2025.02.10 Request for Qualifications Playground.docx

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

PLAYGROUND DESIGN SERVICES

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM PARKS

Sealed proposals endorsed “Qualifications for Playground Services” will be received at the Department of Public Services, 851 S. Eton, Birmingham, MI 48009, ATTN: Carrie Laird, Parks and Recreation Manager, until Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 2:00 pm after which time proposals will be publicly opened and read.

The City of Birmingham, Michigan, intends to design, redesign, and purchase new playground equipment and installation of that playground equipment for several playgrounds in the City of Birmingham over the next number of years. Utilizing comparable cooperative purchasing agreements such as Sourcewell and/or others, the City intends to determine which vendors offer suitable playground services. The purpose of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is to request proposals from playground vendors that have been awarded contracts through cooperative purchasing agreements who demonstrate the ability to design, create, provide and install multiple playgrounds of varying sizes throughout the City of Birmingham. Vendors will present their capabilities, experience and ability to perform this work as described in this RFQ.

The City is seeking innovative playground design and creative playground equipment for enjoyment of all children but particularly for children aged 2 years to 12 years old. All design and playground equipment must meet current and applicable ASTM, CPSC and ADA standards and guidelines. The playground design and playground equipment will be installed in various areas, and the design should include, but not be limited to, artificial turf for surfacing, drinking fountains, restroom facilities, grading and site preparation work, shade canopies, lighting solutions, and finally, restoration of any affected areas of current playground equipment and/or design during construction.

A mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held at Poppleton Park in Birmingham Michigan on February 12, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. Poppleton Park is adjacent to and east of Northbound Woodward Avenue, between Quarton (16 Mile) and Maple (15 Mile), accessible by Wimbleton to the North and Madison to the South of the park:

The RFQ may be obtained online from Bidnet Direct at https://www.bidnetdirect.com/ or at the City of Birmingham, 851 S. Eton, Birmingham, Michigan, ATTN: Carrie Laird, Parks & Recreation Manager

Submitted to MITN:

Mandatory Pre-bid meeting: February 19, 2025 at 1:00 pm

Deadline for Submissions: March 13, 2025 at 2:00 pm

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

FOR PLAYGROUND DESIGN SERVICES

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM PARKS

Contents

INTRODUCTION

For purposes of this request for qualifications (RFQ) the City of Birmingham will hereby be referred to as “City” and the private firm will hereby be referred to as “Vendor.”

The City of Birmingham, Michigan, intends to design, redesign, and purchase new playground equipment and installation of that playground equipment for several playgrounds in the City of Birmingham over the next number of years. Utilizing comparable cooperative purchasing agreements such as Sourcewell and/or others, the City intends to determine what vendors and companies have to offer for playground services. The purpose of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is to request proposals from playground vendors that have been awarded contracts through cooperative purchasing agreements who demonstrate the ability to design, create, provide and install multiple playgrounds of varying sizes throughout the City of Birmingham. Vendors will present their capabilities, experience and ability to perform this work as described in this RFQ.

During the evaluation process, the City’s best interest will be served and the City reserves the right to request additional information or clarification from proposers, or to allow corrections of errors or omissions. At the discretion of the City, vendors submitting proposals may be requested to make oral presentations as part of the evaluation.

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)

The purpose of this RFQ is to request proposals from vendors. The City is seeking innovative playground design and creative playground equipment for enjoyment of all children but particularly for children aged 2 years to 12 years old. All design and playground equipment must meet current and applicable ASTM, CPSC and ADA standards and guidelines. The playground design and playground equipment will be installed in various areas, and the design should include, but not be limited to, artificial turf for surfacing, drinking fountains, restroom facilities, grading and site preparation work, shade canopies, lighting solutions, and finally, restoration of any affected areas of current playground equipment and/or design during construction.

The City intends to purchase new play equipment for multiple Birmingham parks over the next 2-3 years. Parks vary by size and classification (i.e., mini-park, neighborhood park, community park). Maps of the playgrounds are included as attachments in this RFQ.

Public engagement is an important component of the playground design. Each playground design will require meetings with City staff, representatives from HOA’s, and one or more meetings with the Parks and Recreation Board. Additionally, the City will publicize opportunities for feedback on designs from residents for all or some play areas for the Vendor to include as part of design.

Vendors shall provide three examples/schematics playgrounds of varying sizes and costs as part of their proposal and one 3D rendering example.

Any proposal received after the requested due date of March 13, 2025 by 2:00 pm will not be accepted.

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

1. Any and all forms requesting information from the bidder must be completed on the attached forms contained herein (see Vendor’s Responsibilities). If more than one bid is submitted, a separate bid proposal form must be used for each.

2. Any request for clarification of this RFQ shall be made in writing and delivered to: Carrie Laird, 851 S. Eton St., Birmingham, MI 48009 OR claird@bhamgov.org.

Such request for clarification shall be delivered, in writing, no later than March 7, 2025 4 pm.

3. All proposals must be submitted following the RFQ format as stated in this document and shall be subject to all requirements of this document including the instruction to respondents and general information sections. All proposals must be regular in every respect and no interlineations, excisions, or special conditions shall be made or included in the RFQ format by the respondent.

