Ciaschi Rentals, Inc., B-281497, February 17, 1999

B-281497 Feb 17, 1999 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Where agency review of proposed award of lease disclosed that source selection was not documented and was based on unsupported evaluation conclusions. The SFO was issued by the FSA's Tompkins/Schuyler County Food and Agriculture Council (local FAC). Which was also responsible for evaluating the offers received and awarding the lease. The local FAC was comprised of members of FSA and other locally based agencies which would occupy the leased office space. Lease offers were to be evaluated on the basis of cost (the annual price per square foot) and technical merit (in accordance. After the space was determined to be in conformity with SFO requirements. Price and technical merit were each to constitute 50 percent of the total evaluation score awarded. View Decision Matter of: Ciaschi Rentals, Inc. File: B-281497 Date: February 17, 1999 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Ciaschi Rentals, Inc. protests the cancellation of a solicitation for offers (SFO), issued by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), for the purpose of obtaining a 5-year lease for 6665 square feet of office space in Ithaca, New York, to serve as the new USDA Service Center for Tompkins, Schuyler, Chemung, and Seneca counties. We deny the protest. The SFO was issued by the FSA's Tompkins/Schuyler County Food and Agriculture Council (local FAC), which was also responsible for evaluating the offers received and awarding the lease, with the concurrence of the New York State FAC (state FAC). The local FAC was comprised of members of FSA and other locally based agencies which would occupy the leased office space. USDA Memorandum of Law at 1-2. Lease offers were to be evaluated on the basis of cost (the annual price per square foot) and technical merit (in accordance--after the space was determined to be in conformity with SFO requirements--with nine evaluation factors listed in descending order of importance). Price and technical merit were each to constitute 50 percent of the total evaluation score awarded. SFO at 8. After the successful offeror was determined on the basis of the cost and technical merit scoring, award was to be made "upon written notification, or execution of the lease" by the County Executive Director of the local FAC. Id. at 9. The local FAC evaluated the six offers received with the following results: Offeror Total Cost Tech. Total Cost Score Score Score William Fransden #2 $21.10/sq. ft. 39 47 86 ICS Development Partners $19.00 43 43 86 William Fransden #1 $22.10 37 48 85 Ciaschi Rentals $17.00 48 33 81 Poalangeli Contractors $22.65 36 35 71 Center Ithaca TSD Assocs. $16.44 50 13 63 Technical Evaluation Scoring at 1-6; Cost and Technical Analysis at 1-2. Based upon this evaluation, award of the lease to Fransden on the basis of its #2 offer was recommended. By letter of July 30, 1998, the local FAC forwarded the award recommendation to the state FAC. Memorandum from Local FAC to State FAC (July 30, 1998); FAC Minutes of July 29, 1998, at 1. After the submission of the award recommendation, by letter of August 11, Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District protested to the state FAC the location and road safety of the site proposed by Fransden. Letter from Tompkins County Soil and Water Conversation District to State FAC (Aug. 11, 1998). By letter of August 19, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service requested the state FAC to further study what constituted a reasonable price for the lease. Letter from Natural Resources Conservation Service to State FAC (Aug. 19, 1998). By letter of August 20, USDA New York Rural Development contended that three of the offers received were nonresponsive and requested an explanation of why the Fransden lease was so beneficial as to merit the price. Letter from New York Rural Development to State FAC (Aug. 20, 1998). By memorandum of August 20, the state FAC requested the local FAC to reevaluate the market survey for the lease and to request clarifications from Ciaschi and Center Ithaca regarding their costs. Memorandum from State FAC to Local FAC (Aug. 20, 1998). Also, on August 24 and 25, respectively, Center Ithaca and Ciaschi responded to requests for clarifications. The local FAC informed the state FAC that realistic lease prices could not be obtained without providing potential lessors with the agency's building specifications and that the parking available at Ciaschi's site could be inadequate. Memorandum from Local FAC to State FAC (Aug. 20, 1998). A lease market survey was completed in late August which showed that only one site (which was outside the area to which this lease had been restricted) was available at that time, and that the lease, if there were available sites, should cost from $12 to 18 per square foot. Memorandum to State FAC (Sept.