4-0.1 Information Instructions.pdf

Phone: 386-364-3400 suwanneecountyfl.gov Fax: 386-362-1032

Board of County Commissioners 224 Pine Ave, 2nd Floor, Live Oak, FL 32064

Franklin White, Chairman

SUWANNEE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Request for Proposals No. 2026-09 Proposal Title: Grant Administration Services for CDBG-DR

Information for Respondents

The County’s intended schedule for the solicitation is as follows:

Responders must submit one original and three copies (4 in total sets of documents); and label on the outside of the envelope as “SEALED RFP NO. 2026-09 RFP GRANT ADMINISTRATION SERVICES FOR CDBG-DR.”

The Board of County Commissioners (BCC)may accept all or part of any bid. Any paper response received after Monday, April 20th, 2026, at 10:00 am, will be retained at the Clerk of Court Office, unopened, and will not be considered. Digital responding window will be locked at 10:00 am online. Responses submitted in any other manner, besides through the online portal or sealed paper responses to the Clerk to the Board, will not be accepted or considered. This solicitation does not commit the County to award a contract, to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a response, or to procure or contract for services. The Board of County Commissioners reserves the right to reject any and all responses received, to negotiate with all qualified responders, to cancel this solicitation in part or in its entirety or re-advertise if it is in the best interest of the County to do so. Submitting an incomplete response or a response without proper required forms can result in disqualification.

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY STATEMENT: The Board of County Commissioners does not discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetics, handicap status, income status, or family status.

CONE OF SILENCE NOTICE: A cone of silence shall be established on all County competitive selection processes.

The cone of silence pertains to all solicitations (ITB, RFP, RFQ or other competitive solicitations), and prohibits any communication regarding such solicitation between the bidder (or its agents or representatives) or anyone on behalf of the bidder regarding such solicitation, and any County Commissioner or County employee, selection committee member or other persons authorized to act on behalf of the Board including the County’s Architect, Engineer or their subconsultants, or anyone designated to provide a recommendation to award a particular contract, other than Procurement Department staff. The cone of silence shall be in effect from the time of

Event Date Time Location Release of RFP 3/25/26 • Suwanneecountyfl.bonfirehub.com Deadline for Questions 4/10/26 5:00 pm Deadline for Submissions 4/20/26 10:00 am Suwannee County, Clerk of Court Cashier’s

Window, 200 S Ohio Ave, Live Oak, FL 32064 RFP Opening 5/20/25 10:05 am Suwannee County Administration, Conference Room, 224 Pine Ave SW, Live Oak, FL 32064 advertisement until contract award. Violation of the cone of silence by, or on behalf of, a bidder shall be grounds for disqualification from competing in the competitive solicitation.

SWORN ENTITY STATEMENT: The Board of County Commissioners requires a Sworn Statement under section 287.133(3)(a), F.S., on Public Entity Crimes.

INSURANCE: The Board of County Commissioners requires proof of workers compensation and liability insurances in the amount of one million dollars each at a minimum prior to execution of the contract.

E-VERIFY: The following condition will be a part of the contract as required by Suwannee County:

Contractor shall utilize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system, in accordance with the terms governing use of the system, to confirm the employment eligibility of;

1. all persons employed by the Vendor/Contractor during the term of the Contract to perform employment duties within Florida; and

2. all persons, including subcontractors, assigned by the Vendor/Contractor to perform work pursuant to the contract with Suwannee County.

DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE ON: Electronic copies (in pdf format) of the RFP documents, specifications, and addenda are available on the County’s procurement portal, suwanneecountyfl.bonfirehub.com. All addenda issued in regard to this solicitation will only be available on the County’s procurement portal. Due to the possibility of technical glitches, it will be the sole responsibility of the Contractor to check for all bid documents and addenda prior to submitting their subsequent bid response package.

QUESTIONS: As previously mentioned, any questions concerning specifications and/or documents should be asked in the public questions and answers section for the specific solicitation. Deadline for questions Friday, April 10th, 2026, before 5:00 pm. Any, and all, such interpretations and any supplemental instructions will be in the form of a written addendum which, if issued, will be posted on the County’s procurement portal, suwanneecountyfl.bonfirehub.com. All addenda so issued shall become part of the documents.

PAPER SUBMISSIONS: All sealed paper proposals must be submitted with one original and three originals (4 total sets of documents) and labeled on the outside of the envelope as:

CLERK TO THE BOARD

200 SOUTH OHIO AVENUE

LIVE OAK, FL 32064

SEALED BID NO. 2026-09

GRANT ADMINISTRATION SERVICES FOR CDBG-DR.

SCOPE OF SERVICES SUMMARY: The County is seeking proposals from firms to provide grant administration services for Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) grant funding received for the North Florida Emergency Shelter project awarded to Suwannee County BCC. Administration Services will include complete management and reporting for the project, with separate tracking for the funding source. A scope of work outlining the tasks to be performed and a proposed cost must be included in the proposal. See Scope of Work for further details.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Suwannee County BCC has been awarded CDBG-DR funding for the North Florida Regional Emergency Shelter Project to construct a ±125,000-square-foot, purpose-built regional emergency shelter located on County-owned property along US Highway 129, approximately 400 acres. The facility will provide shelter capacity for 1,436 evacuees, including designated space for elderly, medical, and non-medical special-needs populations, and will serve a 12-county region in North Florida. The shelter will be designed and constructed in accordance with ICC 500-2014 and the 2020 Florida Building Code (Risk Category IV

– Essential Facility), with wind resistance exceeding 160 mph, enhanced flood elevations above FEMA requirements, and hardened building envelope systems to ensure continuous operation during extreme weather events. The County has already procured a design engineering firm for the design of the project.

