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HomeMy WebLinkAbout15- 2015 Bozeman Aerial Photography RFPTHE CITY OF BOZEMAN 20 E. OLIVE ~ P.O. BOX 1230 BOZEMAN, MONTANA 59771-1230 GIS DEPARTMENT PHONE: (406) 582-2250 ~ FAX: (406) 582-2263 E-MAIL: jhenderson@bozeman.net City of Bozeman, Montana Request for Proposals For Digital Orthoimagery & Collection of Impervious Surface Data Notice is hereby given that the City of Bozeman is requesting proposals from qualified contractors to provide:  Digital Ortho Imagery: 1”=100’ map scale (i.e., 1”=600’ photo scale), 6” pixel, 4-band (RGB and NIR), true color, orthorectified digital imagery  Impervious Surface Data: using stereo photogrammetric means  FGDC compliant metadata for both the imagery and impervious surface data Proposal documents and related data files are available on ftp://ftp.bozeman.net/GIS/ and may be examined or obtained for no charge at the City of Bozeman GIS Department, Attention: Jon Henderson, 20 East Olive Street Bozeman, Montana 59715 (no USPS service), (406) 582-2250 or fax (406) 582-2263. Proposals must be received in the GIS Department at the above address on or before 5:00 p.m., January 12, 2015. Discrimination Discrimination in the performance of any agreement awarded under this RFP on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, 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 requiring the submitting entity to affirm in writing it will not discriminate on the basis of color, religion, creek, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability and recognizing the eventual contract will contain a provision prohibiting discrimination as described above and this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the Contractor’s employees and to all subcontracts. Failure to comply with the above shall be cause for the City to deem the submittal non-responsive. The City of Bozeman is an Equal Opportunity Employer. For additional information, contact Jon Henderson, GIS Manager (406) 582-2250, or fax (406) 582-2263. DATED THIS Sunday, December 21, 2014 City of Bozeman, Montana By: Jon Henderson GIS Manager Publish Date: Sunday, December 21, 2014 2 Introduction The City regularly uses aerial photography and impervious surface information to support regulatory, land management, planning and engineering projects. This document defines the technical, cost and time scope for developing a portion of the City’s GIS database. All final data will be stored in the City’s ArcSDE database and will be made available to internal and external customers through various client applications and downloadable data files. This project is to update all aerial imagery for the entire 74 square mile planning boundary in addition to collecting impervious surface data to update an existing dataset originally collected from aerial photography dated 5/12/12 for the entire 20 square mile city limit boundary. The desired flight dates are between April 1st and April 30th 2015. The desired project completion date is 90 days from photo acquisition. I. Proposal Submission Requirements 1) General Requirements: All required information must be completed in full, in ink, or typewritten. The proposal must be signed by a person authorized to commit the Contractor to provide the goods or service. Submission of a signed proposal will constitute an incontrovertible representation by proponent that proponent has complied with every requirement of the RFP, that without exception the proposal is premised upon performing and furnishing the Work required by the proposal documents and applying any specific means, methods, techniques, sequences, and/or procedures of performance that may be shown or indicated or expressly required by the proposal documents, that proponent has given the City written notice of all conflicts, errors, ambiguities, and discrepancies that proponent has discovered in the proposal documents and the written resolutions thereof by the City are acceptable to Proponent, and that the proposal documents and any written resolutions are generally sufficient to indicate and convey understanding of all terms and conditions for performing and furnishing the Work. 2) The proposal must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., January 12, 2015. Proposals received after 5:00 p.m. will be returned unopened. Proposals will be privately opened and evaluated by the City. 3) Two (2) copies of the proposal shall be sealed and submitted to (no USPS service): Jon Henderson GIS Manager 20 East Olive Street Bozeman, MT 59715 4) Proposals must be plainly marked in the lower left-hand corner of the envelope as follows: “Digital Orthoimagery & Impervious Surface Project 2015” 5) The City’s staff contact for this RFP is: Jon Henderson GIS Manager Phone #: (406) 582-2250 FAX #: (406) 582-2263 E-mail address: jhenderson@bozeman.net 3 6) Proposal Format: a) Section I - Statement of Understanding An overall introduction, including a statement of the Contractor’s understanding of each item proposed in the Scope of Work, and a general description of the Contractor’s approach. b) Section II - Proposed Technology and Equipment Detailed explanation of type of technology and equipment proposed to be utilized to obtain the products necessary to comply with each item in the Scope of Work. c) Section