RFP 27-19-3320 Sewer Flow Monitoring Services

Forsyth County Procurement Department
2435 Freedom Parkway, Suite 3100
Cumming, GA 30041 | Phone 770.888.8872
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
RFP NO. 27-19-3320
Sewer Flow Monitoring Services
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
Cumming, GA
Closing Date and Time:
October 15, 2026 / 2:00 p.m.

FORSYTH COUNTY, GEORGIA
Request for Proposal No. 27-19-3320
Sewer Flow Monitoring Services
1. PURPOSE OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
Forsyth County, a political subdivision of the State of Georgia ("County") is soliciting
Proposals from qualified firms to the following provide Sewer Flow Monitoring Services
for the Forsyth County Department of Water and Sewer.
All interested qualified firms are invited to submit a formal proposal with pricing
information to accomplish the Scope of Work described herein, in conformance with the
prescribed format. The proposal is to be signed by a principal in the firm.
It is the County's intent that this Request for Proposal ("RFP") permit competition. It shall
be the offeror's responsibility to advise the Procurement Agent in writing, if any language,
specification, etc., or any combination thereof, inadvertently restricts or limits the
requirements stated in this RFP to a single source. Such notification must be received by
the Procurement Agent not later than ten (10) days prior to the date set for acceptance of
the proposal.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of
information in the RFP, we recognize that the information may not be complete in every
detail and that all work may not be expressly mentioned in these specifications. It is the
responsibility of the proposing firm to include in their proposal all pertinent information
in accordance with the objectives of the County.
2. GENERAL INFORMATION
Proposals MUST be submitted in the format prescribed herein. Failure to comply with the
directions listed in this RFP, or omission of requested information could result in
disqualification of your firm's proposal.
Forsyth County uses a procurement portal powered by EUNA Procurement formerly
Bonfire Interactive ("EUNA") for accepting and evaluating bids, statements of
qualification, and proposals digitally, found by using the link:
https://www.forsythco.com/Departments-Offices/Procurement/Bids-Results
Proposals shall only be accepted online through the EUNA Portal.
Proposals are due 2:00 p.m., (EST) October 15, 2026. Names of submitting firms will then
be read aloud at 2:30 p.m. (EST), October 15, 2026. All interested parties and the general
public are invited.
ALL QUESTIONS are to be asked via EUNA under Opportunity Q&A. Responses to
substantive questions will be provided as written Addenda and will be posted under
Public Files in EUNA. The deadline for questions is October 6, 2026, 12:00 p.m. (EST).
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Proposals and Pricing Information received will become the property of Forsyth County
and shall be used as the County sees fit. All information contained in the Proposals and
Pricing Information will remain confidential until after the awarding and signing of the
contract.
3. COST OF PROPOSAL
Forsyth County assumes no responsibility or liability for the costs incurred by the
submitting firm to prepare and/or submit a proposal. The entire cost of preparing and
submitting Proposals and Pricing Information, or any work in connection therewith will
be borne by the submitting firm or team of firms.
4. RESPONSIBILITY OF PROPOSER
Proposals must be signed by an authorized official to bind the offeror, and it shall contain
a statement to the effect that the Proposal is firm for a period of at least ninety (90) days
from the closing date for submission.
5. CONNECTIVITY
The County shall not be responsible for errors of any kind or nature occurring in the
transmission or downloading/uploading of any documents from the website. The County
does not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted, or secure access to this or other related
websites. Operation of this website may be affected from time to time by numerous factors
outside of our control. Site problems, user problems, internet problems, power outages, or
routine maintenance may interrupt or prevent access to information, documents, and/or
submission capabilities.
6. PROHIBITION OF GRATUITIES
Firms shall not offer any gratuities, favors, or anything of monetary value to any official,
employee, or agent of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners for the purpose of
influencing consideration of this proposal.
7. CONTACT
To ensure all prospective respondents have the same level of knowledge relative to the
project, as well as ensuring any additional data is made available to all proposers, no
vendor shall contact or discuss any aspect of this RFP with any County employee, elected
official, evaluation/selection committee member, or project team member, during the
RFP process up until award has been made. If contact is made, that vendor may be
disqualified from the process. All questions in regard to this RFP are to be submitted via
EUNA under Opportunity Q&A as detailed in the General Information section of this
document. Any information obtained about this solicitation through any means other
than the solicitation itself or the addendums thereunto is not valid and should not be
considered in any response to this solicitation.
