BID COVER

Procurement Division

(352) 334-5021(main)

Issue Date: 10/3/2025

INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE: # PWDA-260013-SM

Exclusive Residential Curbside and Municipal Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement

PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING: ☐ Non-Mandatory ☒ Mandatory ☐ N/A ☐ Includes Site Visit DATE: Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 10:30 AM LOCATION: City Hall, 200 East University Avenue, Room 16, Gainesville, FL 32601

QUESTION SUBMITTAL DUE DATE: Wednesday November 5, 2025 at 11:59 PM

DUE DATE FOR UPLOADING PROPOSAL: Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM Submit all questions via OpenGov

SUMMARY OF SCOPE OF WORK: The City of Gainesville, FL is seeking proposals for:

Exclusive Weekly collection of Single-Family Residential Curbside Solid Waste, Bulk, Recycling, White Goods, Yard Trash and other City designated solid waste and recycling needs.

Optional Exclusive Weekly Food Waste Composting or other Processing and Collection.

This is a franchise agreement with a term of 10 years and two 5-year renewals.

Proposer is not in arrears to City upon any debt, fee, tax, or contract: Proposer is NOT in arrears Proposer IS in arrears

Proposer is not a defaulter, as surety or otherwise, upon any obligation to City: Proposer is NOT in default Proposer IS in default

Proposers who receive this bid from sources other than City of Gainesville Procurement Division or OpenGov.com MUST contact the Procurement Division before the due date to ensure any addenda are received in order to submit a responsible and responsive offer.

Uploading an incomplete document may deem the offer non-responsive, causing rejection.

ADDENDA ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Prior to submitting my offer, I have verified that all addenda issued to date are considered as part of my offer: Addenda received (list all) #

Legal Name of Proposer:

DBA:

Authorized Representative Name/Title:

E-mail Address: FEIN:

Street Address:

Telephone: ( )

By signing this form, I acknowledge I have read and understand and my firm complies with all General Conditions and requirements set forth herein, and:

The proposal is in full compliance with the Specifications.

The proposal is in full compliance with the Specifications except as specifically stated and attached hereto.

SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE:

SIGNER’S PRINTED NAME: DATE:

BID COVER

PART 1 – INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

PART 2 – INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE INFORMATION

PART 3 – MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

PART 4 – SCOPE OF WORK

PART 5 – HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

PART 6 – AWARD

PART 7 – GENERAL INFORMATION

PART 8 – EXHIBITS

PART 9 – NO BID SURVEY

PART 10 - CONTRACT

PART 11 – ITN EVALUATION PROCESS

PART 1 – INVITATION TO BID INFORMATION

Thank you for your interest in working with the City of Gainesville.

Pertinent information and required documents regarding this solicitation as part of a responsive offer are listed below.

1.1 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

The City of Gainesville’s current Exclusive Residential Curbside and Municipal Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement is due to expire September 30, 2026.

This contract is for an Exclusive Residential Curbside and Municipal Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement.

The selected contractor will collect all curbside (and selected limited backyard) solid waste, dual-stream recycling, yard waste, white goods, and bulk waste from all residential buildings with four or fewer dwelling units. Some exceptions will allow some residential buildings with four or fewer units to opt out of the residential curbside collection program and into the commercially collected residential program; therefore, those units will not be part of this agreement. The agreement also requires the selected contractor to collect solid waste and recycling from all city facilities (excluding GRU facilities).

Food Waste Collection (Composting or other) service is not included in single-family service/proposal fee.

The contractor may propose to provide Food Waste Collection as a separate optional service. The contractor should propose a per household price with a minimum number of customers (our current pilot program has 700 homes) and a price for all single-family homes. At any time during the term of the exclusive franchise contract, the City will have the option to implement food waste collection by the contracted franchisee and will hold the contractor to the prices it proposed, if any.

The City desires to award an exclusive franchise for the Residential Curbside and Municipal Solid Waste and Recycling Collection services enumerated in the attached Scope of Work and Agreement.

The City requests separate proposals for collection vehicles that use different types of fuels including Diesel, CNG, Electric, Biodiesel, or other alternative fuel-sourced trucks for exclusive residential curbside and municipal solid waste (MSW), yard trash, bulk, and recycling collection. Multiple submission types are not required; however, the City may consider and score proposals that use alternate fuels higher. The contractor may propose combinations of fuel types.

The City pays for all disposal and processing that the contractor collects from the Residential Curbside Solid Waste and Recycling to the Alachua County Leveda Environmental Park, with an option to deliver directly to the New River Regional Landfill in Union County. The contractor may propose other disposal and processing facilities.

Proposers should familiarize themselves with the City’s goals, existing infrastructure in the community, and possible future facilities for different waste streams. Details on the Cities Solid Waste and Recycling Program can be found on the City’s website https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Government- Pages/Government/Departments/Public-Works/Garbage-Recycling

PART 2 – INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE INFORMATION

2.1 DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION

The City posts and distributes information pertaining to its procurement solicitations on OpenGov (www.opengov.com/). The City has transitioned from accepting hard (paper) copy submittals to accepting submittals through “E-Bidding”. To submit a bid response to this solicitation, the proposer must be registered with OpenGov.

