Conditions for Use. When the purchasing agent determines in writing that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the City, a contract may be entered into by use of the competitive sealed proposals method.
Request for Proposals. Proposals shall be solicited through a request for proposals.
Public Notice. Public notice of the request for proposals shall be given in the same manner as provided in §27-8 (Competitive Sealed Bidding).
Receipt of Proposals. No proposals shall be handled so as to permit disclosure of the identity of any offeror or the contents of any proposal during the process of negotiation including meetings and interviews with any of the offerors. The register of proposals containing the name and address of the offerors shall be open for public inspection. All proposals shall be open for public inspection after the award of the contract.
Evaluation Factors. The request for proposals shall state the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors.
Discussion with Responsible Offerors and Revisions to Proposals. As provided in the request for proposals, discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of, and conformance to, the solicitation requirements. Offerors 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 submissions and prior to award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. In conducting discussion, there shall be no disclosure of the identity of competing offerors or of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors.
Award. Award shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the City, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals. No other factors or criteria shall be used in the evaluation. The contract file shall contain the basis on which the award is made.
(Amended by Ordinance No. 9831, effective 08-25-2021)