Opportunities

RFP 21-06 HOBOKEN CITYWIDE ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION INFRASTRUCTURE ‍

RFP 21-06
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RFP

Description

CITY OF HOBOKEN

ADDENDUM TO RFP DOCUMENTS (RFI)

RFP 21-06 HOBOKEN CITYWIDE ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION INFRASTRUCTURE

This Addendum #1, dated November 16, 2021 is issued to modify the above mentioned RFP and is hereby made part of the RFP documents. Please attach this Addendum #1 to the original documents in your possession and ensure same is included in your proposal.

Questions and answers:

Q1. The City of Hoboken, New Jersey is seeking a qualified vendor or team of vendors to contract with the City to provide turnkey electric vehicle charging station services, including the purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of electric vehicle supply/ service equipment (electric vehicle charging stations) within the public right-of-way. Based on the statement above from the bid package. Who owns and maintains ownership of the stations after installation?

A1. Vendor, or team of vendors, will assume maintenance and ownership of EV charging stations after installation.

Q2. Do you have a set of drawings, or an items list put together for this job that you would be able to send over?

A2. I may be misunderstanding the question, but we don’t have any drawings for the EV charging  stations  since  the  selected  vendor  would  supply  those  as  part  of  the  permit  / approval process outlined in the RFP.

Q3. What is the exact quantity of chargers that are going to be being installed and put in?

A3.  Vendors  should submit the quantity of chargers  they plan to install  as  part  of their proposal for meeting the minimum RFP requirement that all Hoboken households are within a 5-minute walk of a level 2 or level 3 charging station in the public right-of-way.

Q4. In terms of SBE, DBE, MBE, etc are there any percentage goals set already for this job?

A4. The City of Hoboken does not have percentage goals for SBE, DBE, or MBE firms for this program.

Q5. Does the city intend to have no out of pocket expenses on installation/ make ready cost?

A5. Vendors are encouraged to submit a realistic cost proposal that includes any installation and make-ready costs if they are expected to be paid for by the City of Hoboken. The City is ultimately seeking the most competitive proposal that minimizes the program costs to the City, including installation and make-ready costs.

Q6. Does the city intend to have no ownership of charging stations? Vendor owned/operator charging models tend to have much higher usage cost than traditional ev charging to offset implementation cost and equipment. In this project cost upfront cost are substantial. This can drastically  affect  adoption  and  cost  savings  associated  with  EV's  specifically  around  level  2 charging.

A6. Vendors are encouraged to submit a competitive proposal that minimizes costs to the City and charging station users.

Q7. Can the city provide Charging as a service model, lease, or purchase options for this project?

A7. The City is open to proposals that include charging as a service models.

Q8.  The  vendor  shall  propose  a  mix  of  state-of-the-art  level  2  and  level  3  electric  vehicle charging  stations.  Can  you  give  guidance  of  how  many  L2  and  L3  (what  capacity?  indoor- outdoor?) chargers  are in the RFP? Some locations  can support L3 but on  the lower end of 50kwh unless we dig in and ask the utility to upgrade its service to certain locations.

A8. The vendor should use their expertise to propose an appropriate mix of level 2 and level 3 charging stations to meet the program requirements outlined in the body of RFP.

Q9. The RFP states: the operation and maintenance shall be at no cost to the City. Also, Vendors are strongly encouraged to submit proposals that include a revenue share agreement with the City. and lastly, The vendor shall submit a cost proposal that minimizes costs to the City. so the question is what does the city of Hoboken want the vendor to propose?

A9. Per the evaluation criteria of the RFP, vendors shall receive higher scores for proposals that minimize costs to the City.

Q10. If the city pays some of the cost then why it wants money back? can we propose no profit sharing and no cost to the city?

A10. The vendors may submit proposals that include no costs to the City, some costs to the City, a revenue share proposal, or some combination. Vendors will receive higher scores for proposals that minimize costs to the City.

Q11.  The  initial  term  of  the  contract  is  two  (2)  years  from  the  date  of  award,  with  three separate one (1) year extensions at the sole discretion of the City of Hoboken. does the city take  into  account  the  lengthy  process  of  locations  approved  by  the  city  council?  only  after approval can we start actual design planning and they will take time, can you please elaborate on this.

A11.  Contract  terms  are  dictated  by  Local  Public  Contract  Law.  The  city  will  do  its  best  to expedite legislative and permit approvals in order to expedite the project rollout.

Q12.  The  City  may  terminate  the  contract  for  convenience  by  providing  60  calendar  days advance written notice to the Vendor. what is convenience means???

A12.  Convenience  means  that  the  City  may  terminate  the  contract  for  any reason,  without cause.

Q13.  Vendors  should  propose electric  vehicle charging stations  and related  equipment  that respects the historical character of Hoboken’s residential neighborhoods when possible. The example from Baltimore was made as a custom solution and the charging equipment is slower than L2. what exactly the city expects to get? Unless we will have to make one specifically to the city. Please elaborate and give another example, we were not able to get any info from the Baltimore vendor for the project.

