Mintaka EMOS Equipment for the National Data Buoy Center at Stennis Space Center, MS

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Acquisition Division – Kansas City office intends to award, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106(b)(1), with Barber Creations LLC in Sedona, AZ a purchase order for 33 EMOS Bundles (P/N VOS4) and 40 Mintaka GUARDX (P/N MGX) including a supply option for 35 EMOS Bundles (P/N VOS4) and 20 Mintaka GUARDX (P/N MGX) for the National Data Buoy Center at Stennis Space Center, MS.

The Government intends to utilize the authority under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106(b)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will satisfy agency requirements, unless, as a result of this announcement, acceptable responses to this notice are received and a determination is made by the Government to issue a competitive solicitation. The Government intends to award a purchase order to Barber Creations LLC.

Sole Source Justification:

Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. Barber Creations, LLC is the company who created and engineered the Mintaka equipment and internal software. They are currently the sole integrator who assembles all Mintaka products. The Mintaka Star Precision Barograph solely meets the NWS needs as a digital barometer/hub for the U.S. Voluntary Observing Ship program as it fully integrates with the World Meteorological Organization compliant maritime electronic logbook and encoding software,TurboWin, for transmitting meteorological observations from VOS ships while at sea. The MintakaSTAR products include temperature, pressure and humidity sensors. Field support and firmware updates are also included as part of the service. The Mintaka GuardX is part of the Mintaka Star assembly requirements to ensure quality, reducing solar impact on observations. There is no other source that can provide this level of support and service for the Mintaka Star product. The government determined the Mintaka Star meets all requirements and will integrate into the standard TurboWin software used for the VOS program. The Government would incur a significant cost to replace all the existing standard digital equipment with an estimate of $600,000.00. The Government would be required to update all training and standards documentation estimated at 350 man-hours or a cost of $24,500.00. The Government would also be required to retrain over 300 ship crew observers currently using these units to take the observations estimated at 200 man-hours per Port Meteorological Officer. The current PMO staff manning the US VOS recruited ships is 9 members. Estimated man-hours would be a total of 1800, or $63,000.00.

This special notice is not a request for competitive offerors and no solicitation package is available. However, firms that believe they can provide this supply may submit substantiating documentation in writing within fifteen business days of this notice. Responses can be sent via e-mail to Abigail.green@noaa.gov. Documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon response to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. If no documentation is received, award will be made directly to Barber Creations LLC.

DOC, Eastern Acquisition Division requires that all contractors doing business with this office be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM). No award can be made to a company not registered in SAM. Contractors active in SAM have a

unique entity identifier (UEI) that is used to do business with the federal government. The Government has moved to a free new, non-proprietary identifier that will have to be requested in, and assigned by, the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). You can register and access the site by going to www.sam.gov.