III - Personnel Qualifications Names, relevant experience, professional registrations of Contractor’s personnel with background information on previous experience, qualifications, and skills relevant to each item proposed upon in the Scope of Work section. d) Section IV – References A list of at least three clients for whom the Contractor has provided similar services. This list shall include the agency/company name, address, phone number and name of contact person, and description of the similar project. e) Section V – Subcontractors A list and description of names, office locations, tasks, qualifications, and responsibilities of any subcontractors that may be utilized for this project. f) Section VI - Change in Scope A proposed procedure to accommodate changes in scope of the contract, and addition or deletion of task activities. The Contractor will include a current fee schedule and a cost of services proposal for any work that is to be provided or that the City may request after the contract is awarded. g) Section VII - Contractor’s Expectations of City Staff Clearly define any expectations for information or support to be provided by City staff during the project. h) Section VIII - Delivery Schedule A proposed schedule for delivering the products and services as described in the RFP. i) Section IX - Price Proposal The price proposal shall clearly state the costs to the City of Bozeman for the project. The contract for services shall be between the City of Bozeman and the Contractor. The price information shall include staff-hours of effort planned for each task by the categories (i.e., level of experience) of personnel who will perform the services, materials, travel costs, equipment usage charges (rate and total cost), and any other direct charges. 7) All prospective Contractors may submit written questions about, or request written clarifications of the RFP, including written protests of the RFP’s terms and conditions or technical specifications no 4 later than 1/8/15. All questions must be in writing (includes email) and addressed to the City’s staff contact. No other staff member will answer questions about this Request for Proposals. 8) Each entity submitting under this notice shall include a provision requiring the submitting entity to affirm in writing it will not discriminate on the basis of color, religion, creek, sex, age, marital status, national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability and recognizing the eventual contract will contain a provision prohibiting discrimination as described above and this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the Contractor’s employees and to all subcontracts. Failure to comply with the above shall be cause for the City to deem the submittal non-responsive. II. Selection Criteria and Process The proposals will be judged on the completeness and quality of content. Only those Contractors who supply complete information as required herein will be considered for evaluation. The City of Bozeman is seeking to contract with a firm that has the appropriate qualifications using appropriate technology and methodology to ensure delivery of high quality products and who has demonstrated extensive experience with, and an understanding of, similar projects. The criteria for evaluating proposals are as follows, with the weight each item carries shown in parentheses: Criteria Weight 1. A demonstrated understanding of each item proposed 20% 2. The level of quality provided by the technology and methodology proposed 30% 3. The necessary qualifications, experience, organization, technical and managerial staff, and equipment and facilities to carry out the work 20% 4. Prior experience on related or similar projects, and the accessibility/availability of the individuals working on this project 10% 5. Ability to complete the work within a proposed time schedule 5% 6. Cost of acquiring the RFP deliverables 15% The City may invite three or more prospective Contractors to respond to the selection committee in person or writing during the proposal evaluation. Failure to provide additional information, if requested, may disqualify the proposal from further consideration. The evaluation of proposals and the determination of conformity and acceptability shall be in the City’s sole discretion and will be based on information furnished or identified in the proposal as well as on other information available to the City. 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. III. Reservation of Rights; Liability Waiver 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 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. 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. 5 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 successful Contractor will be required to enter into a professional services contract with the City of Bozeman, which will incorporate the Contractor's scope of service and work schedule as part of the agreement. 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. 