4. Each respondent shall include in his or her proposal, in the format requested, the cost of supply and delivery of the product specified. Municipalities are exempt from Michigan State Sales and Federal Excise taxes. Do not include such taxes in the proposal figure. The City will furnish the successful Vendor with tax exemption information when requested.

5. Each respondent shall include in their proposal the following information: Vendor’s name, address, city, state, zip code, telephone number, and fax number. The Vendor shall also provide the name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of an individual in their organization to whom notices and inquiries by the City should be directed as part of their proposal.

6. Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting: A mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held at Poppleton Park, near the playground in Birmingham Michigan on February 19, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. Poppleton Park is adjacent to and east of Northbound Woodward Avenue, between Quarton (16 Mile) and Maple (15 Mile), accessible by Wimbleton to the North and Madison to the South of the park: Street side parking is available on Oxford St, the east side of the park.

PROPOSAL RESPONSE FORMAT:

The items listed below shall be submitted with each proposal and shall be submitted in the order shown. Each section should be clearly labeled with page numbers and separated tabs. Include a title page and table of contents. Failure by a proposer to include all listed items may affect evaluation score.

TRANSMITTAL LETTER:

Provide a transmittal letter indicating Vendor’s understanding of the qualifications for these Playground Services. The letter must be a brief formal letter that provides information regarding the Vendor’s interest in and ability to perform the requirements of this project. A person who is authorized to commit the Vendor’s organization to perform the work included in the proposal must sign the letter.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY/SERVICES:

Provide a synopsis of the highlights of your proposal for the creative and innovative design of the multiple playgrounds in Birmingham. This synopsis should not exceed one (1) page in length and should be easily understood. Clearly describe your approach to this project including Vendor’s philosophy and methodology for your design of the playgrounds for the multiple locations.

VENDOR’S PROFILE AND CAPACITY- 40 points

VENDOR’S PROFILE

Provide Vendor’s profile describing Vendor and include all of the following:

a) The official name of Vendor

b) The address of Vendor’s headquarters or any local office involved in the project

c) Vendor’s Federal Tax Identification number

d) The name, address, telephone, fax numbers and email address of the person(s) who will serve as the contact(s) to the City, with regards to the proposal, with authorization to make representations on behalf of and to bind Vendor

e) State history of the Vendor, in terms of length of existence, types of services provided, etc. Identify the technical details that make the Vendor uniquely qualified for this work. Provide examples of similar projects, including examples of construction drawings and details, as well as photos of finished products.

PROJECT TEAM:

Proposal responses shall include a complete list of and resumes for all key personnel associated with the project. This list must include all key personnel, including the Project Manager, and any sub-contractors such as installers who will work with City’s Representative.

For each person on the list, the following information shall be included:

a) The person’s relationship with Vendor, including job title and years of employment with Vendor

b) The role that the person will play in connection with the project

c) Address, telephone, fax numbers, and email address

d) The person’s relevant experience

e) Relevant awards, certificates or other achievements

This section of the proposal response should include no more than two pages of information for each listed person.

REFERENCES:

Provide a list of two (2) clients within five years. References must be satisfactory as deemed solely by the City. References should have similar scope to this project.

Reference information shall include:

a) Vendor’s Name

b) Contact person (name and title), contact person is to be someone directly involved with the project

c) Complete street address, telephone number, Email address

d) Dates of project

The City reserves the right to contact any of the references provided in order to determine proposer’s performance record on work similar to that described in this request. The City reserves the right to contact references other than those provided in the response and to use the information gained from them in the evaluation process.

PROPOSED WORK PLAN – 50 points:

A detailed work plan is to be presented which lists all tasks determined to be necessary to accomplish the work detailed in the scope of services. The work plan shall define resources needed for each task. In addition, the work plan shall include a common timeline schedule per park depicting the sequence and duration of tasks showing the process of implementing new playground equipment. The City intends an aggressive schedule for implementing multiple playgrounds over the next 2 to 3 years. Equipment availability, lead time, and point of origin are all important for the success of this project.

Describe your approach to this project, including how you anticipate coordinating with the City representatives, homeowners associations and any applicable boards.

Discuss the process of developing detail design for at least 2 other projects that have been accomplished within the previous 5 years. Describe examples of issues that may have arisen during the design process and how they were resolved. Provide examples of similar projects that are located within a 4 hour driving radius of City of Birmingham. Provide evidence of expertise with universal design of playgrounds.

DETAILED RESPONSE:

This section should constitute the major portion of the proposal and should contain at least the following information:

a) A complete narrative of the proposer’s ability to provide innovative and creative designs of playgrounds and the equipment, the proposer’s ability and approach, and the resources necessary to fulfill the requirements

b) Three Examples/schematics of playscape designs for the following Birmingham parks: Poppleton Park- Fully Inclusive Playground: First example, assume up to $600,000 budget for play equipment. Second example, assume up to $900,000 budget.

