1-RFP-005-FS- Grant Writing Services.pdf

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

CITY OF RIO RANCHO

GRANT WRITING SERVICES

RFP-26-005-FS

RFP Release Date: December 8, 2025

Proposal Submission Deadline: January 15, 2026

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction

II. Conditions Governing the Procurement

III. Response Format and Organization

IV. Specifications

V. Evaluation Of Proposals

Exhibits

Exhibit A: Detailed Scope of Work Located in Bonfire

Exhibit A1: Summary of Changes to Grant Requirements Located in Bonfire

Appendices

Appendix A: Project Understanding/Project Approach/Work Plan Provided by Offeror

Appendix A1: Experience and Qualifications Provided by Offeror

Appendix B: Estimated Cost Proposal Provided by Offeror

Appendix C: Proposed Project Schedule Not Applicable

Appendix D: Letter of Transmittal Located in Bonfire

Appendix E: Proposal Checklist Located in Bonfire

Appendix F: Redlined Version of Draft Contract Located in Bonfire

Attachment(s)

Attachment 1 – Legal Advertisement Located in Bonfire

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I. INTRODUCTION

A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit sealed proposals to research and identify new grant opportunities and to prepare applications for financial assistance. Research and identification of new grant funding will include opportunities from local, state, and federal funding agencies. The activities delineated in the

Provision of Services section below will be ongoing for the duration of the contract.

Development and preparation of funding applications will be performed by the contractor as opportunities become available and as City Management decides to pursue those funding opportunities.

B. AUTHORITY

The City of Rio Rancho’s (the City) Central Purchasing Office shall be responsible for all

City procurement not expressly retained by the Procurement Officer and shall perform all duties required by the procurement code and other relevant statutes.

Except where otherwise noted, the terms, conditions, definitions, and requirements of this

RFP shall be governed by the City’s Procurement Code, Chapter 36 Finance and Revenue, Section 36.26 of the City’s Municipal Code

The Central Purchasing Office shall coordinate with the State Purchasing Agent, the central purchasing offices of other local public bodies, and the purchasing office of external procurement units to maximize benefits of joint and cooperative efforts.

C. NON-DISCRIMINATION

Equal Opportunity Compliance: In performing their obligations required hereunder, the

Contractor and its subcontractors and/or vendors, shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, national origin, ancestry, age, or disability in its employment practices or any program or activity preformed under this Agreement. The Contractor agrees to comply and act in accordance with all provisions of the applicable federal, state and City laws, rules, regulations, and executive orders pertaining to equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination. If Contractor or its subcontractors or vendors are found not to be in compliance with these requirements during the life of this Agreement, Contractor agrees to take prompt appropriate steps to correct these deficiencies. Failure to adhere to the provisions of this section will be considered a material breach of this Agreement.

ADA Compliance: In performing their obligations required hereunder, the Contractor and its subcontractors and/or vendors shall meet all the requirements of the Americans with

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Disabilities Act of 1990, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and all applicable rules and regulations (the “ADA”) that are imposed directly on the Contractor or that would be imposed on the City as a public entity. If Contractor or its subcontractors or vendors are found not to be in compliance with these requirements during the life of this Agreement, Contractor agrees to take prompt appropriate steps to correct these deficiencies. Failure to adhere to the provisions of this section will be considered a material breach of this

Agreement.

D. TERM OF CONTRACT

The awarded contract(s) may be awarded to multiple Consultants.

This RFP is to contract for a period that will be negotiated with the successful Offeror(s) and shall terminate per contract requirements.

E. SOLE POINT OF CONTACT

The City has assigned a Purchasing Specialist who is responsible for the conduct of this procurement whose name, address, telephone number and email address are listed below:

Name/Title: Jerilynn L. Sans- Purchasing Specialist

Address: 3200 Civic Center Circle NE, Suite 300

Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87144

Email: PurchasingSpecialists@rrnm.gov

Telephone: (505) 891-5064

Any inquiries or requests regarding this procurement shall be submitted, in writing, to the

Purchasing Specialist. Offerors may ONLY contact the Purchasing Specialist regarding this procurement. Other City employees, members of the Governing Body, or Evaluation

Committee members do not have the authority to respond on behalf of the City. Prospective

Offerors who fail to abide by this instruction may be deemed non-responsive.

F. PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

For a proposal to be deemed responsive, it must be submitted electronically via the City’s

Bonfire portal by the deadlines outlined in the Sequence of Events. The City reserves the right to postpone the Proposal Submission deadline at any time prior to Offers being due and may reschedule at its own convenience.