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. This project is subject to the availability of funds. IV. Time Line These dates may be revised if any step takes longer than anticipated. The City reserves the right to postpone the award. RFP issued 12/21/14 Written questions submitted 1/8/15 Proposals due 1/12/15 Notice to award 1/26/15 V. Withdrawal of Proposals Proposals submitted may be withdrawn by written request if received before the hour set for the opening. After that time, proposals may not be withdrawn for a period of fifteen (15) days and at no time after award. No responsibility shall attach to a City employee for the premature opening of a proposal not properly addressed and identified in accordance with these documents. When discrepancies occur between words and figures, the words shall govern. VI. Scope of Work The project scope, specifications and requirements that are outlined in this RFP are subject to modification and final contract negotiations. Image included on Page 12 of this RFP shows the area to be flown (approximately 74 square miles), while the image included on Page 13 of this RFP shows the area for impervious surfaces (approximately 20 square miles). All data shall be delivered in both UTM Zone 12 NAD83 (2011) meters, NAVD88 meters and Montana State Plane NAD83 (2011) meters, NAVD88 meters. For more information on the National Adjustment of 2011, please visit the following website: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/web/surveys/NA2011/ 6 Prior to receiving notice to proceed and after negotiations, before any data collection the contractor must submit a project plan. The project plan will include the following: 1) A map showing the study area boundaries and flight path at a reasonable scale (approx. 1:150,000) 2) Documentation specifying altitude, air speed, scan angle, scan rate, and other flight and equipment information deemed appropriate. 3) A chart of areas of high Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP), or a list showing the time of the beginning and end of high PDOP. 4) The proposed ground control plan containing Airborne GPS support. If necessary, the contractor shall obtain all rights of entry, be responsible for all GPS control information and show all National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) monuments that will be used for the GPS base stations for airborne GPS control. 1) Digital Imagery Specifications: Digital Camera Defined For the purposes of this Request for Proposal, a digital camera is defined as a stable mechanism that collects the ground imagery without the use of film in a direct digital format. The City of Bozeman recognizes that currently the USGS does not provide a calibration report on digital camera technology; therefore, the vendors must satisfy the City that the proposed camera system has been calibrated, modeling all known errors, and exhibits a high degree of internal geometric accuracy, stability and repeatability. Orthoimagery shall be acquired only on clear days, leaf-off conditions, with no snow and minimal puddling of rain water or other weather-related effects obscuring the ground surface. At a minimum, National Map Accuracy Standards for the production of the Orthoimagery must be adhered to. The camera and magazines shall meet or exceed the most recent USGS specifications for aerial camera systems. Aerotriangulation/bundle adjustment shall be performed by the current state-of-the-art analysis software to maximize accuracy of the data. The Contractor shall provide a copy of the AT report. a) Photographic Conditions  Tree Cover. Photography shall be undertaken while the leaves are off the deciduous trees.  Clouds. Clouds or cloud shadows must not appear on the imagery. High, thin overcast is permitted above the flying altitude if it does not cause ground mottling or a discernable reduction in light levels and/or ground object shadows.  Well-Defined Images. Collect imagery to obtain well-defined images. Do not attempt imagery acquisition where the ground is obscured by haze, smoke, smog, dust, or falling snow, sleet, rain, or other obscuring phenomena. Do not collect imagery when ground is covered by water (flood), snow, or ice.  Visibility. The minimum visibility at the time of exposure must be 10 miles or greater.  Sun Angle. The majority of the project area will be collected when the sun angle is not less than 40°. In mountainous areas with steep terrain and/or areas with tall trees or areas with significant urban development with buildings 3 stories or taller (such as downtown Bozeman), increase the minimum sun-to-horizon angle to acquire the photography during the times of minimal shadow.  Tilt will not exceed four degrees for any photographic frame and will average not more than two degrees for any ten consecutive frames. Relative tilt exceeding six degrees between any two successive frames may be cause for rejecting that portion of the flight lines. 7  Crab angle as measured from the average line of flight will not exceed five degrees. The course-heading differential between any two successive exposures will not exceed five degrees.  Forward overlap will be at least 55 percent between consecutive exposures. The average sidelap will be at least 20 percent. b) Image Quality/Radiometry  There shall be no areas of an orthophoto where the process was incomplete due to image gaps or lack of data.  