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(A)
A competitive proposal process shall be used for contracts for consulting and professional services over $7,000. The City Council finds and declares that the competitive bid process is ill-suited for the selection of consultants and professional services.
(B) Consultants are required for professional or technical expertise, and for matters requiring specialized abilities or a high degree of skill.
(1) Their numbers in relation to a particular skill or expertise required may be comparatively limited.
(2) Where consultants are involved, the bidding process is not likely to result in a lower price to the city, or to eliminate unnecessary expense or delay.
(C) CONSULTANT CONTRACTS include any contract that is not a public project or a contract for the purchase of supplies and equipment.
(D) Regardless of the method of contracting used, as set forth in this chapter, the City Clerk shall assign such contract a contract number for filing and tracking purposes.
(Ord. 4517, passed 2-25-08; Am. Ord. 4745, passed 10-22-18; Am. Ord. 4837, passed 9-9-24)
(A) The table below sets forth the required methods for contracts for consulting and professional services.
Value of Purchase | Purchase Method | Agreement Format |
$7,000 and under ($2,000 and under if the purchase is subject to the requirement of the Davis Bacon Act) | No quotations | As required by Director of Finance |
$7,001 to $60,000 | No quotations (a minimum of 2 written quotations are required for federally funded contracts) | City Manager-executed contract |
The City Manager, or his or her designee, shall be empowered to engage a consultant (including but not limited to, material testing service, construction inspection services, testing, appraising, environmental, planning, financial, legal, development processing, governmental operations, special studies, and other services related thereto) without the necessity of competitive bid, without notice of competitive bid, and without City Council approval of the consultant's contract, if the consultant's total fee for services and materials under the contract by which the consultant is engaged $60,000 or less.
(1) For federally funded contracts, a minimum of two written proposals shall be obtained from at least two qualified consultants.
(2) The consultant's total fee must include all reasonably foreseeable costs and work under the proposed contract.
(3) The proposed contract must include any reasonably related work on the same project, and larger contracts shall not be divided into smaller contracts, divided among multiple consultants, or divided by any other method intended to avoid competitive bidding under § 3.38.030.
(B) The City Manager may designate a person or persons to exercise any authority granted to him or her by this chapter.
(C) The City Manager, at his or her discretion, may utilize the process set forth in § 3.38.030 for any award of a consulting contract of $60,000 or less.
(Ord. 4517, passed 2-25-08; Am. Ord. 4745, passed 10-22-18; Am. Ord. 4837, passed 9-9-24)
A contract for consulting services valued over $60,000 must be entered into by use of competitive, sealed proposals. Proposals for the contract shall be solicited through a request for proposals.
(A) Public notice. Public notice of the request for proposals shall be given in the same manner as provided in § 3.36.110(A).
(B) Receipt of proposals and release as public records.
(1) Proposals shall be received and opened in a method that avoids disclosure of contents to competing consultants until after award of the contract or final rejection of all proposals.
(2) The request for proposals must state that, after award of the contract or final rejection of all proposals, all responses become public records subject to disclosure.
(3) A copy of each proposal received shall be retained by the City Clerk, as required by the city's document retention policies, and shall be open for public inspection after award of the contract or final rejection of all proposals.
(C) Evaluation factors. The request for proposals shall state the relative importance of evaluation factors, including price.
(D) Evaluation of proposals.
(1) After the due date for proposals, the City Manager, or his or her designee, shall evaluate the proposals and may contact any proposing consultant for clarification of a proposal, to solicit additional information, or for purposes of interviewing.
(2) The City Manager, or his or her designee, may choose to contact all, some or none of the responding consultants after the proposals are submitted to the city.
(E) Award.
(1) The contract shall be awarded to the responsible consultant whose proposal conforms to the request for proposals and is determined to be the most advantageous to the city, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals.
(2) The City Manager shall prepare and place in the contract file maintained by the City Clerk's office a written report, detailing the basis on which the recommendation for award of contract is made.
(3) For contracts entered into pursuant to this section, the City Manager shall submit a report of the proposals to the City Council, with a recommendation concerning acceptance or rejection thereof, and the City Council shall approve or disapprove the recommendation and award the contract.
(Ord. 4517, passed 2-25-08; Am. Ord. 4745, passed 10-22-18; Am. Ord. 4837, passed 9-9-24)
(A) Authority. For the purpose of procuring the services of architectural, landscape architectural, engineering, environmental, land surveying services, construction project management, or other similar services, as defined by Cal. Gov't Code §§ 4525 and 4526, the following selection procedures shall be used.
