The Chief Procurement Officer shall determine the appropriate method of source selection for each procurement method, among the following:
(A) Competitive Sealed Bid Process.
(1) Invitation for Bids. The Invitation for Bids (IFB) process shall be the preferred method of procurement and shall be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The IFB solicitation document shall include the specifications and all contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement.
(2) Public notice of the IFB shall be published on the City's website for a reasonable period prior to bid opening. For construction projects, advertisements will be processed in compliance with Fla. Stat. § 255.025, where applicable, and will include the location of the bid opening. The public notice shall state the place, due date and time for delivery/receipt. Bids received after the time and date specified in the IFB document shall not be opened and shall not be accepted for consideration. IFBs may include pricing for the life cycle cost of items and shall be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, considering all pertinent qualifications of the recommended awardee.
(3) The Chief Procurement Officer shall have the authority to accept or reject any portions of bids or all bids; to waive informalities and minor irregularities; and to cancel and resolicit the requirement at any time prior to execution of a purchase order or contract for the solicitation.
(4) The competitive sealed bid process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes and the City's IFB solicitation document.
(B) Competitive Sealed Proposal Process.
(1) Request for Proposals. When it is determined by the Chief Procurement Officer that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practical, not advantageous to the City due to the technical or specialized nature of the goods and/or services sought, or best value procurement will result in selection of the best qualified vendor/contractor at a reasonable price, the City may utilize the competitive sealed proposal process. A Request for Proposals (RFP) shall be used as the solicitation document.
(2) Public notice of the RFP shall be published on the City's website for a reasonable period prior to RFP opening, but at a minimum of fourteen (14) calendar days. The public notice shall state the place, due date and time for delivery/receipt. Proposals received after the time and date specified in the RFP document shall not be opened and shall not be accepted for consideration.
(3) The Chief Procurement Officer shall have the authority to accept or reject any portions of proposals or all proposals; to waive informalities and minor irregularities; and cancel and resolicit the requirement at any time prior to execution of a purchase order or contract for the solicitation.
(4) The RFP process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes and the City's RFP solicitation document.
(C) Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Process.
(1) When it is determined by the Chief Procurement Officer to be the best method of procurement and for the procurement of services in accordance with Fla. Stat. § 287.055 for professional architects, engineers, landscape architect, surveyors, and mapping services, the City may utilitze the competitive qualification process. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) shall be used as the solicitation document..
(2) Continuing contracts for these services may be solicited and entered into on a rotational basis, in accordance with Fla. Stat. § 287.055(2)(g), and as further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes. The master contracts may have an expiration date, but in accordance with Fla. Stat. § 287.055(2)(g) may have no time limitation except that the master contract shall provide a termination clause. Services shall be authorized via issuance of Task Orders.
(3) Public notice of the RFQ shall be published on the City's website for a reasonable period prior to RFQ opening. The public notice shall state the place, due date and time for delivery/receipt. Submittals received after the date and time specified in the RFQ document shall not be opened and shall not be accepted for consideration.
(4) The Chief Procurement Officer shall have the authority to accept or reject any portions of submittals or all submittals; to waive informalities and minor irregularities; and cancel and resolicit the requirement at any time prior to execution of a purchase order or contract for the solicitation.
(5) The RFQ process shall be completed in accordance with Fla. Stat. § 287.055 and further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes and the City's RFQ solicitation document.
(D) Competitive Negotiations Process.
(1) When the Chief Procurement Officer determines that the use of competitive negotiations would be advantageous to the City, the competitive negotiations process may be used. An Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) shall be the solicitation document.
(2) The goal of an ITN is to obtain proposals from interested and qualified firms so that the City may enter into negotiations with the firm or firms determined most capable of providing the required supplies and services.
(3) The ITN document will supply the firms with information necessary to understand the need; however, the terms, scope of work, price, method of delivery, conditions of performance, and approaches of the project may be open to consideration and negotiations, including simultaneous negotiations with the most qualified firms.
(4) ITNs may not be used for procuring professional services addressed by Fla. Stat. § 287.055 (CCNA).
(5) Public notice of the ITN shall be published on the City's website for a reasonable period prior to the due date/time but at a minimum of fourteen (14) calendar days. The public notice shall state the place, due date and time for delivery/receipt. Submittals received after the designated time and date shall not be opened and shall not be accepted for consideration.
(6) The Chief Procurement Officer shall have the authority to accept or reject any portions of submittals or all submittals; to waive informalities and/or minor irregularities; and cancel and resolicit the requirement at any time prior to execution of a purchase order or contract for the solicitation.
(7) The competitive negotiations process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes and the ITN solicitation document.
(E) Multi-Step Competitive Solicitation / Request for Information (RFI) Process.
(1) When it is considered impractical to initially prepare a purchase description to support an award based on price or detailed scope of work, any competitive solicitation may be preceded by a Request for Information (RFI) requesting the submission of information, which will provide input for the specifications or scope of work to be included in a subsequent competitive solicitation.
