25-11 RFP External Communications Plan.pdf

R F P – 25-11 External Communications & Engagement Plan P a g e 1 | 9

CITY OF GUNNISON

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP No. 25-11) EXTERNAL

COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT PLAN

ISSUED: June 4, 2025

QUESTIONS DUE DATE & TIME: July 17, 2025, 5:00 PM MDT

SUBMIT QUALIFICATIONS NO LATER THAN: July 31, 2025, 2:00 PM MDT

SUBMIT QUALIFICATIONS ELECTRONICALLY: Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System (“RMEPS”): portal at https:bidnetdirect.com/Colorado

Submittals must be received in the RMEPS submission portal on or before the Proposal due date and time. Hardcopy submittals will not be accepted. It is the Respondent’s sole responsibility to ensure all required documents are submitted through RMEPS by the submission deadline.

RMEPS does not allow for uploading of documents after the submittal due date and time has closed.

The Submittal will be time-stamped by RMEPS upon receipt. After uploading Submittal documents, Respondents must click the SUBMIT button. The City of Gunnison will not accept uploads that are “saved” but not “submitted”. To verify that a Submittal has been submitted successfully, Respondents may contact BidNet Support or verify, via the Bid Management tab in the Respondent’s account, that the documents are not in “Draft” status. The City does not have access to or control of the Vendor side of RMEPS. Please contact RMEPS at 1-800-835-4603, Option 2, for technical assistance.

Please Note: Addenda may be issued for this RFP and will be posted online at https://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado. Respondents shall ensure all addenda issued are acknowledged and responses thereto submitted along with the required Submittal documents.

Failure to submit such responses may result in disqualification of the respective Submittal.

Proposals (as hereinafter defined) received after the above specified due date and time, or which are not prepared and filed in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Request for Proposal (“RFP”), may not be considered for evaluation.

https://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado

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RFP Title/No.: External Communications & Engagement Plan 25-11

Location: City of Gunnison, Colorado

Purpose: The City of Gunnison, Colorado is soliciting Requests for Proposals from consulting firms with expertise in developing and providing an external communications and engagement plan to define a structure and methods to foster an engaged, informed community in a consistent and effective manner.

Submission Deadline: 2:00:00 p.m. MDT, Thursday, July 31, 2025

Questions Deadline: 5:00:00 p.m. MDT, Thursday, July 17, 2025

Written Inquiries: Jackie Johnson jjohnson@gunnisonco.gov

DO NOT CONTACT OTHER STAFF OR CITY CONSULTANTS

RFP Contents: A. Background B. Project Objectives C. List of Attachments D. Proposal Format and Content E. Review and Evaluation of Proposals F. Project Schedule G. Submissions and Inquiries H. Additional Terms I. Proprietary Information and Return of RFP J. Respondent Compensation K. Modification and Withdrawal of Proposal L. Protest Procedures

Attachment 1 – Price Form Attachment 2 – Sample Contract

A. Background

The City of Gunnison, Colorado, is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Gunnison County.

Located in the west-central Rocky Mountains, it is approximately 180 miles west of Colorado’s Front Range and 140 miles from Grand Junction. The City covers about 4.75 square miles and has a population of approximately 6,766 residents. Gunnison is well-connected by U.S. Highway 50 and Colorado State Highway 135, which also serves as the City’s Main Street and provides access to Crested Butte.

The City operates under a Council-Manager form of government, with a five-member City Council responsible for policy-making and a City Manager overseeing administrative operations. Gunnison provides essential municipal services, including water, sewer, electric, and trash removal, and manages enterprise funds, senior water rights, and infrastructure capacity to support future growth.

The City is known for its exceptional park system, which offers 110 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, far exceeding the national average. Recreational facilities include a 45,000-square-foot mailto:jjohnson@gunnisonco.gov

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Community Center, Jorgensen Park (featuring an indoor ice rink, ball fields, and skate park), and the 465-acre Van Tuyl Ranch encompassing both a working agriculture operation and public recreation trails. Just outside city limits lies the 8,300-acre Hartman Rocks Recreation Area, managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Currently, Gunnison’s communications efforts are centralized within the City Clerk’s Department. The full-time role of Communications Assistant and Records Manager, works closely with the City Clerk to develop and distribute content, schedule social media posts, and manage event logistics. The communications duties for this role are .5 FTE shared with records management at another .5 FTE.