Pumphouse Park: Assume $150,000 budget

Other assumptions: Removal of existing equipment, installation of new equipment and all surface material is part of the example budget.

d) A 3D rendering of one of the above playground examples.

e) Proposal must include product literature for proposed equipment and surface material including installation and warranty information.

In the scoring for this section, consultants shall be evaluated on the clarity, thoroughness, and content of their responses to the above items.

FEE PROPOSAL– 10 points:

Fees shall include a per meeting fee and a design fee per playground for each individual park location. An hourly rate for any out of scope approved changes should be included on the cost proposal form.

Proposed fees shall include all planning, labor, design, materials and travel.

The City shall not be responsible for the reimbursement of any costs not specifically set forth in the Vendor’s proposal. The City reserves the right to accept any part of the proposer’s entire fee schedule and to negotiate any charges contained therein, unless otherwise qualified by the proposer.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION:

City staff will evaluate each proposal by the above-described criteria and point system, based on 100 points.

The City reserves the right to reject any proposal that it determines to be unresponsive and deficient in any of the information requested for evaluation. A proposal with all the requested information does not guarantee the proposing Vendor to be a candidate for an interview. City staff may contact references to verify material submitted by the consultants.

City staff then will schedule the interviews with the selected vendors if necessary. The selected vendors will be given the opportunity to discuss in more detail their qualifications, past experience, proposed work plan and fee proposal.

The interview must include the project team members expected to complete a majority of work on the project, but no more than four members total. The interview shall consist of a presentation of up to ten minutes by the consultant, including the person who will be the project manager on this contract, followed by approximately ten minutes of questions and answers. Audiovisual aids may be used during the oral interviews.

The City also reserves the right to waive the interview process and evaluate the consultants based on their proposals and fee schedules alone.

WARRANTY:

The proposal shall provide the warranty for all equipment in addition to the warranty for the installation.

VALUED-ADDED CONSIDERATIONS:

Proposer may include any relevant services or products that will be provided to the City which are not specifically priced in their proposal; but which enhance the Vendor’s proposal.

IDENTIFICATION OF ANTICIPATED AND/OR POTENTIAL PROJECT CHALLENGES:

Use this section to identify and describe any anticipated and/or potential project challenges, the Vendor’s approach to resolving these challenges, and any special assistance that will be requested from the City.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received, waive informalities, or accept any proposal, in whole or in part, it deems best.

2. The City reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted and to request additional information of one or more Vendors.

3. Any proposal may be withdrawn up until the date and time set above for the opening of the proposals. Any proposals not so withdrawn shall constitute an irrevocable offer, for a period of ninety (90) days, to provide the services set forth in the proposal.

4. The cost of preparing and submitting a proposal is the responsibility of the Vendor and shall not be chargeable in any manner to the City.

BIDDER’S RESPONSIBILITIES

In addition to the above required information, each bidder shall provide the following as part of their proposal:

1. Complete and sign all forms requested for completion within this RFQ.

a. Bidder’s Representative (Attachment A )

b. Fee Proposal (Attachment B)

c. Iran Sanctions Act Vendor Certification Form (Attachment C)

EXAMINATION OF PROPOSAL MATERIALS

The submission of a proposal shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Vendor that it has investigated all aspects of the RFQ, that it is aware of the applicable facts pertaining to the RFQ process and its procedures and requirements, and that it has read and understands the RFQ. Statistical information which may be contained in the RFQ or any addendum thereto is for informational purposes only.

ATTACHMENT A - BIDDER’S REPRESENTATIVE

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM PARKS

In submitting this proposal, as herein described, the Vendor agrees that:

1. They have carefully examined the specifications, terms and Agreement of the Request for Qualifications and all other provisions of this document and understand the meaning, intent, and requirement of it.

2. They will enter into a written contract and furnish the item or items in the time specified in conformance with the specifications and conditions contained therein for the price quoted by the proponent on this proposal.

PREPARED BY

(Print Name)

DATE

VENDOR

ADDRESS

ATTACHMENT B - COST PROPOSAL

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM PARKS

In order for the proposal to be considered valid, this form must be completed in its entirety.

Per Meeting Fee

Design Fee per Playground

W. Lincoln Park

Pumphouse Park

Poppleton Park

Pembroke Park

Crestview Park

Out of Scope Items Hourly Rate Fee

Additional Associated Items/Costs That May Arise:

ATTACHMENT C - IRAN SANCTIONS ACT VENDOR

CERTIFICATION FOR

PLAYGROUND DESIGN SERVICES

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM PARKS

Pursuant to Michigan Law and the Iran Economic Sanction Act, 2012 PA 517 (“Act”), prior to the City accepting any bid or proposal, or entering into any contract for goods or services with any prospective Vendor, the Vendor must certify that it is not an “Iran Linked Business”, as defined by the Act.

By completing this form, the Vendor certifies that it is not an “Iran Linked Business,” as defined by the Act and is in full compliance with all provisions of the Act and is legally eligible to submit a bid for consideration by the City.

PREPARED BY

(Print Name)

DATE

VENDOR

ADDRESS

TAXPAYER I.D.#

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