(A) Generally. Professional services includes architectural, engineering, land surveying, photogrammetric, transportation planning, or services related to the planning, design, engineering, or oversight of public improvement projects such as:
(1) Landscape architectural services;
(2) Facilities planning services;
(3) Energy planning services;
(4) Space planning services;
(5) Environmental impact studies;
(6) Hazardous substances or hazardous waste or toxic substances testing services;
(7) Wetland delineation studies;
(8) Wetland mitigation services;
(9) Native American studies;
(10) Historical research services;
(11) Endangered species studies;
(12) Rare plant studies;
(13) Biological services;
(14) Archaeological services;
(15) Cost estimating services;
(16) Appraising services;
(17) Material testing services;
(18) Mechanical system balancing services;
(19) Commissioning services;
(20) Project management services;
(21) Construction management services and owner’s representative service; and/or
(22) Land use planning services.
(B) Direct selection (less than $100,000). The city may enter into a contract directly with a consultant providing professional services without following the selection procedures set forth elsewhere in these policies if:
(1) The city finds that an emergency exists (see emergency procurements);
(2) The total estimated fee to be paid under the contract does not exceed $100,000;
(3) Where a project is being continued, as more particularly described below, and where the total estimated fee is expected to exceed $250,000, the professional services to be performed under the contract meet the following requirements:
(a) The services consist of or are related to professional services that have been substantially described, planned, or otherwise previously studied under an earlier contract with the same consultant and are rendered for the same project as the professional services rendered under the earlier contract;
(b) The city used a formal selection procedure applicable to selection of the consultant at the time of original selection to select the consultant for the earlier contract; and
(c) The city makes written findings that entering into a contract with the consultant, whether in the form of an amendment to an existing contract or a separate contract for the additional scope of services, will:
1. Promote efficient use of public funds and resources and result in substantial cost savings to the city; and
2. Protect the integrity of the public contracting process and the competitive nature of the procurement by not encouraging favoritism or substantially diminishing competition in the award of the contract.
(4) The city may select a consultant for a contract under this section from the following sources:
(a) A list of consultants the city creates under O.A.R. 137-048-0120 (qualified pool list; list of interested consultants; performance record);
(b) Another contracting agency’s list of consultants that the contracting agency has created under O.A.R. 137-048-0120 (list of interested consultants; performance record), with written consent of that contracting agency; or
(c) All consultants offering the required professional services that the city reasonably can identify under the circumstances.
(5) The city shall direct negotiations with a consultant selected under this section toward obtaining written agreement on:
(a) The consultant’s performance obligations and performance schedule;
(b) Payment methodology and a maximum amount payable to the consultant for the professional services required under the contract that is fair and reasonable to the city as determined solely by the city, taking into account the value, scope, complexity, and nature of the professional services;
(c) Any other provisions the city believes to be in the city’s best interest to negotiate; and
(d) The signing authority for different levels of costs are specified in the chart in § 34.54 of this subchapter.
(C) Informal solicitations (more than $100,000 and less than $250,000). An informal written solicitation process may be used for professional services when the contract price is less than $250,000.
(1) (a) An informal written solicitation shall solicit quotes from at least three qualified providers.
(b) If the purchaser determines three qualified providers are not reasonably available, fewer shall suffice if the reasons are documented in the procurement file.
(2) The solicitation document shall include:
(a) The date, time, and place that proposals are due;
(b) A description of services sought, or the project to be undertaken;
(c) Any statement of the time period for which quotes must remain firm, irrevocable, valid, and binding on the offeror. If no time is stated in the solicitation document, the period shall be 30 days;
(d) Any required contract terms or conditions; and
(e) Any required quote form or format.
(3) Selection and ranking of quotes may be based on the following criteria:
(a) Capability to perform the personal services required;
(b) Experienced staff available to perform the personal services required, including the proposer’s recent, current, and projected workloads;
(c) Performance history;
(d) Approach and philosophy used in providing personal services;
(e) Fees or costs;
(f) Geographic proximity to the project or the area where the services are to be performed; and
(g) Such other factors deemed appropriate, including a desire to ensure an equitable distribution of work among highly qualified contractors.
