RFP2704 Project information packet.pdf

RFP # 00002704 1 of 17 RFP Information Packet

RFP Number 00002704

Goods + Services

March 26, 2026

Request for Proposals (RFP) for

Trust Your Tap: Regional Drinking Water Survey

Project Information Packet

Section 1: Opportunity Overview

Section 2: How Your Proposal Will Be Evaluated

Section 3: Scope of Work

Section 4: Sample Contract

Section 5: RFP Terms and Conditions

RFP # 00002704 2 of 17 RFP Information Packet

RFP at a Glance

Proposals Due:

April 17, 2026, by 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time

Summary:

This project will conduct a regional community survey to measure public perception of drinking water quality, barriers to using tap water, and preferred types and methods of receiving information about drinking water. The work supports the Regional Water Providers Consortium’s public outreach efforts and will provide data and recommendations to help water providers better communicate with and serve the public across the greater Portland metro area.

Pre-Proposal Meeting:

There will be no pre-proposal meeting or site visit scheduled for this Project.

Submit Your Proposal:

City of Portland Online Procurement Center:

https://procure.portlandoregon.gov/bso/

Refer to the Proposal Response Packet: Section 7: Submission Instructions for details.

Have Questions or Need Help? Single Point of Contact:

Send questions, requests for clarification, or requests for assistance by 7 calendar days before

April 17, 2026, by 4:00p.m. Pacific Time. Any questions received after may not be answered.

Only the Single Point of Contact can answer questions about this RFP.

Axkana Rios-Martinez

Procurement Specialist

(503) 341-0310

Axkana.Rios-Martinez@portlandoregon.gov https://procure.portlandoregon.gov/bso/

RFP # 00002704 3 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Section 1: Opportunity Overview

1.1 Background

Overview

The Regional Water Providers Consortium (Consortium) provides leadership in the planning, management, stewardship, and resiliency of drinking water in the greater Portland, OR metropolitan region.

The Consortium is comprised of 26 members (17 cities and 9 special districts) and serves

Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, and Washington Counties. This project is part of the

Consortium’s public outreach programming which is coordinated by Consortium staff to serve its water provider members. Find out more about the Consortium and its work at www.regionaH2O.org.

The City of Portland Water Bureau (Water Bureau) has an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Consortium to provide staffing and financial services to conduct the work of the

Consortium. It is under this agreement that the City of Portland bills and receives all of the dues of the Consortium, provides the accounting for these funds, expends the funds under contracts, and provides for Water Bureau staff to conduct the work of the Consortium.

Business Challenge

At present there is no dataset that provides the following information for the greater Portland, OR metro region. This project will help the Consortium gather:

• The public’s perception of the quality of their drinking water

• Potential barriers to using tap water for daily activities (e.g. drinking, cooking, bathing)

• What types of drinking water and/or water quality information the public would like to receive from their water provider (e.g. types of information that increase confidence in using tap water for daily activities)

• How the public/customers/etc. would prefer to receive information about their tap water

(e.g. consumer confidence reports (CCRs), email, social media)

The proposer will conduct one community survey with a sample size of at least 400-600 individuals from the Consortium’s service area. Survey questions may resemble those in the

American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) annual Public Perceptions of Tap Water poll

(2023 and 2024) or be fine-tuned to better meet the business challenge for this project.

If budget allows, the project may also include recommendations for how to collect additional data via Consortium and/or water provider websites and trusted community partners that serve/support traditionally underserved communities. The total budget for this project is

$35,000. All invoices must be submitted by October 31, 2026.

https://www.regionalh2o.org/

RFP # 00002704 4 of 17 RFP Information Packet

See the Scope of Work below for a complete list of the City’s technical & required services, and deliverables.

1.2 Outcome Goals

The goal of this project is to gather regionally specific information from the Consortium’s water provider members’ customers through an online survey. The desired outcomes for this survey include:

1. Better understanding of regional perceptions of tap water based on factors like geography, demographics, etc.

2. Collecting data on real-life barriers to using tap water for everyday activities.

3. Learning what types of water quality information customers would like to receive from their water provider.

4. Learning what types of communications customers would like to receive from their water provider (platforms, categories, frequency, language, etc.).

