MECKLENBURG COUNTY
Land Use & Environmental Services Agency
Solid Waste
December 11, 2013
SUBJECT:
I.
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)
MECKLENBURG COUNTY SOLID WASTE
ENGINEERING SERVICES
INTRODUCTION
This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is being issued by Mecklenburg County Solid Waste
Services (County) for the purpose of soliciting Statements and Qualifications from firms (the
Consultant) for providing Engineering Services for the County’s solid waste facilities, with a
focus on design and permitting of a new Type I compost and recycling facility.
The services may include but are not limited to the preparation and submittal of all
documentation for the design, operations, regulatory compliance, and management of the
County’s facility and programs for the next five (5) year period. .
The main focus of the services to be provided will be the design, permitting, construction and
monitoring of a new Type I compost facility to be located on a 50.8 acre site in the 6500-6700
blocks of Rozzelles Ferry Road (Tax Parcel #035-054-23), bounded by Rozzelles Ferry Road,
Valleydale Road, and Fred D. Alexander Boulevard. The location of the undeveloped site is
shown in Figure 1. The new composting and recycling facility is to be fully operational by the
spring of 2015, and will replace the County’s existing compost operations at Compost Central,
currently located at 5631 West Boulevard in Charlotte, directly south of Charlotte-Douglas
International Airport (CDIA). In addition to the operations at Compost Central, the operations
from the West Mecklenburg Recycling Center will also be moved to the Rozzelles Ferry Road
site.
Compost Central is currently located on roughly 60 acres of property owned by the City of
Charlotte and is the County’s primary yard waste management facility, producing compost and
other mulch products for sale from the yard waste received. A total 105,525 tons of yard waste
was received in Fiscal Year 2013 at all County facilities. Compost Central received about
62,728 tons (63%) from the City of Charlotte Solid Waste Services as well as Mecklenburg
County residents and small lawn-care businesses. A secondary, but very important, function of
PEOPLE ·PRIDE · PROGRESS · PARTNERSHIPS
700 North Tryon Street · Charlotte, North Carolina 28202 · (704) 336-6513 Fax (704) 336-4314
www.wipeoutwaste.com
NEW COMPOST AND RECYCLING FACILITY ENGINEERING SERVICES RFQ
December 11, 2013
Compost Central is the initial management of yard debris resulting from a significant storm
event.
The West Mecklenburg Recycling Center is one of the County’s four full-service and staffed
recycling centers that accepts recyclable materials such as paper, glass, and plastics as well as
household hazardous waste, white goods or appliances, scrap tires, metal, discarded electronics,
household garbage and small quantities of construction and demolition waste. This is a
convenience center primarily serving residential customers. Approximately 500 tons of
materials are received annually at this center.
There will be a Pre-Proposal meeting on Thursday, December 19th at 1 PM. The meeting
will initially take place at the Hal Marshall Center at 700 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC and
will include a tour of Compost Central as well as the Rozzelles Ferry Road site. Attendance is
optional but strongly recommended for firms that are planning to submit a response to this RFQ.
The County has an active permit for the current Compost Central facility issued by the North
Carolina Department of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of Solid Waste
Management (Permit #60-12). The facility is currently permitted as a Large Type I Composting
Facility under North Carolina Solid Waste Management Rules.
II.
DESCRIPTION OF ANTICIPATED SERVICES
The Consultant shall provide engineering services to meet (1) all requirements of the North
Carolina Solid Waste Management Rules; (2) any building code or building permit requirements;
and (3) any other requirements imposed by law or ordinance.
The County anticipates service requirements during the next five years may include but are not
limited to the following:
1. Design, permitting and construction of a Type I composting and recycling facility that
may include the following:
 Preliminary and detailed civil design
 Development of permit documents for the new facility
 Construction management
 Site optimization to ensure that the site can be configured to produce the
optimum mix of products
 Evaluation of site security to include approaches, alarms, cameras, etc…
 Determination of on-site water supply, if economically feasible, for windrow
watering requirements
 Inclusion of a storm debris management area and/or plan in the event of a
large scale influx of yard waste.
