Legal Advertisement REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Legal Advertisement
REQUEST FOR
PROPOSALS AND
QUALIFICATIONS
THE CITY OF
COLUMBUS
SEWER INFRASTRUC-
TURE PROJECTS

INTRODUCTION
In accordance with IC
5-23-5, the City of Co-
lumbus (the "City") is is-
suing this Request for
Proposals and Qualifica-
tions (the "RFPQ") seek-
ing proposals and state-
ments of qualifications
from qualified offerors for
the development and
construction of public
sewer infrastructure im-
provements throughout
the City.
The public infrastructure to
be constructed may in-
clude wastewater treat-
ment plant improve-
ments, sewer mains, lift
station improvements,
and similar infrastructure
(all such infrastructure
collectively referred to
herein as the
"Infrastructure" and the
development and con-
struction of the Infra-
structure being referred
to as the "Project"). The
Infrastructure to be con-
structed will be finalized
during a scoping period
with the selected devel-
opment team. The City
has multiple facilities that
potentially need im-
provements but have
limited funds to do so.
The ultimate scope,
budget, and type of
project(s) will be deter-
mined during the scop-
ing period, at which time
the City will determine
the most feasible and
important project(s) to
approve for construction.
The City, in its sole dis-
cretion, may select one
team or multiple teams
to enter into the scoping
period and may mix and
match responding
teams with appropriate
projects as determined
during the scoping pe-
riod. As part of the re-
quired scoping period
deliverables, the se-
lected team(s) must pro-
vide constructability
analysis, budgets,
schedules, and other
necessary information
for the City to determine
a priority list of the po-
tential Projects.
The City anticipates enter-
ing into a public-private
partnership agreement
with an offeror pursuant
to IC 5-23 to provide the
work, labor, equipment,
and materials to develop
and construct the Project
within the budgetary and
the time limitations re-
quired by the City. The
selected offeror will be
required to obtain a pay-
ment bond in an amount
not less than one hun-
dred percent (100%) of
the final cost of the Proj-
ect and a performance
bond in an amount not
less than fifty percent
(50%) of the final cost of
the Project.
For the avoidance of
doubt, in the context of
this RFPQ, the term
"develop" as defined by
IC 5-23-2-5.5 shall mean
to install and construct
the Project Infrastruc-
ture, and the term
"construct" as defined by
IC 5-23-2-4 shall mean
the process of building
and assembling the Proj-
ect Infrastructure.
RFPQ PROCESS, TIME-
LINE AND SCOPING
PERIOD
The anticipated timeline
for selection of a devel-
oper and execution of a
public-private partner-
ship agreement for the
development and con-
struction of the Project is
as follows:
Day 1 First publication of
notice of the RFPQ in
the local newspaper
Day 8 Second publication
of notice of the RFPQ in
the local newspaper
Day 15 Deadline to sub-
mit proposals by 3:00
p.m.
Day 36 Most qualified of-
feror is selected by Citys
committee (the
Committee)
Day 37 Scoping Period
with selected offeror
begins
As long as necessary
Scoping period delivera-
bles are assembled by
the selected offeror, to
include budgets, design,
and coordination assis-
tance with the City
Upon receiving satisfac-
tory scoping period de-
liverables
Selected offeror notified
of recommendation to
award public-private
agreement.
7 days prior to public hear-
ing
Notice of public hearing
on recommendation to
award a public private
agreement published in
local newspaper at least
7 days prior to public
hearing and basis for
recommendation availa-
ble for inspection and
copying at Columbus
City Utilities office.
7 days after notice is pub-
lished
Public hearing before
the Committee to con-
sider the recommenda-
tion to award a
public-private agreement
to selected offeror and
consideration and ap-
proval of the BOT agree-
ment.
All offerors will be ac-
corded fair and equal
treatment with respect to
any opportunity for dis-
cussion and revision of
proposals; provided,
however, offerors shall
not contact any City offi-
cial or employee during
the period from the issu-
ance of this RFPQ until
the most qualified offeror
is notified of selection by
Committee.