8. OWNERSHIP OF MATERIAL
Ownership of all data, material, and documentation originated and prepared for the
County pursuant to the Contract shall belong exclusively to the County.
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9. TERM
The Term of this Contract shall begin on January 1, 2027 and will end on December 31,
2031.
10. AGREEMENT
Attached to this RFP is a draft form of a General Services Agreement which contains
terms and conditions of the contractual arrangement for the services. Such form of
agreement will be modified as appropriate, in the County's discretion, to include any
additional specific terms related to the services being provided. Any questions regarding
the form of the General Services Agreement must be submitted in writing by the deadline
for questions specified in this RFP. "Agreement" and "Contract" refer to the same
instrument.
11. CHANGES
No change will be made to this RFP except by written modification by the County
Procurement Department. Requests for interpretation or changes must be in writing and
received at least seven (7) calendar days prior to the time set for opening of the proposals.
12. WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSAL
Proposals may be withdrawn by written request only if the request is received prior to the
time and date set for the opening of proposals. Negligence on the part of the Proposer in
preparing its proposal confers no right of withdrawal or modification of its proposal after
proposal has been opened. No proposal may be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days
after time has been called on the date of opening.
13. SUBSTITUTIONS
When references are made in these documents to trade names or to the brand names of
manufacturers, such references are made solely to designate and identify the quality of
materials or equipment to be furnished and are not intended to restrict proposals. If
comparable materials or equipment of trade names or of manufacturers' names which
are different from those mentioned in the RFP specifications are offered, the burden of
proving equality of a proposed substitution rest on the submitting firm and must be
provided with the proposal.
14. EXCEPTIONS TO SPECIFICATIONS
Any award resulting from this RFP shall bind the Proposer to all terms, conditions and
specifications set forth in this RFP. Proposers whose proposals do not conform should so
note on separate page if necessary. While the County reserves the right to make an award
to a nonconforming proposer when in the best interest of the County, such awards will
not be readily made, and proposers are urged to conform to the greatest extent possible.
No exceptions will be considered to have been taken by a Proposer unless it is properly
set out as provided above. No exception will be deemed to have been taken by the County
unless incorporated in an award resulting from this RFP and so stated.
15. RESERVATION OF REJECTION OR CANCELLATION
The County reserves the right to cancel the RFP or to reject any and all proposals
submitted in response to any solicitation, to reject any portion thereof, or to waive any
minor irregularity or administrative requirement, if it determines, in its sole discretion,
that such cancellation, rejection, or waiver is in the best interests of the County. The
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County further reserves the right to reject a proposal in which the unit prices are
determined to be materially unbalanced.
16. AFFIDAVIT
The Proposer will be required to execute an Affidavit of Non-Collusion and submit it with
the RFP Documents.
17. INSPECTION OF RECORDS
The records of the Procurement Department are open and accessible to the public in
accordance with the provisions of the Georgia Open Records Act. Requests for inspection
of records must be in writing, must be reasonable, must contain sufficient information to
facilitate retrieval, and must not interfere with the orderly operation of the Procurement
Department.
Proposers are cautioned that any documentation submitted with or in support of a bid or
proposal will become subject to public inspection under the Georgia Open Records Act.
Labeling such information "Confidential," "Proprietary," or in any other manner will not
protect this material from public inspection upon request.
18. TRADE SECRETS
Careful consideration should be given before submitting confidential information to the
County. The County's disclosure of records and documentation is governed by the
Georgia's Open Records Act, which permits public scrutiny of most materials collected as
part of this process. If Proposer submits information that contains trade secret
information and if Proposer wishes to keep such information confidential, Proposer must
submit and attach to such information an affidavit affirmatively declaring that specific
information constitutes trade secrets pursuant to the Georgia Trade Secrets Act of 1990,
O.C.G.A. 10-1-760 et seq., and the Proposer and County will follow the requirements of
O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(34) related thereto.
19. REGULATORY AGENCIES
Successful Proposer will be responsible for all required permits or license required by any
regulatory agency of the city, county, state or federal governments. Further, successful
proposer will be responsible for meeting all requirements of any regulation(s) or
guideline(s) of any of the said governments or any independent agency recognized by
said governments as publisher of any such regulation(s) or guideline(s).
20. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
The Proposer represents to Forsyth County that it is fully experienced and properly
qualified to perform the functions provided for herein and that it is properly equipped,
organized and financed to perform such functions. The Proposer shall finance its own
operations hereunder, shall operate as an independent contractor and not as the agent
of Forsyth County and nothing contained in this RFP or a contract resulting from same
shall be construed to constitute the Proposer or any of its employees, servants, or agents
or subcontractors as a partner, employee, servant or agent of the County nor shall either
party have any authority to bind the other in any respect, it being intended that each shall
remain an independent contractor.
