§ 2-287. Source selection.

The procurement of goods, services, materials, supplies and equipment by or on behalf of the board of county commissioners, including those transactions through which the board of county commissioners shall receive revenue, in an amount equal to or in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00), shall be awarded by a competitive bid or competitive proposal process as specifically provided herein, except as specifically provided in section 2-287(c) herein, or as otherwise provided by state or federal law. Competitive bidding shall be the preferred method of procurement whenever possible.

Nothing in the foregoing shall prohibit the county from renewing purchase orders or contracts provided the vendor was originally selected through a competitive selection process and further provided such renewal is within the scope of the original purchase order or contract.

(a)

Competitive sealed bid process.

(1)

Invitation to bid. An invitation to bid shall be issued which shall include all the specifications, contractual terms, and conditions applicable to the procurement.

(2)

Public notice. Notice of bids will be published at least one time each week in a newspaper of general circulation. The invitation to bid notice shall be published on the county's website for a reasonable time, which will be designated prior to the time set for the submission of bids. The notice will state the place, date and time for the submission and opening of bids.

(3)

Bid submission. Bids must be received no later than the time and date and at the location specified for the bid opening in the invitation to bid. No bid shall be accepted after such time and date or at any location other than the location specified. Any bid received later or at any location other than the location specified in the invitation to bid, shall be returned unopened to the bidder. It shall be the bidder's sole responsibility to ensure that its bid reaches the specified place at the specified time for receipt of bids. Bidders shall be allowed to withdraw their bids at any time prior to bid opening.

(4)

Bid opening. Bids shall be opened publicly at the time and date specified in the invitation to bid. The name of each bidder shall be announced and recorded at the public opening. The amount of each bid specified in the invitation to bid and such other relevant information may be announced at the public opening. Bids will be made public in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes.

(5)

Bid cancellation or postponement. Prior to bid opening, the purchasing director may elect to cancel an invitation to bid or postpone the date and/or time of bid submission or opening.

(6)

Corrections, additions to and withdrawal. The procedures for corrections to, additions to and withdrawal of bids shall be set forth in the purchasing procedures manual.

(7)

Bid evaluation. The county reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids. The county reserves the right to make the award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder whose bid meets the requirements and criteria set forth in the invitation to bid and whose award will in the county's opinion be in the best interest of and most advantageous to the county. The authority to make this determination is vested in the purchasing director.

(8)

Bid award. Awards shall be effective upon notice of award by the purchasing director which may be in the form of a written purchase order. In the event only one bid is received, the purchasing director may award to the sole bidder, negotiate with the sole bidder, withdraw the invitation to bid, or rebid. All bids to be awarded which were approved in the current budget and have not received a protest during the award period shall be awarded by the purchasing director. Notice of the intent to award shall be posted at the location set for bid submission. Awards shall subsequently be posted at the county administration building public bulletin board and in the lobby of the purchasing division. Bids with contracts will be routinely reported to the board of county commissioners and submitted for execution to either the chairman or any official authorized by the board through resolution when the bid awards are posted.

(b)

Competitive sealed proposal process. When the purchasing director determines from written justification provided by department/division that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practical or not advantageous to the county, due to the specialized or technical nature of the goods or services sought, then the purchasing director may authorize the following competitive proposal process as an alternative to the competitive bid process.

(1)

Request for proposal (RFP) or request for information (RFI). Such requests, setting forth the terms and conditions of the goods or services sought, including evaluation factors, shall be issued by public notice.

(2)

Public notice. Notice of RFPs will be published at least one time each week in a newspaper of general circulation. The notice for the RFP/RFI shall be published on the county's website for a reasonable time, which will be designated prior to the time set for the submission of proposals. The notice will state the place, date and time for the submission and opening of proposals.

(3)

Proposal submission. Proposals must be received no later than the time and date and at the location specified for the proposal opening in the RFP/RFI. No proposal shall be accepted after such time and date or at any location other than the location specified. Any proposal received after the date and time specified or at any other location than the location specified shall be returned unopened to the proposer. It shall be the proposer's sole responsibility to ensure that the proposal reaches the specified location at the specified time for receipt of proposals. Proposers shall be allowed to withdraw their proposals at any time prior to proposal opening.

(4)

Proposal opening. Proposals shall be opened publicly at the time and place specified in the RFP/RFI. The name of each proposer shall be announced and recorded at the public opening. Proposals will be made public in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes.

(5)

Proposal review. Award by the county shall be made to the most responsive, responsible proposer whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the county in accordance with the evaluation criteria contained in the RFP/RFI or to the most qualified firm as determined by the appointed selection committee. Evaluation of proposers and/or proposals may be made in a multistep selection process as set forth in the RFP or RFI. The RFP or RFI shall state the relative importance of price and/or other criteria. As provided in the RFP/RFI, discussions may be conducted with responsible proposers who submit proposals for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of, and conformance to, the solicitation requirements. Proposers shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals and such revisions may be permitted after submissions and prior to award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. In conducting discussions, there shall be no exchange of information regarding the content or feasibility of the proposals by competing proposers.

(6)

Proposal award. The appointed selection committee shall rank the proposals and shall present the recommended ranking to the board of county commissioners for approval of the ranking and for authorization to proceed with competitive negotiations with the approved top ranked firm(s). Upon completion of negotiations, the proposed contract with the selected firm(s) shall be presented to the board of county commissioners for execution.