5. Providing actionable information that Consortium members can use to increase positive perception of tap water and build trust with their customers.

1.3 Contract Details

The Water Bureau on behalf of the Consortium will award (1) one contract to conduct the community survey in spring 2026 and present its results at Consortium committee meetings which will occur between May and June2026.

If budget allows, the scope of work may also include recommendations for how to collect additional data via Consortium and/or water provider websites and trusted community partners that serve/support traditionally underserved communities.

1.4 Estimated RFP Timeline

The timeline below is an estimate for the RFP and Contracting process.

Event Date

Deadline for RFP Questions April 7, 2026

Written proposals due at 4:00 p.m. (for Phase 1) April 17, 2026

Short list posted and Phase 2 instructions shared [if applicable] TBD

Notice of Intent to Award Posted TBD

The City may adjust the schedule as necessary.

RFP # 00002704 5 of 17 RFP Information Packet

1.5 Grant Funding

There is no Grant funding for this project

1.6 Pre-Proposal Meeting

There will be no pre-proposal meeting or site visit scheduled for this Project.

1.7 Addenda

The City will share more information about this RFP if something is missing or unclear. The City will share this information as an addendum (or addenda, if more than one). The City will post addenda on the City’s Procurement Website BuySpeed.

Addenda issued seventy-two (72) hours or more before the due date are binding. The seventy-two (72) hour window excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and City-observed holidays.

You are responsible for complying with the addenda, even if you do not see it.

https://www.portland.gov/policies/human-resources-administrative-rules/leaves/hrar-602-holidays

RFP # 00002704 6 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Section 2: How Your Proposal

Will Be Evaluated

2.1 Proposal Review and Selection

Evaluation Overview

The City will appoint an Evaluation Committee (Committee) to evaluate the proposals received.

To score proposals, the Committee will evaluate each proposal using the criteria below. The

Committee may seek outside expertise. The Committee will require at least ten (10) Business

Days to evaluate and score the proposals.

The City will decide how or when to proceed through the evaluation process. The City will also decide if additional clarifications are needed, when to begin or end negotiations, reasonable timelines, and whether to open negotiations with a lower scoring proposer.

The City can also decide to cancel the solicitation or reject all proposals.

Evaluation Process

Each proposal is evaluated using these criteria:

Responsiveness, Responsibility, and Mandatory Criteria

The City will determine if you are a Responsible Proposer who has submitted a Responsive

Proposal (ORS 279B.005).

Refer to Portland Public Contracting Rules for details.

Minimum requirements firms must meet to bid on the opportunity

• Experience with survey development and administration

• Tools and resources, (e.g., survey delivery software) needed to complete the project

• Experience designing, testing, implementing, and analyzing surveys, including setup, programming, survey response collection, technical support, and analysis.

• Knowledge of Portland Metro area and associated jurisdictions.

References and Past Performance:

Proposers must submit at least 3 references for projects of similar scope and complexity completed within the past five (5) years. References will be used to verify the proposer’s ability to perform the work and may be contacted by the City. Reference submission is https://www.portland.gov/policies/public-contracting-rules

RFP # 00002704 7 of 17 RFP Information Packet required for the proposal to be considered responsive but will not be scored or evaluated as part of the technical or pricing evaluation.

1. Reference Checks may be conducted by the City at any point during evaluation process.

The City will make a reasonable attempt to contact each reference three (3) times. If after three (3) attempts the reference does not respond, the reference shall not be counted, and the Proposer will only be considered based on their remaining references.

2. If the Proposer provides more than the requested number of references, references beyond the requested number of references provided may not be contacted, evaluated or considered.

3. Right to Check Other References

The City reserves the right to contact any additional references it deems appropriate or in its best interests when evaluating the bid. The City may conduct other reference checks with persons whose names have not been provided by the Bidder, but of whom the City has knowledge.

4. Reference Uses, Responsibility Determination

The City may use references to obtain additional information, determine Proposer

Responsibility break ties, or verify any information needed. Any References which indicate a failure to provide complete and accurate information in a bid may lead to rejection for lack of

Responsibility.

