Inactive

Below are the questions and answers provided for this solicitation. Is this a new requirement for the Agency or does the Agency have an incumbent? ANSWER: There is no current incumbent that I am aware... Below are the questions and answers provided for this solicitation. Is this a new requirement for the Agency or does the Agency have an incumbent? ANSWER: There is no current incumbent that I am aware of. Is this the first time the Agency has solicited small business for a 5-year BPA in Indiana? ANSWER: I believe so, for the total of the 5 year BPA. If not, why didn’t the Agency previously award a BPA with other contractors who responded to a previous BPA solicitation in Indiana? ANSWER: There is no active BPA and this needed to have competition. On page 8 of 30, the document used for pricing purposes references parcels in the State of Ohio (Logan County) not Indiana….is this correct? ANSWER: This was an example to provide pricing on. In other words, does the Agency have any other Indiana parcel examples to use for pricing purposes? ANSWER: I was not provided any parcels for Indiana. For pricing purposes, page 5 of 30, the pricing document asks Contractors to forecast a value not to exceed a certain amount. As such, how many easements does the Agency anticipate acquiring each year? ANSWER: Please provide the pricing for the sample documentation only. For pricing purposes, page 5 of 30, the pricing document asks Contractors to provide one set amount for each year of the contract. Traditionally, we have seen USDA NRCS and USDA FPAC only need to buy an initial title search first as sometimes the Landowners don’t meet the acquisition guidelines. As such, will the Agency accept a delineated fee sheet showing our proposed cost for an initial title search and commitment, updated title commitment, closing costs and title insurance? ANSWER: Please provide your pricing for the sample but for each year you may need to increase the cost due to inflation. Does the Contractor have to be “licensed to do title insurance business in Indiana and must be approved by the Indiana State Insurance Commissioner”, or can the Contractor contract with a sub-contractor who is “licensed to do title insurance business in Indiana and must be approved by the Indiana State Insurance Commissioner”? ANSWER: Yes, this can be a subcontractor with those specifics. Specifically as to the ALTA letter, can a subcontractor submit this or does the Contractor have to provide it? ANSWER: This contractor will need to provide the documentation. Is the chart on page 29 of the RFQ the only form in which the contracting officer is accepting bids? If not, then what form should the bid be in? We would like to clarify this as there appears to be some conflict between the chart on page 29 and the instructions for proposal/quotes on pages 27-28, and the form on page 3. ANSWER: Please complete page 29. Should the quote be inclusive of all costs of acquisition? i.e., money paid to landowner, transaction costs, recording costs, title insurance costs, etc. should all be included, or if we should only include certain costs? Samples are provided as to the type of easements that USDA and NRCS are looking for, but in order to provide a reasonable quote, is there any indication of what the expected volume of acquisitions on a year by year basis? The quote for closing 5 transactions and 500 transactions will be vastly different. ANSWER: There is no expectation of transactions. The decision will be made from the pricing provided for the sample provided. Page 8 of the RFQ states that contractor must be willing to receive payments by credit card, however, page 14 of the RFQ states that contractor will be paid by EFT. Could you please clarify the form of payment? ANSWER: The vendor must be able to accept both forms of payments. If the purchase is over the $10,000.00 value then payment will be made by EFT. If the purchase is under $10,000.00 this will be paid via purchase card. When should we expect to hear from the government as to whether our bid is accepted or rejected? ANSWER: This should be awarded by the first of the year with notification provided. Is the government going to only try to buy out landowners, or will it decide to exercise eminent domain powers in these easement acquisitions? ANSWER: These purchases will mainly focus on buy out. ____________________________________________________________ BPA TITLE SERVICES CONTRACT FOR 5 YEARS IN OHIO. THIS CLOSES 12/28/2020 @ 3PM CST. QUESTIONS DUE BY 12/16/2020 @ 12PM. ALL QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES SHALL BE ADDRESSED TO KRISTINA.BAKER@USDA.GOV. READ ALL DOCUMENTATION CAREFULLY AND COMPLETE FULLY.