It is the responsibility of the proposer to monitor OpenGov. Properly registered proposers can expect to receive automatic notification of solicitations for bids and proposals by participating purchasing entities.

Proposer failure to retrieve available, required procurement information from OpenGov and include the appropriate documentation and information in solicitation responses may result in disqualification.

2.2 PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING/QUESTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS AND BID OPENING

As scheduled (refer to Bid Cover Page), attending the pre-proposal meeting is mandatory as the project’s scope of work, procedures, and specifications will be discussed at that time.

NOTE: For a proposer’s attendance of a mandatory pre-proposal meeting to count, the proposer must sign in before the Procurement Specialist calls the end of that meeting. If the proposer is not signed in by that time, they will be disqualified from bidding on the project.

NOTE: Failure to attend a mandatory pre-proposal meeting will result in disqualification of your proposal.

If special accommodations are needed to attend a pre-proposal meeting or a bid opening, please contact the Procurement Division at least 72 hours in advance.

All questions that arise outside the pre-proposal meeting must be submitted to Procurement only and must be received by the date indicated on the Bid Cover Page to be considered. No questions will be answered over the phone; they must be submitted by email directed to the Procurement Specialist conducting the solicitation (refer to Bid Cover Page). All questions will be answered via Addendum that will be posted on OpenGov.com for vendor access. All addenda must be acknowledged by the proposer on the Bid Cover Page.

All meetings and submittal deadlines are Eastern Time (ET).

2.3 ITN TIME TABLE

The anticipated schedule for the ITN and contract approval is as follows:

ITN available for distribution Friday, October 3, 2025

Mandatory Pre-Proposal Meeting Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Deadline for receipt of questions Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Deadline for responses to questions Wednesday, November 19, 2025

ITN Due/Deadline for uploading of proposals Thursday, December 4, 2025

Determination of Responsiveness Meeting Week of December 15, 2025

Evaluation/Selection Shortlist Meeting Week of January 26, 2026

Oral presentations Week of February 16, 2026

Oral Presentations Scoring Meeting Week of February 16, 2026

Anticipated resubmittal deadline Monday, March 2, 2026

Evaluation/Final rankings meeting Week of March 16, 2026

Negotiations As needed

Projected award date Thursday, May 21, 2026

Projected contract start date Thursday, October 1, 2026

All dates are subject to change. Proposers will be notified via Addendum in www.opengov.com in event of any schedule changes.

2.4 PROHIBITION OF LOBBYING

To ensure fair consideration and consistent and accurate dissemination of information for all proposers, the City prohibits communication to or with any department, employee, or agent evaluating or considering proposals during the submission process, except as authorized by the Procurement Division representative.

Additionally, the City prohibits communication initiated by a proposer to any City official or employee evaluating or considering the proposals (including the City Commissioners) before the time the City Commission awards the contract. Any communication between a proposer and the City required to obtain information or clarification for preparing a bid or to enable a proper, accurate evaluation of a proposal will be handled solely through the Procurement Division staff. Any communications initiated between the proposer and the City outside these parameters may be grounds for disqualifying the offending proposer from consideration for award of the proposal and/or any future proposal.

2.5 CONE OF SILENCE

During the Cone of Silence (formerly called Blackout period) as defined in the next paragraph, except as pursuant to an authorized appeal, no person may lobby (as defined in Section 2.4) on behalf of a competing party in a particular procurement process City officials or employees except the Procurement-designated staff contact in the Procurement Division. Violation of this provision shall result in disqualification of the party on whose behalf the lobbying occurred.

The Cone of Silence is the period between the issue date of the ITN, which allows for immediate submittals to the City of Gainesville Procurement Division for the Invitation to Negotiate, and the time the City Commission approves the awarded contract.

2.6 DETERMINATION OF RESPONSIBILITY OF PROPOSERS

The specific and/or minimum qualifications of proposers for this specific Invitation to Negotiate are included in PART 3. The proposer must also demonstrate that it is responsible as defined in the City of Gainesville’s Pro-01 Procurement Administrative Guidelines, Section V.C.2.ii, as may be amended.

As a part of the proposal evaluation process, the City reserves the right to conduct a background investigation of proposer, including a record check by the Gainesville Police Department, if the qualifications require it.

The proposer’s submission of a proposal constitutes acknowledgment of the process and consent to such investigation.

No contract will be awarded to any proposer who is in arrears to City upon any debt, fee, tax, or contract or who is a defaulter, as surety or otherwise, upon any obligation to City, or who is otherwise determined to be not responsible by City pursuant to Section V.C.2.ii., Pro-01 Procurement Administrative Guidelines.

