Deadline extended for wall proposals

Companies get more time to design border barrier

Companies interested in working on President Donald Trump’s promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border have more time to submit their designs.

Amid confusion over the deadline and questions about U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s request for proposals, the agency on Tuesday night modified its two calls for submissions, extending the deadline from Wednesday to April 4. The two requests for bidders are for concrete designs and “other.”

CBP cited feedback from interested bidders for the deadline extension. A spokesman for CBP declined to elaborate and instead pointed to a set of frequently asked questions the agency included with its amended request.

The common theme among the questions was confusion over the original March 29 deadline for submissions. The questions the agency addressed include:

» “Please confirm the response dates for these two solicitations, I am seeing dates of 3-22-17 and 3-29-17?”

» “Phase I Response Date is 4PM on 3/28/17. Is this 4PM Pacific? Central? Eastern Time?”

» “We note that as of 10:45 a.m. this morning no deadline has been set for submissions, are we reading that correctly? We assume that will be posted shortly?”

The due date was not prominently placed in either of the two, 132-page requests for proposals. Tuesday’s changes clearly states the new deadline is April 4, 2017, at 4 p.m. EDT.

Among other notable responses CBP included in its Q&A:

» Because some companies that have expressed interest in participating have been criticized, one company asked, “Are we at liberty to keep the individual personnel names confidential ... to protect our employees from potential media backlash?” CBP responded that bidding companies must identify all “key personnel,” but the information “is procurement sensitive and will not be released.”

» The agency said that it would not consider bids focused exclusively on technology such as ground sensors or remote video surveillance because “technology alone will not meet the requirements of this solicitation.”

» It indicated designs should not include “proprietary design or equipment,” in response to a question about incorporating patented Israeli technologies.

» Other questions asked for clarification on submission instructions, such as the length (10-page limit, including cover letters, and in 12-point font) or whether bidders could include videos (no).

While most details in the two requests were unchanged, CBP did modify a section on the length of the contracts they will award. Originally, it stated task orders would have a duration of five years. Now, the government says they could go past the expiration date for an unspecified time, depending on the proposal.

Assuming no more deadline extensions, construction of border-wall prototypes in San Diego will begin in June or July.