Instructions to Offerors of Professional Services 2024 (5) (1).docx

THE CITY OF ASPEN

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

1. The City of Aspen has advertised to invite Professionals to submit sealed Proposals as more fully described in the Request for Proposals or Invitation to Bid. The following instructions have been prepared to assist Offerors in the preparation of their Proposals. These instructions may be altered by the City whenever it is deemed necessary in the best interests of the City.

2. The Contract Documents for this project shall consist of the following documents:

3. Information contained in the Contract Documents, as completed during the contract award process, shall be the basis for the Proposals, and nothing shall be deemed to change or supplement this basis except for written revisions to the above documents issued by the City of Aspen.

4. The City reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals or accept what is, in its judgment, the Proposal which is in the best interest of the City’s. The City further reserves the right, in the best interests of the City, to waive any technical defects or irregularities in any and all Proposals submitted, and to negotiate contract terms with the Successful Offeror, and the right to disregard all nonconforming, nonresponsive or conditional Proposals. Discrepancies between words and figures will be resolved in favor of words. Discrepancies between the indicated sum of any column of figures and the correct sum thereof will be resolved in favor of the correct sum.

5. The cost of proposal preparation shall be borne solely by the persons or entities submitting proposals.

6. The following procedures or steps shall be followed after the issuance or publication of Request for Proposals:

A. Reference is made to the Request for Proposals to determine if a pre-Proposal conference will be scheduled, and if so, where and when. If a pre-Proposal conference is scheduled, attendance at the pre-Proposal conference is mandatory unless prior authorization is given by the City. The costs of attendance at a pre-Proposal conference shall be borne entirely by the Offeror.

B. Reference is made to the Request for Proposals to determine how complete Proposal Packages may be obtained.

C. Before submitting a Proposal, each Offeror must (a) examine the Contract Documents thoroughly, (b) visit the site, if any, to familiarize her/himself with local conditions that may in any manner affect cost, progress or performance of the Work, (c) familiarize her/himself with federal, state and local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations that may in any manner affect costs, progress or performance of the Work; (d) familiarize her/himself with the unique weather conditions of the City of Aspen and surrounding area that may affect costs, progress or performance of Work; and (e) study and carefully correlate Offeror's observations with the Contract Documents.

D. Reference is made to the Request for Proposals for the identification of those reports of investigations and tests of subsurface and latent physical conditions at the site or otherwise affecting cost, progress or performance of the Work which have been relied upon by the City of Aspen or a consultant in preparing any Drawings or Specifications. These reports are not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness, nor are they part of the Contract Documents. Before submitting her/his Proposal each Offeror will, at her/his own expense, make such additional investigations and tests as the Offeror may deem necessary to determine her/his Proposal for performance of the Work in accordance with the time, price and other terms and conditions of the Contract Documents.

E. Reference is made to the Request for Proposals to determine the place, date, and time for delivering sealed Proposals for this project.

F. Proposals shall be submitted at the time and place indicated in the Request for Proposals and shall be submitted electronically or according to directions in the Request for Proposal. Proposals submitted by email shall not be accepted or considered.

G. Reference is made to the Request for Proposals for any Proposal Forms that may be required to be completed as part of the Proposal. Proposal Forms, if any are required, must be completed in ink or by a printer/typewriter. The Proposal price must be stated in words and numerals; in case of a conflict, words will take precedence. Proposals by corporations must be executed in the corporate name by the president or a vice-president (or other corporate officer accompanied by evidence of authority to sign) and the corporate seal must be affixed and attested by the secretary or an assistant secretary. The corporate address and state of incorporation shall be shown below the signature. Proposals by partnerships must be executed in the partnership named and signed by a partner, whose title must appear under the signature and the official address of the partnership must be shown below the signature.

H. Proposals may be modified or withdrawn by an appropriate document duly executed (in the manner that a Proposal must be executed) and delivered to the place where Proposals are to be submitted at any time prior to the opening of Proposals. If, within twenty-four (24) hours after Proposals are opened, any Offeror files a duly signed written notice with the City of Aspen and promptly thereafter demonstrates to the reasonable satisfaction of the City of Aspen that there was a material and substantial mistake in the preparation of her/his Proposal, that the Offeror may withdraw her/his Proposal and the Proposal Security will be returned. Thereafter that Offeror shall be disqualified from submitting a Proposal.

I. At the place, date and time fixed for opening Proposals, all Proposals received prior to that time shall be opened and reviewed. All Proposals shall remain open for a period of thirty (30) days.

J. The City shall then evaluate each Proposal in the best interests of the City of Aspen. The proposals shall be evaluated to determine which are the most advantageous to the City of Aspen taking into consideration price, the evaluation factors set forth at Section 4.12.020 Title 4 Procurement of the Aspen Municipal Code, and any factors set forth in the Request for Proposals.

K. Prior to accepting a Proposal, the City may decide to interview one or more Offerors to negotiate final contract terms for inclusion in the Agreement.

L. To demonstrate qualifications to perform the Work, each Offeror must be prepared to submit within five (5) days of a request, financial data, previous experience or evidence of authority to conduct business in the state of Colorado. Notwithstanding any language to the contrary contained in any Request for Proposals, professionals shall not be required to divulge any information they deem to be confidential regarding previous clients, work performed, or cost of said previous work. The request, if any, for financial data is intended solely to help assess the professional’s capacity and qualifications to work for the City.

M. Upon determining the successful Offeror, the City of Aspen shall send to the Successful Offeror a Notice of Intent to Award notifying the recipient of the City's acceptance of the Offeror's Proposal, subject to the City Manager or City Council approval of the Contract Documents. The Notice of Intent to Award shall also forward to the presumptive Successful Offeror a copy of the Agreement with instructions to execute and return the same to the City within ten (10) days or risk having their Proposal declared abandoned. If the proposed Agreement shall be for an amount in excess of $100,000.00, the City Council at its next regularly scheduled meeting following receipt by the City of the duly executed copies of the Agreement shall be asked to consider approval of the Agreement and authorize the Mayor of the City of Aspen to execute the same. If the proposed Agreement shall be in an amount equal to or less than $100,000.00 the City Manager shall be asked to consider approval of the Agreement by executing the same.

N. Upon receipt of all documents required by the Notice of Intent to Award and upon approval of the Agreement by the City Council or City Manager, the Successful Offeror shall be sent a Notice to Proceed along with a copy of the Agreement duly executed by the City Manager or Mayor of the City of Aspen.

7. All purchases of supplies, construction or building materials shall not include Federal Excise Taxes or Colorado State or local sales or use taxes. The City of Aspen's State of Colorado tax identification number is 98-04557. The City of Aspen's Federal Tax Identification Number is 84-6000563.

8. There are specific indemnity and insurance requirements which the Successful Offeror must comply with prior to the start of Work for this project. These requirements are set forth in detail in the Agreement.

9. The submission of a Proposal will constitute an incontrovertible representation by the Offeror that he has complied with every requirement of these instructions and that the Contract Documents are sufficient in scope and detail to indicate and convey understanding of all terms and conditions for performance of the Work.

10. Reference is made to the Request for Proposals for the identity of the City of Aspen's project manager(s) who will coordinate all aspects of the selection process. All questions about the meaning or intent of the Contract Documents shall be submitted to Purchasing or as indicated in the Request for Proposal. Replies will be issued by Addenda posted on the City’s designated website for publishing solicitations for all interested parties to review and consider. Questions received after the indicated due date and time will not be answered. Only questions answered by formal written Addenda will be binding. Oral and other interpretations or clarifications will be without legal effect.

Updated 1/02/2024