HomeMy WebLinkAboutFull Professional Public Services RFP
City of Bozeman, Montana
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR PROFESSIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICES
FOR THE CITY OF BOZEMAN PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
JULY 2014
The City of Bozeman, Montana, is seeking proposals from firms qualified to provide a full range of public relations services necessary to prepare and implement a strategic communications plan for the City of Bozeman Public Works Department.
To request a complete RFP packet containing detailed proposal criteria, contact the City
of Bozeman at 406-582-2273, or email kmaines@bozeman.net. Deadline for RFP response is 5:00 p.m. MST, July 25, 2014.
Publication Date: July 13, 2014
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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS
INFORMATION TO PROPOSERS
The City of Bozeman, a political subdivision of the State of Montana (hereinafter “COB” or “City”) will receive
proposals from individuals, corporations, partnerships, and other legal entities (hereafter “Consultant”)
authorized to do business in the State of Montana for the purpose of providing professional public relations
services to the COB Public Works Department (hereafter “PWD”) as described in this Request for Proposal. The
City will select the “lowest most-responsible vendor” for these professional services in accordance with its
effective purchasing policy (Administrative Order No. 2013-06) and applicable state statutes.
CLARIFICATION REQUESTS: Clarification requests concerning information contained within this RFP shall be
emailed to the individual listed below. The subject line shall read “Public Relations RFP Clarification Request”:
Craig Woolard, PE, PhD
Public Works Director
cwoolard@bozeman.net
PROPOSAL DEADLINE AND DELIVERY: Proposals will be received until July 25 at 5:00 PM MST. Late
proposals will not be considered. Five (5) copies of the proposal, including one electronic copy, shall be
submitted to the address below.
Craig Woolard, PE, PhD
Public Works Director
20 East Olive Street
Bozeman, MT 59715
APPLICABLE LAWS: Consultant, including any subconsultants, must be authorized to transact business in the
State of Montana. All applicable laws and regulations of the State of Montana and ordinances and regulations
of the COB will apply to any resulting agreement.
NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY: Discrimination in the performance of any contract awarded under this
request for proposal 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. Every entity submitting under
this request for proposal must sign and return the attached affirmation statement with their bound response to
this request for proposal.
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SCOPE OF SERVICES
The COB PWD is requesting proposals from qualified firms or individuals for the performance of professional
public relations services. These services include but are not necessarily limited to developing and implementing
strategic communication plans, public outreach and education campaigns, and marketing and branding of
various Public Works Department services and divisions.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 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
• Geographic Information Systems
• Stormwater
• Vehicle Maintenance
• Water Treatment
• Water Conservation
• Traffic Signs and Signals
• Solid Waste
• Streets
• Water and Sewer
• Water Reclamation
SCOPE OF SERVICES: It is the intent of the PWD to provide public communications that informs the
community of its efforts in a consistent, proactive, and effective fashion. The Consultant will develop an over-
arching 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, outreach and education material/campaign development, as well as marketing and
branding of PWD, divisions and services. Scope of services will include:
1. Development of an over-arching strategic communications plan for the PWD.
2. On-going support and continued development of the Bozeman Street Report including preparing
creative materials, media buys, weekly radio announcements, social media, and interactive web
content.
3. On-going support and continued assistance with the Solid Waste division single-stream recycling service
media campaign, and other services such as compost and brush pickup, including preparing creative
materials, media buys, radio announcements, social media, web content, and equipment/supplies
advertising.
4. Developing marketing and branding for the Water Conservation division including logo and slogan
creation, website development, community surveys, assisting with education and outreach
materials/campaigns, public engagement, media buys, and equipment/supplies advertising.
5. Assisting the Stormwater division with public engagement activities including education and outreach
material/campaign development, community events, website development, MS4 discharge permit
compliance issues, and stormwater utility enhancement.
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6. Assisting the Streets division with public engagement activities including education and outreach
material/campaign development for streets division services such as fall leaf pickup, snow plowing, and
spring cleanup.
7. Assisting the Engineering division with public engagement activities including education and outreach
material/campaign development for issues such as sidewalk snow removal, sidewalk trip hazard
removal, SID creation community outreach, development review procedures, floodplain mapping,
capital projects construction, and long-range infrastructure planning.
