Please note: This is a Sole Source Notification. Short description of the commodity or service desired: Document Scanning Project (Part2) of onsite sewage management software database system. DEP’s Onsite Sewage Program (OSP) is required to administer the state’s Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal System (OSTDS) (i.e., septic tank) permitting and compliance program consistent with statutory requirements under Section 381.0065, et seq. Fla. Stat. (“Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems [OSTDS]; regulation) and consistent with the terms of the 2020 Clean Waterways Act (Ch. 2020-150, Laws of Florida). A significant component of this mandate is to maintain searchable digital septic tank permitting records and make accessible to the public historic and archival records pertaining to existing OSTDS to customers throughout the state. The Carmody® / SepticSearch system is the sole provider of OSTDS digital records having developed and implemented a septic system records management software and online records retrieval system that was designed specifically for Florida’s septic system permitting rules, forms, and compliance documents. The Carmody® / SepticSearch records scanning, formatting, software, and public portal service is the only existing OSTDS program-specific service through which Florida customers, property owners, contractors, and government can gain access to OSTDS permitting records. At present, Carmody®/Septic Search is the only vendor that has developed a software platform that is compatible with and optimized for Florida’s existing septic tank permitting rules, forms, and regulatory standards used by DEP and DOH. In addition to hosting digital OSTDS records on its software platform, Carmody®/SepticSearch can provide DEP with the scanned files in a PDF format for the agency’s records archival purposes. Carmody®/SepticSearch has been providing OSTDS paper records scanning and digital records hosting services to DOH County Health Departments throughout the state for more than 10 years. Significant cost savings will result from using a vendor that has experience working with OSTDS permitting records in the State of Florida and that has developed a system for optimizing the accessibility of those records for Florida customers. DEP is committed to continuing a uniform statewide system for managing OSTDS records in a manner that is consistent with the Legislative intent of the 2020 Clean Waterways Act. DEP and DOH are actively working to complete the process of transferring the OSTDS program from DOH to DEP. Continued utilization of Carmody® would ensure that DEP implements the historic digital OSTDS records management component of the phased transfer in a manner that increases efficiency, reduces duplication of efforts, maintains existing file formats and online portal features in communities that are already accustomed to this service, and standardizes the formatting features of historic digital OSTDS records that will be added to the digital records platform as DEP expands into additional OSP service areas