Final oversight and strategic messaging is developed in conjunction with the City Manager and Leadership Team. Communications responsibilities have almost exclusively been assigned to the City Clerk’s office, but the City is actively seeking to fully centralize and professionalize these functions. The Parks and Recreation Department continues to maintain a separate social media page.

The majority of public engagement activities are executed through the Clerk’s Office and departments take the lead on the meeting’s context and information presented. To date, no external review of the City's communications and engagement practices has been conducted.

The City of Gunnison seeks to develop an external Communications and Engagement Plan to guide its efforts from 2025 to 2030. The Plan aligns directly with the Gunnison City Council’s adopted Strategic Framework—specifically Strategic Imperative 5: Public Engagement, which calls for the implementation of a communications and engagement plan to foster a consistently informed and engaged community in an effective manner. The overarching goal is to increase public understanding of City services, programs, and priorities while promoting inclusive, meaningful participation in local government.

The following is a non-comprehensive list of citywide communication tools currently in use:

City Website, hosted by Revize Monthly Articles (only in print, Gunnison Country Times newspaper) Social Media: Facebook, Instagram City of Gunnison Gunnison Parks and Recreation Welcoming in Gunnison Gunnison Country Times Shopper YouTube ClearGov Email Blasts to specific groups depending on the topic or utility customers Fliers Door Hangers for special projects Local Radio Stations: KBUT, KVLE-FM, KPKE Open Houses Informational Booths In-person Outreach events Laserfiche forms (event applications, ADA Grievance Form, Traffic Calming Form, Pet licenses, Utility Billing, Follow Up Input) Community Surveys Other organizations include City announcements in their digital newsletter Message included with utility bills

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ActiveNet Gunnison Parks and Rec App iWorq Employment Posting on Indeed.com, Facebook, Government Jobs, and other associations

The City of Gunnison, Colorado is soliciting Requests for Proposals from communication and engagement consulting firms to advise the City on public communications and engagement strategies. Responding firms should discuss their experience and address the questions or prompts listed below.

B. Project Objectives

The objective of this project is to develop a unified, consistent, and proactive approach to communicating with and engaging residents, visitors, and interested parties. Grounded in the City’s adopted values of Integrity, Stewardship, and Collaboration, the Plan will help ensure information and engagement is transparent, trustworthy, inclusive, and participatory. It will define measurable outcomes, provide tools and best practices, and offer a framework for responsive communication that adapts to emerging trends and evolving community needs.

The project objective will be achieved based upon a scope of work that answers the following questions:

1. How can we develop an integrated, organization-wide communication and engagement strategy that aligns messaging, public outreach, and overall goals across departments?

2. What approaches can help us transition from a decentralized to a more centralized communication structure while respecting departmental needs and goals?

3. How can we increase participation among underrepresented, historically excluded, and disengaged community members in Gunnison through inclusive and culturally appropriate engagement strategies? How can these strategies be applied to youth and senior residents?

4. Gunnison is home to Western Colorado University, a small liberal arts university with eight graduate programs. How can we increase communications, participation, and engagement in City activities, feedback sessions, and decision-making among Western students?

5. Recognizing that Gunnison is a small, rural mountain community with limited personnel and funding committed to communications and engagement activities, what innovative, scalable, and cost-effective tools and practices can we use to ensure engagement is accessible and appropriate across a range of topics and audiences?

6. How can we shift from one-way communication to two-way, participatory engagement and embed these best practices into a practical framework for digital and in-person outreach?

7. What methods should we use to evaluate, measure, and refine our communication and engagement efforts, including assessing the effectiveness of existing tools and adapting based on project needs?

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C. List of Attachments

Attachment 1 – Price Form Attachment 2 – Sample Contract

D. Proposal Format and Content

The proposal shall only contain the sections listed below and shall respond fully to all requirements of the RFP. Proposals are limited to 14 single-sided (8-1/2” x 11”) pages plus Price Form, not including a cover page or dividers, no less than 11-point font. Submittals which do not address the items in this section may be considered incomplete and may be deemed non-responsive by the Review Committee.

1. LETTER OF INTEREST: Provide a letter of interest signed by an authorized Consultant representative, including contact information. Acknowledge any addenda.

Inclusion of contact information and any addenda acknowledgement will constitute a passing score for this section (1-page maximum).

2. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS: The proposal shall include a listing and brief biography of key individuals proposed to be assigned to the project with emphasis on a designated Project Manager. The Project Manager should be the individual conducting the day-to-day activities on this project.