A13.  The  example  from  Baltimore  is  representative  of  a  charging  station  that  reflects  the historical character of the surrounding neighborhood. It doesn’t represent a specific charging station model the City is requiring. The City understands that the requirements in the RFP may not make the example from Baltimore feasible, but the City would like charging stations to respect the historic character of neighborhoods whenever possible.

Q14. Does the city have any preference and did the city do any electric mapping for the garages for  high-level  DCFC?  if  not  can  you  please  elaborate  on  the  needs  and  which  location  is preferred by the city for fast charging?

A14. The City is requesting vendors to propose a mix of level 2 and level 3 charging stations and is  relying  on  the  vendors’  expertise  to  propose which  locations  are  more  appropriate  for  a specific type of charging station.

Q15.  The  city  is  asking  that  all  charging  stations  be  placed  within  a  5  minute  walk  of  any household.  Studies  show  that  the  average  person  can  travel  one-quarter  of  a  mile  in  five minutes. Should the selected vendor assume that charging stations must be placed in no more than one-quarter of a mile radius from any household?

A15.  Yes.  All  households  should  be  within  approximately  0.25  miles  of  an  electric  vehicle charging station.

Q16.  Upon  expiration  or  termination  of  the  agreement,  selected  vendor  will  remove  the electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS),  signage,  and  striping.  In  addition to the previously mentioned, will capping and securing the remaining infrastructure satisfy the restoration of the site to previous conditions requirement noted in bullet point 6 of 2.6?

A16.  Upon  contract  expiration  or  termination,  the  City  reserves  the  right  to  request  the contracted vendor to remove the EVCS, signage, and striping, and restore the site of the EVCS to the previous condition or better.

Q17. In order to determine how many stations are required to satisfy the household distance required as defined in 2.3, can you please clarify that all existing EVCS located within the city boundaries, including privately owned stations, are to be considered?

A17. Only city-owned charging stations at Garage B, Garage D, and on First Street, between Washington Street and Court Street, should be considered. Privately-owned stations should not be considered to satisfy the household distance required.

Q18. Is it the city’s intent to have the selected vendor broker revenue stream for both power and parking?

A18.  The  City  is  open  to  revenue  share  proposals  for  energy  use,  time,  or  right-of-way utilization. Vendors should use their industry expertise to craft revenue share proposals that they think will be the most competitive.

Q19. Can you please elaborate on the city’s expectations for supporting parking enforcement of non-EVs from using the parking spaces? How does the city wish for this to be monitored?

A19.  Vendors  should  use  their  expertise  to  propose  creative  interventions  to  help  the  City maximize compliance of EV charging space utilization. Support for regulating proper use of EV charging spaces may include such technologies as in-street sensors, camera systems, or other technology.

Q20. In what capacity, if any, will the city provide support in conducting public outreach, as noted in 2.3.3?

A20. The City will assist the vendor with public outreach through various channels that may include  Nixle  community  alerts,  press  releases,  and  social  media.  Additionally,  the  City  will assist the vendor with soliciting public feedback on the proposed locations.

Q21. What do the asterisks (*) under “Management Criteria” and double asterisks (**) under “Other” refer to in the Evaluation Criteria?

A21.The asterisks are typos and do not refer to anything not listed in the Evaluation Criteria.

Q22.  What  is  a  “managed  electrical  vehicle  charging  station”  as  noted  under  “Charging Network” of the Evaluation Criteria?

A22. “Managed electrical vehicle charging station” is referring to the electric vehicle charging stations that would be part of the publicly accessible network within the public right-of-way.

Q23.  Does  the  Proposer  own  the  charging  stations  after  installation  and  for  the  life  of  the agreement?

A23.  It  is  the  City’s  preference  that  the  proposer/vendor  owns  the  charging  stations  after installation for the life of the contract term.

Q24. If so, can revenue from charging sessions be used to support Operations & Maintenance costs?

A24. Yes.

Q25. Are all installations to be completed on City-owned property? (appears so, just verifying)

A25. All installations are to be completed within the public right-of-way. Some locations may be on City-owned property while others may be on County-owned property.

This addendum will be published in the newspaper and posted on the City of Hoboken website to  ensure  compliance.  There  are  no  other  changes  to  the  RFP  documents  as  part  of  this addendum.

The City will not accept questions/RFI at this time as the RFI deadline is November 15, 2021.

Submission deadline remains the same on December 1, 2021 at 11:00 AM prevailing time.

ATTEST:                                                                                            

Date: November 16, 2021

Jennifer Mastropietro, QPA Purchasing Agent

           FOR HOBOKEN

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT OF ADDENDA

RFP 21-06 – HOBOKEN CITYWIDE ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION INFRASTRUCTURE

The undersigned bidder hereby acknowledges receipt of the following addenda:

Addendum Number                              Date                               Acknowledge Receipt

(Initial)

Addendum#1                            November 16, 2021                                            

         

No addenda were received:

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(Name of bidder)

By:                                                                            

(Signature of Authorized Representative)

Name:                                                                    

Date:                                                                      Title/Position:          

                                           

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