§ 2-193. Definitions.

The following words defined in this section have the meanings set forth below whenever they appear in this article, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

Addendum means additional directions or modifications to a solicitation which are issued during a county procurement process as a separate advisory document by the procurement department.

Bid means a formal written price offer by a bidder to the county to furnish specific goods or services in response to an invitation to bid.

Bidder, proposer, offeror, quoter, responder, or vendor means a person that has submitted a bid, proposal, offer, quote, or other response to a solicitation. The terms bidder or vendor may also be used to describe any or all of the terms contained in this paragraph collectively, when the context so indicates.

Black-out period means the period between the time submittals for invitation to bid or requests for proposal, qualifications or information, or other solicitation document, as applicable, are received by the procurement department, and the procurement department or the board provides notice of an intended decision or 30 days after opening such submittals, whichever is earlier.

Competitive sealed bid means a method of procurement of goods or services that requires bidders to provide sealed bids in response to a publicly solicited invitation to bid, which invitation may include specifications, bid evaluation criteria, and all principal terms and conditions applicable to the procurement. This method results in a firm fixed-price contract, awarded to the responsible bidder whose bid, conforming to all material terms and conditions of the invitation to bid, is the lowest in price. This method does not allow for negotiation of substantive provisions of the invitation to bid.

Competitive sealed proposal means a method of procurement of goods or services that requires more than one proposer to provide a detailed sealed proposal in response to the specifications, which may be more general in nature and may result in a contractual agreement, which is usually, but is not required to be, based on a fixed price or cost-reimbursement type of compensation. This method is generally used when conditions are not appropriate for the use of competitive sealed bids. This method allows for some negotiation in scope, price or delivery of goods or services. This method may include, but not be limited to, the use of RFPs, RFIs, RFQs, or some other competitive solicitation and selection process that is not a competitive sealed bid, or a combination of one or more of such processes.

Consultants 'Competitive Negotiation Act or CCNA is the statutorily designated title for F.S. § 287.055, relating to the procurement of architectural, engineering, landscape architecture, registered surveying and mapping, and design-build services. These services that are subject to the CCNA must be procured in accordance with the provisions of the CCNA and this article, including through requests for qualifications or requests for proposals, and competitive selection and negotiation.

Contract means a deliberate verbal or written agreement between two or more competent parties to perform or not perform a specific act or acts for consideration, and any type of agreement for the procurement or disposal of goods, supplies, services or construction for consideration, regardless of what the agreement is titled or called.

Contractor means any person having a contract with the county.

County means Levy County, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, or any of its authorized representatives pursuant to ordinance or resolution, or administrative code, policy or manual.

County coordinator means the chief administrative official of the county.

Emergency procurement or emergency purchase means a procurement made as a result of an event of a declared state of emergency, or as the result of circumstances that would be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens or residents of the county in the event of delay in accomplishing such procurements. States of emergency or circumstances allowing emergency procurements shall include, but are not limited to: war, declared or undeclared; insurrection; hurricane; flood, tornadoes; or any other form of natural or man-made disaster or unforeseen circumstances threatening destruction of life or damage to property; or any other circumstances that could result in a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens or residents of the county.

Employee means an individual drawing a salary or wages from the county, whether elected or not, and any uncompensated individual performing personal services for the county.

Invitation to bid means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, used for soliciting competitive sealed bids for the procurement of goods or services.

Lobbying means the attempt to influence the thinking of county officials for or against a specific cause related to a solicitation for goods or services, in person, by mail, by facsimile, by telephone, by electronic mail, or by any other means of communication.

Local government means any county or municipality.

Open purchase order means a purchase order whereby a vendor provides to the county supplies, services or construction work on demand or on a prescribed schedule which shall not exceed a period of 12 consecutive months. An open purchase order may be used as a release and encumbrance document to authorize the county to order on as as-needed basis a predetermined amount of supplies, services, or construction work from an open end contract.

Person means any individual, sole proprietorship, business, entity, firm, partnership, corporation, joint-stock company, joint venture, committee, club, organization, group of individuals, or other private legal entity.