(4) Professional services contracts procured by informal written solicitations pursuant to this section may be amended, provided the amendment is within the scope of the original contract and the cumulative amount of the amendments does not increase the total contract price by more than 10% over the original contract price; or the amendment is necessary to complete the work being performed and it would be unreasonable or impracticable to seek another provider within the time frames needed to complete the work.
(5) Documentation required:
(a) Purchase order;
(b) Authority for the purchasing transaction and basis for using the informal solicitation process;
(c) Copy of quote document (such as, request for quotes/proposals/qualifications and invitations to bid), copies of all quotes received, evaluation of quotes (such as, scoring sheets, evaluation criteria, and selection considerations) attached to the approved purchase order in the purchasing system;
(d) Copy of contract document (signed by all parties);
(e) Any amendments or addenda to the contract (signed by all parties); and
(f) Evidence of Council approval (minutes, resolution, and the like).
(D) Formal solicitation (greater than $250,000). A request for proposals shall be used to procure personal services when the contract price is $250,000 or more.
(1) Request for proposal/bid. The request for proposal/bid shall include:
(a) Notice of any pre-offer conference, including:
1. The time, date, and location;
2. Whether attendance at the pre-offer conference is mandatory or voluntary; and
3. A provision that statements made by representatives of the city at the pre-offer conference are not binding unless confirmed by written addendum.
(b) The form and instructions for submission of proposals/bids, including the location where proposals/bids must be submitted, the date and time by which proposals/bids must be received, and any other special information, such as, whether proposals/bids may be submitted by electronic means;
(c) The name and title of the person designated for the receipt of proposals/bids and the person designated as the contact person for the procurement, if different;
(d) A date, time, and place that pre-qualification applications, if any, must be filed and the classes of work, if any, for which proposers must be pre-qualified;
(e) A statement that the city may cancel the procurement or reject any or all proposals/bids;
(f) The date, time, and place of opening;
(g) The office where the request for proposals/bids may be reviewed;
(h) A description of the professional services to be procured;
(i) The evaluation criteria and a description of how proposals/bids will be evaluated, including the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors used to rate the proposals/bids;
(j) If more than one tier of competitive evaluation will be used, a description of the process under which the proposals/bids will be evaluated in the subsequent tiers;
(k) If contracts will be awarded to more than one professional services contractor, an identification of how the city will determine the number of contracts to be awarded, or that the manner will be left to the city’s discretion at time of award;
(l) If contracts will be awarded to more than one professional services contractor, the criteria to be used to choose from the multiple contracts when acquiring professional services shall be identified;
(m) The anticipated schedule, deadlines, evaluation process, and protest process;
(n) The form and amount of any proposal/bid security deemed reasonable and prudent to protect the city’s interests;
(o) All required contract terms and conditions, including the statutorily required provisions in O.R.S. 279B.220, 279B.230, and 279B.235; and
(p) Any terms and conditions authorized for negotiation.
(2) The purchaser shall provide public notice of a request for proposals/bids for professional services.
(a) Public notice shall be given not less than 21 days prior to closing for the request for proposals/bids, unless the purchaser determines that a shorter interval is in the public’s interest, or a shorter interval will not substantially affect competition.
(b) The purchaser shall document the specific reasons for the shorter public notice period in the procurement file.
(3) Professional services contracts procured by requests for proposals pursuant to this section may be amended, provided the amendment is within the scope of the original contract and the cumulative amount of the amendments does not increase the total contract price by more than 10% over the original contract price; or the amendment is necessary to complete the work being performed and it would be unreasonable or impracticable to seek another provider within the time frames needed to complete the work.
(4) Documentation required:
(a) Purchase order;
(b) Authority for the purchasing transaction and basis for using the formal solicitation procurement process;
(c) Copy of request for proposals/bids, copies of proposals/bids received, evaluation of proposals/bids (must include scoring criteria and scoring sheets), copy of public notice, and notice of intent to award attached to the approved purchase order in the purchasing system;
(d) Copy of contract document (signed by all parties);
(e) Any amendments or addenda to the contract (signed by all parties);
(f) Evidence of Council approval (minutes, resolution, and the like); and
(g) Protests received (if any) and city response.
(Ord. 329-21, passed 8-3-2021)