§ 17-311. Competitive sealed proposal process.

When it is determined and documented by the using department and the chief of purchasing and contracts that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practical or not advantageous to the county, due to the technical or specialized nature of the goods and/or services sought, the county may utilize the following competitive proposal process as an alternative to the competitive bid process:

(1)

Requests for proposals or requests for information, setting forth the terms and conditions of the goods and/or services sought including evaluation factors, shall be issued.

a.

Public notice. Public notice shall be the same as for invitations for bids.

b.

Submission. Proposals must be received no later than the specified time, date and at the location specified for submission in the request for proposal (RFP) or request for information (RFI). No proposal shall be accepted after such time or at any other location than specified; any proposal received later or at any other location than specified shall be returned unopened.

c.

Proposal opening. Proposals shall be opened publicly at the time and place specified in the RFP or RFI. The name of each proposer shall be announced and recorded at the time of public opening.

d.

Proposal cancellation or postponement. The chief of purchasing and contracts may, prior to a RFP or RFI submission, elect to cancel or postpone the date and/or time for opening.

(2)

Proposal evaluation. Award shall be made to the most responsive, responsible offerer whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the county in accordance with the evaluation criteria contained in the RFP or to the most qualified firm in the case of an RFI. Evaluation of offerers and/or proposals may be made in a multistep selection or bidding process as set forth in the RFP or RFI and shall be based upon factors of responsibility set forth in section 17-310(g)(2) and upon factors of responsiveness and quality based upon criteria set forth in the RFP or RFI. The RFP or RFI shall state the relative importance of price and other criteria.

As provided in the RFP, discussions may be conducted with responsible offerers who submit proposals for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of, and conformance to, the solicitation requirements. Offerers shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals, and such revisions may be permitted after submission and prior to award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. In conducting discussions, there shall be no exchange of information regarding the content or feasibility of the proposals by competing offerers.

(3)

Award. Notice of the intent to award shall be posted at the location set for proposal submission. The award shall be made in accordance with the provisions of section 17-310(h). The contract file shall contain the basis on which the award is made.

(Ord. No. 92-26, § IV.B, 9-15-92; Ord. No. 96-8, § 6, 3-26-96)