Procurement coordinator means the administrative and supervisory head or director of the procurement department.

Procurement department means the county department assigned and responsible for administration and supervision of procurement of goods and services for the county.

Professional services means any narrow discipline wherein a known practitioner has through education and experience developed expert advisory and programming skills as a vocation; any services performed primarily by vocational personnel which requires the analysis or certification of a professional before the services are acceptable to the user of the service; or any other advisory, study, or programming activity where the board, county coordinator, or the designee of either of them, determines that the level of skills and/or creativity of the potential or known practitioner warrant procurement by means other than a competitive sealed bid or quotation process.

Proposal means an executed formal document submitted to the county stating the goods or services offered to satisfy the need as requested in the request for proposal.

Purchase order means a document which authorizes the delivery of specific merchandise or the rendering of certain services and the making of a charge for them.

Purchasing or procurement means buying, purchasing, procuring, renting, leasing, or otherwise acquiring any materials, supplies, services, construction, equipment, or any other goods or services. It also includes all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any materials, supply, services, construction, equipment, or any other goods or services, including description of requirements, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contact, and all phases of contract administration.

Quote or quotation means any oral or written informal offer by a vendor to the county to furnish specific goods or services at a stated price.

Request for information or RFI means a formal written request, or an informal written, oral, or electronic media request, or a combination of formal and informal requests, for soliciting information from potential suppliers for a procurement that cannot be described in sufficient detail to prepare a solicitation.

Request for proposal or RFP means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, soliciting responses for goods or services for which the scope of work, specifications or contractual terms and conditions cannot reasonably be closely defined. Evaluation of a proposal is based on prior established criteria which may include but may or may not be totally limited to price, unless price is prohibited as a criteria for consideration by the CCNA or other state or federal law or regulation.

Request for qualifications or RFQ means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, soliciting responses from vendors whereby vendors are invited to submit a summary of their particular qualifications and to state their interest in performing a specific job or service or types of jobs or services for the county. From such submissions, a county selection committee or designated county employee or representative may determine which of the vendors shall be short-listed, interviewed, and recommended to the board for permission to negotiate for scope of work and fees. Qualifications may be solicited through a request for proposal or some other request for competitive sealed proposals.

Responsible bidder, proposer, offeror, quoter, responder or vendor means a person that has submitted a bid, proposal, offer, quotation, or other response to a solicitation, which, as determined by the county, has the capability in all respects to perform fully the contract requirements and the experience, integrity, reliability and capacity, facilities, equipment and credit which give reasonable assurance of good faith and performance.

Responsive bid means a bid which conforms in all material respects to an invitation to bid.

Responsive proposal means a proposal which responds in all material respects to a request for proposal.

Responsive bidder, proposer, offeror, quoter, responder, or vendor means a person that has submitted a bid, proposal, offer, quotation, or other response to a solicitation, which, as determined by the county, conforms in all material respects to the solicitation which may include but is not limited to pricing, surety, insurance, specifications of the goods or services requested or any other matter, unequivocally stated in the invitation to bid as a determinant of responsiveness.

Selection committee means a committee created or designated by the board or by the county coordinator or procurement coordinator, or the designee of any of them, in accordance with the policies and procedures of the board, or in accordance with the requirements of the selection documents, or when required in accordance with the CCNA, to review offers and responses to RFPs or RFQs, or any other competitive selection process.

Sole source means the only existing source for an item which meets the needs of the using department as determined by a reasonably thorough analysis of the marketplace and upon approval of the board of county commissioners.

Specification means any description of the physical or functional characteristics of the nature of a material, good, supply, service, construction, or equipment item, or of any other good or service. It may include a description of any requirement for inspection, testing, or preparing a material, good, supply, service, construction, or equipment, or other item for delivery.

Sponsorship means a mutually beneficial business arrangement between the county and a third party, wherein the third party provides cash or in-kind services to the county in return for access to the commercial or marketing potential associated with the county and includes naming rights. Sponsorships may include sponsorship of one or more of the county's services, projects, events, facilities or activities.

(Ord. No. 2018-005 , § 2, 10-2-2018)