SELECTION PROCESS: Procurement of these grant services shall comply with Suwannee County procurement policy. A Selection Committee will use essential criteria when evaluating and ranking qualified respondents.

CRITERIA: County staff will utilize objective criteria when evaluating and ranking qualified respondents. These criteria are outlined below:

*Note: Responses without required forms may not be scored*

In the event of a tie, if one of the businesses responding to this request is involved in the tie, and is minority or female owned, that business shall be ranked above the other business or businesses involved in the tie.

Proposals for CDBG Administration Services should include a fee for the services and an explanation or a basis for the fees proposed. Fees shall be lump sum for CDBG services.

Proposals will be accepted on an equal competitive basis. No proposal will be accepted from individuals or firms placed on the convicted vendor list following a conviction for a public entity crime.

Administration service contract(s) may be subject to grant/loan award and release of funds by the funding agency.

SUWANNEE COUNTY SUPPORTS "EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT, FAIR HOUSING AND PROVIDING

HANDICAP ACCESS".

Franklin White, Chairman Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners

1. The firm’s number of years of experience administering projects through the State of Florida CDBG-DR program

20 pts

2. The staff’s number of years of experience administering projects through the State of Florida CDBG-DR program.

25 pts

3. Firms approach to proposed tasks and team’s availability. 25 pts

4. Provide client reference letters dated 2015 to current provided by other communities. (Only 1 per community accepted) 20 pts

5. Fee or proposed fee basis. 10 pts

Scope of Work Introduction/Purpose Suwannee County is seeking proposals from firms or teams to facilitate the grant administration for the North Florida Regional Emergency Shelter Project. Submitting firms should have the experience, knowledge, and resources to perform the work required to provide grant administration on a CDBG-DR funded project.

Project: North Florida Regional Emergency Shelter.

Per purposed grant agreement, services provided within grant administration contract are including but not limited to:

1) Environmental review administrative activities (Environmental Exemption, Public Notice Publication(s), etc.).

2) Assist with preparation of procurement documents.

3) Assist with preparation of public notices for publications.

4) Maintain financial records related to project activities.

5) Conducting a Fair Housing activity.

6) Attend a pre-bid conference, bid opening, or pre-construction meeting.

7) Maintain project files.

8) Attend meetings and provide progress reports on project activities.

9) Prepare documentation for and/or participated in monitoring and/or site visits conducted by Commerce.

10) Manage Davis/Bacon monitoring during construction.

11) Prepare and submit financial activity to Commerce.

12) Prepare and submit detailed monthly and quarterly reports to Commerce.

13) Prepare and submit Section 3 reports to Commerce (in compliance with Section 3 of the HUD Act of 1968).

14) Respond to citizens’ complaints.

15) Assist in preparation and submitting agreement modification document(s) for Commerce review and approval as applicable.

16) Prepare and submit responses to monitoring findings and concerns to Commerce or HUD.

17) Project Closeout, Engineer’s Certification of Completion, Grant Closeout Package completed and submitted to Commerce.

Preparation of Proposals

1. All proposals should be completed and carefully worded and must convey all the information requested by the County. If significant errors are found in the responder's proposal, or the proposal fails to conform to the essential requirements of the RFP, the County and the County alone will be the judge as to whether that variance is significant enough to reject the proposal.

2. Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of the respondents’ capabilities to satisfy the requirement of the RFP. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content.

3. Suwannee County reserves the right to reject any proposals received, and in all cases Suwannee County will be the sole judge as to whether a responder's proposal has or has not satisfactorily met the requirements of this RFP.

4. Any deviation from the requirements of this RFP must be listed separately and identified as such in the table of contents.

Instructions to Responders

To be considered responsive, all submittals must be made in accordance with these instructions.

All hard, paper submittals shall include one original and three copies (4 total sets of documents) of the following information and shall be organized in the following order.

**(DO NOT submit binders or glue bound/spined responses)**

Submission Requirements

Title Page: Include name of firm, address, phone number, contact person.

Summary Page from solicitation packet.

A. Table of Contents

B. Letter of Transmittal: Limit to one page.

C. Describe the firm’s experience with projects of similar size and scope. Limit to one (1) page.

D. Describe the team and/or individuals experience with projects of similar size and scope. Include the respective roles and responsibilities of each team member. Limit to fifteen (15) pages.

E. Provide the team’s availability commitment for the project duration and provide the team’s/firm’s approach to project. No more than eight (8) pages.

F. References: Include the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address for contact persons at a minimum of three (3) public entities that represent the type of work requested for the scopes under this RFP, to which the Respondent has provided these services within the last 10 years. Identify for each similar project a list of the proposed team members who worked on the project(s). Limit to six (6) pages.

G. Provide applicable licenses and a statement that the firm is qualified to perform the requested services in the State of Florida. Include copies of applicable licenses, registrations, and certifications of the firm and pertinent personnel who will participate in the project.

a. If applicable, provide Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) Certification

H. Any supplemental information that might enhance the County’s understanding of the firm and its experience/qualifications. Limit to one (1) page.

I. Required Forms:

1. Anti-Collision Statement Signature

2. Debarment

3. Failure to Preform Questionnaire

4. Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form

5. Addendums (if applicable)