ATLANTA GOES TO MARKET: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CONTRACTING BENEFICIAL REUSE TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES THROUGH AN OPEN PROCUREMENT

As part of the City of Atlanta's ongoing responsiveness to the community's wishes to eliminate incineration and landfilling, a combined request for qualifications and request for proposals (RFQ/RFP) was issued in April, 2001 to solicit a provider for long-term biosolids management services. This procurement is groundbreaking in that it includes permitting, design, marketing, public participation, and construction elements, as well as a long-term contract operations component. In addition, the winning proposal (submitted by U.S. Filter Operating Services) scored highest in technical points and lowest in cost based on a guaranteed fixed price for capital costs and a monthly service fee (which varied based on tonnage and utility use).Summarizing the goals of the procurement, the primary scoring mechanism for evaluating the bids (the value index), and the challenges faced by wastewater treatment professionals during a major procurement, this article provides some tactics Atlanta wastewater professionals employed to achieve a successful outcome.