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All deliveries of responses via express carrier or hand delivered must be addressed as follows:

Name/Title: Jerilynn L. Sans, Purchasing Specialist

RFP Name: Grant Writing Services

RFP: 26-005-CE

Address: 3200 Civic Center Circle NE, Suite 150

Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87144

In case of inclement weather or other unforeseen City-wide closings, the proposals will be due at the same time on the next day of City operations. Any delayed opening or closing of City Hall will be announced on the City's bonfire portal.

Electronic submissions must be uploaded to the City’s bonfire portal to be deemed responsive. Electronic submissions must be submitted via the following website:

https://rrnm-gov.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities.

If you do not have a username and password, please register in Bonfire, as this is the only way to submit electronic submissions. For technical assistance, please contact support@gobonfire.com.

II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT

A. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

The Purchasing Specialist will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:

Action Responsible Party Due Dates Time

Issuance of RFP City 12/8/2025 9:00AM MST

Pre-Proposal

Conference

City Not Required

Deadline to Submit

Written Questions

Potential Offerors 12/18/2025 5:00 PM MST

Response to Written

Questions

City 1/6/2026 5:00 PM MST

Submission of

Electronic Proposals

Potential Offerors 1/15/2026 2:00 PM MST

Evaluation of Proposals Evaluation

Committee

TBD TBD

Selection of Finalists Evaluation

Committee

TBD TBD

Oral

Presentations/Interviews

City/Evaluation

Committee

TBD TBD

Best and Final Offers City TBD TBD

Contract Negotiations City TBD TBD https://rrnm-gov.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities mailto:support@gobonfire.com

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Protest Deadline Within 10 calendar days after knowledge of the facts or occurrences.

5:00 PM MST

B. EXPLANATION OF EVENTS

1. Issuance of RFP

This RFP is being issued on behalf of the City’s Public Works Department

2. Pre-Proposal Conference

A pre-proposal Conference is Not being held.

3. Deadline to Submit Written Questions

Potential Offerors may submit written questions about this RFP to the Purchasing

Specialist by the deadline indicated in the Sequence of Events above. All written questions must be submitted via Bonfire and addressed to the Purchasing Specialist.

Questions shall be clearly labeled and shall cite the section(s) in the RFP or other document which form the basis of the question.

4. Response to Written Questions

Addenda will be issued in response to written questions via Bonfire. Any addendum issued prior to the submission of proposals deadline will become part of the RFP.

5. Submission of Proposals

All proposals must be submitted via Bonfire as indicated in the Sequence of Events.

Proposals received past the Submission of Proposals deadline will not be accepted.

Pursuant to NMSA 1978, § 13-1-116, the contents of proposals shall not be disclosed to competing potential Offerors during the negotiation process. The negotiation process is deemed to be in effect until the contract is awarded pursuant to this Request for Proposals.

6. Evaluation of Proposals

An Evaluation Committee will perform the evaluation of proposals as set forth in the RFP Evaluation Criteria.

7. Negotiations

During this time, the Purchasing Specialist may initiate discussions with Offerors who submit responsive or potentially responsive proposals for the purpose of clarifying aspects of the proposals. However, proposals may be accepted and evaluated without such discussion. Discussions SHALL NOT be initiated by the

Offerors.

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Revisions may be permitted after the submission of a proposal, but prior to award, and for the purpose of obtaining the Best and Final Offers in response to the RFP.

Negotiations may be conducted with the highest ranked Responsible Offeror.

8. Selection of Finalists

Any Contractual agreement(s) resulting from this RFP will be finalized with the most advantageous Offeror(s) as per Sequence of Events or as soon thereafter as possible. This date is subject to change at the discretion of the City. In the event mutually agreeable terms cannot be reached with the apparent most advantageous

Offeror in the time specified, the City reserves the right to finalize a contractual agreement with the next most advantageous Offeror(s) without undertaking a new procurement process.

9. Oral Presentations/Interviews

Finalist Offerors may be required to conduct an oral presentation at a venue to be identified by the City or via an online video conference, as determined by the City.

Finalists will be provided with an agenda and applicable details, including an invitation. Whether or not Oral Presentation and/or Interviews are to be held is the sole discretion of the Evaluation Committee.

10. Best and Final Offers

Finalist Offerors may be asked to submit revisions to their proposals for the purpose of obtaining Best and Final Offers. Best and Final Offers may also be clarified and amended at finalist oral presentations and/or interviews. Any documents requested during this phase must be properly marked as “Best and Final Offer”.

11. Proposal Award

Written notice of the award(s) shall be sent to all Offerors of record.

12. Protests

a. Rights

Any Offeror who is aggrieved in connection with a solicitation or award of a contract may protest to the Central Purchasing Office. The protest must be submitted in writing within ten (10) calendar days after knowledge of the facts or occurrences giving rise thereto.