Evaluation Phase 1–Written Scoring

Proposals that meet the responsiveness, responsibility, and mandatory requirements will be evaluated in Evaluation Phase 1. The Committee will conduct a detailed review of the written proposals:

Phase 1 Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria

Percent of total points

Percent of points for sub-criteria

Proposer Capabilities 30 —

Project Team 15 —

Project Approach 25 —

Pricing 10 —

Corporate Responsibility 20 —

Equal Employment Opportunity and Access in Subcontracting

Equal Opportunity Employer and Community Involvement

RFP # 00002704 8 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Sustainable Business Practices — 5

Total 100%

Short Listing

At the end of any evaluation phase, the Evaluation Committee may focus on only a limited number of proposals by developing a “short list” based on the scores. The number of proposals on the short list depends on the number of proposals the Committee believes have a reasonable chance of leading to a contract award. If you are eliminated from further consideration, you will be notified by a Notice of Shortlisting posted on the City’s Procurement

Website.

Subsequent Evaluation Phases

The City will proceed with subsequent evaluation phases as needed. These phases may include oral interviews, demonstrations, presentations, site visits, clarification of the proposals, or other activities.

If you are invited to participate in subsequent evaluation phases, the City will share additional information and instructions a reasonable amount of time before any further evaluation is held.

Evaluation Phase 2 – Interviews, Demonstrations, or Presentations

The scoring of Phase 2 generally will be as follows.

Phase 2 Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria Allocation

Content of Phase 2 Evaluation To be determined

Additional Optional Evaluation Phases and Methods

In addition to the evaluation phases above, the City can use other methods like best and final offers, serial negotiations, and competitive simultaneous negotiations.

Proposers eliminated at any stage of the evaluation process will be notified.

Total Overall Score

At the end of each evaluation phase, the points from that phase will be added to your cumulative score to determine your Total Overall Score. The proposer with the highest Total

Overall Score may be identified as the finalist.

The selection of the finalist may also be based on negotiated costs and agreeing to the City’s terms and conditions within the City’s Sample Contract.

RFP # 00002704 9 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Negotiations will follow with the finalist. If successful, negotiations may result in a final award and Contract for the work. If the Contract with the finalist cannot be reached within a time that is reasonable to the City, the City may elevate the proposer with the next highest Total Overall

Score to be the finalist.

2.2 Award Review and Protest

Review

The City will post a Notice of Intent to Negotiate and Award on the City's Procurement Website.

The Notice will identify the proposer(s) to which the City intends to award a contract.

Following the Notice of Intent to Negotiate and Award, the public may view proposal documents, in accordance with the Oregon Public Records Act.

If you were not awarded the Contract, you can ask for clarification or debriefing, request time to review the selection procedures, or discuss the scoring methods used by the Evaluation

Committee.

Protests

Proposers can challenge the City’s decision to exclude the proposer from the next step in the evaluation process, and to award a contract. If you wish to protest your elimination, you must submit a protest within seven (7) Calendar Days of the City’s posting of the Notice of Short List or Notice of Intent to Award.

Proposers can read Portland Public Contracting Rules regarding protest procedures, all of which may be found online: https://www.portland.gov/policies/public-contracting-rules.

Proposers may also learn more about protests by reviewing ORS 279B.405 and ORS

279B.410.

Protesters may not use judicial appeal rights unless all protest and appeal rights are exhausted.

https://www.portland.gov/policies/public-contracting-rules

RFP # 00002704 10 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Section 3: Scope of Work

WORK OVERVIEW:

The selected Contractor shall be expected to work closely with Portland Water

Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff to perform the tasks and generate the deliverables described generally below.

The Contractor shall provide all technology and staff to complete the project scope. All costs related to these services shall be included in the project budget outlined in the proposal.