Minimum qualifications: the Project Manager shall have related experience (type of experience is more important than location of experience) in developing a municipal Economic Development Plan. Each individual’s proposed position/responsibility shall be indicated. Special emphasis shall be given to the individual’s background, qualifications, certifications, experience on related and/or similar projects. At least three (3) client references, including name, description of past working relationship, and current contact information, shall be listed for each key individual who is proposed (4-page maximum).

3. PROJECT APPROACH: The proposal shall include a project-specific discussion and detailed scope of work regarding the Consultant’s approach to achieving the City’s project objectives, as defined in Section B of this RFP. Provide a detailed schedule indicating the Proposer’s sequence and completion date(s) assuming a contract award by August 27, 2025. Detail any exclusions to the price proposal or clarifications.

Emphasis should be placed on how the Consultant’s management approach will promote the Project’s success. Do not provide price references in this section. (6-page maximum).

4. RELATED PROJECT EXPERIENCE: The proposal shall include detailed profiles of similar projects that the Consultant and proposed team members have completed in the last seven (7) years including project name, date, description, and location. For each project, indicate which proposed team members worked on the projects and describe the role/work they performed and their levels of involvement. Clearly explain why past profiles are relevant and comparable to this project. (3-pages maximum).

5. PRICE PROPOSAL: submit a total not-to-exceed price to accomplish the proposed Scope of Services, as defined by the Proposer in section E.3. Submit the total not- to-exceed amount on the provided Price Form only for evaluation in accordance with Section E of this RFP. (Use provided Price Form only; this page is excluded from the total 14-page maximum page limit.)

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E. Review and Evaluation of Proposals

Proposals to this RFP will be evaluated and ranked based on the following criteria (125 available points):

1. LETTER OF INTEREST (PASS/FAIL)

2. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS (20 points)

3. PROJECT APPROACH (50 points)

4. RELATED PROJECT EXPERIENCE (30 points)

5. PRICE PROPOSAL (25 points)

Failure to comply with the requirements of the RFP may result in the PROPOSAL being declared non-responsive and the Proposer being disqualified. Section 1 of the PROPOSAL will be evaluated on pass/fail criteria. Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the PROPOSAL will be evaluated and scored on a qualitative basis.

Section 5, Price Proposal and Evaluation: The price proposal reflected on the Pricing Form (Attachment 1) will constitute the maximum, not-to-exceed lump sum price payable to the Vendor and will be reviewed and scored as follows:

• The Proposer with the lowest price will be awarded the maximum available points of twenty-five (25) points.

• The proposer with the second lowest Baseline Price will be awarded points upon the ration of the lowest Baseline Price divided by the second lowest Baseline Price; and multiplied by twenty-five (25) points (rounded to the nearest hundredth of a point).

• The scoring shall continue as described above for all other Prices.

Baseline Price Scoring, Examples

PROPOSER A: LOWEST PRICE - $80,000 25 points

PROPOSER B: SECOND LOWEST BASELINE PRICE= $100,000

($80,000/100,000 X 25 =)

20 points

PROPOSER C: THIRD LOWEST BASELINE PRICE = $200,000

($80,000/$200,000 X 25= )

10 points

Best Value Determination:

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The proposal with the highest Total Score will be deemed the Best-Value Responsible Proposer. The total Score will be determined by adding the Technical Proposal Score (Maximum Available Points = 100) and Price Proposal Score (Maximum Available Points = 25), for a maximum total score of 125 points.

Interviews are not anticipated. Final evaluation scores will be issued with the Notice of Intent to Award on the RMEPS. Failure to mutually agree upon a final Agreement, may result in the City negotiating with the next highest scoring submission.

F. Project Schedule The following is a preliminary schedule of project milestones; all dates are subject to change.

Milestone Date

Issue RFP June 4, 2025 Deadline for Questions July 17, 2025 PROPOSAL Due Date July 31, 2025, 2:00 PM Notice of Intent to Award August 19, 2025 City Council – Approve Contract Award August 27, 2025

G. Submissions and Inquiries

Gunnison encourages disadvantaged, minority, and women-owned Consultants to respond.

Submit one (1) electronic pdf copy of your Statement of Qualifications to the City of Gunnison by use of RMEPS, as detailed on page 1 of this RFP.

PROPOSALs will be received until 2:00:00 p.m. local time on the date provided in Section F.

Late submissions will not be accepted.