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21. REQUIRED FORMS
All Proposing firms will be required to complete, execute, and submit with its proposal
the following:
* Affidavit of Non-Collusion
* Contractor Affidavit and Agreement
* Subcontractor Affidavit (if applicable)
* Addendum Acknowledgement
22. EVALUATION METHOD AND CRITERIA
The County will evaluate all responsive proposals to determine which proposal best
meets the needs of the County based on the evaluation criteria. Evaluation will be made
by a committee established for this purpose. The County shall be the sole judge of its own
best interest, the proposals, and the resulting agreement. Award will be based on a review
of all information submitted. Finalists may be asked to appear before the Evaluation
Committee, if required.
At the completion of the technical evaluation process, the proposals will be ranked, and
the firms submitting the highest ranked proposals, based upon technical merit, may be
scheduled for interviews. The County will negotiate with the top ranked proposer or
proposers. If negotiations are not satisfactory to the County, then the County reserves the
right to negotiate with the next ranked proposer, and so forth. Negotiations may include
confirmation of the cash allowance amounts, and the County may request current
equipment pricing from the proposer with which it is negotiating for that purpose.
The County evaluation criteria include the following:
* Cover Letter - Pass / Fail. Completeness and responsiveness of the required
disclosures, addenda acknowledgement, and comments on the Sample
Agreement.
* Forms - Pass / Fail. Submittal of all required affidavits and County forms.
* Project Approach - 20 points. Quality of the proposed installation, monitoring,
data review, editing, and quality control process; the transition plan; management
of routine service and non-routine response; and the capability of the data
platform.
* Key Staff Experience - 20 points. Experience and qualifications of the assigned
staff, and the adequacy of the staffing and response plan, including proximity of
resources to Forsyth County.
* Firm Experience and Project References - 20 points. Relevant firm experience
with comparable flow monitoring programs, equipment and platform capability,
demonstrated capacity to support the program from a local or regional office, and
the quality and relevance of the comparable projects and client references
provided.
* Cost Proposal - 40 points. Completed unit-price Cost Proposal workbook and
overall value.
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Cover Letter and Forms. The cover letter and all required County forms and affidavits are
evaluated on a pass/fail basis and are not assigned points. Omission of a required form or
affidavit, or of a disclosure required in the cover letter, may result in the proposal being
determined non-responsive. The County will use the disclosures required in the cover
letter in determining whether a proposer is responsible.
Minimum Technical Score. A proposal must receive at least forty-two (42) of the sixty (60)
available technical points, being seventy percent (70%) of the combined points available
for Project Approach, Key Staff Experience, and Firm Experience and Project References,
in order to be considered for award. A proposal scoring below this minimum will not be
considered further, without regard to its price.
Cost Proposal Scoring. The Base Evaluation Price for each proposer will be calculated
from the completed Cost Proposal workbook as the sum of the total estimated cost for
Contract Years 1 through 5, excluding the cash allowance pay items. The cash allowances
are fixed by the County and are identical for every proposer, so they are not included in
the Base Evaluation Price. The workbook calculates this value on the Cost Basis tab.
Price Proposal. The lowest Base Evaluation Price will receive the full forty (40) points. All
other proposals will receive points in proportion to the lowest Base Evaluation Price,
calculated as follows:
Score = (Lowest Base Evaluation Price / Proposer's Base Evaluation Price) x 40 points
Evaluation quantities are provided solely for consistent proposal comparison. The
County does not guarantee the quantities of work performed under the Agreement.
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SCOPE OF SERVICES
1. Purpose
The Forsyth County Department of Water and Sewer (FCDWS) is soliciting proposals from
qualified firms (Contractor) to provide sanitary sewer flow monitoring services, including
installation and removal of monitoring equipment, operation and maintenance of that
equipment, field confirmation and verification, data collection and quality control, hosted
web-based data management, alarming and notification, reporting, and supporting
engineering analysis. The selected Contractor must be fully capable of providing the services
described herein and shall perform such services under the direction of FCDWS.
This solicitation continues an established FCDWS program. The Contractor will assume
operation of County-owned equipment currently in service, transition the program and its
historical data onto the Contractor's data platform, and expand and refine the monitoring
network over the contract term in accordance with the five-year monitoring plan described
in Article 4.
