5-APPENDIX 1 DISCLAIMERS.pdf

Programs have been adopted by the Dallas City Council Between May 9, 2018, and June 12, 2024

APPENDIX 1 DISCLAIMERS

Disclaimers

The NOFA is subject to the federal U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) regulations at 24 CFR Part 570 and other applicable regulations including, but not limited to, 24 CFR Part 58 for environmental requirements; 2 CFR Part 200 for Uniform Administrative Requirements; and State of Texas, and City of Dallas regulations.

This NOFA does not commit the City to award any Contract. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive technicalities or irregularities, and to accept any proposal it deems to be in the best interest of the City. The City shall not be liable for any costs incurred by any company responding to this NOFA.

The City will require the recommended proposer to sign the necessary Contract documents prepared by the City Attorney's Office. A contract shall not be deemed executed on behalf of the city nor shall it be binding upon the city unless it has first been signed by the city manager and approved as to form by the city attorney.

Right to Reject

This NOFA does not commit the City to award any agreement. The City reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals or parts of Proposals. The City, at its option, may consider and accept a Proposal, even though not prepared and submitted in strict accordance with the provisions hereof, by waiving informalities, minor irregularities, and/or technicalities as determined by the City. The City may reject the Proposal of a firm which is in litigation with the City or which has previously failed to perform properly on engagements of a similar nature and may reject the Proposal of a firm which is not, in the opinion of the City, in a position to satisfactorily perform the subrecipient agreement. The City reserves the right to reject any Proposal if the evidence submitted by, or investigation of, such Proposer fails to satisfy the City that such Proposer is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the contractors or subrecipientsAgreement and to provide the services contemplated therein.

The Proposer shall provide all information requested in order for the Proposal to be considered responsive.

Legal Status

Applicants are public or private nonprofit or for-profit corporations that when undertaking CDBG funded activities has employees (paid staff) with the demonstrated capacity to carry out agreed-upon, eligible activities.

The definition of a Subrecipient, as well as other regulations regarding the CDBG Program, can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 24, Part 570.201(o) and 570.500(c).

The definition is as follows:

Part 570.201(o) - Subrecipient shall mean a public or private nonprofit agency, authority, or organization, or a for-profit entity authorized under 24 CFR 570.201(o), receiving CDBG funds from the recipient or another subrecipient to undertake activities eligible for such assistance under subpart C of this part. The term excludes an entity receiving CDBG funds from the recipient under the authority of §570.204, unless the grantee explicitly designates it as a subrecipient. The term includes a public agency designated by a unit of general local government to receive a loan guarantee under subpart M of this part, but does not include subrecipients providing supplies, equipment, construction, or services subject to the procurement requirements in 2 CFR part 200, subpart D.

General Valuation Process

The Evaluation Committee shall conduct a comprehensive, fair, and impartial evaluation of Proposals received in response to this NOFA. Following the submittal of Proposals, the Evaluation Committee will meet to evaluate each Proposal based on the criteria stated in this NOFA. Initial evaluation will consider the Mandatory Requirements of the Proposal.

Those Applicants whose Proposals meet the Mandatory Requirements will be evaluated by the Evaluation Committee for Qualifications and the Proposed Methodology and Approach requirements of the Proposals. After completing this stage of the evaluation process, the Evaluation Committee will determine if it is necessary to invite Applicants to provide Oral Presentations.

The Evaluation Committee will evaluate the submitted proposals and will determine the Applicant(s) whose Proposal(s), are most advantageous to the Department of Housing and Community Development. The Evaluation Committee may request clarifications from to assist in gaining additional understanding of their Proposals. A response to a clarification request must be limited to clarifying or explaining portions of the already submitted Proposal and may not contain new information not included in the original Proposal.

Discussions with Reasonably Qualified Applicants

After selection of reasonably qualified Applicant(s), the City of Dallas may enter into discussions with the Applicant(s). Discussions will be on an individual basis and closed to third parties. The City will review in detail all aspects of the City’s requirements and the Proposal. During this review, the City may request clarifications which may lead to revisions to the Proposal submitted, prior to finalizing an Agreement.

Disqualification of Proposals

Applicants may be disqualified for any of the following reasons:

1. Reason to believe collusion exists among the Applicants;

2. Applicants are involved in any litigation against the City;

3. Applicants are or have been noncompliant on a current or prior agreement with the City;

4. Lack of financial stability; or

5. Reason to believe a conflict of interest exists under the City’s Conflict of

Interest policy or applicable federal regulations.

Proposal Selection

Award, if any, shall be to the responsible Applicant whose Proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the City. Agreement award is subject to approval and funding by the City Manager or the City Council. The City reserves the right to begin agreement negotiation with one or more of the finalists. Applicant(s) shall be required to execute an agreement prepared by the City Attorney. This NOFA does not commit the City to award any agreement, and the City reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals or waive irregularities.

Exceptions

Minor exceptions, conditions, or qualifications to the provisions of the City’s NOFA specifications or Ordinances shall be clearly identified as such with the reasons therefore, and alternate language proposed by subrecipients, if any, clearly stated and inserted in the appropriate place in the Proposal submission for this NOFA. Substantive exceptions may cause unqualified rejection of the Proposal. Exceptions, conditions, or qualifications to the City’s specifications or Ordinances will be included, as appropriate, in the contractors or subrecipientsAgreement documents. Items and matters not explicitly accepted in this manner shall be deemed to be in conformance with City’s specifications and Ordinances.

The City is the final judge of acceptability of items quoted in this NOFA.

Proposal Evaluation Process

Each Proposal will be reviewed using the Responsiveness Checklist to determine if the Proposal is responsive. A Proposal may be declared non-responsive if any of the items listed on the Responsiveness Checklist are not received. Proposals that meet all requirements as outlined in this NOFA will be reviewed.

Acceptance of Evaluation Methodology

By submitting a Proposal in response to this NOFA, proposers accept the evaluation process as outlined and acknowledges and accepts that determination of the most qualified firm(s) offering the most advantageous response to the City.

Suspension/Debarment

No Proposals will be accepted from entities that have been suspended, debarred, or otherwise prohibited from participation in federal awards. The city will not consider a proposal if the applicant has defaulted under any other City contract within the last 5 years.

The City will verify the status of the Applicant(s) prior to an award.

Confidentiality

In accordance with state law, Proposals shall be opened to avoid disclosure of contents to competing proposers and shall be kept secret and confidential during the negotiation process. It is the responsibility of the proposer to clearly mark and identify all portions of the Proposal that contain trade secrets, confidential information, and other proprietary information. Clearly marked and identified trade secrets and confidential information contained in the Proposals shall not be open for public inspection. Efforts will be made to keep the marked information confidential; however, the City cannot guarantee it will not be compelled to disclose all or part of any public record under the Texas Open Record Act. If a third party challenges the trade secret or confidential nature of certain information, it will be the responsibility of the proposers to defend the challenge.

All Proposals will be open for public inspection after the award, but trade secrets and confidential information in the Proposals will not be open for public inspection; however, upon receipt of an open records request, the City will notify the Applicant of the request and submit the request and relevant Proposal to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for review and consideration. Upon the decision of the Texas Attorney General’s Office the City may have to disclose the information that the Texas Attorney General’s Office determines to be open to the public.