Protests may be electronically delivered or via email to:

Attn: Purchasing & Contracts Division Manager

City of Rio Rancho

3200 Civic Center Circle NE, Suite 300

Rio Rancho, NM 87144

Email: PurchasingSpecialists@rrnm.gov

Protests received after the deadline will not be accepted.

mailto:mgcunningham@rrnm.gov

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b. Procurement After Protest

In the event of a timely protest, the Central Purchasing Office shall not proceed further with the procurement unless the Procurement Officer determines that the award of the contract is necessary to protect a substantial interest of the City.

c. Authority to Resolve

The Procurement Officer has the authority to take any action reasonably necessary to resolve a protest. This authority shall be exercised in accordance with the procurement code but does not include the authority to award money damages or attorney’s fees.

d. Written Determination

The Procurement Officer shall make a written determination on the merits of the protest as expeditiously as possible or, in any event, within thirty (30) days of receipt of all information or the date of any conference or hearing held on the matter, whichever is later.

e. Notice of Determination

A copy of the determination shall be mailed immediately to the protestant and delivered to the department that requested the procurement.

f. Judicial Review

Any aggrieved person may seek judicial review of the final determination of a protest made pursuant to the procurement code by filing an action in district court within 30 calendar days after issuance. On appeal, the record of the proceedings before the Central Purchasing Office and the

Procurement Officer shall constitute the record of the actions by the City.

g. Relief After Award

If, after an award, the Central Purchasing Office makes a determination that a solicitation or award of a contract is in violation of law and that the business awarded the contract has not acted fraudulently or in bad faith, then:

(1) The contract may be ratified, affirmed, and revised to comply with law; provided, that a determination is made that doing so is in the best interest of the City; or

(2) The contract may be terminated, and the business awarded the contract shall be compensated for the reasonable actual expenses and profit incurred under the contract prior to termination.

If, after an award, the Central Purchasing Office makes a determination that a solicitation or award of a contract is in violation of law and that the business awarded the contract has acted fraudulently or in bad faith, the contract shall be cancelled.

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h. Relief for Protestant.

The Procurement Officer may award the protestant the reasonable costs incurred in connection with the solicitation, including bid preparation costs, when a protest is sustained and the protestant should have been awarded the contract, but was not. No award of money damages or attorney fees are allowed.

C. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The City requires that all Offerors agree to be bound by the General Requirements contained in this RFP.

1. Governing Law

This RFP and any agreement with an Offeror which may result from this procurement shall be governed by the laws of the State of New Mexico.

2. Acceptance of Conditions Governing the Procurement

Potential Offerors must indicate their acceptance of the Conditions Governing the

Procurement (Section II herein) in the Letter of Transmittal Form (Appendix D).

By signing this form, the Offeror is explicitly indicating the following:

a. Identity of the Offeror and Project Point of Contact, including name and address of organization, firm, or department and nature of the organization

(individual, partnership, or corporation, private or public, profit or nonprofit).

b. Identifies the name and title of the person(s) authorized by the company to contractually obligate the business for the purpose of this RFP.

c. Identifies the names, titles, and telephone numbers of persons to be contacted for clarification questions regarding this RFP and person(s) to be contacted for negotiations.

d. Acknowledges receipt of any kind and all addenda related to this RFP.

e. Acceptance of Conditions Governing the Procurement.

f. A commitment to comply with the Non-Discrimination requirements listed in Section D herein.

The signature on the form must be from a person authorized to contractually obligate the Offeror. This form shall be submitted in its original form and shall not be modified or changed in any way. If this form is modified or not included in the proposal, the Offeror will be deemed non- responsive.

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3. Unfair Business Practices

The City finds that it is a priority to protect its interests and the public's trust by conducting its business with partners that are committed to and consistently demonstrate engaging in fair and responsible business practices.

4. Specifications

The City shall not accept any proposal from a person who directly or indirectly participated in the preparation of specifications on which the offer was held. This prohibition does not extend to vendors who suggest and have approved changes to proposal specifications in a City pre-proposal conference.

5. Conflict of Interest

The Offeror warrants that it presently has no interest and shall not acquire any interest, direct or indirect, which would conflict in any manner or degree with the performance of any duties as required under this RFP.

6. Non-Collusion

The Offeror, signing this offer, certifies that the representatives from this form have not, either directly or indirectly, entered into any action or restraint of free competitive quoting or bidding in connection with this bid.