 Responses to NCDENR correspondence
2. Preparation of required reports
3. Additional permitting services
4. QA/QC and CQA for relevant projects
5. Solid waste operations consulting
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NEW COMPOST AND RECYCLING FACILITY ENGINEERING SERVICES RFQ
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6.
7.
8.
9.
Strategic planning processes
Evaluation of market opportunities for products produced
Presentations to the various County Advisory Boards having an interest in solid waste
Other services as required
Technical questions concerning this RFQ should be referred to:
Mr. Darren J. Steinhilber, P.E.
Project Manager
Mecklenburg County Land Use & Environmental Services
700 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202
Phone: (704) 336-4447
Fax: (704) 336-4314
Email: Darren.Steinhilber@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
III.
CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS
The County intends to fully evaluate only proposals received from Consultants who meet certain
minimum technical and managerial qualifications. Consultants failing to show a level of
technical and managerial experience sufficient to meet the County’s minimum requirements may
be dropped from the evaluation and procurement process. Consultants must be duly licensed to
perform engineering work in North Carolina.
If the Consultant desires to use the qualifications of a subcontractor to meet any part of the
technical and managerial qualifications, then the Consultant must identify the subcontractor and
be willing to fully accept the responsibility for the subcontractor, and to indemnify the County
for the Consultants use of the subcontractor.
The Consultant must demonstrate technical and managerial experience in the design of
composting facilities.
IV.
SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS
Please take note of the following very important requirements:


All materials are to be submitted electronically in one (1) Adobe Acrobat X .PDF file, by
the date indicated in the schedule below. In addition, please submit one hard copy of the
proposal.
Submittals may be color or black/white and must be on standard forms SF-255 and SF-254;
they should be concise and to the point; not elaborate productions. All portions must be 8½”
x 11” landscape orientation.
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NEW COMPOST AND RECYCLING FACILITY ENGINEERING SERVICES RFQ
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

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
Limit standard form SF-254 materials to relevant projects. In lieu of submitting SF-254, you
may pre-file all participants’ SF-254 forms with our office in the above-approved formats
per Section 6 of the SF-255. Forms older than one (1) year or significantly incorrect from the
facts (staff, locations, etc.) will be considered VOID and the entire submittal will be
considered non-responsive. Please verify with our office the SIGNED DATE (digital) of
your SF-254 form(s), which are on file with Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Services.
Submittals may include spreadsheets, graphics, logos and any other "objects" embedded in
the SF form(s). If in doubt as to where to place below-requested information, please use SF255, Section 10.
Links or references to websites will not be allowed. A submittal must be received in its
entirety.
In Block 3, clearly list website URL and e-mail address for each firm participating in the
submittal.
Scanned signatures shall be valid for this submittal. E-mail routing and IP information will
be logged to verify authenticity and becomes a part of your submittal signature as well as
date-time logging.
A single submittal for this proposal (all pages and sheets) is limited to a maximum of 25
pages.
If applicable, clearly disclose all potential conflicts or appearances of conflicts of interest
with third parties; include (1) present or prior relationships, (2) work in same or different
discipline, (3) work in local area or elsewhere, (4) work as prime or sub-consultant., etc.
The submission shall address each of the following:
PROJECT APPROACH
The Consultant must demonstrate technical and managerial experience in the design and
construction management of solid waste facilities, including Type I composting facilities. The
Consultant must include in the Submittal:
1. An overview of the Consultant’s firm that demonstrates its experience in the design
of an Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility, including a Large Type I
Composting Facility as defined under North Carolina Solid Waste Management
Rules.
2. An overview of the Consultant’s design and permitting project team including
resumes for key individuals and where each is based.
3. An overview of the Consultant’s specific solid waste facility permitting experience
with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(NCDENR).
