OBP006298
Revised 02/26/08 

HIDALGO COUNTY LEVEE IMRPOVEMENT PROJECT
Team Questions for DHS Meeting
Monday, February 25, 2008

1. Questions Related to Design
a. Does DHS have firm locations (based on the Texas State Plane
Coordinate System, South Zone) for the beginning and ending points of
the wall sections for each segment? Yes-we will provide maps with this
info
b. What agencies will be involved through DHS in the approval of the
design? Border Patrol and the SBI TI PMO will approve design from an
operational/functional perspective. IBWC will review from a technical
perspective
c. Does DHS have a set time frame for letting the project to construction by
segment? We need to start construction as soon as possible. We
anticipate having a ROD approved by no the end of April to include
Section 106 and Section 7 consultations. All construction must be
completed by December 01, 2008
d. Recognizing the environmental sensitivity of the work area, are there
environmental or cultural resource topics that need to be coordinated
during design? We will need to comply with the construction Best
Management Practices identified in the EIS, biological assessment and
Section 106 consultations.
e. Have the Levee access roads on the river side of the levee been located?
Yes-but we should confirm in the workshop to be conducted on March 6-7,
2008
f. What is the final preferred DHS wall route (A or B) from EIS? We will
confirm the preferred route during the workshop to be conducted on March
6-7, 2008
2. Questions Related to Coordination, Contract Processing and Construction
a. Does DHS have an outlined budget and funding document that we can
use for planning purposes? CBP’s funding contribution to this project to be
between $3-$3.5M per mile of concrete wall built. CBP will also fund the
mitigation costs associated with Section 7 and Section 106 as they pertain
to the concrete wall.

 OBP006299
Revised 02/26/08 

b. Does DHS have a Contracting Division or will the Corps of Engineers
manage the pre-bid contract actions and award process? We expect the
County to take the lead on these actions. Border Patrol and SBI PMO will
participate in the planning activities and meetings as necessary but we
expect the County to do the heavy lifting.
c. Does DHS plan to screen bidders under the Small and Disadvantaged
Business Program or restrict the work for Large Bidders only? We don’t
think so but need to confirm with CBP acquisition and legal personnel
d. Will the construction contractor be allowed to seek his own subcontractors
or defer to SBA for qualified minority enterprises? We believe the
Contractor will be able to seek his own subcontractors but need to confirm
with CBP acquisition and legal personnel
e. Does DHS have reporting requirements during the execution of the work
where we will have to provide information periodically? Absolutely. SBI
PMO plans to staff a project management office in the County’s office to
monitor construction progress. Specific reporting requirements TBD.
f. Does DHS plan to participate in pre-bid, post bid or pre-construction
meetings with the construction contractor? Yes
g. Does DHS plan to conduct progress meetings with the construction
contractor? We expect the County to lead the progress meetings. We will
attend.
h. Does DHS plan to field a QA/QC effort whether with in-house personnel or
through contracted services during the execution of the work? We expect
the County to lead the QA/QC efforts (e.g. concrete testing, soil
compaction, as-builts, etc.). We will provide representatives of the SBI
PMO to observe/monitor construction activities to help ensure compliance
with the contract documents and schedule adherence.
i. Will DHS be monitoring the work in partnership with other agencies (COE,
DoD, CBP, DOI, EPA)? At this time, we do not expect any other agencies
to be involved at the request of DHS.
j. Will the project be turned over for beneficial use by completed reaches,
individually described segment or overall construction? This is the
County’s call, however, we would recommend that the beneficial use be
acknowledged on a segment by segment basis.

 OBP006300
Revised 02/26/08 

k. Does DHS plan to conduct audits of contract actions (modifications,
claims) during or upon completion of the construction portion? We plan to
provide the County with funding per a pre-agreed to agreement/formula.
Any change orders, unless requested specifically by DHS, would be the
responsibility of the County.
l. Will DHS participate in discussions/coordination/negotiations with the
contractor in the event of a contract modification, change order or claim?
Not unless the change request was requested by DHS and we have
agreed to fund the change.
m. In the event of justifiable time extensions that may possibly push the final
construction completion date beyond 31 Dec 2008, will DHS plan to hold
the date (forcing acceleration) or allow time extensions? This project must
be completed by December 01, 2008. There will be no time extensions.
We expect the County will do whatever it takes to complete the concrete
wall segments by December 01, 2008.
n. Does DHS plan to intervene in the event a legal action tied to
environmental, land ownership or easement issues surface during
construction? We will assist as much as possible as we must have the
construction completed by December 01, 2008.
3. Other Topics for Discussion
a. Who will have official access to the construction worksites? DHS
personnel/representatives should be provided access to worksites
assuming they comply with OHSA requirements
b. Will security clearances, background checks on engineering, QA/QC or
construction personnel be required? Construction personnel will need to
have background checks. We can provide the standard procedures we will
be using in our other contracts.
c. Who will be responsible for formulating the O&M Manual? Not sure this
will be necessary.
d. Which entity is responsible for O&M of the levee, wall, roads, pavement
and appurtenant infrastructure (drainage structures, rip rapped areas)?
We are negotiating this with IBWC.
e. Other than the As-Builts and O&M Manual, will DHS require turnover of
other construction related papers and/or drawings? No