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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20- RFP - Professional Services Agreement for Public RelationsPage 1 of 12 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS CITY OF BOZEMAN Bozeman, MT City of Bozeman PO Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 September 2020 NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the City of Bozeman (COB) is seeking proposals from firms to provide professional public relations services to the COB Public Works Department. These services include but are not necessarily limited to developing and implementing strategic communication plans and public outreach and education campaigns for various Public Works Department services and divisions. Copies of the Request for Proposals are available on the City’s website at http://weblink.bozeman.net/WebLink8/0/doc/221778/Electronic.aspx. All proposals must be in the format specified and submitted electronically to the City Clerk by Wednesday, September 30 at 3:00 p.m. MST. It is the sole responsibility of the proposing party to ensure that proposals are received prior to the closing time as late submittals will not be accepted and will be returned unopened. The email address for submission is: mmaas@bozeman.net NON-DISCRIMINATION The City of Bozeman is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Discrimination in the performance of any agreement awarded under this RFQ on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability is prohibited. This prohibition shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the awarded entity’s employees and to all subcontracts. As such, each entity submitting under this notice shall include a provision wherein the submitting entity, or entities, affirms in writing it will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability and which also recognizes the eventual contract will contain a provision prohibiting discrimination as described above and that this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the submitting entity’s employees and to all subcontracts. In addition, pursuant to City Commission Resolution 5169, the entity awarded a contract under this RFQ and any subcontractors must abide by the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Section 39-3-104, MCA (the Montana Equal Pay Act), and affirm it will abide by the above and that it has visited the State of Montana Equal Pay for Equal Work “best practices” website, https://equalpay.mt.gov/BestPractices/Employers, or equivalent “best practices publication and has read the material. Failure to comply with the above may be cause for the City to deem the submittal non-responsive. Any administrative questions regarding proposal procedures should be directed to: Mike Maas, City Clerk (406) 582-2321, agenda@bozeman.net. Questions relating to the RFP should be directed to: Melody Mileur, Communications Coordinator, (406) 582-2322, mmileur@bozeman.net. DATED at Bozeman, Montana, this 9th day of September, 2020. Mike Maas City Clerk City of Bozeman For publication on: Sunday, September 13, 2020 Sunday, September 20, 2020 I. INTRODUCTION The City of Bozeman (Owner), is seeking proposals from qualified firms for the performance of professional public relations services. These services include but are not limited to developing and implementing strategic communication plans and public outreach and education campaigns for various Public Works Department (hereafter “PWD”) services and divisions. The Owner intends to enter into a contract with the selected firm that will include public relations services for the COB PWD as described in this Request for Proposal. This RFP shall not commit the Owner to enter into an agreement, to pay any expenses incurred in preparation of any response to this request, or to procure or contract for any supplies, goods or services. The Owner reserves the right to accept or reject all responses received as a result of this RFP if it is in the Owner’s best interest to do so. This procurement is governed by the laws of the State of Montana and venue for all legal proceedings shall be in the 18th Judicial District Court, Gallatin County. By offering to perform services under this RFP, all Submitters agree to be bound by the laws of the State of Montana and of the Owner, including, but not limited to, applicable wage rates, payments, gross receipts taxes, building codes, equal opportunity employment practices, safety, non-discrimination, etc. II. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION The COB PWD is comprised of a diverse array of divisions and provides a host of various services to the community of Bozeman. Over 100 full-time department employees provide resources and expertise that help ensure a high quality of life for Bozeman’s residents by providing a safe and healthy place to live, work, visit, and recreate. Department divisions are listed below: • Engineering • Stormwater • Vehicle Maintenance • Water Treatment • Water Conservation • Traffic Signs and Signals • Streets • Water and Sewer • Water Reclamation • Solid Waste III. SCOPE OF SERVICES Itis the intent of the PWD to provide public communcations that inform the community of its efforts in a consistent, proactive, and effective fashion. The Consultant will develop an overarching PWD strategic communications plan, implement plan elements, and continuously advise the PWD on communications strategy. The overarching communications plan will form the foundation for public engagement activities and outreach and education material/campaign development for PWD divisions and services. Outreach and education materials/campaigns may take various forms and span a full range of media services. Examples of topics that may be covered through this scope could include: street construction, garbage and recycling services, water conservation efforts, snow plowing, drinking water quality. This list is not exclusive. Scope of services will include: 1. Developing and implementing tailored communications plans and subsequent outreach efforts to support the work of individual Public Works divisions. 2. Developing an estimated annual budget not to exceed an amount agreed upon with City staff. 3. Coordinating media buys with local and regional media partners. 4. Designing and producing creative materials for social media, website, digital and paper advertisements, print collateral, and others as identified. 5. Designing and producing advertising campaigns for television, radio, internet radio, social media, and others as identified. 6. Identification and coordination with community partners and stakeholder groups to assist the overall effectiveness of PWD public communications. 7. Additional public communication and outreach activities as required by the PWD. IV. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS Firms interested in providing the services described above are requested to submit the following information. Responses to each item should appear in the same order as in this RFP and should identify the item to which the responses applies. a) Consultant’s legal name, address, telephone number, website (if any), and email address. b) Statement of qualifications that includes Consultant’s professional credentials, experience, and qualifications in providing the Scope of Services stated in this Request for Proposal. c) A narrative describing the Consultant’s proposed approach to developing an over- arching strategic communications plan for the PWD. Formal preparation of a strategic communications plan within the proposal is not necessary. The narrative must instead provide sufficient detail as to how the Consultant will develop the plan. Include the necessary tasks to complete this effort together with a schedule for how the plan will be developed and implemented. d) A portfolio of creative materials including print, radio, web, and video media. e) The hourly billing rates of individuals providing professional services. Estimated costs for media buys and printing costs shall be provided as well. f) Identify each principal of the firm and other key personnel who will be professionally associated with the COB PWD with this contract. Describe their respective areas of expertise and contract role. Include personalized resumes which identify the qualifications, training, and experience of each key personnel. g) A description of the firm’s current work activities and how these would be coordinated with the project, as well as specific current workloads of the project team members. h) A list of any subconsultants including information required in parts E and F above. i) Project management and organizational chart of key personnel assigned to the project including any subconsultants that may be used. Indicate how the PWD will interact with the key personnel on the project. j) A description of no more than three similar projects completed for a local government entity including whether the projects were completed on time and within budget. Include primary client contact information for each in order to facilitate reference checks. k) Affirmation of Nondiscrimination (see Appendix A) Non-completion of the Affirmation of Nondiscrimination is cause for disqualification of firms. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Submit any other additional information which would assist the COB in the evaluation of the proposal. The COB reserves the right to make any investigation and solicit additional information or submittals as it deems necessary to determine the ability of any Consultant to perform the Scope of Services stated within this Request for Proposals. V. TIMELINES, DELIVERY DEADLINE, AND INSTRUCTIONS EVENT DATE/TIME Publication dates of RFP Sunday, September 13, 2020 Sunday, September 20, 2020 Deadline for receipt of proposals Wednesday, September 30, 2020 by 3:00 p.m. Evaluation of proposals Friday, October 9, 2020 Interviews (if necessary) and Selection of consultants Week of October 19, 2020 With the exception of the advertising dates and advertised due date, the City reserves the right to modify the above timeline. VI. AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION Any interpretation or correction of this request will be published on the City’s webpage. The deadline for questions related to this document is 12:00 PM MST on September 25, 2020. VII. CONTACT INFORMATION Any administrative questions regarding proposal procedures should be directed to: Mike Maas, City Clerk, (406) 582-2321, agenda@bozeman.net Questions relating to scope of services should be directed to: Melody Mileur, Communications Coordinator, (406) 582-2322, mmileur@bozeman.net VIII. RFP – FORM AND CONTENTS All proposals must be provided as a single, searchable PDF document file and be submitted digitally as an email attachment to the RFP Recipient email address below. Respondents are advised that Recipient’s email attachment size limit is 25MB and that only one PDF file will be allowed per response. The subject line of the transmittal email shall clearly identify the RFP title, company name and due date/time. File sizes greater than 25MB in size may be uploaded to bzncloud.bozeman.net upon special arrangement of the Recipient; however, it is the respondent’s sole responsibility to ensure the file upload is completed, and that the Recipient is separately notified via email of same, prior to the given deadline. Deliver RFPs to the City Clerk by Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. MST. It is the sole responsibility of the proposing party to ensure that proposals are received prior to the closing time as late submittals will not be accepted. The email address for submission is: mmaas@bozeman.net IX. SELECTION PROCEDURE A review committee will evaluate all responses to the RFP that meet the submittal requirements and deadline. Submittals that do not meet the requirement or deadline will not be considered. The review committee will rank the proposals and may arrange interviews with the finalist(s) prior to selection. Selection may be made directly based on the written RFP submission. If interviews occur, the selection of finalists to be interviewed will be made by a selection committee representing the City of Bozeman. The selection of interview candidates will be based on an evaluation of the written responses to the RFPs. All submitted proposals must be complete and contain the information required as stated in the "Request for Proposals.” X. SELECTION CRITERIA Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria: • [20 points] Overall approach to the development and implementation of the strategic communications plan. • [20 points] The qualifications of professional personnel assigned to the project. • [15 points] Capability to meet time and budget requirements. • [10 points] Location of the firm. • [15 points] Present and projected workloads. • [10 points] Related experience with local government entities on similar projects. • [10 points] Recent and current work for the COB. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EVALUATION CRITERIA: No weighting factors have been assigned to the individual evaluation criteria stated above. Proposals will be evaluated as a whole not as a summation of component parts. RANKING: The evaluation committee shall determine from the responses to this Request for Proposals, and any subsequent investigation as necessary, the Consultant considered the lowest most-responsibleto be selected for contract negotiation. XI. FORM OF AGREEMENT The Contractor will be required to enter into a contract with the City in substantially the same form as the professional services agreement attached as Attachment B. This agreement will begin no earlier than the time the city’s current agreement with its public relations contractor expires in November 2020. Options for two (2) fiscal year extensions beyond the intial fiscal year contract term may be included in the agreement if agreed upon by both parties. XII. CITY RESERVATION OF RIGHTS / LIABILITY WAIVER A. All proposals submitted in response to this RFP become the property of the City and public records and, as such, may be subject to public review. B. The City reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals; to add or delete items and/or quantities; to amend the RFP; to waive any minor irregularities, informalities, or failure to conform to the RFP; to extend the deadline for submitting proposals; to postpone award for up to 30 days; to award one or more contracts, by item or task, or groups of items or tasks, if so provided in the RFP and if multiple awards or phases are determined by the City to be in the public interest; and to reject, without liability therefore, any and all proposals upon finding that doing so is in the public interest. C. The City of Bozeman reserves the right to reject the proposal of any person/firm who previously failed to perform properly to the satisfaction of the City of Bozeman, or complete on time agreements of similar nature, or to reject the proposal of any person/firm who is not in a position to perform such an agreement satisfactorily as determined by the City of Bozeman. D. The City of Bozeman reserves the right to determine the best qualified Contractor and negotiate a final scope of service and cost, negotiate a contract with another Contractor if an agreement cannot be reached with the first selected Contractor, or reject all proposals. The professional services contract between the City of Bozeman and the successful Contractor will incorporate the Contractor's scope of service and work schedule as part of the agreement (see Appendix B for form of professional services agreement. The professional services agreement presented to the Contractor may differ from this form as appropriate for the scope of services). E. This RFP does not commit the City to award a contract. The City assumes no liability or responsibility for costs incurred by firms in responding to this request for proposals or request for interviews, additional data, or other information with respect to the selection process, prior to the issuance of an agreement, contract or purchase order. The Contractor, by submitting a response to this RFP, waives all right to protest or seek any legal remedies whatsoever regarding any aspect of this RFP. F. The City reserves the right to cancel, in part or in its entirety, this RFP including, but not limited to: selection procedures, submittal date, and submittal requirements. If the City cancels or revises this RFP, all Contractors who submitted proposals will be notified using email. G. Projects under any contract are subject to the availability of funds. XIII. NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY The City of Bozeman requires each entity submitting under this notice shall affirm, on a separate form provided, that it will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation, sexual preference, gender identity, or disability in fulfillment of a contract entered into for the services identified herein and that this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the submitting entity’s employees and to all subcontracts it enters into in the fulfillment of the services identified herein. Failure to comply with this requirement shall be cause for the submittal to be deemed nonresponsive. XIV. MISCELLANEOUS A. No Oral Agreements. No conversations or oral agreements with any officer, employee, or agent of the City shall affect or modify any term of this solicitation. Oral communications or any written/email communication between any person and City officer, employee or agent shall not be considered binding. B. No Partnership/Business Organization. Nothing in this solicitation or in any subsequent agreement, or any other contract entered into as a result of this solicitation, shall constitute, create, give rise to or otherwise be recognized as a partnership or formal business organization of any kind between or among the respondent and the City. C. Employment Restriction and Indemnity. No person who is an owner, officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of a respondent shall be an officer or employee of the City. No rights of the City’s retirement or personnel rules accrue to a respondent, its officers, employees, contractors, or consultants. Respondents shall have the responsibility of all salaries, wages, bonuses, retirement, withholdings, worker’s compensation and occupational disease compensation, insurance, unemployment compensation other benefits and taxes and premiums appurtenant thereto concerning its officers, employees, contractors, and consultants. Each Respondent shall save and hold the City harmless with respect to any and all claims for payment, compensation, salary, wages, bonuses, retirement, withholdings, worker’s compensation and occupational disease compensation, insurance, unemployment compensation other benefits and taxes and premiums in any way related to each respondent’s officers, employees, contractors and consultants. D. Accessibility. Upon reasonable notice, the City will provide assistance for those persons with sensory impairments. For further information please contact the ADA Coordinator Mike Gray at 406-582-3232 or the City’s TTY line at 406-582-2301. E. Procurement. When discrepancies occur between words and figures in this solicitation, the words shall govern. No responsibility shall attach to a City employee for the premature opening of an RFP not properly addressed and identified in accordance with these documents. F. Governing Law. This solicitation and any disputes arising hereunder or under any future agreement shall be governed and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Montana, without reference to principles of choice or conflicts of laws. XV. ATTACHMENTS The following exhibits are incorporated in this RFP: Appendix A: Non-Discrimination Affirmation Appendix B: Form of Professional Services Agreement END OF RFP APPENDIX A NONDISCRIMINATION AFFIRMATION ____________________________________(name of entity submitting) hereby affirms it will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability and acknowledges and understands the eventual contract will contain a provision prohibiting discrimination as described above and this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatments or proposer’s employees and to all subcontracts. ______________________________________ Name and title of person authorized to sign on behalf of submitter