8. Assisting the Water and Sewer division with public engagement activities including education and
outreach material/campaign development for issues such as smart water metering, water meter
replacement, backflow prevention, leak detection and repair, hydrant flushing, sewer flushing, and
sewer service root intrusion.
9. Assisting the Water Treatment division with public engagement activities including education and
outreach material/campaign development for issues such as drinking water supply, drinking water
quality, municipal watershed health, drought preparedness, and municipal watershed projects.
10. Assisting the Water Reclamation division with public engagement activities including education and
outreach material/campaign development for issues such as watershed health and discharge permit
compliance.
11. Preparation of media releases and continuous engagement with local media outlets.
12. Identification and coordination with community partners and stakeholder groups to assist the overall
effectiveness of PWD public communications.
13. Additional public communication and outreach activities as required by the PWD.
Final scope will ultimately be agreed to upon successful completion of contract negotiations with the Consultant
which is determined by the COB to be the lowest most-responsible vendor for these services.
FORM OF PROPOSAL
This section identifies specific information which must be contained within the Consultant’s proposal. The
information provided shall be used to determine the lowest most-responsible vendor to enter contract
negotiations and perform scope generally described in the previous section. Upon review of the proposals,
interviews with Consultants objectively evaluated as qualified for award may be conducted in order to
determine the lowest most-responsible Consultant. A decision to perform interviews will be based upon the
quantity and quality of proposals received and is the sole determination of the COB.
Proposal responses must include the following information.
A. Consultant’s legal name, address, telephone number, web site (if any), and email address.
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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 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 proposed annual budget for the completion of scope generally described within this RFP. Budget
shall be presented as total hours estimated to perform the scope along with the hourly billing rates
of individuals providing professional services. Estimated budgets for media buys and printing costs
shall be provided as well.
E. 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.
F. 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.
G. A list of any subconsultants including information required in parts E and F above.
H. 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.
I. A description of no more than three similar projects completed for a local government entity and
whether the projects were completed on time and within budget. Including primary client contact
information for each in order to facilitate reference checks.
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 Proposal.
SELECTION
Evaluation of proposals will be conducted by an evaluation committee. The committee will identify the lowest
most-responsible Consultant to perform the Scope of Services stated with this Request for Proposals. The
identity of committee members will not be released prior to review of the proposals.
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EVALUATION FACTORS: Consultants will be evaluated according to the following criteria.
A. Overall approach to the development and implementation of the strategic communications plan.
B. The qualifications of professional personnel assigned to the project.
C. Capability to meet time and budget requirements.
D. Location of the firm.
E. Present and projected workloads.
F. Related experience with local government entities on similar projects.
G. Recent and current work for the COB.
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EVALUATION CRITERIA: No weight has been assigned to the evaluation
factors stated above.
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-responsible to be
selected for contract negotiation.
NEGOTIATION OF THE AGREEMENT
The Scope of Services stated in this Request for Proposal serves as the basis for beginning negotiations
concerning the eventual form of the contractually agreed scope. The selected Consultant agrees to negotiate in
good-faith to develop a scope of tasks and a fee sufficient to produce an effective public relations system for the
COB PWD.
AGREEMENT FORM: The COB’s standard Professional Services Agreement shall serve as the template for the
agreement. The PSA form is available upon request.
AGREEMENT EXTENSIONS: The agreement period will generally follow the COB’s fiscal year which
commences July 1 and ends June 30. Options for two (2) fiscal year extensions beyond the initial fiscal year
contract term will be included in the agreement if agreed upon by both parties.
NEGOTIATION TERMINATION: If the COB is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the firm initially
selected as most qualified at a fee the COB deems to be fair and reasonable, negotiations with that firm will be
formally terminated and the COB shall select another firm in accordance with its Purchasing Policy
(Administrative Order No. 2013-06) and continue until an agreement is reached or the process is terminated.
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ATTACHMENT A: NON-DISCRIMINATION AFFIRMATION FORM
[name of entity proposing] 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 in the performance of work performed for
the City of Bozeman, if a contract is awarded to it, and also recognizes the eventual contract, if awarded, will
contain a provision prohibiting discrimination as described above and that this prohibition shall apply to the
hiring and treatment of the [name of entity proposing] employees
and to all subcontracts it enters into in the performance of the agreement with the City of Bozeman.
Signature of Consultant:
Person authorized to sign on behalf of the proposer