AE Gale Meadows Pond Dam Rehabilitation Design Addendum 2

Location:	Vermont
Posted:	Apr 1, 2026
Due:	Apr 10, 2026
Agency:	State of Vermont
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	C - Architect and Engineering Services - Construction Y - Construction of Structures and Facilities
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING SERVICES

FOR THE

GALE MEADOWS POND DAM REHABILITATION DESIGN

ADDENDUM # 2

State of Vermont

Department of Buildings and General Services

Office of Purchasing & Contracting

133 State Street

Montpelier, Vermont 05633-8000

March 30, 2026

TO ALL BIDDERS OF RECORD:

This Addendum consists of 3 page(s).

Acknowledge receipt of this Addendum by entering its number and date on the Proposal Form. This Addendum forms

a part of the Contract Documents and modifies them as follows:

Items:

1. Date Changes:

RESPONSES DUE BY: April 10, 2026

2. Questions & Answers:

a) You are obtaining funding through FEMA. Is the scope of this project only for the dam?

Answer: Yes.

b) To be clear, this work is really only specific to the auxiliary spillway and not some of the other

recommendations for the dam that are in the comprehensive assessment?

Answer: Yes, its only for the auxiliary spillway.

c) Has FEMA provided you with a scope of work for funding?

Answer: No. We’ve not yet had a formal response from them on funding scope, but we were only

requesting funding for the repairs to the auxiliary spillway.

d) Since funding is not in place, will you pause or wait for FEMA funding to be in place?

Answer: No. Given the urgency of this work, we will have to move forward with the design and will

identify state funding if FEMA funds are not available.

e) The RFP has identified that an emergency action plan (EAP) and operation, maintenance, and inspection

plan (O&M plan) would have to be submitted. Do you have existing plans that can be reviewed or

utilized?

Answer: The contractor will be required to provide an up-to-date EAP and O&M manual. There has

been a dam breach analysis completed with inundation mapping, that could be used to inform the EAP.

There is an existing, old EAP on file, so that could be used, but will need to be updated. Unfortunately,

there is not an expired or active O&M plan, so that will need to be created.

f) You noted climate change. Do you have any preference on being conservative in the design with respect to

climate change?

Answer: The technical standards portion of the Vermont dam safety rules which are currently under

development are not proposing to include climate change specific standards. When incorporating

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climate change considerations into our designs, we typically look at incremental increases in

flooding/rainfall and balance that against cost of the project to see what may be feasible to account for

by providing additional conservatism in the design. We can check with FEMA to see if they have any

climate change requirements. Our ability to incorporate additional conservatism in the design may be

dictated by the FEMA funding source.

g) Are there any additional special provisions attached to the FEMA funding?

Answer: The federal Davis-Bacon Act does not apply to FEMA funding. The design/construction

must follow current codes and standards and the state currently defaults to federal dam safety standards

such as those from FEMA.

h) Do you have a page limit? And are electronic signatures acceptable?

Answer: Electronic signatures are fine. The submission directions are lined out in the RFP 5.2 Bid

Delivery “Bids must consist of a single email with a single, digitally searchable PDF attachment

containing all components of the bid. Multiple emails and/or multiple attachments will not be accepted.

There is an attachment size limit of 40 MB. It is the Bidder’s responsibility to compress the PDF file

containing its bid if necessary, in order to meet this size limitation.” So there is not a page limit, but

there is a size limit.

i) Are there any concerns with a drawdown during construction?

Answer: The primary concerns would be with impacts to rare, threatened, and endangered species

(RTE). If there are any RTE surveys needed, the Department will complete those surveys. The

contractor will also need to ensure there are sufficient flows coming out of the pond during the

drawdown. The Dam Safety permit will require a control of water plan, which should address this

issue.

j) Is permitting part of this contract or is it being handled separately?

Answer: Permitting is part of this contract.

k) Do you have target for issuing the addendum for the questions?

Answer: March 30th.

l) When is this project expected to go to bid for contractors and what is the expected start date for

construction?

Answer: Ideally summer 2027 with a start date fall 2027 or spring 2028.

m) Could you provide the Alternatives Analysis Report and supplemental information? We will need this to

identify data gaps and strategize the design effort.

Answer: Pertinent files have been uploaded to the following google drive. Anyone with the link should

be able to download the files and review them.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lNORBJVxdQ4tqBXl1vsba9FR11xJBFZl/view?usp=sharing

n) In order to correctly acknowledge receipt of Addendum 1, where is the Proposal Form referenced in the

addendum? Is it possible to make an acknowledgement statement at the end of the cover letter instead?

Answer: The bid proposal form was inadvertently omitted previously. It has been added to the bid

documents and addendum acknowledgements must be noted on this form.

o) What is the FEMA grant or funding mechanism for this project? Is the funding for both the design and

construction covered by this funding?

Answer: FEMA has not yet approved the Department’s scope change request, but we have asked for

both design and construction to be covered. These are eligible costs and it has been FEMA’s intention

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all along to revise the scope of the project to include both design and construction.

p) For Criterion 3, may hourly rates be provided by labor category rather than for individual team members?

Answer: Yes

q) If additional borings were proposed as part of Milestone #1, what are the requirements for work plan

submissions and permitting the field investigation?

Answer: A subsurface exploration plan will have to be prepared and submitted to the Vermont (DEC)

Dam Safety Program for review and approval. A plan was submitted for review and approval as part of

the soil borings performed as part of the previous phase of work.

r) Are the downstream toe of the dam and auxiliary spillway accessible by drill rig?

Answer: This probably depends on the driller. We recommend reviewing photos of the site included in

the file upload or visiting the site in person to make this determination. Access improvements may be

necessary. The driller that performed the borings as part of the previous phase of work did not want to

drive their rig down to the toe of the dam.

s) With the extension of the pre-bid meeting and question due dates, would the State consider an extension for

the proposal due date?

Answer: We have extended the proposal due date to Friday, April 10, 2026.

END OF ADDENDUM # 2

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This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

TITLE	QUESTIONS DUE	ANSWERS POSTED	DUE DATE	NO POSTING AFTER
AE Gale Meadows Pond Dam Rehabilitation Design Addendum 1 Addendum 2	03/23/2026 04:30PM		04/10/2026 04:30PM