4. Preliminary site design of the new Type I compost facility.
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NEW COMPOST AND RECYCLING FACILITY ENGINEERING SERVICES RFQ
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SIMILAR EXPERIENCE
In detail, describe the past experience of your firm with similar contracts. Include an overview
of the Consultant’s firm that demonstrates its experience in the design of a windrow compost
facility that receives a minimum of 40,000 tons of raw material annually and produces at least
2,500 cubic yards of compost annually. Data for at least one of the compost facilities should
include the following information:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Name of referenced compost facility
Contracting parties
Name of facility owner
Date facility began operation
Description of facility and auxiliaries
Annual production
Waste source(s)
Describe the permits required by the permitting authority
Indicate the scheduled and actual completion dates. Indicate reasons for
any variance between the scheduled and actual completion dates
Include three (3) individuals with telephone numbers to contact for references. Photographs,
maps, layouts or other supporting material from similar projects are encouraged if embedded in
Section 10 of SF-255.
PROJECT TEAM
Provide a graphical representation of your team (organizational chart), including the firm’s
name, individuals involved and the role they will perform (principal-in-charge, project manager,
engineer, planner, economist, etc.). Provide a description of the qualifications and experience of
the specific individuals that will be involved, including registration numbers and expiration dates
of architects, planners, engineers, etc. for verification. Identify their experience with similar type
contracts.
PRELIMINARY SITE DESIGN
A preliminary site design of the new Type I compost facility should be included in the Submittal
to address the following:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Location of entrance/exit
Location of fee booth/scales, maintenance building(s), office, and
equipment cleaning area
Recycling area
Storm debris area
Processing area (grinding and screening)
Windrow storage
Product storage area
Debagging area
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NEW COMPOST AND RECYCLING FACILITY ENGINEERING SERVICES RFQ
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i.
Raw material storage area
COST CONTROL & SCHEDULING
Timing of the schedule is critical to avoid impacting adjacent and subsequent projects, especially
in relation to the design and construction of the new Type I compost facility. Describe your
firm’s method of keeping a project on schedule and within budget. Describe the creative
techniques used to minimize research and work redundancy while providing a comprehensive
effort. The consultant shall assure that at all times, sufficient staff is available and assigned to a
project, so as not to impact subsequent projects.
V.
ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE
All submittals received by the deadline will be evaluated. Submittals received after the deadline
will not be evaluated.
Proposal submittal deadline
January 6, 2014 - 10:00 AM
Selection Committee reviews submittals, conducts
interviews (if necessary), and makes recommendation
January 2014
Final Scope and Fee Proposal submittal deadline
February 2014
Qualification submittals are to be received by County by the date shown above. The County
Selection Committees will review all submittals received by the deadline. Submittals received
after the deadline will not be reviewed.
Submittals must be e-mailed to Darren Steinhilber at:
Darren.Steinhilber@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
Consultants without e-mail availability may send a CD to:
Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Services
Land Use and Environmental Services Agency - Basement Level
700 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202
Attention: Darren J. Steinhilber, P.E.
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NEW COMPOST AND RECYCLING FACILITY ENGINEERING SERVICES RFQ
December 11, 2013
Questions regarding this RFQ should be directed to:
Darren Steinhilber, P.E.,
Project Manager,
Mecklenburg County Solid Waste,
voice 704.336.4528;
fax 704.336.4314
e-mail: Darren.Steinhilber@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Consultants are strongly encouraged to test-submit proposals to
themselves to review format and integrity of the submittal. Submittals
that cannot be opened or are otherwise corrupt will not be evaluated.

Consultants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the deadline.
Submittals that are received after the deadline due to Internet delays,
firewalls, large file delivery times, etc. will not be considered.

Consultants will receive an e-mail confirmation upon receipt and
successful opening of their submittal including that submittal was
received before the deadline.
After a review of the submittals, firms may be short-listed for personal interviews. Interviews
will take place per the above referenced date.
