained by the County (and this RFP) if said rail crosses a County road?
Response: There are railroad crossing across County Highways. Warning and informational Signs for the railroad crossing are maintained by the County.
Question: The County estimates about 20,000 signs. Does this estimate include all Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 object markers?
Response: Type 3 object markers are included in the estimate.
Question: Calling the County Roads the major road, does the scope of the RFP and the 20,000 sign estimate include testing signage on the minor crossing road, such as stop, yield signs and advance warning signs?
Response: The 20,000 sign estimate does include the signs on minor cross streets leading up to the County Highway such as intersection control and advance warning signs.
Question: Can we partner with a company that does sign data collection in the field (if we do not provide the service ourselves).
Response: The County will be entering into a contract with one vendor. A vendor would be allowed to have a subcontract with another company, but the County will hold the primary vendor responsible for all data supplied.
Question: Is all the historical sign data currently in MS Access to be migrated to the new software?
Response: Due to errors (known and unknown) in the existing MS Access database, the County plans to start with all new data as a part of this project.
Question: Page 10 of the RFP mentions major collector arterial highways and bike trails. Can you confirm that other local roads are not part of this solicitation?
Response: While a majority of signs are along the County Highway system, there are signs facing minor side streets approaching County Highways that are maintained by the County as well as junction and information signs found on other roadways.
Question: Can you clarify the requirement for being able to design a sign layout in the field?
Response: The County is interested in finding a solution that will allow someone to draw out the locations of future signs to be installed in an electronic format and transmit it to others for fabrication and installation.
Question: Page 13 references Specifications Compliance Sheets. Are these sheets a form that needs to be filled out, a response to pages 11 and 12, or something else?
Response: This is in reference to the Requirements excel document that was provided as part of the RFP.
Question: During the data collection in the field phase, will retroreflectivity inspection also be required?
Response: The County is not requiring a retroreflectivity inspection during the data collection process of this project.
Question: Can you provide the points awarded by evaluation criterion?
Response: Each criteria will be weighted equally.
Question: Page 3 of the RFP notes that 13 sections including the cover sheet are "integral parts" of the solicitation. Are respondents to include all sections in the response?
Response: Lake County recommends organizing submissions using tab dividers in order as indicated on page 13, submittal requirements. All required forms must be submitted.
Question: For this particular solicitation, can you clarify the L/W/MBE requirements, goals, and points awarded during evaluation?
Response: None.