All responses received shall be evaluated for price, quality, acceptability, as specified, availability of goods or services, past performance, transportation or any other special cost or factors which may apply, including any special conditions or exceptions which the offeror may have stipulated.
Bids and proposals shall be accepted unconditionally without alteration or correction, except as may be otherwise authorized in this Guide. The solicitation, whether sealed bids or proposals, shall state the evaluation criteria. No criteria may be used in the bid evaluation that is not set forth in the invitation for bids. The request for proposals shall state the relative importance of price and of each evaluation factor. The Town may, prior to the evaluation of any offer received, establish numerical weightings for each factor. Additionally, the Town may determine that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or advantageous, and as such may use competitive best value bidding. The purpose of best-value bidding is to allow factors other than price to be considered in the determination of award for specific supplies, services, or information technology based on pre-determined criteria identified by the Town in the solicitation. With best-value bid, the award shall be made to the responsive and responsible bidder whose bid is determined, in writing, to be most advantageous to the Town; taking into consideration all evaluation factors set forth in the best-value bid.
The Town should be able to evaluate bids solely using the information as supplied by the offeror’s bid. However, it is sometimes determined that, for clarification and more professional evaluation, additional information is desirable and often necessary. Therefore, as provided in the IFB, the Town reserves the right to hold discussions, review the specifications as believed offered, and request clarification or any additional technical information which may provide a fair and impartial evaluation by the Town. All discussion shall be limited to the offeror’s products, goods or services, and no discussion shall be permitted regarding offers by others.
As provided in the request for proposals, prior to any negotiations, discussion may be conducted with any offerors submitting a proposal, which appears to be eligible for contract award pursuant to the selection criteria as set forth in the invitation for proposals. All such discussions shall be of the nature of clarification of offeror’s understanding of specifications, scope of work, goods or services, offeror’s qualifications, availability of qualified personnel, proven experience, including referenced clients and the financial stability and responsibility of the offeror. In conducting any such discussions, there must be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals submitted by other competing offerors.