All digital orthophotos shall be radiometrically adjusted as necessary so that adjacent digital orthophotos can be displayed simultaneously without an obvious visual edge seam between them. Localized adjustment of the brightness values shall be performed to minimize tonal differences between the join areas. For this adjustment, the orthophoto judged by visual inspection to have the better contrast shall be used as the reference orthophoto. Localized brightness values of the adjacent orthophoto shall be adjusted to that of the reference orthophoto. When possible and feasible, the area adjusted should be bounded by a tonal break ground feature such as a road, field line, shadow line, etc. The radiometric adjustment should not compromise the accuracy, clarity, or resolution of the orthophoto.  Prior to undertaking full digital orthophoto production, the Contractor shall furnish the City with sample digital images to evaluate and accept as examples of overall image quality. The City will select one image, which will become the standard to which all subsequent digital orthophotos will be compared for acceptance/rejection relative to image quality. 2) Impervious Surface Specifications: a) Process  The City will provide the existing City impervious surface database (approximately 45,000 features) to the Contractor. All existing features meet City specifications, and any additional feature or modified features developed by the Contractor shall meet these database conventions. This includes using the same compilation rules, practices, and feature attribution.  100% manual review of impervious surface dataset to identify updates. New or modified features based on orthophotography collection will be added/corrected using stereo photogrammetric means and attributed as specified in the specification details. b) Feature Collection  All features shall be closed polygons that meet standard topology rules and database conventions.  If foliage or trees cover the portion of a feature, the hidden portion of the feature shall be estimated and not partially captured and attributed as “obscured”.  Building outlines: o All visible buildings and miscellaneous structures greater than or equal to 100 square feet. o Collection shall be closed polygons depicting the building roof outline. o In areas of building lean, the building outline shall be moved to match the visible corner of the building and ground. This will align the building to the correct spatial location, not at the location of lean. o All buildings shall be mapped orthogonally unless it is obvious the building was not constructed orthogonally. o Building additions will be captured as a part of the building. o Decks and patios will be captures as separate features.  Roads (paved and unpaved) 8 o The edge of the paved or unpaved road shall be collected as a closed polygon. o If a driveway or parking lot runs into the road, the road shall be closed at the road edge.  Driveways and parking lots (paved and unpaved); o Collection shall be closed polygons depicting the paved or unpaved driveways and parking lots. o If a driveway or parking lot runs into a road, the feature shall be closed at the road edge. o If a driveway or parking lot runs into a building, the feature shall be closed at the building edge.  Sidewalks (paved): o Collection shall be closed polygons depicting the paved sidewalk. o All other impervious surface features shall have precedence over sidewalk features. For example, if a sidewalk runs into a driveway, the sidewalk will be closed at the driveway edge. c) Feature Attribution  All features will be attributed with only one attribute record.  Any feature added or updated will include the following attribution: o Polygon Area o Feature Code / name o Feature ID / number o Photo Date (xx/xx/2015) o Source Update o Contractor Name The proposal shall include a proposed schedule of events necessary to complete the work. The schedule shall include a process and schedule for the submittal of draft products for City review prior to final submittals. Failure to comply with any of these provisions may result in the rejection of the proposal. VII. Control All necessary horizontal and vertical control necessary to provide the deliverables requested in the proposal shall be completed by the contractor. Ground control must be adequate to support the accuracy specifications identified below. Some existing vertical control may be available for the project area. The survey reports & LiDAR data from the 2007 project are available to the Contractor. The Contractor shall review all horizontal and vertical control for accuracy and completeness. Any survey work performed by the Contractor shall be done in conformance with Montana survey laws, regulations and administrative rules. For survey control work performed by the Contractor (or sub-contractors) the following requirements will pertain: A brief survey control report in PDF and/or other digital format shall be delivered that contains:  One digital copy of the control diagram (the survey network scheme).  One copy of all field notes, horizontal and vertical computations, and control network adjustments, with the connections to the National Spatial Reference System shall be clearly shown. 9  A digital copy of the new control points established to control the photogrammetry with all observations and ties, a point description, digital photograph of the monument and the control point location context, and coordinate values in geographic coordinates and in both UTM Zone 12 NAD83 (2011) meters, NAVD88 meters and Montana State Plane NAD83 (2011) meters, NAVD88 meters.  