These criteria consider the proposer’s capability to perform:

a) The ability of the proposer to successfully carry out a proposed contract.

b) Past performance (including reference check), experience, business and financial capabilities, skills, technical organization, legal eligibility, and reliability.

c) Current litigation pending between the proposer and the City.

d) The proposer has paid all debts owed to the City.

e) The proposer possesses all required licenses.

If it is determined that the proposer is not responsible, the City will notify the proposer of its finding, including evidence used, and allow the proposer the opportunity to come into compliance within three (3) business days of notification.

Before being awarded a contract, the successful proposer either update or complete City’s vendor application, pay business tax (if applicable), and register with the State of Florida. Please be advised that the City will not approve a contract with any vendor unless the corporation or partnership is registered with the Division of Corporations with the State of Florida (https://dos.fl.gov/sunbiz/).

2.7 RESPONSIVENESS OF PROPOSAL

Each proposal will be reviewed to determine if the proposal is responsive to the submission requirements outlined in the ITN. A responsive proposal is one which follows the requirements of the ITN, includes all required documentation, is submitted in the format outlined in the ITN, is of timely submission (via upload to OpenGov.com), and has the appropriate signatures as required on each document. Failure to comply with these requirements may deem the proposal non-responsive (see V.C.2.i. of the Pro-01 Procurement Administrative Guidelines).

PART 3 – MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

The proposer shall have, as a minimum, within the five (5) years preceding the date of the solicitation: Three

(3) Residential Curbside Solid Waste and Recycling Collection contracts with a minimum of 25,000 homes per contract.

The proposer shall have at least one (1) collection contract within the past three (3) years with a local government that provides online customer service, vehicle tracking, and route progression where the information is also available to the contracting government agency and the software used to accomplish its goals.

If a proposer does not meet the minimum requirements listed above, a proposer may provide documentation that it is financially capable of meeting the requirements of this solicitation.

Documentation should include bonding capacity vs. availability, credit ratings, all debt (initial amount and payoff schedule), list of all property and equipment owned and leased, equity and pooled investments, and any other resource or financial data. The proposer shall clearly demonstrate how its personnel and experience can scale up an operation and collection of a minimum of 25,000 customers at one time and shall clearly demonstrate how equipment, personnel, and resources will be acquired to meet the requirements of this solicitation. Qualifying a proposal under this paragraph will be at the sole discretion of the Evaluation Committee and only if the pricing of such proposal has a significant benefit to the City.

PART 4 – SCOPE OF WORK

4.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The City desires to award an exclusive contract for Residential Curbside Collection and Municipal Waste and Recycling Collection. This is an exclusive franchise agreement with a term of ten (10) years with two (2) optional 5-year renewals.

The City of Gainesville is requesting the submission of proposals for the collection of:

1. Exclusive Single-Family Residential: Curbside Collection of Solid Waste, Bulk Waste, Recycling, Yard Waste, and White Goods.

2. Exclusive Collection of Municipal Solid Waste and Recycling.

3. Community Collection Services for up to 20 designated community events and neighborhood clean-ups annually.

4. Optional Single-Family Food Waste Collection. It will be optional for the proposer to submit a bid for food waste collection and optional for the City to require food waste collection during the term of the Contract.

Disposal and processing of collected materials:

1. Direct haul Residential Solid Waste and Bulk Waste to:

a. Alachua County Leveda Brown Environmental Park

b. Optional location – New River Regional Landfill in Union County

c. Contractor-proposed options

2. Direct haul Residential Curbside Recycling and White Goods to Alachua County Leveda Brown Environmental Park.

a. The City reserves the right to designate other facilities as other options become available

3. Direct haul Residential Curbside Yard Waste to Watson’s County Line Landfill at 20103 SW Archer Road, Archer, Florida, 32618. The secondary location is the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station.

a. The City reserves the right to designate other facilities as other options become available.

4. Optional Contractor-paid disposal or processing locations.

4.2 SCOPE OF WORK

Single-Family Collection

Customers: Approximately 29,000 housing units within the City of Gainesville Service Area (provided in PART 10 as Exhibit 1).

The Contractor shall collect solid waste from residents once per week in automated collection vehicles using a variable-size, pay-as-you-throw system. The available cart sizes are 20, 35, 64, and 96 gallons. The current cart sizes and specification for carts in the City are provided in Part 10 as Exhibit 7. No household waste is collected outside the cart unless it is secured in a yellow bag purchased separately. Households may purchase yellow bags at local retail stores and place the bags alongside trash carts for collection. The City administers the yellow bag program, and no effort on the part of the contractor is required other than collection. No additional fee for the collection of the yellow bags may be charged by the contractor; see supplemental information provided in PART 8 for the yellow bags sold in 2023–2024.

The Contractor shall collect Dual-Stream Recycling once per week using dual-stream collection trucks collecting two 18-gallon containers.

The Contractor shall collect Bulk Waste, Yard Waste, and White Goods once per week.

