The County owns sewer line inspection equipment, including crawlers and camera systems, manufactured by CUES Inc. Equipment, parts, and other components occasionally require replacement. Cues equipment is designed to work with Cues' proprietary software, and is not compatible with third party software.The County has determined that only replacement equipment, parts, and components manufactured by CUES Inc are compatible with existing CUES Inc. systems, software, and equipment. Additionally, usage of non-OEM parts may void the warranty.The OEM, CUES Inc., has provided the County with a sole source letter indicating that they (and their subsidiary) are the sole authorized distributor of Cues parts and related services in Washington State.

Capability statements must be submitted in OpenGov and should use the .docx or .pdf file type, or any other standard file type that can be opened in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat. There are no strict formatting requirements for capability statements. To be properly evaluated, a capability statement must include the following information:The name of the individual or organization submitting the capability statement.The name, email address, and phone number of the primary contact.A description of how the entity meets the County's need.The capability statement must directly address any minimum requirements described in the public notice. Any capability statement offering to provide items or services other than those specifically requested must demonstrate that they are of matching specifications and compatible with any systems with which the items or services will be integrated.

Based on a special facility and sole source exemption, Pierce County intends to purchase replacement parts, components, repairs, and services for Cues sewer line inspection equipment by direct negotiation. The County has determined that Cues Inc. is the only entity capable of meeting the County's need as described below.

The goods and to be purchased via this exemption include replacement equipment, cameras, parts, components, repairs, and related services for all CUES equipment. Services may include maintenance, factory repair, and other support.

The exemption will be valid for 24 months, and the purchases made under this exemption are estimated to cost $750,000 over the 24-month period.

The County has identified the following minimum requirements to meet the County's need:Authorization and ability to sell sewer line inspection equipment and related parts and components manufactured by CUES, Inc. Authorization and ability to perform maintenance and repairs of CUES equipment without voiding warranty.Authorization and ability to provide related support services for CUES equipment.

Pierce County posts public notice of all sole source, special facility, and special market condition procurement exemptions for 10 business days. Interested vendors have 5 business days to submit questions in OpenGov. A public notice is not a competitive bid or solicitation, and any bids or proposals submitted during this process will not be accepted. At minimum, the public notice will explain the following information:The scope of the purchase.The estimated cost of the purchase.The estimated term of the exemption.The intended vendor for the purchase.The justification for the procurement exemption.Any minimum requirements for a vendor to meet the County's need.Any entity who believes they are qualified to meet the County's need as described in the public notice may submit a capability statement by the submission deadline. The Pierce County Purchasing Agent, or designee, will evaluate the capability statement in consultation with subject matter experts as appropriate to determine whether the submitter has demonstrated that they can meet the County's need.If the capability statement demonstrates that the submitter can meet the County's need, the County will cancel the public notice and proceed with a competitive procurement. If the County determines that the capability statement has not demonstrated that the submitter can meet the County's need, the County will proceed with the procurement exemption. Entities who submit a capability statement will receive a letter explaining the County's decision.The County reserves the right to contact entities who submit capability statements to request more information about their capabilities and qualifications.

To identify qualified vendors, support the justification of this exemption, and determine the minimum requirements to meet the County's need, the County performed the following market research:Online search to locate potential qualified vendors.Reaching out to the OEM to obtain a sole source letter.