7. Debarment or Suspension

The successful Offeror shall abide by the City’s Ordinance on Debarment or

Suspension as it applies to the successful Offeror’s interactions with the City.

a. Authority

i. The Procurement Officer, after reasonable notice to the business involved, has the authority to suspend or debar a business for cause.

ii. Debarment shall not exceed a period of three years and suspension shall not exceed three months. The authority to debar or suspend shall be exercised in accordance with procedures adopted by the

City. There must be notice and an opportunity for a hearing.

b. Causes

Although not a limitation on authority, the Procurement Officer may consider as grounds for debarment or suspension, the following, if the conduct or offense occurred within three years of procurement:

i. Conviction of a bidder, offeror or contractor of a criminal offense related to obtaining or attempting to obtain a public or private contract or subcontract, or in the performance of such contract or subcontract.

ii. Conviction of a bidder, offeror, or contractor under the state or federal statutes of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification, or destruction of records or receiving stolen property.

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iii. Conviction of a bidder, offeror, or contractor under state or federal antitrust statutes arising out of the submission of bids or proposals.

iv. Violation by a bidder, offeror or contractor of contract provisions of a character which is reasonably regarded by the Procurement Officer to be so serious as to justify suspension or debarment action such as willful failure to perform in accordance with one or more contracts;

provided, that failure to perform or unsatisfactory performance caused by acts beyond the control of the contractor shall not be considered as a basis for debarment.

v. Any other cause occurring within three years of a procurement which the Central Purchasing Office determines to be so serious and compelling as to affect responsibility as a contractor.

vi. For a willful violation by a bidder, offeror, or contractor of the provisions of the City procurement code.

c. Determination

The Procurement Officer shall issue a written determination to debar or suspend which shall:

i. State the reasons for the actions taken; and

ii. Inform the business involved of its rights to judicial review.

d. Notice

A copy of the determination shall be immediately mailed to the debarred or suspended business.

8. Ethical Conduct

The successful Offeror shall abide by the City’s Ethical Conduct as it applies to the successful Offeror’s interactions with the City.

a. Contingent fees prohibited.

i. It is unlawful for a person or business to be retained, or for a business to retain a person or business, to solicit or secure a contract upon an agreement or understanding that the compensation is contingent upon the award of the contract.

ii. The only exceptions to the prohibitions set forth in subsection (C)(1) of this section are the retention of bona fide employees or bona fide established commercial selling agencies for the purpose of securing business; and persons or businesses which provide professional services in anticipation of the receipt of federal or state grants or

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b. Contemporaneous employment.

No employee of the City who is participating directly or indirectly in the procurement process can become or be, while employed by the City, an employee of any person or business contracting with the City.

9. Notice of Penalties

The Rio Rancho Procurement Code imposes civil and criminal penalties for its violation, in addition to the felony penalties for illegal bribes, gratuities and kickbacks imposed by the New Mexico Criminal Statutes.

10. Basis for Proposal

Only information supplied, in writing, by the City through the Purchasing Specialist or in this RFP should be used as the basis for the preparation of Offeror proposals.

11. Ownership of Proposals

All documents submitted in response to this RFP shall become property of the City.

If the RFP is cancelled, all responses received shall be kept by the City unless the

Offeror arranges for pick-up, within three (3) days of notification of the cancellation. The Offeror is responsible for all costs involved in return mailing/shipping of proposals.

12. Reservation of Rights

The City may evaluate proposals based on the anticipated completion of all or any portion of the Detailed Scope of Work. The City reserves the right to divide the

Detailed Scope of Work into multiple parts, to reject any proposals, and re-solicit for new proposals. The City makes no representations, written or oral, that it will enter into any form of agreement with any Offeror to this RFP, and no such representation is intended or should be construed by the issuance of this RFP.

13. Incurring Cost

Any cost incurred by the potential Offeror in preparation, transmittal, and/or presentation of any proposal or material submitted in response to this RFP shall be borne solely by the Offeror. Any cost incurred by the Offeror for set up and demonstration of the proposed equipment and/or system shall be borne solely by the Offeror.

14. Prime Contractor Responsibility

Any contractual agreement that may result from this RFP shall specify that the prime contractor is solely responsible for fulfillment of all requirements of the contractual agreement which may derive from this RFP. The successful Offeror is responsible for performance by any subcontractor(s) providing services in connection with this RFP. Payments to a subcontractor(s) is the responsibility of the successful Offeror and is solely responsible for fulfillment of the contract resulting from this RFP.

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15. Amended Proposals

An Offeror may submit an amended proposal before the submission deadline. Such amended proposals must be complete replacements for a previously submitted proposal and must be clearly identified as such in the transmittal letter.

16. Offeror’s Rights to Withdraw Proposal

Offerors will be allowed to withdraw their proposals at any time prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals. The Offeror must submit a written withdrawal request addressed to the Purchasing Specialist and signed by the Offeror’s duly authorized representative.