The Contractor shall collect all waste, bulk, yard waste, white goods, recycling, and optional composting on the same day one time per week. Currently the City is divided into three (3) collection days/route days: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The City would like three options proposed: one per the current 3-day per week schedule and routes, a second one that is re-routed to a 4-day City route schedule and a third one that is re-routed to a 5-day City route schedule.

The current contractor owns the solid waste carts and recycling bins. The awarded contractor must supply new collection containers as part of the service. Ownership of these carts, containers and recycling bins will automatically be transferred to the City at the end of the contract. The Contractor shall maintain an adequate inventory of carts and parts using tracking software or other approved methods and provide inventory updates to the City upon request. All cart activities—deliveries, exchanges, repairs, and maintenance—must be tracked by serial numbers and recorded with time, date, and location using 3rd Eye technology or an equivalent system approved by both parties. The City will submit service work orders electronically, and the contractor must process, track, and respond using City-approved software and forms referenced in Part 5. The contractor shall provide a detailed plan for distributing the new carts that shall include collecting the old carts and bins and delivering them back to the prior contractor.

The contractor shall collaborate with the City to develop and distribute ongoing City-approved public notices and educational materials on the MSW Management System. All design, production, and distribution costs shall be covered by the contractor, who will also provide technical assistance and residential public education, support content development, and assist with outreach upon request referenced in the draft agreement Sec 35.

The contractor shall provide free Collection Services for up to 20 designated community events and neighborhood clean-ups each Operating Year, as requested in writing by the Administrator. For events, requests must be submitted by the City 30 days in advance and may require up to forty 20-cubic yard containers per year.

Residential Curbside Solid Waste Services

The contractor shall provide collection services using automated collection vehicles for single-family customers. The contractor shall purchase new carts in compliance with PART 10 Exhibit 7 for these customers prior to the commencement of service. Specifications, size, color, serial number, and imprinting shall be proposed and subject to the City’s approval. The Contractor shall collect bulk waste on the same day. All cart maintenance and delivery will be done by the contractor.

Residential Recycling Service

The contractor shall provide collection services using dual-stream collection vehicles for all recycling. The contractor shall purchase new bins or carts subject to City approval to all customers prior to the commencement of service. Specifications, size, color, serial number, and imprinting shall be proposed and subject to the City’s approval. The contractor shall collect white goods and 6 cubic yards of yard waste set out on the same day. The proposer must submit pricing for one orange 18-gallon recycling bin and one blue 18-gallon recycling bin per customer.

Food Waste/Composting

Composting service is not included in single-family service/proposal fee. The contractor may propose separate food waste/composting pricing on the Proposed Rates form called “Bid Sheet City Option Compost.” The Contractor will identify where and how the food waste will be processed, be responsible to supply and maintain all collection bins or carts and be responsible for all compost processing costs.

Municipal Collection

The Contractor shall provide collection services for all City municipal facilities for the collection of solid waste and recycling from municipal locations within the City included on the Proposed Rate form(s). GRU Authority controlled facilities are excluded from this solicitation. The contractor shall include the collection of municipal solid waste and recycling for the sites listed in PART 10 Exhibit 2. The City will pay all disposal and processing fees directly to the disposal and processing facility. All cart or container maintenance and delivery will be the responsibility of the contractor.

Vehicles

The City requests that proposers submit proposals for the collection using trucks powered by diesel, CNG, electric, hybrid, biodiesel fuel sources, or other alternative fuel sources. Vendors are required to submit their experience with alternative fuels sources (see PART 8 - Exhibits for form) and may be required to submit vehicle emission reports to the City for each type of fuel source proposed along with which each vehicle the fuel source applies to. Rate forms are required for each fuel source proposed by the Proposer. The contractor may propose a timeframe to transition either all or part of their fleet to the proposed fuel sources.

Residential Curbside and Municipal Disposal Location

The City requests rate proposals to directly haul to the following disposal and processing facilities:

1. The Designated Facility for Residential Curbside and Municipal Solid Waste, Bulk Waste, Yard Waste, White Goods, and Source-Separated Recyclable Materials is the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station at 5115 NE 63rd Street, Gainesville, Florida 32609.

a. An alternate location may be proposed for all MSW or Bulk Waste to be delivered to the New River Regional Landfill in Union County. If this location would result in a different price per household, please quote any difference.

2. The Designated Facilities for Yard Waste is primarily the Watson’s County Line Landfill at 20103 SW Archer Road, Archer, Florida 32618. The secondary location is the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station.

3. The contractor may propose disposal and waste processing options at other facilities. The contractor may offer all waste and recycling or selected facility types, (i.e., MSW Only or Yard Waste Only). This option would require all disposal and processing costs to be paid by the contractor.

4. The Residential Food Waste Composting and Processing option may be proposed, and if proposed, shall be delivered to the contractor’s choice of locations for processing. Any processing costs are the responsibility of the contractor. The contractor shall propose acceptable materials and locations of disposal subject to the City’s approval of such plan and processing facility. The contractor shall provide documentation that the facility is properly licensed by all local, state, and federal agencies as required or subject to new requirements. Prior to any change in facility, the contractor shall notify the City of any change in the approved location 45 days in advance and must receive approval of such before any redirection.