Four documents work together to define this program. The Flow Meter Monitoring Sites
(Attachment A) and Rain Gauge Monitoring Sites (Attachment B) establish the monitoring
network, the site characteristics, and the equipment at each site. The Cost Proposal
(Attachment D) establishes the pay items, units, and estimated quantities. Measurement and
Payment (Attachment E) establishes how each pay item is measured and what each unit price
includes. This Scope of Services describes the work to be performed.
2. Background
The FCDWS sanitary sewer collection system includes approximately 640 miles of gravity
sewer main and approximately 19,400 manholes. FCDWS operates a long-term sewer flow
monitoring program that produces continuous depth, velocity, and flow data. FCDWS uses
this data to evaluate inflow and infiltration (I/I), calibrate and update the County hydraulic
model, monitor surcharge conditions, confirm the timing and sizing of planned
infrastructure, and verify flows exchanged with adjacent systems for billing.
FCDWS owns the monitoring equipment currently in service. Equipment presently deployed
includes Telog RU-35 data loggers paired with FloWav PSA-A/V and Beluga area-velocity
sensors, FloWav StingRay ultrasonic sensors at selected sites, and Telog RG-32A loggers with
Texas Electronics TR-525I six-inch tipping bucket rain gauges. The monitoring sites, site
characteristics, and existing equipment at each site are identified in Flow Meter Monitoring
Sites and Rain Gauge Monitoring Sites. Monitoring Sites Location Map (Attachment C) shows
the monitoring site locations.
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3. Program Goals and Monitoring Objectives
The data collected through this program supports a wide variety of operational and planning
activities. Every requirement in the Scope of Services relates to one or more of the following
objectives:
* Estimate I/I by sewershed so that FCDWS can identify targeted rehabilitation projects.
* Assess conveyance capacity and identify where the system surcharges or is at risk of a
sanitary sewer overflow (SSO).
* Measure system performance before and after rehabilitation.
* Confirm the timing, sizing, and design of planned infrastructure improvements.
* Calibrate and update the hydraulic model and support future capacity planning.
* Prioritize preventative inspection and cleaning, including early warning of potential
blockages.
* Measure intergovernmental flows for billing verification at the interconnection sites.
4. Five-Year Monitoring Plan and Estimated Quantities
FCDWS has developed a five-year monitoring plan for the program. The plan is reflected in
the pay item quantities in the Cost Proposal and is summarized in Table 1 and in the narrative
that follows. The quantities are planning estimates provided so that all proposing firms price
the work on a consistent basis. They are not guaranteed quantities. This is a unit-price
contract, and actual quantities may be adjusted up or down over the life of the Agreement as
monitoring needs change, without renegotiating the Agreement.
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Table 1. Five-Year Monitoring Plan Summary
Program element Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Long-term flow meter sites, 24 23 22 22 22
County-owned equipment
Sites with redundant depth 16 16 16 16 16
measurement
Short-term flow meter service 12 12 12 84 84
(Monitor-Months)
Rain gauge sites, County-owned 8 8 8 8 8
equipment
Short-term rain gauge service 12 12 12 12 12
(Monitor-Months)
Flume monitoring sites 0 1 2 2 2
Install flow meter, new site 5 0 0 0 0
Reinstall flow meter, previously 1 5 5 5 5
monitored site
Remove flow meter 1 6 6 5 5
Install rain gauge 1 1 1 1 1
Remove rain gauge 1 1 1 1 1
SCADA integration and 0 1 1 0 0
programming
Quantities shown are the annualized site counts and event counts used to develop the pay
item quantities in the Cost Proposal. Note the short-term monitoring services are shown in
Monitor-Months (MM) as defined in Measurement and Payment. Where a quantity in the
Cost Proposal differs from the counts shown above, the Cost Proposal governs proposal
evaluations.
Year 1
The Contractor assumes operation of nineteen (19) existing long-term flow meter sites and
installs five (5) new sites bringing the long-term network to twenty-four (24) sites. All eight
(8) rain gauge sites are in service at the start of the contract, and the network is not expanded.
Redundant depth measurements are provided at sixteen (16) sites. The Contractor
establishes the hosted data platform, migrates available historical data, and completes the
initial field confirmations at every site.
FCDWS budgets the planned replacement of the oldest County-owned rain gauge in every
Contract Year, beginning in Year 1. Short-term flow meter and rain gauge services are
budgeted in every Contract Year to cover major County-owned equipment failures while
replacement equipment is procured. Temporary removal and reinstallation of one (1) flow
meter is also budgeted in every year for maintenance or construction activities.
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