Survey party personnel, equipment, software, and procedures used. VIII. Project Schedule In their responses to this proposal, Respondents shall propose a detailed schedule of performance for completion of all components of the production process. General project milestones should be presented; final project milestones will be established prior to project initiation. IX. Deliverables The respondent shall submit a delivery schedule. The Contractor shall deliver to the City for acceptance the following items: 1) Pilot Project: Prior to beginning the full production of digital orthophotography and subsequent impervious surface feature collection, the Contractor must provide deliverables for a prototype area of a minimum 2 square miles. The locational extent of the pilot project will be determined by the City and selected Contractor during negotiations and consist of urban and rural areas. Upon review and approval of the pilot area by the County, the Contractor will use resultant adjustments as a guide of image quality, impervious surface feature quality, and spatial accuracy for the rest of the project area. 2) Flight Plan and Logs: The flight plan shall be distributed to and approved by the City prior to acquisition. Flight logs shall be provided within two days of each flight acquisition to verify flight times related to sun angle specifications. a) Project flight lines on a map displaying the project area and distributed as a feature class or Shapefile suitable for inclusion in ESRI ArcGIS software. Flight lines shall include flight line numbers within the feature attribution, and metadata shall describe the software used to generate the flight plan. b) Approximate number of exposures for the intended coverage area. c) Image centers of each exposure with date and time of acquired photo included. The data shall be distributed as a feature class or Shapefile suitable for inclusion in ESRI ArcGIS software. d) Upon completion of acquisition the Contractor shall provide a collection report summarizing the flight and logs. 3) Calibration Reports: Camera and digital sensor calibration reports along with a product characterization report validating USGS Digital Aerial Type standards shall be provided. 4) Survey Control Report: The following information shall be provided in a final survey report. a) Positional AGPS data and a statistical summary of the AGPS adjustment results. b) IMS sensor orientation and a statistical summary describing the overall accuracy of adjusted IMU data. c) Differentially corrected GPS ground control data used to supplement the AGPS data and a narrative describing all aspects of the ground survey including locations and extent of the network. d) The results and analysis of the constrained least squares adjustment, tables summarizing GPS misclosures, and a description of equipment and software used. 10 5) Aerial Triangulation Report: An aerial triangulation report shall be provided upon completion of all adjustments. This report shall include, a) An executive summary of the Aerotriangulation solution and its results. b) A detailed narrative of the adjustment process and quality checks for accuracy. c) A description of the software and equipment used to perform the adjustments. d) A listing of the final adjusted coordinates in a spreadsheet or format agreed upon during contract negotiations. 6) Digital Orthorectified Images: All imagery data shall meet the accuracy standards defined in Section VI.1 and be submitted via portable external drives. All imagery shall register to the existing City orthophotography database and meet the image quality standards approved by the City during the pilot project. a) 1”=100’ map scale (i.e., 1”=600’ photo scale), 6” pixel, 4-band (RGB and NIR), true color, ortho-rectified digital imagery in GeoTIFF format. b) Seamless mosaic at 1-foot (Optional: 0.5-foot) pixel resolution. c) Edge-matched, non-overlapping tiles at 0.5-foot (Optional 0.3-foot) pixel resolution based on the tile scheme provided by the City and shall register to the existing City orthophotography database. d) Images with edge artifacts, mismatch, or voids will be rejected. e) Breaklines used to correct bridge and overpass distortion shall be provided in a feature class or Shapefile suitable for inclusion in ESRI ArcGIS software. 7) Impervious Surface Data: All impervious surface data shall be provided in a file geodatabase suitable for inclusion in ESRI ArcGIS software. All data shall meet the accuracy standards and specification described in Section VI.2. a) Impervious surface data shall register to the existing City impervious surface database. b) Features shall be segregated into feature classes based on type as defined in Section VI.2.b. 8) Progress Reports: Progress reports shall be provided by e-mail on a weekly basis for aerial photography acquisition until delivery of the pilot project, and bi-weekly thereafter until the project is complete. These informal reports shall consist of a summary of production status, major activities completed during the most recent reporting period, description of issues and corrections, and associated status maps or acquired flight lines. 