VI.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The selection of the consultant shall be based on proposal information exhibited in both written
and graphic form and personal interviews (if conducted). Criteria for selection will include, but
not necessarily be limited to the following:
A.
Relevant experience of the same or similar type projects in content and scope.
B.
Consultant understanding of the goals and objectives.
C.
The qualifications and experience of the consultant's key project team members who will
actually be actively involved in projects. (Note: both firm and team members must
have relevant experience with similar projects.)
D.
Ability and resources to meet design and review time lines
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E.
Approach to cost control and scheduling.
F.
Experience in successfully and rapidly obtaining necessary permits
G.
Reference checks.
H.
Ease of local access to the consultant’s staff.
I.
The submittal itself as an example of the quality of the firm's work.
The objective of the evaluation and selection process is to select the Consultant that in the
judgment of the County is the most qualified for the work. A cost proposal should not be
provided. The County will negotiate a Contract with the Consultant ranked first in the
qualifications. If the County is unable to successfully negotiate a contact with the Consultant
ranked first, then the County will proceed to negotiate with the Consultant ranked second.
VII.
MISCELLANEOUS PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
A.
MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
It is the policy of Mecklenburg County to provide minorities and women equal opportunity for
participating in all aspects of the County's contracting and procurement programs, including but
not limited to employment, construction development projects, and materials/services, consistent
with the laws of the State of North Carolina. The policy of Mecklenburg County prohibits
discrimination against any person or business in pursuit of these opportunities on the basis of
race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or veteran's status. It is further the
policy of Mecklenburg County to conduct its contracting and procurement programs so as to
prevent such discrimination and to resolve any and all claims of such discrimination.
B.
ADA COMPLIANCE
Mecklenburg County will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which
prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability. Mecklenburg County will make reasonable
accommodations in all programs to enable participation by an individual with a disability who
meets essential eligibility requirements. Mecklenburg County programs will be available in the
most integrated setting for each individual. If any accommodations are necessary for
participation in any program or services, participants are encouraged to notify County Staff.
C.
INDEMNITY AND INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
To the extent permitted by law, the Consultant shall indemnify and save harmless Mecklenburg
County, its officers, agents, employees and assigns from and against all loss, cost, damages,
expense and liability caused by an accident or other occurrence resulting in bodily injury,
including death, sickness and disease to any person; or damage or destruction to property, real or
personal; arising directly or indirectly from operations, products or services rendered or
purchased under this contract.
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NEW COMPOST AND RECYCLING FACILITY ENGINEERING SERVICES RFQ
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The Consultant further agrees to purchase and maintain during the life of this contract with an
insurance company acceptable to Mecklenburg County, authorized to do business in the State of
North Carolina the following insurance:
AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY - Bodily injury and property damage liability covering all
owned, non owned, and hired automobiles for limits of not less than $1,000,000 bodily
injury each person, each accident and $1,000,000 property damage or $1,000,000
combined single limit bodily injury and property damage.
COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY - Bodily injury and property damage liability
as shall protect the contractor and any subcontractor performing work under this contract
from claims of bodily injury or property damage which arises from operation of this
contract whether such operations are preformed by contractor, any subcontractor or
anyone directly or indirectly employed by either. The amounts of such insurance shall
not be less than $1,000,000 bodily injury each occurrence/aggregate and $1,000,000
property damage each occurrence/aggregate or $1,000,000 bodily injury and property
damage combined single limits each occurrence/aggregate. This insurance shall include
coverage for products/completed operations, personal injury liability and contractual
liability.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION - Meeting the statutory requirements of the State of
North Carolina. Employers Liability - $100,000 per accident limit, $500,000 disease per
policy limit, $100,000 disease each employee limit.
Certificates of such insurance will be furnished and shall contain the provision that Mecklenburg
County will be given 30 days written notice of any intent to amend or terminate by either the
consultant or the insuring company.
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