Any questions regarding this project shall be in writing and shall only be directed to Jackie Johnson, Procurement, Contracts & Grants administrator, jjohnson@gunnisonco.gov.

All questions, answers, and addenda shall be published on the City’s solicitation website BidNet. All questions shall be submitted no later than the date provided in Section F of this RFP. All addenda shall be acknowledged in the Letter of Interest.

H. Additional Terms

The City reserves all rights, which shall be exercisable in its sole discretion, without limitation or cause or notice, the following and/or any applicable law:

• The right to reject any or all PROPOSALS without limitation and/or to cancel, re-issue, postpone, or withdraw the RFP at any time without incurring any obligation or liability.

• The right to modify the RFP language, timeframes, or contents and issue addenda.

• The right to engage technical and/or legal firms in the evaluation of PROPOSALS.

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• The right to waive informalities, irregularities, or deficiencies in the RFP or

PROPOSALS.

I. Proprietary Information and Return of RFP

All PROPOSALS received by the City in response to this RFP are deemed property of the City and are subject to the Colorado Open Records Act. The City, or any of its agents, representative, employees, or firms, shall not be liable to a Respondent or individual participating in a PROPOSAL, as a result of the disclosure of all or a portion of a PROPOSAL under this RFP. Any information contained in a PROPOSAL which the Respondent believes constitutes proprietary or confidential, exempting from any non- authorized disclosure, shall be clearly designated. Blanket designations shall not be accepted. The City will notify the Respondent of any Public Records request relating to this RFP, providing an opportunity for the Respondent to seek a court injunction against the requested disclosure.

J. Respondent Compensation

No compensation or reimbursement for the preparation of the PROPOSAL will be paid by the City.

K. Modification and Withdrawal of PROPOSAL

PROPOSALs may be modified or withdrawn in writing, executed in the same manner as the PROPOSAL, at any time.

L. Protest Procedures

Prior to a submission of a protest relating to or arising from this Request for PROPOSAL, all parties shall use their best efforts to resolve concerns raised by an interested party through open and frank discussions. Protests shall be concise and logically presented to facilitate review by the City. Failure to substantially comply with any of the requirements of these Protest Procedures may be grounds for dismissal of the protest. Protests shall include the following information:

a. Name, address, fax and telephone numbers of protester;

b. Solicitation or contract number;

c. Detailed statement of the legal and factual grounds for the protest, to include a description of resulting prejudice to the protester;

d. Copies of relevant documents;

e. Request for a ruling by the City;

f. Statement as to the form of relief requested;

g. All information establishing that the protester is an interested party for the purpose of filing a protest; and

h. All information establishing the timeliness of the protest.

All protests filed directly with the City will be addressed to the manager of the City or other official designated to receive protests. Protests based on alleged apparent improprieties in the PROPOSAL Documents and solicitation procedures or evaluation and award criteria shall be filed at least ten (10) calendar days before the PROPOSAL submittal date. Failure to promptly file a protest based on solicitation procedures or evaluation and award criteria shall be deemed a waiver of the right to pursue a protest. In all other cases, protests shall

P a g e 9 | 9 be filed no later than five (5) calendar days after the basis of protest is known or should have been known, whichever is earlier, but no later than ten (10) days after the PROPOSAL due date.

Action upon receipt of a protest shall be as follows:

a. Upon receipt of a protest before award, a contract may not be awarded, pending resolution of the protest, unless contract award is justified, in writing, to be in the best interest of the City.

b. If award is withheld pending the City resolution of the protest, the City will inform the respondents whose PROPOSALS might become eligible for award of the contract. If appropriate, the respondents will be requested, before expiration of the time of acceptance of their PROPOSALS, to extend the time for acceptance to avoid the need for re-solicitation. In the event of failure to obtain such extension of time, consideration should be given to proceeding with award.

c. Upon receipt of a protest within ten (10) days after contract award, the City shall immediately suspend performance, pending resolution of the protest, including any review by an independent higher-level official, unless continued performance is justified, in writing, for urgent and compelling reasons or is determined, in writing, to be in the best interest of the City.

d. Pursuing the City protest does not extend the time of obtaining a judicial stay, injunction, or other remedy.

e. The City shall make its best efforts to resolve protests within 20 days after the protest is filed. To the extent permitted by law and regulation, the parties may exchange relevant information.

f. The City protest decision shall be well-reasoned and explain the City’s position. The protest decision shall be provided to the protestor using a method that provides evidence of receipt.