The following procedure shall be used by the City Purchasing Division to select professional design firms when the expenditure to obtain such services will require authorization by the City Commission as required by Section 145.06 of this Chapter. The term "professional design services" means services within the scope of practice of an architect or
landscape architect registered under Chapter 4703 of the Ohio Revised Code or a professional engineer or surveyor registered under Chapter 4733 of the Ohio Revised Code and the term "professional design firm" means any person legally engaged in rendering professional design services.
(a) The City will publish a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the City requesting proposals from professional design firms to provide professional design services for a project. The notice will appear at least once per week for no less than two weeks. In addition to the notice published in a newspaper, the City may, but is not required to, publish a 1notice in other print or electronic media.
(b) The notice shall contain a Proposal due date established by the Purchasing Division which shall be no less than four weeks after the first newspaper publication date of the notice; however, the Finance Director may establish a due date less than four weeks after the first newspaper publication if the Finance Director finds that an emergency exists to preserve the public health, safety, property or welfare necessitating the establishment of a due date less than four weeks after the first newspaper publication.
(c) The Purchasing Division shall prepare a Request for Proposals which shall include a general description of the project, a statement of the professional design services required and the evaluation criteria to be applied by the City which shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) The training, licensing and expertise relevant to the proposed work of the proposer's personnel,
(2) The proposer's overall staffing,
(3) The proposer's proposed project team,
(4) The proposer's related experience on similar projects,
(5) The proposer's demonstrated ability to work with federal, state, and local governments applicable to the project,
(6) Client references,
(7) Knowledge of the proposer's ability to perform the work in a timely and efficient manner,
(8) Travel time from the proposer's project office to City's project site,
(9) The proposer's understanding of the project,
(10) Proposer's explanation of how the City's needs and concerns will be addressed, including a project timetable, and
(11) Cost and fee information.
(d) The Request for Proposals will be sent by the Finance Department to all professional design firms requesting a Request for Proposals as well as to a sufficient number, as determined by the Finance Director in his/her discretion, of professional design firms to provide the City with adequate competition.
(e) The Purchasing Division will review all Proposals submitted to the City on or before the proposal due date and shall reject any Proposal which does not substantially conform to the requirements of the Request for Proposals, including the requirement that cost and fee information be submitted with the Proposal in a separately-sealed envelope. The Finance Director will designate an Evaluation Committee. Proposals received on or before the proposal due date will be distributed to the Evaluation Committee for evaluation.
(g) The Evaluation Committee shall initially evaluate the Proposals based on technical aspects of the Proposals and professional experience and qualifications and shall rate and rank the Proposals based upon such evaluation. The Evaluation Committee shall have the right to check client references and other entities which may have knowledge of the proposer's qualifications to the extent the Evaluation Committee deems it necessary. If the contract for professional design services is to be funded by Federal and/or State funding, the evaluation and selection process will include consideration of information in the Proposals bearing upon achieving compliance with all governmental requirements related to such funding in the award and performance of the proposed contract for professional design services. After the initial evaluation is completed, the Evaluation Committee will next develop a short-list of proposers based on the initial rating and ranking. The short list will be composed of the highest-ranking proposers (i.e. top ranked, next to top ranked, etc.). At least two (2) proposers will be included on the short list, but the Evaluation Committee need not include more than four (4) proposers.
(h) After a short list of professional design firms has been selected, the Evaluation Committee shall:
(1) Open and evaluate the cost and fee information submitted by the short-list proposers,
(2) Re-rank the short-list Proposals giving consideration to the cost and fee information submitted with the Proposal, and,
(3) If deemed necessary by the Evaluation Committee to ensure an accurate understanding of the Proposals, meet with one or more of the short-list proposers to discuss their Proposals.
(i) The Evaluation Committee shall commence simultaneous negotiations with one or more of the short-list proposers, including the highest ranked short-list proposer (based on professional qualifications, technical merit and cost and fee information). Negotiations may include developing a final written description of the scope of the proposed project contract as well as acceptable costs and fees, if different than the original proposal. In the event none of the short-list proposers are able to agree with the Evaluation Committee on the terms of a contract after the initial round of negotiations, the Evaluation Committee may then proceed to recommence negotiations with any one or more of the short-list proposers even though negotiations with that short-list proposer had been terminated earlier in the initial round of negotiations.
(j) The Evaluation Committee will review its recommended contract award with the City Manager (or his/her designee) for the City Manager's concurrence in the Evaluation Committee's recommended contract award. Section 145.10 of this Chapter is applicable to this professional design services procurement process. The Purchasing Agent shall give the notice of the proposed contract award recommendation pursuant to Section 145.10 upon obtaining the City Manager's concurrence in recommendation of a contract award.
(k) If approval by a Federal or State agency is required prior to consideration of the proposed contract award by the City Commission, the City staff's recommendation for the contract award will be forwarded to the appropriate agency or agencies for approval.
(l) Upon receiving all required agency approval(s), the Purchasing Agent will prepare a Request for Commission Action requesting an award of contract by the City Commission.
(m) If the City Commission awards the recommended contract , the Purchasing Agent shall give written notice of such award to the unsuccessful proposers. If the recommended contract is not awarded, the Evaluation Committee will proceed as directed by City Commission.
(Ord. 96-147. Passed 4-30-96.)