TASK 1: SURVEY DEVELOPMENT

The Contractor shall work with Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff to develop a survey that includes content and demographic questions and is designed to take the end user no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete. Survey shall use plain language in all content and questions to ensure that it is easily understood by recipients and easily translated into other languages. The Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff must approve the final list of questions in writing before the survey is launched. Examples of potential survey questions:

• Thinking about the past five years, has the safety of your water supply gotten better, worse, or stayed about the same?

• How would you rate the quality of the water at your faucet?

• Do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the water at your faucet?

o My tap water is convenient o I trust my water utility to tell me if the water at my faucet is unsafe to drink o My tap water is safe to drink o I trust the source of my tap water o My water utility is proactively communicating about the quality of my tap water o My tap water does not need to be filtered at home

• How aware are you, if at all, that utilities frequently test your water?

• How aware are you, if at all, that all water utilities must test for multiple types of contamination?

Survey audience and size: The Contractor shall work with Portland Water Bureau/Consortium

Project Manager or designated staff to define the survey audience. It is anticipated that the sample size will be at least 400 individuals. The Contractor will advise the Project Manager on the sample size necessary to achieve project goals and statistical significance.

Respondents must be aged 18 years or older, residential customers or water users that reside in single family or multifamily homes that they either rent or own, and located within the

RFP # 00002704 11 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Consortium’s service area. The survey sampling techniques shall be designed to solicit proportional responses from each Consortium members’ service area and to mirror the demographic makeup of the greater Portland, OR metro area. If during survey delivery, the

Contractor is unable to garner survey responses that meet the desired audience shares (either in number or demographic makeup), they will inform Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project

Manager or designated staff and include these data limitations in their final report findings. A list of Consortium members can be found on the Conosortium’s website.

The Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff must approve the final audience makeup and size in writing prior to the survey being launched.

Translation: It is anticipated that the survey will be offered to respondents in English and

Spanish. The Contractor shall complete the translation and quality assurance/quality control to ensure that the survey quality is the same for each language that the survey is offered to respondents. The Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff must approve the translation vendor and quality control method prior to this work being completed by the Contractor.

TASK 2: SURVEY DELIVERY

The Contractor shall work with Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff to develop a strategic plan for collecting survey data that will result in the richest data set possible within the timeframe and budget (e.g. text/online collection, in-person interviews, over the phone interviews, etc.). The plan should include information on survey testing, data validation, and quality control strategies.

The Contractor will manage all aspects of designing, testing, implementing, and analyzing the survey including setup, programming, survey response collection, technical support, and analysis. Prior to beginning the project, the Contractor will submit a survey delivery plan to the

Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff for approval. Each step of the plan must be approved in writing by the Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project

Manager or designated staff prior to the contractor moving to the next phase of the project.

After the survey is launched, the Contractor shall review the data as it is received to ensure that there are no major errors or confusion in the results. The Contractor will share any quality control issues with the Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff and recommend any changes for review and approval.

TASK 3: REPORTING

At the conclusion of the project, the Contractor will provide the Portland Water

Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff with the complete raw data along with a written report and presentation slide deck summarizing the survey results. The Contractor must https://www.regionalh2o.org/our-regions-water/water-providers

RFP # 00002704 12 of 17 RFP Information Packet disclose in their proposals any planned use of artificial intelligence (AI) or traditional business intelligence (BI) tools and software used to analyze datasets and/or summarize open-ended questions for the report.

The report will include an executive summary, detailed survey findings, insights from related water research in the Pacific Northwest and nationally, and strategic considerations for similar work. If other recommendations are within the scope (see desired outcomes in Task 4), the

Contractor will provide that information in their final report as well.

The Contractor will provide at least two, and up to three, presentations to Consortium members to share the project results. The Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff shall coordinate with the Contractor on the time, date, and location of the presentations. Presentations may occur in person or online.

Draft versions of the written report and slide deck will be submitted to the Portland Water

Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff for review at least two weeks prior to the first presentation to Consortium members. Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project

Manager is entitled to up to two rounds of edits to the draft report and slide deck before they are finalized.

Digital copies of the final report, slide deck, and any other relevant project files shall be submitted to the Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff no later than May 31, 2026.