The final scope of the
Project is to be deter-
mined in the scoping pe-
riod described in the
timeline above (the
"Scoping Period"). The
Scoping Period is antici-
pated to be a very in-
tense and fast-paced
process, with the goal of
construction commenc-
ing Spring of 2026. The
schedule will ultimately
be determined during the
Scoping Period, as it will
be dependent upon the
several milestones coor-
dinated by the City. Ac-
cordingly, during the
Scoping Period, the se-
lected offeror must be
readily available, will-
ingly share information,
and actively engage with
the City in order to final-
ize the scope, schedule,
and costs of the Project.
Proposals shall include
the fees that would be
charged, if any, for par-
ticipating in the Scoping
Period, as further dis-
cussed below. All data,
information and materi-
als collected, assem-
bled, prepared, and ex-
changed during the
Scoping Period shall be
solely owned by the City,
and, by submitting a pro-
posal, offerors release
all rights in any such
items to the City, and the
City may use the infor-
mation from the propos-
als and Scoping Period
for its use and benefit.
As the Scoping Period
concludes, the City will
request that the selected
offeror submit a final and
best offer to include pric-
ing to develop and con-
struct the Project and
then engage in further
negotiations leading to a
guaranteed maximum
price ("GMP"), time
schedule, and schedule
of values for the devel-
opment and construction
of the Project. A recom-
mendation to award an
agreement to develop
and construct the Project
to the offeror with a
GMP, time schedule,
and schedule of values
that is advantageous
and acceptable to the
City may then be made
to the Committee.
In the alternative, a rec-
ommendation may be
made to award an
agreement to develop
and construct a distinct
phase of the Project, in-
cluding a recommenda-
tion to award an agree-
ment for different phases
of the Project to sepa-
rate offerors, in which
case each of the
awarded offerors shall
be expected to coordi-
nate their work on the
phase awarded to them
with any and all other of-
ferors accordingly.
The foregoing notwith-
standing, the City re-
serves the right pursuant
to IC 5-23-5-8 to termi-
nate this RFPQ process
at any time without mak-
ing a recommendation to
award an agreement to
any offeror.
Pursuant to IC 5-23-5-6,
the City will not disclose
the contents of propos-
als received in response
to this RFPQ prior to
making a recommenda-
tion to the Committee re-
garding the award of
agreements, if any. If
this RFPQ process is
terminated without rec-
ommendation for an
award as provided for
above, then pursuant to
IC 5-23-5-12 the City
may, at its option, either
return proposals to the
offerors without disclos-
ing the contents of the
proposals, or it may re-
tain the proposals in
which case the contents
thereof become subject
to public disclosure.
All of the foregoing deci-
sions by the City may be
made at their sole dis-
cretion.
PROPOSAL FORMAT
AND CONTENTS; SUB-
MITTAL
Notice is hereby given that
Sealed Proposals for
Project will be received
by the City, until Sep-
tember 10th, 2025, at
3pm, local time. Propos-
als will only be accepted
through the electronic
bidding system, Euna
Procurement, powered
by Ion Wave. All re-
sponses are due prior to
the published closing
date and time. No
mailed, emailed, faxed,
hand delivered, or late
responses will be ac-
cepted. To register with
Ion Wave, view current
City of Columbus bid
events, submit a pro-
posal, or view plan hold-
ers, please visit
https://columbusin.ionwave.net/ . The Proposals
will be publicly unsealed
at 1111 McClure Road.
Copies of the RFPQ Doc-
uments may be exam-
ined without charge at
https://columbusin.ionwave.net/ .
The City of Columbus ex-
clusively uses Euna Pro-
curement, powered by
Ion Wave for the notifica-
tion and dissemination of
all solicitations. The re-
ceipt of solicitations
through any other means
may result in the receipt
of incomplete specifica-
tions and/or addendums,
which could ultimately
render the bid/proposal
non-compliant. The City
of Columbus accepts no
responsibility for the re-
ceipt and/or notification
of solicitations through
any other means.