17. Rejection or Cancellation of Request for Proposals

The City reserves the right to cancel and/or reject any or all proposals, in whole or in part, when it is in the best interest of the City. A determination containing the reasons therefore shall be made part of the procurement file. Any proposal received in response to a terminated solicitation is not public information and shall not be made available to competing Offerors.

18. No Obligation

This RFP in no manner obligates the City to use the Offeror’s services until a valid contract is awarded and approved by appropriate authorities.

19. Sufficient Appropriation

Any contract awarded because of this RFP process may be terminated if sufficient appropriations or authorizations do not exist. Such terminations will be affected by sending written notice to the contractor(s). The City’s decision as to whether sufficient appropriations and authorizations are available will be accepted by the contractor as final.

20. Proposal Firm Offer

Responses to this RFP, including proposal prices for services, will be considered firm for one hundred twenty (120) days after the due date for receipt of proposals or ninety (90) days after the due date for the receipt of a best and final offer, if the

Offeror is invited or required to submit one.

21. Confidentiality

Any confidential information provided to, or developed by, the contractor in the performance of the contract resulting from this RFP shall be kept confidential and shall not be made available to any individual or organization by the contractor without the prior written approval of the City.

The Contractor(s) agrees to protect the confidentiality of all confidential information and not to publish or disclose such information to any third party without procuring the City’s written permission.

a. Proposals will be kept confidential until the award(s) are completed by the

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City. At that time, all proposals and documents pertaining to this RFP will be open for public inspection pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records

Act.

b. Any material that Offeror believes is confidential or proprietary should be marked as such and the City will withhold those materials to the extent the

City determines is allowable by law.

c. The price of products offered, or the cost of services proposed shall not be designated as proprietary or confidential information.

22. Contract Terms and Conditions

The contract between the City and a Contractor will follow the format specified by the City and contain the terms and conditions set forth in the Draft Contract

(Appendix F). However, the City reserves the right to negotiate provisions in addition to those contained in this RFP/Draft Contract with any Offeror. The contents of this RFP, as revised and/or supplemented, and the successful Offeror’s proposal will be incorporated into and become part of any resultant contract.

The City discourages exceptions from the contract terms and conditions as set forth in the RFP draft contract. Such exceptions may cause a proposal to be rejected as nonresponsive when, in the sole judgment of the City (and its evaluation team), the proposal appears to be conditioned on the exception, or correction of what is deemed to be a deficiency, or an unacceptable exception is proposed which would require a substantial proposal rewrite to correct.

Should an Offeror object to any of the terms and conditions as set forth in the

RFP/Draft Contract, the Offeror should submit, in redlined form, any proposed revisions to the draft contract and label as Appendix F.

If an Offeror fails to propose any alternate terms and conditions during the procurement process (the RFP process prior to selection as successful Offeror), no proposed alternate terms and conditions will be considered later during the negotiation process. Failure to propose alternate terms and conditions during the procurement process (the RFP process prior to selection as successful Offeror) is an explicit agreement by the Offeror that the contractual terms and conditions contained herein are accepted by the Offeror.

Any additional terms and conditions, which may be the subject of negotiations

(such terms and conditions having been proposed during the procurement process, this is, the RFP process prior to selection of successful Offeror), will be discussed only between the City and the Offeror selected and shall not be deemed an opportunity to amend the Offeror’s proposal.

If an agreement cannot be made with the selected Offeror, City reserves the right to terminate negotiations with that party and enter negotiations with the next highest qualified Offeror.

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23. Contract Type

The standard of performance for the contract resulting from this RFP shall be in accordance with the highest applicable standards. The initial contract price will be based on prices submitted by the selected Proposer, subject to contract negotiations with the City, and shall remain firm for the initial term of the contract. Price adjustments may be negotiated at the request of either party in the extension periods with mutual agreement of the parties.

24. Contract Changes

Written requests for price changes, during the implementation process or thereafter, resulting from a change of scope, as initiated or requested by the City, must be submitted in writing to the City. Any increase will be based on the Contractor’s actual cost increase only, as shown in written documentation. At the option of the

City, (1) the request may be granted; (2) the request may be modified to include a greater, or lesser, scope; or (3) the City and Proposer may continue with the

Contract without change. The City will accept or reject all such written requests within ninety (90) days of the date of receipt of the Contractor’s request for price increase or receipt of proper written documentation, whichever is later.

If a price increase is approved, the City will issue an amendment or change order to the contract specifying the date the increase will be effective. All Services and related accessories are to be billed at prices in effect at the time the service was rendered, or order was placed. If a price increase is rejected, the Contractor will be notified and, at the option of the City, the Contract may be (1) cancelled and the solicitation may be re-advertised; or (2) continued without change.

