The United States Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to solicit, negotiate and award on a sole source basis a purchase order to include a base year and four (4) one-year option periods with The Town of Houlton for the procurement of snow removal services at the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office (WFO) located in Caribou, Maine.

The Government intends to utilize the authority under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will satisfy agency requirements, unless, as a result of this announcement, acceptable responses to this notice are received and a determination is made by the Government to issue a competitive solicitation. The Government intends to award a purchase order to The Town of Houlton for the procurement of snow removal services to include a base year and four (4) one-year option periods due to their exclusive rights to the property in which the NWS WFO is located.

The Town of Houlton owns and operates the Houlton International Airport where the FAA ASOS equipment is located. The Town Manager and the Public Works Director, have determined that all public works tasks at the airport shall be provided only by town public works employees. No other vendors or contractors are allowed on the airport site. Failure to have snow removal performed around and leading to the ASOS would prevent NWS technicians from performing required preventive and corrective maintenance during the snow season. A lack of observations would severely hinder, if not hinder completely, the government's ability to provide accurate terminal forecasts for safety of flight at the airport during adverse weather conditions.

Vendors that propose a solution using other than The Town of Houlton must furnish detailed specifications and descriptions to demonstrate their capability to provide the required services that satisfy the Government’s needs. To be considered, interested parties must be able to demonstrate their ability to provide comparable snow removal services that meets the specific characteristics outlined above. Capability information shall include, at minimum, name, telephone number, address of customers for which you have previously furnished the required services, and a detailed narrative that describes your ability to provide the required services as specified. Interested parties must respond via email to [email protected] prior to the closing of this notice.

The NAICS code for this requirement is 561730. The government intends to solicit and negotiate with the only known source (The Town of Houlton) that can provide the snow removal services. This is not a request for quotes or proposals and there is no solicitation available at this time. The Government reserves the right to solicit quotes based on the receipt of affirmative responses to this posting without further notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to open competition to businesses other than The Town of Houlton.

All contractors doing business with this Contracting Office (Eastern Acquisition Division – Kansas City) must be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) website. Vendors can register with SAM at the following website https://www.sam.gov.