Proposals shall not ex-
ceed 20 pages in length,
and shall include the fol-
lowing:
Letter of Interest and
General Information
o Provide a cover letter
expressing the offerors
interest in the Project
and including the offer-
ors general information
including name, principal
office address, and con-
tact information for a
designated point of con-
tact, including telephone
number and e-mail ad-
dress.
Experience
o Include a general
overview of the offeror s
organization, including
type of organization,
company, overview, and
an organizational chart.
If the proposal is submit-
ted by a team or joint
venture, include such in-
formation for each mem-
ber thereof.
o Describe the offerors
experience working on
construction projects
with local government
units in Indiana. Demon-
strate the offerors expe-
rience with projects of
similar scope and scale.
Include a description of
at least three (3) such
projects that the offeror
has successfully devel-
oped and constructed.
o Identify key members
of the offeror who will
work on the Project, in-
cluding a project man-
ager with the availability,
capacity, and experience
to manage the Project.
o Provide references.
Provide the telephone
number and e-mail ad-
dress of a reference con-
tact for each of the proj-
ects described above.
Financial Capacity
o Demonstrate the of-
ferors responsibility and
financial ability to de-
velop and construct the
Project in a timely and
quality manner by pro-
viding information con-
cerning the offerors gen-
eral financial and credit
condition.
Project Approach
o Describe the offer-
ors approach to devel-
oping and constructing
the Project within a
timely and quality man-
ner, including coordina-
tion with engineering
consultants, City Utility
operations, utility provid-
ers, and subcontractors.
o Describe the offer-
ors approach to project
management for multiple
infrastructure projects
with different construc-
tion timelines and differ-
ent designers.
o Describe offerors
approach to communi-
cation with the City.
o Scoping Period Fee
o Offerors may request
a fee to defray their
costs of participating in
the Scoping Period if
they are selected (a
Scoping Period Fee),
with the understanding
that such a request and
the amount requested is
among the criteria upon
which proposals will be
evaluated. In such event,
invoices from the se-
lected offeror for the
Scoping Period Fee shall
not be submitted until
the conclusion of the
Scoping Period.
o The City will not pay
a stipend or otherwise
reimburse offerors for
the costs of preparing
and submitting a pro-
posal, and all such costs
will be at the sole cost
and expense of each of-
feror.
Additional Information
o Offerors may include
in their proposals any
other information that
they deem pertinent.
Proposals need not con-
tain Project pricing infor-
mation, as that will be re-
fined and determined
during the Scoping Pe-
riod and requested later
in the Scoping Period
process.
Offerors will not be re-
quired to submit a bid
bond, certified check, or
other evidence of finan-
cial responsibility with
the proposal.
PROPOSAL EVALUA-
TION CRITERIA
Proposals will be evalu-
ated by the Committee.
Each member of the
Committee will individ-
ually score each pro-
posal on a scale of 0 to
100 based on his or her
evaluation of the pro-
posal, as follows:
Criterion
Experience: Offerors
demonstrated experi-
ence developing and
constructing public proj-
ects of similar scope and
scale.
Weighted Score 30%
Criterion
Financial Capacity: Offer-
ors demonstrated re-
sponsibility and financial
ability to develop and
construct the Project in a
timely and quality man-
ner.
Weighted Score 20%
Criterion
Project Approach: Offer-
ors approach to devel-
oping and constructing
the Project.
Weighted Score 30%
Criterion
Scoping Period Fee
Weighted Score 20%
Total 100%
Thereafter, the Committee
will hold one or more
meetings to discuss the
contents of the submit-
ted proposals and the
members' individual
scoring of each pro-
posal, with the goal of
selecting the most quali-
fied offeror to participate
in the Scoping Period.
The scoring and deliber-
ations of the members of
the Committee are confi-
dential.
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