All other Contract changes will be effective only on written agreement signed by both parties.

25. Offeror Qualifications

The Evaluation Committee may make such investigations as necessary to determine the ability of the potential Offeror to adhere to the requirements specified within this RFP. The Evaluation Committee will reject the proposal of any potential

Offeror who is not a Responsible Offeror or fails to submit a Responsive Offer.

26. Right to Waive Minor Irregularities

The Central Purchasing Office may waive technical irregularities in the form of the bid or proposal of the low bidder or offeror which do not alter the price, delivery time, quality or quantity of the services, professional services, construction, or items of tangible personal property bid or offer.

27. Change in Contractor Representatives

The City reserves the right to require a change in contractor representatives if the assigned representative(s) is (are) not, in the opinion of the City, adequately meeting the needs of the City.

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28. Right to Publish

Throughout the duration of this procurement process and contract term, Offerors and contractors must secure from the City written approval prior to the release of any information that pertains to the potential work, or activities covered by this procurement and/or City contracts deriving from this procurement. Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in disqualification of the Offeror’s proposal or removal from the contract.

29. Use by Other Government Agencies

By submitting a bid or proposal, the Offeror indicates that they understand and agree that other local public bodies and state agencies with the State of New

Mexico, if allowed by their governing directives, may contract for the goods and services included in this procurement document with the awarded Contractor(s).

Contractual engagements accomplished under this provision shall be solely between the awarded Contractor and the contracting government entity with no obligation or liability by the City.

30. Application of Preferences

Preferences shall not be used when federal funds are utilized. Preferences shall not be applied in this RFP.

31. Insurance

The Contractor shall procure and maintain, at its own expense, all necessary or appropriate insurance coverage for itself and its agents and employees. But not by way of limitation, the Contractor shall maintain in force throughout the term of this

Agreement, the following insurance policies:

a. a professional liability insurance policy in an amount not less than One

Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per claim and Two Million Dollars

($2,000,000) in the aggregate, written on a "claims made" basis, covering the Contractor's errors and omissions in performing its services hereunder;

and,

b. a commercial general liability insurance policy (ISO Form CG 0001) written on an occurrence basis and covering liabilities arising out of the performance of the Contractor's services hereunder, including those provided by independent contractors, with coverage for products and completed operations, personal and advertising liability, and liability assumed under an insured contract, with coverage for any one occurrence or claim of not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000), and Two Million

Dollars ($2,000,000) aggregate.

c. The coverage required under this Section may be provided by two or more separate policies, if they together provide the coverage required. Such property and commercial general liability insurance must be endorsed as primary/non-contributory as to any insurance maintained by the additional

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d. Should any insurance proceeds be insufficient to fund the repairs or replacement of any damage, the shortfall shall be funded by the

Contractor. All deductibles and retentions are the sole responsibility of the

Contractor to pay. The Contractor will have the sole responsibility for fulfillment of the conditions of the policy, including but not limited to the reporting of claims. The Contractor acknowledges that obtaining property and commercial general liability insurance, in no way, limits its potential liability.

e. The amount of necessary insurance shall be re-evaluated every three (3) years to adjust for inflation and the Contractor hereby agrees to update any obtained insurance in accordance with this provision of the Contract and the

RFP.

f. The Contractor shall provide to the City a certificate of insurance or declarations page(s) demonstrating compliance with the foregoing.

g. The City shall be named as an additional insured under all policies required under this Section.

32. Business Registration

Pursuant to Section 110.04 of the City’s Municipal Code, any person proposing to engage in business within the municipal limits of the city, shall apply to the city and pay a business registration fee for each place of business within the limits of the city, prior to engaging in business. As such, the successful Offeror will be required to register its business with the City prior to entering into a contract with the City. This section does not apply if the Offeror is engaged in a business that is required to be licensed pursuant to Section 110.22 of the City’s Municipal Code.

33. Proof of Licensing

The City reserves the right to request proof of licensing for which licensure by the

State of New Mexico or another agency is required (i.e., Professional

Architect/Engineer, State Bar, Contractor, City, etc.).

34. W-9 Information.

Pursuant to Federal Tax Law (Internal Revenue Code, Section 6041), the City is required to obtain a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and a completed W-9 from the successful Offeror; according to Federal Income Tax Law (Internal

Revenue Code, Section 3406), failure to furnish this information promptly and correctly (within 30 days) may result in a $50.00 penalty imposed by the Internal

Revenue Service.