The City will pay tipping and processing fees for items 1, 1a, and 2 at Alachua County Leveda Brown Environmental Park, Watson’s County Line Landfill, and the New River Landfill.

PART 5 – HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Instructions to proposers: Proposals must contain each document listed below, each fully completed and signed, as required. Required signatures for proposal forms may be applied using electronic signature software (i.e., DocuSign, Adobe Sign, etc.). Proposals submitted that do not include the following items may be deemed non-responsive and may not be considered for contract award.

5.1 CONTENT

OF

PROPOSAL

Required Documents:

1. The following documents are required to be included in the proposer’s submission:

a. Completed ITN Cover Page

b. Drug-Free Workplace Form

c. Proposer Verification Form

d. E-Verify Certification

e. Responsible Agent Form

f. Experience and References Form

g. Alternative Fuel(s) Experience

h. A Statement of all Qualifications that will communicate the capabilities of the proposer to complete the project

• Address each Minimum Qualification (Section 3).

• Provide pertinent information about the firm and related experience with similar projects. List each municipal residential curbside contract held in the State of Florida;

each contract listed shall include the municipal point of contact, number of homes collected, and amount of liquated damages assessed in the prior calendar or fiscal year and denote any contract breaches/notices.

i. Proposed Rates: The proposers shall provide proposals for the collection services for MSW and Recycling Program Materials with Diesel, CNG, Electric, Hybrid or Other fueled vehicles. Vendors will be required to submit MPGe for each fuel option and place on Proposed Rates forms:

• Proposed Rates for All Services "A3" – Leveda Brown and at least one fuel option (New River and Alternative disposal site optional)

• Proposed Rates for All Services “A4” - Leveda Brown and at least one fuel option (New River and Alternative disposal site optional)

• Proposed Rates for All Services "A5" - Leveda Brown and at least one fuel option (New River and Alternative disposal site optional)

• Proposed Pricing for Optional Composting Services – Optional

j. Technical Qualifications

• Key staff resumes – Contract Manager and other contractor staff

• Past experience

• Litigation history (past 10 years)

• Ability to meet time and budget requirements

k. Written Proposal

• Contract Understanding

• Contract Approach

• Contract Manager

• Contractor Team

• Contract Schedule

l. Proposed Vehicle List and Staffing List

m. Percentage of Solid Waste, Recycling, Yard Waste, Bulk, and White Goods vehicles in Existing Fleet with Truck-Mounted Cameras and Associated Routing Software

n. Value Added Service: Proposal shall include any value added service being proposed by the Contractor for the City. These services shall be provided with details of service(s) proposed on separate page(s) for each type of service and the value in which they add to the City.

o. Proposer’s W-9

p. Copy of any applicable, current licenses and/or certification required by City/County/State

q. Exceptions to the ITN (refer to Section 5.4)

5.2 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

The proposal, containing all required documents, with authorized signatures, must be received by 3:00 p.m. on the due date indicated on the Bid Cover Page for this project. The proposer’s complete pdf response must be uploaded to OpenGov.com before the 3:00 p.m. deadline. This platform will not accept late submittals.

Upload the proposal response as a pdf formatted document only, unless the solicitation states otherwise. The pdf document should be titled with the proposer’s name and ITN number, and if the response is submitted in parts include “Part # of x.”

Modifications to or withdrawal of a proposer’s submittal can be made up to the deadline date. Modifications and withdrawals must be documented in OpenGov.com to be recognized by the City. Any proposal not withdrawn will constitute an irrevocable offer, for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days to provide the City adequate time to award the Contract for the services specified in this solicitation.

Both the response and the price proposal must be signed by an officer of the business who is legally authorized to enter into a contractual relationship in the name of the proposer.

A representative who is not an officer may sign the proposal but must attach a corporate resolution granting authorization to the representative to execute on behalf of the business.

The submittal of a response by a proposer will be considered by the City as constituting an offer by the proposer to perform the required materials/services.

5.3 DISCLOSURE AND CONFIDENTIALITY

Florida’s Public Records Law, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, includes numerous exemptions to the general requirement to disclose information to the public in response to a public record request. Exemptions are found in various provisions of the Florida Statutes, including but not limited to Section 119.071, Florida Statutes (General exemptions from inspection or copying of public records), and Section 119.0713, Florida Statutes (Local government agency exemptions from inspection or copying of public records). Section 815.045, Florida Statutes (Trade secret information), provides that trade secret information as defined in Section 812.081, Florida Statutes (Trade secrets; theft, embezzlement; unlawful copying; definitions; penalty) is confidential and exempt from disclosure because it is a felony to disclose such records. Florida’s Public Records Law is very broad and that documents claimed by the proposer to be confidential and exempt from public disclosure under the Public Records Law may not be deemed such by a court of law. Accordingly, the following provisions shall apply:

1. Identifying Trade Secret or Otherwise Confidential and Exempt Information. For any records or portions thereof that the proposer claims to be Trade Secret or otherwise confidential and exempt from public disclosure under the Public Records Law, the proposer shall:

a. Specifically identify the records or specific portions thereof that are confidential and exempt and reference the particular Florida Statute that grants such status. Provide one redacted copy of the record and one copy of the record with the confidential and exempt information highlighted as outlined in Items 1 and 2 on the following page. Proposer shall take care to redact only the confidential and exempt information within a record.

b. Provide an affidavit or similar type of evidence that describes and supports the basis for the Contractor’s claim that the information is confidential and exempt from public disclosure.

2. Request for Trade Secret or Otherwise Confidential and Exempt Information.

a. If the City receives a public records request for a record with information labeled by the proposer as Trade Secret or otherwise as confidential and exempt, the City will provide the public record requester with the redacted copy of the record and will notify the proposer of the public records request.

b. However and notwithstanding the above, if the City in its sole discretion finds no basis for the proposer’s claim that certain information is Trade Secret or otherwise confidential and exempt under Florida’s Public Records Law, then the City shall notify the proposer in writing of such conclusion and provide the proposer with a reasonable amount of time to file for declaratory action requesting a court of law to deem the requested information as Trade Secret or otherwise as confidential and exempt under Florida’s Public Records Law. If a proposer fails to file for declaratory action within the reasonable amount of time provided, then the City will disclose the information requested.

c. If a public records lawsuit is filed against the City requesting public disclosure of the information labeled by the proposer as Trade Secret or otherwise as confidential and exempt, the City shall notify the proposer and the proposer shall intervene in the lawsuit to defend the nondisclosure of such information under Florida’s Public Records Law.

d. The proposer hereby indemnifies and holds the City, its officers, and its employees harmless from any liabilities, damages, losses, and costs of any kind and nature, including but not limited to attorney’s fees, that arise from or are in any way connected with the proposer’s claim that any information it provided to the City is Trade Secret or otherwise confidential and exempt from public disclosure under Florida’s Public Records Law.

How to Designate Trade Secret or Otherwise Confidential and Exempt Information If a proposer believes that its response contains trade secret or otherwise confidential and exempt information (as defined by Florida or Federal law) and should be withheld from disclosure to the public, the proposer must provide a redacted copy of the proposal for public access.

Redacted means that the confidential/proprietary information in the proposal has been obscured so that it cannot be read.

Unredacted means that the entire document, including the confidential/proprietary information, has not been obscured and is visible for the evaluation team to use in their evaluation process.

1. Upload a PDF version response of the complete UNREDACTED proposal. Include “UNREDACTED, CONFIDENTIAL” in the document title. This is the version that will be used by the evaluators when they are reviewing your proposal. It is essential that the items that will be redacted are highlighted in yellow to prevent the evaluation team from discussing these items after the award. The first page of the document for the unredacted document should provide a general description of the information proposer has designated as confidential and/or exempt and provide a reference to the appropriate Florida or Federal statute supporting the confidential and/or exempt classification.

2. Upload a PDF version response of the REDACTED copy of the proposal. Include “REDACTED” in the document title. This copy will be used to support any public records requests that may arise from this solicitation.

How the City will Handle Material Identified as Trade Secret or Otherwise Confidential and Exempt Information

The City’s evaluators will be provided with the complete unredacted proposal, including any Trade Secret or otherwise confidential and exempt information. The City evaluators will maintain the confidentiality of the information throughout the evaluation process, including any recorded evaluation team meetings.

If a public record request is made to view the information that the proposer claims is confidential and/or exempt, the City will follow the process described in the Disclosure and Confidentiality section above.

All public records submitted to the City, including those claimed as confidential and/or exempt, will be retained by the City and will not be returned to a proposer after the bidding process.

5.4 EXCEPTION TO THE ITN

Proposers may make exceptions to any of the terms of this ITN unless the ITN specifically states no exceptions shall be taken. If a proposer takes exception where none is permitted, the proposal will be rejected as non-responsive. All exceptions taken must be specific to allow the City a meaningful opportunity to evaluate and rank proposals.

Where exceptions are permitted, the City shall determine the acceptability of the proposed exceptions, and the proposals will be evaluated based on the proposals as submitted. The City, after completing negotiations, may accept or reject the exceptions. Where exceptions are rejected, the City may request that the proposer furnish the services or goods described herein or negotiate an acceptable alternative.

NOTE: Proposers are strongly encouraged to submit any deviations or exceptions to the City before the question submittal deadline or proposals are due so that based on the City’s response in the addendum, the proposer can determine if it is in their best interest to submit a response or not.

5.5 ONLY ONE PROPOSAL

Only one bid from any individual, firm, corporation, organization, or agency under the same or different name shall be considered. If it appears to the City that any proposer has a financial interest in more than one submission under this solicitation, all responses in which such proposer has a financial interest will be rejected.