(c)

Alternative vendor selection. Any purchase for an amount less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) may be made in accordance with those procedures promulgated in the Purchasing Procedures Manual, Alternative Vendor Selection (AVS) For Purchases Less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), provided, however, no purchase shall be artificially divided so as to circumvent the sealed bid threshold. Such purchases shall be evidenced by a purchase order or by a duly executed agreement.

(d)

Sole source purchases. The purchasing director is herein authorized to approve sole source purchases in which "only one vendor possesses the unique and singularly available capability to meet the requirements of the solicitation, such as technical qualifications, ability to deliver at a particular time or a situation where a particular supplier is identified as the only qualified source available to the requisitioning authority." All sole source purchases exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) shall be reported to the board.

Sole source purchases may also result because of compatibility with existing equipment or systems or because the product or service is patented, copyrighted or has other proprietary information or trade secrets retained by the owner.

(e)

Emergency purchases. The purchasing director is herein authorized to make emergency purchases in accordance with the purchasing procedures manual. Written records of emergency purchases shall be maintained by the purchasing division. A record listing all emergency purchases exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) shall be submitted to the board on an annual basis. For purposes of this article, "emergency purchases" is defined as a procurement made in response to a requirement for goods and/or services when the delay would adversely affect the public health or safety of the citizens and the county as well as any immediate repairs that are needed to prevent further damage to public property, machinery or equipment.

(f)

Consultant services. Professional consultant services may be procured by either the competitive sealed proposal process or request for proposals (RFP)/request for information (RFI) process. The purchasing procedures manual shall set forth the process for soliciting an RFP/RFI.

(g)

Professional architectural, engineering, landscape architectural or land surveying services governed by Section 287.055, Florida Statutes. The procurement of the specified professional services shall be as provided by Section 287.055, Florida Statutes, and the purchasing procedures manual.

(h)

Design build services. The procurement of design-build services shall be made in accordance with the purchasing procedures manual and subject to Section 287.055, Florida Statutes.

(i)

Term bids. Term bids may be used for the procurement of goods or services where the purchases will be made throughout a specified term and the annual purchases are estimated to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00). Bids may be extended by the purchasing director at the end of any given term in order that the service or provision for goods be continued when a new bid has not yet been awarded, but in no event shall the term be extended for greater than one hundred twenty (120) days.

(j)

Noncompetitive undefined services. For services provided to the county at set rates determined by the county for predetermined scopes of service, qualified vendors may participate by responding to the advertisement for these specific services.

(k)

Construction services.

(1)

The procurement of construction service, including both vertical and horizontal construction, shall be acquired in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. Bid security shall be required for all competitive sealed bidding for construction contracts, including both vertical and horizontal construction when the price is estimated to exceed two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00). Bid security shall be an original bid bond satisfactory to the county and executed by a surety company authorized to do business in the State of Florida and in accordance with subsection (k)(3) of this section. Nothing herein shall prevent the requirement of such bonds on construction contracts under two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) when the circumstances warrant. A bid security shall be in an amount equal to at least five (5) per cent of the amount of the bid. Bids or proposals which do not comply with the surety requirements shall be rejected as nonresponsive. When a construction contract, including both vertical and horizontal construction, is awarded in excess of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00), a public construction bond satisfactory to the county and executed by a surety company authorized to do business in the State of Florida and in accordance with subsection (k)(3) of this section in an amount equal to one hundred (100) per cent of the price specified in the contract, shall be required.

(2)

A contract purchase for the working of any capital improvement and/or repair projects in an amount less than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) may be made by a request for construction quote (RFCQ), as promulgated in the purchasing procedures manual; provided, however, no purchase shall be artificially divided so as to circumvent the sealed bid threshold.

(3)

All bonds shall be in the form prescribed by the contract documents except as provided otherwise by laws or regulations and shall be executed by such sureties as named in the current list of "Companies Holding Certificates of Authority as Acceptable Sureties on Federal Bonds and as Acceptable Re-insuring Companies" as published in Circular 570, as amended, by the audit Staff, Bureau of Government Financial Operations, U.S. Treasury Department and A.M. Best Rated A-VIII or better. The bond amount shall not exceed the maximum amount specified therein unless otherwise stipulated in the invitation to bid.

(4)

Nothing herein shall prohibit the county, in an effort to benefit from the county's tax exempt status, from deleting line items within the invitation for bid and purchasing said items directly from a supplier without further bidding in an amount not exceeding the bid amount per line item of the successful bidder.

(l)

Negotiated procurement. Negotiation of contracts and pricing after selection via the RFP, RFI or methods identified herein which are not competitively bid shall be by means promulgated in the purchasing procedures manual.

(m)

Final board approval. Documents issued by the purchasing division for purposes of soliciting bids or proposals which require the execution of a contract shall include the following language:

"ALL CONTRACTS ARE SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL OF THE POLK COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. PERSONS OR FIRMS WHICH INCUR EXPENSES OR CHANGE POSITION IN ANTICIPATION OF A CONTRACT PRIOR TO THE BOARD'S APPROVAL DO SO AT THEIR OWN RISK."

(n)

Deviations from approved procedures. Any deviation from approved procedures for source selection as set out above or as set out in the purchasing procedures manual requires prior approval of the board of county commissioners.

(Ord. No. 06-024, § 4, 5-10-06; Ord. No. 2015-078, §§ 3, 4, 12-1-15)