(2) The RFI process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Adminstrative Codes and the RFI document.
(3) As determined by the Chief Procurement Officer, the Multi-Step Competitive Solicitation can also be used for source selection by combining the elements of both competitive sealed bids and sealed proposals. The Multi-Step process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes and the solicitation document.
(F) Alternative source selection.
(1) Small purchases. Any purchase for an amount less than the mandatory City Council approval amount shall be made in accordance with those procedures promulgated in the Procurement Administrative Codes, provided, however, no purchase shall be artificially divided so as to constitute a small purchase under this section.
(2) Sole source purchases.
(a) The Chief Procurement Officer may make or authorize the purchase of goods and/or services, subject to the mandatory City Council approval level stipulated in this Ordinance, without competitive solicitation when the director of the client department has documented in writing that such good and/or service is the only item that meets the need and is available through only one source of supply, or when the intent to award via sole source is posted on the City's website for a reasonable time period but at a minimum of seven (7) calendar days, or when a documented research effort by the Chief Procurement Officer fails to identify further competing sources of the goods or services. Such written determinations and supporting documentation shall be retained by the Chief Procurement Officer for public inspection and auditing purposes.
(b) Where standardization is determined by the Chief Procurement Officer to be appropriate, and negotiation of such standard items is appropriate, a sole source determination is justified.
(c) The sole source process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Adminstrative Codes.
(3) Emergency purchases. The City Manager or Chief Procurement Officer, if delegated in the Procurement Administrative Codes, may make or authorize emergency purchases as defined herein.
(a) In the event of an emergency, such as a declaration of emergency pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 252.38, by the Governor, or Fla. Stat. § 252.38, by the County or City, an equipment failure, catastrophic damage to City property, or other similar unexpected event, all formal competitive bidding procedures are waived, and normal procurement procedures and requirements directly related to such emergency shall be suspended; and with the approval of the City Manager or the Chief Procurement Officer, the head of any department may purchase any required emergency supplies, materials, equipment or services. The head of such department shall send to the Chief Procurement Officer a requisition and copy of the delivery record together with a full justification and circumstances of the emergency.
(b) Records of emergency purchases shall be maintained by the Chief Procurement Officer.
(c) A record listing of all emergency purchases exceeding the mandatory City Council approval amount shall be submitted to the City Council within ninety (90) days of said purchase.
(d) The emergency purchase process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes.
(4) Cooperative purchases and piggyback purchases.
(a) The City may purchase from any cooperative contract, including but not limited to: term contracts by the State of Florida, Federal General Services Administration, and other governmental cooperatives and entities within and outside the State of Florida provided that the cooperative contract is established in compliance with the procurement procedures and requirements of the issuing body, entity, authority, or cooperative.
(b) If such other governmental or cooperative contract is utilized, the public notice requirements and the need to utilize the methods of selection processes included in this Ordinance are obviated.
(c) The ability to utilize cooperative contracts shall not be restricted by nonparticipation in the estimated quantities of the City's needs, nor inaccurate estimates of usage by the City prior to award of the cooperative contract. Any such contracts equal to or in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) shall go to the City Council for approval.
(d) The City may utilize (piggyback) a contract entered into by another governmental or public entity and a provider of supplies or services required by the City, if the Chief Procurement Officer determines that it is practicable and advantageous for the City to employ this method of purchase, and such contracts specify that they are cooperative procurements at the time of solicitation or the governmental entity Procurement official otherwise agrees to the sue of such contract in writing. Any such contracts equal to or in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) shall go to the City Council for approval.
(e) Other governmental agencies are authorized to utilize the City's contracts.
(f) City departments may utilize (piggyback) a contract established for another City department, provided such usage is in accordance with the same terms, conditions and pricing.
(g) The cooperative purchasing process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes.
(5) Design-build services.
(a) The City may use a design criteria professional as defined in Fla. Stat. § 287.055 to prepare a design-criteria package.
(b) The design-build process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes.
(6) Capital improvement and construction services. The contracting and purchase of construction services shall be acquired in accordance with the competitive sealed bidding process or, when determined to be in the City's best interest by the Chief Procurement Officer, the competitive sealed proposal process. Performance bonds and payment bonds shall be in the maximum amounts stipulated in Fla. Stat. § 255.05. The capital improvement and construction contracting process shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes and the solicitation document.
(7) Construction Management at Risk Services. The procuring of Construction Management at Risk service shall be acquired in accordance with the Request for Qualifications process. The Construction Management at Risk shall be further delineated in the Procurement Administrative Codes and the RFQ document.
(8) Negotiated purchases. Negotiation of contracts and pricing via any method of selection process identified herein, shall be by means promulgated in the Procurement Administrative Codes.
(Ord. 2016-59, passed 8-16-16; Am. Ord. 2020-72, passed 11-5-20)