(B) Policy. It is the policy of this city to negotiate contracts for architectural, landscape architectural, engineering, environmental, land surveying services, construction project management, or other similar services, on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualification for the type of services required, and at fair and reasonable prices.
(C) Selection procedure.
(1) Statement of qualifications. Persons engaged in providing the types of professional services designated in § 3.38.040(A) may submit statements of qualifications and expressions of interest in providing such professional services.
(a) The city may specify a uniform format for statements of qualifications.
(b) Statements of qualifications may be project-specific or for multiple projects occurring during a time period not exceeding one calendar year.
(c) Statements of qualifications shall be maintained by the City Clerk's office, consistent with the city's document retention policies.
(2) Form of request for proposals. The request for proposals shall describe the services required, list the types of information and data required of each consultant, list the evaluation factors, and state the relative importance of identified qualifications.
(3) Public notice.
(a) Public notice of the request for proposals shall be given in the same manner as provided in § 3.36.110(A).
(b) A copy of the request for proposals also shall be provided to each consultant or firm that has a current statement of qualification on file with the city for work relevant to the request for proposals.
(4) Receipt of proposals. Proposals shall be received and opened in a method that avoids disclosure of contents to competing consultants during the process of negotiation. A copy of each proposal received shall be retained by the City Clerk, consistent with the city's document retention policies, and shall be open for public inspection after award of the contract or final rejection of all proposals.
(5) Evaluation of proposals.
(a) The City Manager, or his or her designee, shall evaluate the proposals based upon the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals.
(b) The ranking of such proposals from most to least qualified shall not include an evaluation of price.
(c) The City Manager, or his or her designee, may contact some, all or none of the responding consultants for clarification, additional information or interviews to assist in the ranking of the proposals.
(6) Negotiation and award of contract.
(a) The City Manager shall negotiate a contract with the best qualified consultant for architectural, landscape architectural, engineering, environmental, land surveying services, construction project management, or other similar services, at compensation the City Manager determines is fair and reasonable to the city.
(b) If the City Manager is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the consultant considered to be the most qualified, at a price determined to be fair and reasonable to the city, negotiations with that consultant shall be terminated in writing. The City Manager shall then undertake negotiations with the second most qualified firm. If the City Manager is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the second most qualified firm, the City Manager shall terminate negotiations in writing, and continue on in the same fashion with the next qualified firm until a satisfactory contract has been negotiated.
(c) If the City Manager is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with any of the selected firms, the City Manager shall select additional consultants, in order of their competence and qualification, and continue negotiations in accordance with this chapter until an agreement is reached.
(7) Contract approval.
(a) Contracts over $60,000. For contracts greater than $60,000, once the City Manager has negotiated a satisfactory contract with the best qualified consultant, at compensation that the City Manager determines is fair and reasonable to the city, the City Manager shall submit a report of the proposals to the City Council, with a recommendation concerning acceptance or rejection thereof, and the City Council shall approve or disapprove the recommendation and award the contract.
(b) Contracts of $7,001 to $60,000. For contracts between $7,001 and $60,000, once the City Manager, or designee, has negotiated a satisfactory contract with the best qualified consultant, at compensation that the City Manager, or designee, determines is fair and reasonable to the city, the City Manager, or designee, shall award the contract in accordance with §§ 3.38.020 and 3.36.060.
(c) Services $7,000 and under do not require solicitation of qualifications or price negotiation. However, when practicable, such services must be distributed among qualified suppliers.
(8) Amendments after award.
(a) In instances where the city effects a necessary change in the project during the course of performance of the contract, the consultant's compensation may be adjusted by mutual written agreement in a reasonable amount.
(b) The reasonable amount shall reflect and compensate the consultant for the amount of work to be performed by the firm that is changed from the scope of work previously agreed to by both parties.
(D) Inapplicability to technical work. In accordance with Cal. Gov't Code § 4529, this section shall not apply where the City Manager, or his or her designee, determines that the services needed are more of a technical nature, involve little professional judgment, and requiring bids would not be in the public interest.
(Ord. 4517, passed 2-25-08; Am. Ord. 4745, passed 10-22-18; Am. Ord. 4837, passed 9-9-24)
Except where it would conflict with state or federal laws or regulations, the City Council or City Manager, as applicable, may dispense with any or all of this chapter's procedures when, at their discretion, they deem it would be advantageous to the city to do so.
(Ord. 4517, passed 2-25-08; Am. Ord. 4745, passed 10-22-18; Am. Ord. 4837, passed 9-9-24)