§ 2-203. Competitive sealed proposals.

(a)

When the goods or services to be acquired are of an estimated value of $3,000.00 or more, and when the nature of the goods or services dictate that the use of price or rate quotations or competitive sealed bidding is not practicable, reasonable or advantageous to the county or when conditions are otherwise not appropriate for the use of price or rate quotations or competitive sealed bids, a contract may be entered into by the use of competitive sealed proposals. If procurement is by competitive sealed proposals, the following requirements apply:

(1)

Competitive sealed proposal processes may use an RFP, RFI, RFQ, or some other competitive solicitation and selection process, or a combination of one or more of such processes;

(2)

Competitive sealed proposal processes will be publicized and identify all evaluation factors and their relative importance. Any response to a publicized competitive sealed proposal request must be considered to the maximum extent practical;

(3)

Proposals will be solicited from an adequate number of qualified sources;

(4)

The county will have a written method for conducting technical evaluations of the proposals received and for selecting recipients;

(5)

Contracts will be awarded by the board to the responsible firm(s) whose proposal(s) is(are) most advantageous to the program or project, with price and other factors considered, as such factors are allowed to be considered pursuant to applicable laws; and

(6)

The county may use competitive sealed proposal procedures for qualifications-based procurement of architectural, engineering, landscape architectural, registered surveying and mapping and design-build professional services whereby competitors' qualifications are evaluated and the most qualified competitor is selected, subject to later negotiation of fair and reasonable compensation, as set forth in the CCNA. The method where price is not used as a selection factor can only be used in procurement of architectural, engineering, landscape architectural, registered surveying and mapping and design-build professional services; this method cannot be used to purchase other types of services though architectural/engineering firms are a potential source to perform the proposed effort, unless otherwise required by law.

(b)

No responses to a competitive sealed proposal request may be opened until the time designated in the public notice of the request document. A register of proposals shall be prepared containing the name of each proposer, the number of modifications received, if any, and a description sufficient to identify the item offered.

(c)

Discussions may be conducted with responsible proposers who submit responsive proposals for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of, and responsiveness to, the solicitation requirements. Discussions or interviews will also be conducted in accordance with any provisions for discussions or interviews contained in the applicable competitive sealed proposal request. Proposers shall be accorded fair and equal treatment and notice with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals and such revisions may be permitted prior to award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers.

(Ord. No. 2018-005 , § 2, 10-2-2018)