The Contractor shall provide MSDH with the professional services detailed below. Using materials, assistance plans, and evaluation tools approved by the MSDH, the Contractor will establish a broad-based technical assistance program that includes, at a minimum, the following: 1. Provide comprehensive technical assistance to address major deficiencies in an equivalent of twelve (12) public water systems per contract period. At a minimum, the contractor will provide comprehensive assistance to at least six (6) small public water systems during the contract period. Technical assistance will involve a total review of each water system's technical, financial, and managerial capacity. Based upon the results of this review, the contractor will develop a work plan to include an estimate of contract hours required to provide the necessary comprehensive technical assistance. The Contractor will submit the work plan to the MSDH for review and approval before beginning the technical assistance efforts. Based upon the review and work plan, the contractor will then provide all assistance necessary to resolve all capacity issues identified during this review and identified by the MSDH. MSDH shall use its latest report of Capacity Ratings of Public Water Systems, along with the recommendations of MSDH staff and the contractor, to identify those public water systems that are to receive this assistance. The Contractor will provide all necessary equipment to conduct the program. 2. The remaining six (6) comprehensive projects are based on the public water system needs. Assistance provided may be either comprehensive or intermediate in nature. Systems not requiring comprehensive assistance may receive intermediate assistance as determined by MSDH and an onsite needs assessment. Intermediate technical assistance is selective in nature and consists of one or more additional contact or noncontact hours for public water systems previously receiving short-term assistance or systems not requiring comprehensive long-term assistance. Selection of systems will be based on the list supplied by MSDH for the remaining public water systems from the initially prepared list. Intermediate technical assistance projects will be counted toward the minimum twelve (12) required comprehensive projects at a ratio of 2:1 (two intermediate projects will be the equivalent of one comprehensive project). The nature of intermediate on-site technical assistance to selected systems will cover the subject(s) as determined by the contractor. The intermediate technical assistance provided to a public water system will consist of one (1) or more contact or non-contact hours and a maximum of 20 contact hours. Any exceptions to these limits in technical assistance must be pre-approved by the MSDH. 3. The MSDH will supply the names of public water systems needing technical assistance to the contractor before the start of the contract period. Public water systems will be offered this technical assistance based upon the latest MSDH capacity assessment rating, number of violations received within a year, and other factors such as compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. 4. The contractor will employ individuals who are knowledgeable and experienced in the state and federal regulatory requirements for public water systems, and are familiar with the operational and managerial needs of public water systems; it is recommended that contractors use employees who possess a related four-year college degree from an accredited institution (business administration, management, or public policy, etc...). to carry out technical assistance activities under this contract. The MSDH will require the Contractor to submit resumes of all employees who the contractor proposes to work under this contract to the Director of the Bureau of Public Water Supply, MSDH, for review and approval before being assigned to this contract. The The contractor will make no changes in the employees assigned to this contract without written approval from the MSDH. 5. The contractor will provide a comprehensive written quarterly report to the MSDH and the Local Governments and Rural Water Systems Improvements Board (Board). The contractor will brief the Board on a quarterly basis on activities completed under this contract during a monthly Board Meeting to update the Board on program accomplishments and answer any questions the Board might have regarding the implementation of this program. The date and time of the meeting will be communicated to the contractor by the Drinking Water Systems Improvements
