(A) Competitive negotiations. Competitive negotiations, commonly referred to as a request for proposals (RFP), may be used for a procurement when it is determined in writing by the City Manager, or his or her designee, that:
(1) Specifications cannot be made sufficiently specific to permit award on the basis of either the lowest bid price or the lowest evaluated bid price, including, but not limited to, contracts for experimental or developmental research work, or highly complex equipment which requires technical discussions, and other nonstandard supplies, services or construction;
(2) Sealed bidding is inappropriate because the available sources of supply are limited, the time and place of performance cannot be determined in advance, the price is regulated by law, or a fixed price contract is not applicable; or
(3) The bid prices received through sealed bidding are unresponsive or unreasonable as to all or part of the requirements, or are identical or appear to have been the result of collusion; provided each responsible bidder is notified of the intention to negotiate and is given a reasonable opportunity to negotiate, and the negotiated price is lower than the lowest rejected bid by any responsible bidder.
(B) Advertising. All RFPs shall be advertised in the same manner as sealed bids as detailed in § 35.078(A) of this subchapter.
(C) Specifications. All RFPs shall include specifications that substantially adhere to the requirements of § 35.078(B) of this subchapter, most notably that specifications should be written in a manner which encourages the maximum amount of competition practicable.
(D) Withdrawal of proposals. Proposals, once submitted, may be withdrawn before the time set for opening as stated in the RFP has lapsed, by submitting a request for withdrawal in writing to the City Manager at least 24 hours before the date and time set for opening. No proposal may be withdrawn after the bid opening date.
(E) Waiver of irregularities. The City Manager reserves the right to waive any informalities and nonconformance of any one or series of proposals, which is deemed immaterial and does not prejudice other offerors. The discretion of waiver is vested in the City Manager; waiver is permissible when determined by the City Manager to be in the best interest of the city.
(F) Opening time for proposals.
(1) All submitted proposals received by the city in response to a RFP shall be kept secure and unopened until the date and time set for final submission.
(2) All RFPs shall include detailed final submission instructions. Respondents shall be responsible for submitting their responses in a timely manner and in accordance with submission requirements outlined in the request. Proposals shall not be opened or read publicly.
(3) Proposals shall not be eligible to be examined, inspected or reviewed by persons of the public until all submissions have been opened, reviewed and awarded or cancelled entirely.
(G) Evaluation of proposals.
(1) All RFPs shall indicate the factors to be considered in the evaluation of the request, including the reciprocal preference for resident bidders required by KRS 45A.494, and the relative importance of each factor; and the procedures to be followed if a reverse auction is used in the procurement.
(2) The City Manager, or his or her designee, shall examine each written proposal received for general compliance and shall provide a scored evaluation of each response. The City Manager may elect additional individuals to review and score received proposals.
(3) The City Manager, or his or her designee, shall determine in writing based upon individual review, those proposals received from responsible offerors that are reasonably susceptible of being selected for award.
(4) Written or oral discussions shall be conducted with all responsible offerors who submit proposals determined in writing to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award. Discussions shall not disclose any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors. Discussions need not be conducted:
(a) With respect to prices, where such prices are fixed by law, regulation or reverse auction, except that consideration shall be given to competitive terms and conditions;
(b) Where the time of delivery or performance will not permit discussions; or
(c) Where it can be clearly demonstrated and documented from the existence of adequate competition or accurate prior cost experience that acceptance of an initial offer without discussion would result in fair and reasonable prices.
(5) Discussions with offerors may be held privately, formally, informally, orally or in writing, or in any combination thereof, as determined by the City Manager to be in a manner most advantageous to the city.
(6) If, after discussion with offerors have concluded, it is determined that no acceptable proposal has been submitted, all proposals may be rejected and, in the discretion of the City Manager, new proposals may be requested on the basis of the same or revised terms, or the procurement may be abandoned.
(H) Awards. Awards shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the city based upon the evaluation factors set forth in the RFP and the reciprocal preference for resident bidders required by KRS 45A.494.
(1984 Code, § 35.69) (Ord. O-24-19, passed 7-23-2019)