If the successful Offeror’s business is classified as a corporation, tax-exempt organization, government agency, or other exempt payee, the City will not file an

Annual Information Return (Form 1088 Misc.) on your behalf. However, the law

Page 18 of 23 rev. 12.5.25 requires your TIN in addition to informing the City of payee type. If classified as an individual or sole proprietor, the TIN is your Social Security Number; otherwise, your Federal Employer Identification Number serves as your TIN.

III. RESPONSE FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION

This section describes the format and organization of the Offeror’s response. Failure to conform to these guidelines may result in the disqualification of the proposal.

A. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

1. Offerors may submit one (1) proposal.

2. Proposals may be modified or withdrawn only by written notice, provided such notice is received prior to the proposal deadline.

B. PROPOSAL FORMAT

Proposals must conform to the following requirements:

1. Typewritten on standard 8 ½” x 11” paper (larger is permissible only for charts, graphs, and spreadsheets, etc.).

2. Margins, in all directions, must be at least an inch. No proposer-supplied information may appear in the margins.

3. Page numbers should appear on each page.

4. A font size of 11 points or larger.

5. Font type should be readable. Suggested fonts are Times New Roman, Arial (not

Arial Narrow), Courier New, Verdana, etc.

6. Each file uploaded into Bonfire shall be in PDF format unless otherwise stated in the RFP. The City’s preferred format is Optical Character Recognition (OCR) searchable PDF. Do not encrypt files and do not password protect any documents submitted.

7. Proposals must be submitted as indicated in the Proposal Content and Organization section below. A responsive proposal consists of two distinct files, a “Technical

Proposal” and a “Estimated Cost Proposal”, that must be submitted separately in Bonfire.

8. Each file uploaded into Bonfire shall be in PDF format unless otherwise stated in the RFP. The City’s preferred format is Optical Character Recognition (OCR) searchable PDF. Do not encrypt files and do not password protect any documents submitted.

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9. Proposals must be submitted as indicated in the Proposal Content and Organization section below. A responsive proposal consists of two distinct files, a “Technical

Proposal” and an “Estimated Man-Hour Proposal”, that must be submitted separately in Bonfire.

C. PROPOSAL CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION

The proposal must be organized in the following format and must contain, at a minimum, all listed items in the sequence indicated.

1. Technical Proposal

a. Appendix D – Signed Letter of Transmittal

b. Appendix F – Redlined Version of Draft Contract

c. Response to Technical Specifications

i. Appendix A – Project Understanding/Project Approach/Work Plan

ii. Appendix A1 – Experience and Qualifications

iii. Appendix C- Proposed Project Schedule (N/A)

iv. Appendix E- Proposal Checklist

vi. Other supporting materials (if applicable)

Do not include any cost information in the Technical Proposal.

2. Estimated Cost Proposal

a. Appendix B – Estimated Cost Proposal

Estimated Cost Proposal must be completed according to instructions provided in this RFP and must be uploaded to Bonfire as a separate file.

Identify your method of determining the cost for these services (i.e. hourly, lump sum, etc). Firms proposing a fixed hourly fee shall include an hourly fee schedule for all personnel including a schedule of all reimbursables. Cost plus markup is not permissible.

Within each section of the RFP, Offeror’s should address the items in the order indicated above. All forms provided in this RFP must be thoroughly completed and included in the appropriate sections of the RFP.

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IV. SPECIFICATIONS

Offerors should respond in the form of a thorough narrative to each specification, unless otherwise instructed. The narratives, including required supporting materials, will be evaluated, and awarded points accordingly.

A. DETAILED SCOPE OF WORK (Exhibit A) The Detailed Scope of Work will outline the guidelines for submitting a proposal and shall be made part of the contract between the City and the successful

Offeror(s).

B. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

1. Letter of Transmittal (Appendix D)

The Offeror’s proposal must be accompanied by the Letter of Transmittal.

The form must be completed in its entirety and signed by the person authorized to obligate the company. Failure to meet this requirement will result in an Offeror’s disqualification.

2. Project Understanding/Project Approach/ Work Plan (Appendix A)

Offerors shall explain how they will organize and meet the goals of the project, as described in the Detailed Scope of Work (Exhibit A). The Project

Understanding/Project Approach/Work Plan shall include a well-defined work plan that describes the Offeror’s understanding of the project and the planned approach to achieve its goals.

It should include a narrative of the firm’s ability to provide the necessary service level as outlined in the Detailed Scope of Work. Offeror must provide the names of any sub-consultants/sub-contractors that are intended to be used on the project and the specific services to be provided.

The response, identified as Appendix A, must convey a realistic approach, technical soundness, and convey potential issues in delivery of services. The

Project Understanding/Project Approach/Work Plan shall not exceed 3 pages.