TASK 4: RECOMMENDATIONS

If budget allows, the Contractor will provide recommendations for how the Consortium and its water provider members could build on the success of this project by collecting similar data after the conclusion of this project. Contractor shall identify whether this is part of their scope of work in their proposal. If it is, the Contractor shall provide a summary of recommendations as part of their final report to the Consortium at the conclusion of the project.

Background information: While this project will give the Consortium and its members a snapshot of some public perceptions of drinking water, there are clear limitations to the data. It will only capture data from one moment in time and is unlikely to include data from traditionally underserved communities within the service area. It is the intention of the Consortium to consider the potential for collecting similar data in the future when designing and implementing this project. Currently, there are three ways that the Consortium and its water provider members are considering collecting future data:

1. Digitally via links in online communications (e.g. websites, social media, bill inserts, and newsletters).

2. Digitally via online surveys in additional languages.

3. In-person by working with trusted community partners that serve/support traditionally underserved communities.

RFP # 00002704 13 of 17 RFP Information Packet

DELIVERABLES:

The Contractor shall complete and provide the following Deliverables to Portland Water

Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff:

• A written plan (1-3 pages) that includes a detailed description for how the Contractor expects to design, implement, and refine the community survey project. At a minimum, the plan shall include all of the points noted in the scope of work section.

• A final list of survey questions in English and Spanish.

• A list of translated questions for each language that the Contractor administers the survey (survey content shall be presented side-by-side in a format agreed upon by the

Contractor and the Portland Water Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff).

• A written report that summarizes survey findings. The Contractor and the Portland Water

Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff will work together to determine the report contents at the start of the project. Examples of types of information that could be included in the summary report are: overall analysis and takeaways related to the research questions; detailed findings from each question, including margins of error;

coding and analysis from open-ended questions; findings from disaggregated data analysis by water provider and other relevant demographic groups, including confidence levels; a summary of how the survey was administered; an explanation of how the results were analyzed; and discussion of any limitations or errors in the data.

• A complete set of project data files. The Contractor and the Portland Water

Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff will agree to the type and number of project files prior to the start of the project. Below is a potential list of file types which could be included:

o Complete data set with all individual, validated responses.

o File with verbatim responses to open-ended questions.

o Annotated survey that includes the total, unedited responses for each closed-ended question.

o Crosstabs: a detailed set of tables that display the distribution of responses disaggregated across several demographic groups and by water provider

• One (1) Presentation slide deck with speaker’s notes.

• Completion of two to three (2-3) presentations to Consortium members.

• Purchase, setup, and management of unique survey domain if needed.

• [Optional/if budget allows] Recommendations on methods and best practices to collect similar data in additional languages and through additional avenues.

CONTRACTOR ROLE:

A. Provide staff to complete the work products and/or processes outlined above

B. Complete all aspects of the project within the timeline and budget outlined in this document. Communicate all change orders in writing to Portland Water

RFP # 00002704 14 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Bureau/Consortium Project Manager or designated staff at least two weeks in advance of occurrence.

C. Provide timely responses to Consortium requests

CONSORTIUM PROJECT MANAGER/MEMBER

ROLE:

A. Provide staff to work with the Contractor to plan, review, and approve work products and/or processes outlined in the project work tasks outlined above.

B. Provide the Contractor with a list of potential survey questions and Consortium member names and service areas

C. Provide branding materials or graphics to help support the contractor's outreach as needed (e.g. web banners, email headers, social media graphics or other campaign visuals)

D. Provide Contractor with times and location(s) for presenting survey results to Consortium members.

E. Provide timely responses to Contractor requests

RFP # 00002704 15 of 17 RFP Information Packet

RFP # 00002704 16 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Section 4: Sample Contract Please see attachment 1

RFP # 00002704 17 of 17 RFP Information Packet

Section 5: RFP Terms and

Conditions Link to RFP Terms and Conditions: https://www.portland.gov/business-opportunities/documents/terms-and-conditions-rfp-sample-v2/download https://www.portland.gov/business-opportunities/documents/terms-and-conditions-rfp-sample-v2/download https://www.portland.gov/business-opportunities/documents/terms-and-conditions-rfp-sample-v2/download