9) Metadata: Complete FGDC-compliant metadata shall be provided for all data in an XML format. The metadata shall provide a complete description of identification, data quality, spatial data organization, spatial reference, and entity and attribute information. The metadata for orthorectified imagery shall also include acquisition dates. 10) Project Report: A final project report summarizing the flight acquisition, orthorectification process and impervious surface update, quality control and assurance, and deliverables provided shall be provided upon completion of the project. This report shall include a detailed narrative of the analysis, accuracy assessment, and validation of all deliverables. All products delivered and developed under this proposal shall become the sole property of the City of Bozeman with no restrictions on use or dissemination. 11 X. Quality Control and Acceptance Procedures Quality Control The City retains the sole right to determine contract adherence to quality control requirements. Judgment that the Contractor is in breach of the quality control requirements may require suspension of any phase of the contract until such time as the City can determine that such problem(s) have been remedied. Respondents shall indicate in their proposal a description of the internal quality control processes they will utilize throughout the various phases of the project to assure that the contract deliverables will be acceptable. The Respondent may provide forms, flow charts, or other materials to document the quality control process. Acceptance Checks An attempt will be made to complete checks of all deliverable products within 30 days of delivery. Check plots and ArcGIS data will be subjected to a series of inspections that may include the following:  Mounting, manipulation, and display of digital files on the City’s GIS system  Comparison of data and file content with digital orthophotos  Checks to verify the informational content of the data for completeness, correctness, and database integrity  Field checks to ensure compliance with ASPRS accuracy standards  Other checks against specifications as may be appropriate The City will be conducting checks of the hard copy and digital data provided. Acceptance Procedures After initial checking, work increments will be categorized by the City as follows:  ACCEPTED: Products that meet specifications and contain no errors, or so few errors as to be acceptable, will be formally indicated as accepted. The City may assume responsibility for minor corrections, after which the Contractor will be notified, so that the problems will not recur on subsequent products.  RECEIVED-EDITED: The product has a number of errors that do not permit acceptance. For the product to be accepted, the Contractor must correct all errors noted by the City. The City will verify through a recorded edit that the Contractor has made all corrections called in for the first edit.  REJECTED: The number and character of errors detected by the City are such that the product is formally returned to the Contractor without a complete edit. The City will formally notify the Contractor of the rejected status of the product. The Contractor must edit and correct the mapping for resubmittal to the City. If the City determines that there is an excessive number of rejected products, the City may require the Contractor to suspend production until the problems are resolved. Completion of any required corrective actions shall not affect the Contractor’s production schedule. Payment for work will not be authorized until the City has accepted the products. The acceptance procedure will apply to all deliverable products to be received. XI. Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information Upon completion of negotiations or a determination that no proposals will be pursued, one copy of each submitted proposal shall be retained for the official files of the City and will be considered a public record. 12 In addition, each respondent agrees the city shall not be liable for disclosures of confidential information if disclosure of such information is required by law. XII. No Partnership/Business Organization Nothing in this RFP or in any subsequent agreement, or any other contract entered into as a result of this RFP, shall constitute, create, give rise to or otherwise be recognized as a partnership or formal business organization of any kind between or among the City and the respondent. XIII. 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. XIV. Accessibility Upon reasonable notice, the City will provide assistance for those persons with sensory impairments. For further information please contact the ADA Coordinator James Goehrung at 406-582-3232 or the City’s TTY line at 406-582-2301. XV. Governing Law This RFP and any disputes arising hereunder or under any future agreement for the sale and purchase of shares, interests, or rights shall be governed hereafter and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Montana, without reference to principles of choice or conflicts of laws. XVI. Miscellaneous No conversations or agreements with any officer, employee, or agent of the City shall affect or modify any term of this RFP. Oral communications or any written/email communication between any person and the designated contact City staff shall not be considered binding.