(A) The city hereby adopts F.S. § 255.065, “Public-private partnerships,” as amended, and expressly incor-porates it by reference into the City Procurement Ordinance, as such may be modified.
(B) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following words shall have the same meanings ascribed to them as in F.S. § 255.065, as amended:
(1) “Qualifying project”; and
(2) “Private entity”.
(C) Conditions for use. The city may receive unsolicited proposals for a qualifying project and may thereafter enter into an agreement with a private entity, or a consortium of private entities, for said qualifying project, subject to the procedures and conditions set forth herein. Any unsolicited proposal shall include sufficient detail and information for the city to evaluate the proposal in an objective and timely manner.
(D) Application fee. Any private entity or consortium of private entities desiring to submit an unsolicited proposal for a qualifying project shall submit to the city an application fee of $25,000 payable to the city in the form of a money order or cashier’s check at the time of unsolicited proposal submittal. If the cost of evaluating the unsolicited proposal exceeds $25,000 the application fee shall be increased to a reasonable fee to pay the costs of evaluating the unsolicited proposal. The proposer will be notified and will promptly pay the balance of the application fee needed to pay the costs of evaluating the unsolicited proposal. As provided for in F.S. § 255.065, as amended, the purpose of this application fee is to pay the costs of evaluating the unsolicited proposal. The city may need to engage the services of a private consultant to assist in the evaluation of the unsolicited proposal. The city shall refund any portion of the initial application fee paid in excess of its direct costs associated with evaluating the proposal.
(E) Public notice. If the city receives an unsolicited proposal for a qualifying project pursuant to this section and the city desires to enter into an agreement with the private entity or consortium of private entities submitting same, the city shall first notify the City Commission of the receipt of said unsolicited proposal by placement of a discussion item on the next available commission meeting agenda. Upon the City Commission’s approval to proceed with said unsolicited proposal project, the city shall publish public notice in the Florida Administrative Register and a newspaper of general circulation at least once a week for two weeks stating that the city has received an unsolicited proposal and that the city will accept other proposals for the same qualifying project. The city shall set forth in each such request for proposals the criteria to be evaluated and how such private partner shall be selected from the proposals submitted. The entity submitting the original unsolicited proposal may submit a more detailed proposal in response to the city’s notice. The timeframe for allowing other proposals shall be no fewer than 21 days, but no more than 120 days after the initial date of publication. A copy of the notice must be mailed to each local government in the affected area of the qualifying project and/or any municipality and/or special district in which all or a portion of the qualifying project is located.
(F) Receipt of proposals. Sealed proposals must be received by the General Services Department no later than the time and date specified for submission in the publication. The name of each proposer shall be recorded by the Director of General Services or designee, and the record and each proposal, to the extent consistent with applicable state law, shall be open to public inspection.
(G) Proposal evaluation. An evaluation committee shall be appointed by the City Manager for the purpose of evaluating and ranking the proposals based upon factors that include, but are not limited to: professional qualifications and experience, general business terms, innovative design techniques and/or cost-reduction terms, and finance plans. Proposers may be invited to make oral presentations regarding their proposals. The recommendations of the evaluation committee shall be submitted to the City Manager.
In the event only one proposal is received, the evaluation committee may proceed with the evaluation, or request the City Manager to recommend to the City Commission to reject all proposals, whichever is in the best interests of the city.
(1) After reviewing the evaluation committee’s recommendation, the City Manager may:
(a) Approve the recommendation of the evaluation committee, written notice of which shall be provided to all proposers, and the City Manager shall then submit his or her recommendation to the City Commission;
(b) Reject the evaluation committee’s recommendation and recommend to the City Commission to instruct the evaluation committee to reevaluate and make further recommendations; or
(c) Recommend to the City Commission to reject all proposals.
(H) Award. For agreements that involve long-term financing wherein the city would incur a debt obligation, the City Manager’s award recommendation shall be reviewed and approved by the Director of Finance and City Attorney before being submitted for consideration by the City Commission. Award shall be made to the highest-ranked responsible proposer whose proposal is most advantageous to the city as determined by the City Commission in accordance with the criteria the evaluation committee used in evaluating and ranking the proposals.
(1) After reviewing the City Manager’s recommendation, the City Commission may either:
(a) Approve the City Manager’s recommendation and authorize contract negotiations; or
(b) Reject all proposals.
(2) The decision of the City Commission shall be final. Written notice of the award or rejection shall be given to all proposers.
Unsolicited proposals may only be awarded by the City Commission subject to the procedures set forth herein. Awards made by the City Commission shall include authority for all subsequent options of renewal, if any. The aforementioned options of renewal shall be exercised at the option of the City Manager, subject to confirmation by the City Commission if, after review of past performance under the contract, the City Manager determines in his sole discretion that exercise of the option of renewal is in the best interest of the city. All agreements shall be in a form acceptable to the City Commission or City Manager, as applicable, and are subject to approval as to legal form by the City Attorney. The Director of Finance or designee shall review all finance plans and documents related to the private entity’s performance, payment of subcontractors and similar responsibilities. The Director of Risk Management shall review all insurance and related requirements.
(Ord. 2018-05, passed 10-10-17)