This is a modification to announcement A0900000062. You must complete all fill-in items on that announcement and submit that along with your formal proposal. No other documents (such as a solicitation) will be posted. All items in announcement A0900000062 apply except:The response date is changed to January 27, 2009 at 2 pm.The implementation date is changed to April 1, 2009. Earlier implementation is desired if possible. IN ADDITION, there will be a site visit on January 8, 2009 at 10 am. Contact Traci Kolc at
[email protected] or call her at 760-786-3249 for more info and meeting location. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS RECEIVED:The collection of fees from the automated fee machines currently in place was $1,309,275 for Fiscal Year 2008 ( October 1 September 30). We cannot guarantee that amount will be collected every year. May to October has limited revnue due to the high heat. Collection costs have been running 25-35%. We are mandated to reduce those costs to 18%. Collection locations are as follows with a breakdown of percentage of collections: Grapevine Mesquite Springs Hells Gate Mud Canyon Stovepipe Ranger2003 15.67% 5.18% 13.80% 0.77% 12.50% 2004 4.19% 6.00% 10.03% 0.72% 4.11% 2005 4.67% 4.60% 18.40% 0.42% 14.54% 2006 4.01% 4.95% 5.79% 0.43% 13.46% 2007 3.44% 3.21% 12.18% 0.29% 15.64% 2008 3.40% 3.38% 11.33% 0.24% 12.85% Stovepipe Campground Furnace Creek CG Visitor Center Sunset CG 1 Sunset CG 20.00% 27.54% 6.93% 0.00% 0.00% 9.73% 5.12% 10.28% 6.94% 6.25% 10.25% 4.92% 12.47% 5.45% 8.14% 7.24% 3.51% 12.57% 4.59% 4.36% 5.09% 1.91% 10.54% 4.11% 3.36% 5.50% 3.89% 8.56% 3.14% 3.02% Sunset CG 3 Texas CG 1 Texas CG 2 Zabriskie Point Ryan Junction Bad Water0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 17.61% 0.00% 3.74% 8.26% 5.99% 0.13% 18.27% 0.23% 2.37% 4.36% 2.77% 0.00% 2.10% 4.53% 2.47% 6.26% 4.55% 9.56% 12.69% 3.57% 1.99% 3.69% 2.90% 5.21% 23.27% 3.17% 1.52% 4.47% 3.40% 4.28% 27.46% 3.57% All the fee machine areas listed are in Death Valley. There are no machines on the west side of the park in Panamint Valley. Park maps are available at www.nps.gov/deva. Death Valley National Park is a remote area. Weather conditions in the park are extreme. These conditions include sand, heat, rain, wind, and snow to name a few. Average rainfall is 2 inches per a year. Heat in July and August can average 121 degrees. SIGNS:Signs are needed so visitors know where to pay. The majority of national parks have entrance stations so visitors may not know what the machine standing in front of them is for or if they have an entrance pass already do they need to pay again ( if they already have an Interagency or Death Valley National Park Annual Pass they may proceed to one of the ranger contact stations). Visitors will need to know how much to pay unless the screen on the machine walks the visitor through the process [i.e., single vehicle $20.00, individual on motorcycle, foot, or bicycle $10.00, commercial tour fees 1-6 seating capacity $25.00 + $10.00 per a person, 7-15 seating capacity $75.00, 16- 25 seating capacity $100.00, 26 or more seating capacity $200.00)]. You may need a sign providing directions on how to use the machine unless the machine walks you through the process on the screen. Many of the visitors may not have computer skills or may not be able to read English well (we have visitors from all over the world). CURRENT AUTOMATED FEE MACHINE LOCATIONS WITH POWER:Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station and Stovepipe Wells Campground machinesOne machine at Sunset Campground- next to the accessible sitesFurnace Creek Visitor Center and CampgroundGrapevine Ranger Station MACHINE LOCATIONS CLOSE TO AN EXISTING PHONE LINE (phone lines may or may not be available due to remoteness):*One pay phone at Texas Springs CampgroundStovepipe Wells Ranger Station Grapevine Ranger StationFurnace Creek Visitor Center*One pay phone at Furnace Creek Campground*One pay phone at Sunset Campground by machine with power*One pay phone at Emigrant Ranger Station*One pay phone at Ryan Junction *The pay phones are not managed by the Death Valley National Park. There is one cell phone tower that works in very few locations. Cell coverage only works with phones that are analog. ROAD CLOSURE POSSIBILITIES:Possible road closures due to natural causes can vary in length from a couple of hours to several weeks depending on conditions. We have snow and rain in Death Valley National Park (on average we receive 2 inches of rain a year). Road construction may close a road for 8 hours a day for two weeks because a contractor is replacing water lines to private property inside the park or the State is repairing the roadway. These are all items that may take place and are not necessarily under the control of the National Park Service. Flash floods have also been known to occur when there is significant rainfall in the surrounding mountains. This can wipe out a roadway and may involve rebuilding of the road. INTERAGENCY AND ANNUAL PARK PASSES:Sales of Interagency Passes will not be available through the machines. These may be purchased at any of the ranger contact stations in Death Valley National Park. Visitors who have an Interagency Annual, Senior, Access, or Death Valley Annual Pass can proceed to the nearest ranger contact station, show their pass and identification, receive a park map and sticker to place in the vehicle windshield (the window sticker lets our rangers know that the visitor has paid an entrance fee). MAXIMUM ERROR RATE (MER):The closing tapes from the machines showing the amount of revenue collected from that machine should equal the final amount deposited into the park account. If any refunds are issued to visitors, they should be documented and supplied with the closing tapes to show accountability for the funds collected. If the funds collected do not match the amount paid to the park then an error has occurred. The maximum error rate is one per quarter or four per year with no penalty. 80% CAPACITY OF FUNDS COLLECTED IN EACH AUTOMATED FEE MACHINE:The removal of funds collected in each automated fee machine by the contractor should occur on a regular basis to keep the automated fee machines from reaching capacity thus rendering them inactive for visitor use. This would refer to total funds in the machine at any one time (both bills and change making canisters). DISTANCES TO MACHINES (from the Furnace Creek area):Ryans Junction 11 miles Zabriskie Point 5 milesBadwater - 18 milesFurnace Creek Visitor Center - 0 milesFurnace Creek Campground 1 mileStovepipe Wells Campground - 25 milesStovepipe Wells Ranger Station 25 milesMesquite Springs Campground 48 milesGrapevine Ranger Station 49 milesTexas Springs Campground 2 milesSunset Campground - 1.5 milesHells Gate 22 miles The Federal Land Agencies including the National Park Service operate under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) of December 2004. FLREA information can be found on the following website http://www.doi.gov/ . Death Valley National Park will need information on sales in the following categories for deposit purposes (these are known as primary work elements):1) Individual and Vehicle Fees 2) Commercial Tour Fees3) Camping Fees Current fee structure is a monthly payment of fees collected by the contractor and then Death Valley National Park pays the contractor their percentage of the revenue. Since we do not have entrance stations on all roads coming into Death Valley National Park we are looking for innovative ways to collect entrance and campground fees. The current compliance shows that between 35% to 40% of visitors pay their entrance fees. Under the current fee legislation, FLREA, the parks are mandated to bring their total cost of collection to 18% or less of the total revenues collected. ACCESSIBILITY:Go to http://www.section508.gov/ for more info.