A subcontractor is permitted to appear in more than one submittal for the same solicitation as long as the subcontractor is not a lead proposer in any of the submittals. The City considers a financial interest to include, but not be limited, joint ventures and partnerships.

5.6 FULLY INFORMED PROPOSER

A proposer is expected to fully inform itself as to the requirements of the Specifications and Contract terms and conditions; failure to do so will be at its own risk. A proposer shall not expect to secure relief on the plea of error.

5.7 SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Supplemental Information is provided in Part 8 – Exhibits including:

2023-2024 Yellow Bags Sold 2022-2024 Residential Curbside Tonnage Reports FY23-25 GFL Monthly Billing List 2023-2024 Liquidated Damages

2024 Residential Curbside Collection Rates 2024 GFL Truck and Routes Summary

PART 6 – EVALUATION AND AWARD

6.1 EVALUATION

The proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the process and criteria provided in PART 11.

6.2 TIE PROPOSALS

Whenever two or more bids that are equal concerning price, quality, and services received, preference shall be given in the following order:

(1) Proposers submitting the attached Drug-Free Workplace form with their bid/proposal certifying they have a drug-free workplace in accordance with Section 287.087, Florida Statutes.

(2) Proposers located within the City of Gainesville, if not subject to the Local Preference Ordinance.

(3) Proposers located within Alachua County.

(4) Proposers located within the State of Florida.

(5) A coin toss if neither, or both, proposals is subject to the Local Preference or Small and Service-Disabled Veteran Business Participation outlined in 7.1 and 7.2.

6.3 DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE

Preference shall be given to submitters providing certification with their qualifications certifying they have a drug-free workplace whenever two or more bids that are equal concerning price, quality, and service are received in accordance with Section 287.087, Florida Statutes. The attached form should be filled out and returned with the qualifications to qualify for this preference.

6.4 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The City may award a contract based on initial offers received without discussions. A sample contract, Franchise Agreement, is attached to the ITN. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the proposer’s best terms from a cost or price and technical standpoint and any changes to the sample contract.

The City reserves the right to enter contract negotiations with the selected proposer regarding the terms and conditions of the contract and technical terms. If the City and the selected proposer cannot negotiate a successful contract, the City may terminate said negotiations and begin negotiations with the next selected proposer. This process will continue until a contract has been executed or all proposers have been rejected.

No proposer shall have any rights against the City arising from such negotiations.

6.5 CONTRACT AWARD

The award, if any, shall be made to the proposer whose proposal shall be deemed by the City to be in the best interest of the City. The decision of the City of whether to make the award and which proposal is in the best interest of the City shall be final.

6.6 CONTRACT

The Contract, Franchise Agreement, to be entered into will designate the successful proposer as the City’s Contractor. The terms and conditions in the Franchise Agreement shall be applicable and binding. The successful proposer will be required to execute a Franchise Agreement with the City in substantially the same format as found in Part 10.

6.7 ITN PROTEST

Participants in this solicitation may protest the ITN specifications or award in accordance with Section V.C.5.

and V.C.6. of the Pro-01 Procurement Administrative Guidelines.

6.8 ITN POSTPONEMENT/CANCELLATION/WAIVER OF IRREGULARITIES

The City may, at its sole and absolute discretion, reject any, or parts of any, proposals; re-advertise this ITN;

postpone or cancel at any time this ITN process; or waive any irregularities in this ITN or the proposals received as a result of this ITN. See Section V.B.9.viii. Pro-01 Procurement Administrative Guidelines.

PART 7 – GENERAL INFORMATION

7.1 LOCAL PREFERENCE

In bidding of or letting contracts for procurement of supplies, materials, equipment, and services, as described in the purchasing policies, the City Commission or other purchasing authority may give a preference to local businesses in making such purchase or awarding such contract in an amount not to exceed five (5) percent of the local business' total bid price; in any event, the cost differential should not exceed $25,000.00. The total bid price shall include not only the base bid price but also all alterations to that base bid price resulting from alternates that were both part of the bid and purchased and awarded by the City Commission or other authority. In the case of requests for proposals, letters of interest, best-evaluated bids, qualifications, or other solicitations, competitive negotiation and selection in objective factors are used to evaluate the responses.

Local businesses are assigned five (5) percent of the total points of the total evaluation points.

Local business means the vendor has a valid business tax receipt, issued by the City of Gainesville at least 6 months before the bid or proposal opening date, to do business in said locality that authorizes the business to provide the goods, services, or construction to be purchased, and a physical business address located within the limits of said locality, in an area zoned for the conduct of such business, from which the vendor operates or performs business on a day-to-day basis. Post office boxes are not verifiable and shall not be used to establish said physical address. To be eligible for local preference, in the Bid or ITN evaluation, the vendor must provide a copy of the business tax receipt and Zoning Compliance Permit. For more information, see the City’s Local Preference Policy:

7.2 SMALL AND SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN BUSINESS PARTICIPATION

Small or Service-Disabled Veteran’s Business Enterprise Definition: A Small Business or a Service-Disabled Veteran’s Business, that is duly licensed and authorized to engage in business and maintains a permanent principal place of operation with full-time personnel within Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Putnam, or Union County and possesses a current City business tax receipt as required and is so certified by the Small and Service-Disabled Veteran’s Business Program Coordinator.

