HomeMy WebLinkAboutRFP for conduit licenses 2 5 2016 with exhibit A
Page 1
City of Bozeman, Montana
Request for Proposals
From Broadband Service Providers
to Use Excess Capacity in City-Owned Conduit
The City of Bozeman seeks proposals from qualified broadband service providers who wish to use excess
capacity in City-owned conduit in order to provide fiber-based, broadband internet services to properties
and businesses within the Downtown and Midtown tax increment financing (TIF) districts and a portion of
Montana Avenue.
Proposal documents may be sent to the City of Bozeman, ATTN: City Clerk, P.O. Box 1230 Bozeman,
Montana 59771, (406) 582-2973. Proposals must be received by the City Clerk at the above address on or
before 5:00 p.m., March 3, 2016.
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, creed, sex, age, marital status,
national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability and
recognizing the eventual license agreement 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.
Copies of the RFP are available from the City Clerk at Bozeman City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave., Suite 202,
Bozeman, MT 59715 and available on the City’s website at www.bozeman.net/City-Government/BIDs.
For additional information, contact David Fine, Economic Development Specialist, (406) 582-2973, or
dfine@bozeman.net.
DATED THIS February 7, 2016 City of Bozeman, Montana
By: David Fine
Economic Development Specialist Publish Date: Sunday, February 7, 2016
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Page 2
Introduction
Two of the City’s tax increment finance (TIF) districts, the Downtown TIF and the Midtown TIF, are installing conduit in order to boost economic development within their districts by encouraging the provision of broadband internet services to residences, businesses and
properties within the districts. The TIFs anticipate that conduit will be installed by June 1, 2016. In addition, the City has installed conduit in Montana Avenue between Lamme and Tamarack to serve City facilities. The locations of the conduit within the TIFs and along
Montana Avenue are shown in Exhibit A. It is anticipated that there will be up to seven inner ducts within the conduit available for the
installation of broadband fiber by local service providers. The City seeks proposals from
qualified broadband service providers to license excess capacity in the conduit in order for service provider(s) to offer broadband services to properties and businesses in the areas where
conduit is installed.
As a result of this solicitation, the City may award license agreements to one or more service providers. As used in this RFP, “Respondent” refers to any person or entity submitting
a proposal in response to this RFP.
I. Proposal Submission Requirements
1) All required information must be completed in full, in ink, or typewritten.
The proposal must be signed by a person authorized to commit the Respondent to enter a license with the City. Submission of a signed proposal will constitute a representation by Respondent that Respondent has complied with every requirement of the RFP, that without exception the proposal is premised upon performing the obligations required by the
proposal, that Respondent has given the City written notice of all conflicts, errors, ambiguities, and discrepancies that Respondent has discovered in the proposal documents
and the written resolutions thereof by the City are acceptable to Respondent, and that the
proposal documents and any written resolutions are generally sufficient to indicate and convey understanding of all terms and conditions for performing under the license.
2) The proposal must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., March 3, 2016. 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:
City Clerk
121 North Rouse Ave. Suite 202 P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 4) Proposals must be plainly marked in the lower left-hand corner of the envelope as follows:
“License for Excess Conduit Space”
Page 3
5) The City’s staff contact for this RFP is David Fine, Economic Development Specialist
Phone #: (406) 582-2973 Fax #: (406) 582-2344 E-mail address: dfine@bozeman.net 6) Proposal Format:
a) Proposed Scope of Use Detailed description of the location, length of conduit, and number of inner ducts that
Respondent desires to use. b) Proposed Services
Detailed explanation of the broadband services proposed to be provided and the intended market. How will the use of City-owned conduit maximize the accessibility and affordability of “big broadband” services for Bozeman businesses, residents, and
property owners, as described by the Bozeman Fiber Master Plan (pp 20-22)?