3. Experience and Qualifications (Appendix A1)

a. State relevant experience or comparable work as required in the Scope of

Work. The narrative must thoroughly describe how the Offeror has supplied expertise for similar projects.

b. Describe any special or unique qualifications as they relate to this project, including, but not limited to, working with other local, state, and/or federal government agencies.

c. Provide a description of three (3) similar projects completed in the last five (5) years by the team members that are to be assigned to this project.

Include the name and telephone number of each Project Point of Contact.

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The Experience and Qualifications section of the RFP shall not exceed two

(2) pages.

The maximum number of pages for the Project Understanding/Project

Approach/Work Plan (Appendix A) and the Experience and Qualifications

(Appendix A1) must not exceed 5 pages

4. Oral Presentations (if requested)

If Oral Presentations are held, finalist Offeror(s) may be required to explain, demonstrate, detail and/or clarify any aspect of its submitted proposal, to which the Evaluation Committee may ask questions and/or seek clarifications. Oral Presentations may be held at the sole source discretion of the Evaluation Committee.

C. ESTIMATED COST PROPOSAL (Appendix B)

The Estimated Cost Proposal, must be provided by the Offeror and included with this submission and marked Appendix B. Proposed costs are solicited for planning purposes only. No cost shall be submitted at this time for the tasks described in the Scope of Work

(Exhibit A). The final fee will be negotiated, if the City of Rio Rancho elects to use the services.

V. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

A. EVALUATION POINT SUMMARY

The following evaluation criteria with point values assigned to each of the factors will be used in the evaluation of individual potential Offeror proposals.

PASS/FAIL REQUREMENTS PASS/FAIL

Letter of Transmittal - Appendix D Pass/Fail

EVALUATION CRITERIA POINTS AVAILABLE

Technical Requirements

Project Understanding/Project Approach/Work Plan –

Appendix A

Experience and Qualifications – Appendix A1 30

Quality of Proposal 10

TOTAL POINTS – TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 110

Man-Hour Proposal – Appendix B

Cost Reasonableness

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Objective Cost Analysis

TOTAL POINTS - COST

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS (without Oral

Presentations and/or Best and Final Offers)

Best and Final Offers (if requested) 20

Cost Reasonableness

Objective Cost Analysis

Oral Presentations (if requested) 30

GRAND TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS 160

B. EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Pass/Fail Requirements

A “Fail” for any item(s) below will result in a non-responsive proposal and the proposal will not be evaluated.

a. Letter of Transmittal (Appendix D)

The Letter of Transmittal must accompany the Offeror’s proposal and must be completed in its entirety and signed by the person authorized to obligate the company. Failure to meet this requirement will result in an

Offeror’s disqualification.

2. Project Understanding/Project Approach/Work Plan (Appendix A)

Points will be awarded based on the Offeror’s ability to propose a detailed and realistic approach that demonstrates understanding of the scope of work, technical soundness, and proposed enhancements to elements outlined in the scope of work.

The Offeror must provide a well-defined work plan and acceptable schedule, specific to the scope of work.

3. Experience and Qualifications (Appendix A1)

Points will be awarded based on grammar, thoroughness, and clarity of the

Offeror’s response in this Section. The Offeror shall provide relevant and concise information regarding the experience of the proposed project team. The Offeror must identify the experience and performance of key staff that will be assigned to the project. The Evaluation Committee will weigh the relevancy and extent of

Offeror’s experience, expertise, and knowledge; and of personnel education, experience, and certifications/licenses, if applicable.

4. Quality of Proposal The consultant shall provide a proposal free of spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. Each Offeror shall exhibit their ability to submit a quality proposal communicating a realistic approach, technical soundness, and enhancements to elements that are outlined in this RFP. Points may be affected if the Offer does not

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Clarity and realism in approach, technical soundness, and proposed enhancements to elements that are outlined in the RFP may affect points in the category.

5. Oral Presentations/Interviews (if requested)

Points will be awarded based on the quality, organization, professionalism, and technical knowledge of the information being presented.

C. EVALUATION PROCESS

All Offeror proposals will be reviewed for compliance with the requirements and specifications stated within the RFP. Proposals deemed non-responsive will be eliminated from further consideration.

The City’s Sole Point of Contact may reach out to the Offeror for clarification of the response.

The Evaluation Committee may use other sources to perform the evaluation.

Responsive proposals will be evaluated on the factors set forth in the RFP, which have been assigned a point value. The responsible Offerors with the highest scores will be selected as finalist Offerors, based upon the proposals submitted. The responsible Offerors whose proposals are most advantageous to the City taking into consideration the evaluation factors will be recommended for award. Please note, however, that a serious deficiency in the response to any one factor may be grounds for rejection regardless of overall score.