It is the policy of the City of Gainesville that small and service-disabled veteran businesses as defined in the Small and Service-Disabled Veteran Business Program have the maximum practical opportunity to participate in contracting opportunities provided by the City. In keeping with this policy, each proposer is asked to state whether it will use small and service-disabled veteran businesses that are eligible for assistance to perform work on the project(s) being advertised.

For proposers not yet certified by the City, a small and service-disabled veteran application may be accessed via the Office of Equity and Inclusion website. To be considered as a certified small and/or service-disabled veteran business, a proposer must have a current certificate at the time of the solicitation submittal due date.

For more information on certified small and service-disabled veteran businesses, please visit the Office of Equity and Inclusion website.

7.3 TAXES, CHARGES AND FEES

The proposer agrees that any applicable federal, state, and local sales and use taxes, which are to be paid by the City of Gainesville, are included in the stated bid prices. Since the City of Gainesville is often exempt from taxes for equipment, materials, and services, it is the responsibility of the Contractor to determine whether sales taxes are applicable. The Contractor is liable for any applicable taxes which are not included in the stated bid prices.

7.4 COSTS INCURRED BY PROPOSERS

All expenses involved with preparing and submitting proposals to the City or any work performed in connection therewith shall be borne by the proposer(s). No payment will be made for any responses received nor for any other effort required of or made by the proposer(s) before the commencement of work as defined by a contract approved by the City Commission (if so required).

7.5 RULES, REGULATIONS, LICENSING REQUIREMENT

The proposer shall comply with all laws, ordinances, and regulations applicable to the services contemplated herein, including those applicable to conflict of interest and collusion. Proposers are presumed to be familiar with all federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, codes, and regulations that may in any way affect the services offered.

7.6 RECORDS/AUDIT

The contractor shall maintain records sufficient to document their completion of the scope of services established by this Contract. These records shall be subject at all reasonable times to review, inspection, copying, and auditing by persons duly authorized by the City. These records shall be kept for a minimum of three (3) years after completion of the Contract. Records that relate to any litigation, appeals, or settlements of claims arising from performance under this Order shall be made available until a final disposition has been made of such litigation, appeals, or claims.

7.7 DEBARMENT, SUSPENSION, OTHERWISE EXCLUDED

By submitting this proposal, the proposer agrees that it:

Is not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions by any Federal department or agency;

Has not within 3 years preceding this proposal been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against it for the commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a public (federal, state, or local) transaction or contract under a public transaction; violation of federal or state antitrust statutes or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification, or destruction of records, making false statements or receiving stolen property;

Is not presently indicted for or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity (federal, state, or local) with commission or any of the offenses enumerated in paragraph (2) of this certification; and

Has not within 3 years preceding this application/proposal had one or more public transactions (federal, state, or local) terminated for cause or default.

7.8 PUBLIC ENTITY CRIME INFORMATION STATEMENT

Section 287.133 (2)(a), Florida Statutes, contains the following provisions: “A person or affiliate who has been placed on the convicted vendor list following a conviction for public entity crime may not submit a bid on a contract to provide any goods or services to a public entity, may not submit a bid on a contract with a public entity for the construction or repair of a public building or public work, may not submit bids on leases of real property to a public entity, may not be awarded or perform work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a contract with any public entity, and may not transact business with any public entity, over the threshold amount provided in Section 287.017, for CATEGORY TWO for 36 months from the date of being placed on the convicted vendor list.”

7.9 INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED WRONGDOINGS, LITIGATION/

SETTLEMENTS/FINES/PENALTIES

The City Commission specifically requests that responders to this document indicate in writing any investigations of wrongdoings, litigation and/or settlements, and fines or penalties (anywhere in the U.S.)

involving the proposer and specific contractors listed as projected to provide services to the City. You may be required to respond to questions on this subject matter.

7.10 NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY AND COMMERCIAL NON-DISCRIMINATION

REQUIREMENT

As a condition of entering into this agreement, the company represents and warrants that it will comply with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and all other federal, state or local laws prohibiting discrimination. The company shall not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability or gender identity, or other unlawful forms of discrimination in the solicitation, selection, hiring, commercial treatment of subcontractors, vendors, suppliers or commercial customers, nor shall the company retaliate against any person for reporting instances of such discrimination.

The City reserves the right to investigate any claims of illegal discrimination by the Contractor and in the event a finding of discrimination is made and upon written notification thereof, the Contractor shall take all necessary steps to cure and rectify such action to the reasonable satisfaction of the City.