c) Experience and Qualifications Explanation of experience, qualifications, and skills relevant to providing broadband
services and infrastructure. d) Expectations of City Staff
Clearly define any expectations for information or support to be provided by City staff pursuant to a license with the City.
e) Delivery Schedule Respondent’s proposed schedule for completing fiber installation and making the
broadband infrastructure or services available. f) Open Access
Explain whether the Respondent will make the fiber installed in the City-owned conduit or the broadband services available to other users or broadband service
providers. 7) All prospective Respondents 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 later than February 24, 2016. 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, creed, sex,
Page 4
age, marital status, national origin, or because of actual or perceived sexual orientation,
gender identity or disability and recognizing the eventual license agreement will contain a
provision prohibiting discrimination as described above and this prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the hiring and treatment of the Respondent’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 Respondents who supply complete information as required herein will be considered for evaluation. The City of Bozeman is seeking to license conduit space to providers who have the
appropriate qualifications to ensure delivery of high quality services and who have 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. Scope of use proposed by Respondent 30%
2. The level of quality and breadth of proposed broadband services to be
offered
30%
3. The necessary qualifications, experience, organization, technical and managerial staff, and equipment and facilities to carry out the work to
provide the services or infrastructure
10%
4. Ability to provide services within a proposed time schedule 10%
5. Availability of the fiber installed in the City-owned conduit to other users or broadband service providers. 10%
6. Whether Respondent desires to license excess conduit capacity along the
entire length of City-owned conduit available for use.
10%
In awarding conduit license(s), the City will give preference to Respondents who will:
1. License excess conduit capacity along the entire length of City-owned conduit available for use.
2. Maximize competition for the provision of broadband services in the TIF districts by making the broadband fiber installed in the City-owned conduit available to multiple
internet service providers on a competitively neutral basis (open-access network model).
The City may invite one or more prospective service providers 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.
Page 5
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. Scope of License
The license scope, specifications and requirements that are outlined in this RFP are subject to modification and final contract negotiations.
The City anticipates its license agreement will include the following requirements:
1. Fiber must be installed in the City-owned conduit within four (4) months of execution of the license agreement.
2. The installed fiber must be made available to end users within six (8) months of execution of the license agreement.
3. The initial annual license rate for each inner duct will be $1.00/linear foot. After the first
year, the license rate will be adjusted based on an analysis of costs of construction, maintenance and operation of the conduit.
IV. Scope of Services to be Offered
Please provide a description of the services or infrastructure that your firm will be providing for businesses, residents, and property owners as well as answering the questions listed below.
1. What kinds of broadband services will your firm or its partners be delivering to businesses, residents, and property owners?
2. How will the Respondent’s use of City-owned conduit facilitate the provision of fiber to
the premises (FTTP) connectivity for businesses, residents, and property owners?
3. Will the FTTP connectivity be provided through the provision of lit services, dark fiber,
or some combination of the two?
4. How will the use of City-owned conduit facilitate the provision of “big broadband” services as defined by the Bozeman Fiber Master Plan (pp 20-22)?
V. Project Schedule
In their responses to this proposal, Respondents shall propose a detailed schedule for installation
of fiber and provision of broadband services to business customers using the City-owned conduit. General project milestones should be proposed.
Page 6
VI. 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.
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 license to use City-owned conduit. 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 Respondent, 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. The execution of conduit licenses by the City is subject to approval by the Bozeman City Commission.
VII. 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 February 7, 2016
Written questions submitted February 24, 2016
Proposals due March 3, 2016
Notice to award By March 10, 2016
Page 7
VIII. 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.
IX. 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.
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.
X. 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.
XI. 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.
XII. Accessibility
Upon reasonable notice, the City will provide assistance for those persons with sensory
impairments. For further information please contact the ADA Coordinator Chuck Winn at 406-582-2307 or the City’s TTY line at 406-582-2301.
Page 8
XIII. 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.
XIV. 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.
EXHIBIT A Location and Description of Conduit