[Adopted 6-21-2005 by Ord. No. 8-6-2005]
It is the purpose of this article that, notwithstanding that professional services contracts and certain other contracts for goods and services are exempt from the competitive bidding requirements of the Local Public Contracts Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:11-1 et seq., the Township Council deems it appropriate, and consistent with the provisions of recently enacted New Jersey legislation, now codified at N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.1 et seq., to henceforth award such contracts through a competitive, quality-based, fair and open process.
The Township of Evesham, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall not enter into a contract, including a professional services contract, or such other contract which is exempt from public bidding requirements, having an anticipated value in excess of $10,000 as determined by the municipality, agency or instrumentality, with a business entity, except a contract that is awarded pursuant to a fair and open process if, during the preceding one-year period, that business entity has made a contribution that is reportable by the recipient under N.J.S.A. 19:44A-1 et seq., to any municipal committee of a political party in that municipality if a member of that political party is serving in an elective public office of that municipality when the contract is awarded or to any candidate committee of any person serving in an elected public office of that municipality when the contract is awarded. The fair and open process shall be quality-based and shall be as follows:
A. 
Professional services maybe awarded by virtue of a publicly advertised request for qualifications ("RFQ") and/or request for proposals ("RFP") which will be issued as one document for those appointments which are made on an annual basis, such as, but not limited to, the positions of Township Attorney, Township Engineer, Township Planner, Planning Board Attorney, Planning Board Engineer, and such similar statutory and/or ordinance public positions.
B. 
For said positions, no contract shall be awarded, unless and until the positions are:
(1) 
Publicly advertised in newspapers in sufficient time to give notice in advance of the solicitation for the contracts;
(2) 
Awarded under a process that provides for public solicitation of proposals and qualifications;
(3) 
Awarded and disclosed under criteria established in writing by the Township of Evesham prior to the solicitation of proposals or qualifications; and
(4) 
Publicly announced when awarded; and as to those RFQs and RFPs which prove to be unsuccessful, the Municipal Clerk shall retain a copy of same on file for a period of not less than 60 days.
C. 
For contracts which arise on an occasional basis, such as appraisals needed for the acquisition of farmland and/or open space, as well as title searches, surveying, and similar work associated with same; and comparable assignments, such planning services needed for Master Plan updates, appraisals, special counsel, special project engineer contracts, etc., professional services contracts may be awarded without following the foregoing provisions, so long as:
(1) 
The anticipated value does not excess the threshold of $17,500 set forth above; and
[Amended 3-18-2014 by Ord. No. 4-3-2014[1]]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also stated that the threshold value was amended in accordance with N.J.S.A. 19:44A-1 et seq., the Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act (CCERA).
(2) 
The Township Manager makes every effort to solicit at least two proposals for said work.
A Departmental Review Committee shall be established by the Township Manager, consisting of not less than two persons, to prepare, process and evaluate any RFQ and/or RFP issued pursuant to the professional services contracting procedures set forth above. Each Departmental Review Committee must prepare, prior to a request for proposals, a written cost estimate in order to allow for proper evaluation of the fee aspect of proposals. Moreover, said Committee shall evaluate the respective qualifications and/or proposals, taking into consideration the designated qualifications and/or performance criteria, experience, reputation of vendor, quoted fee and other relevant factors in making a recommendation of award to the Township Manager and Township Council; and the Township Manager may, in his/her sole discretion, conduct negotiations with qualified vendors after receipt of proposals, in order to achieve the best possible contract terms and conditions for the Township and its taxpayers. No Contract shall be awarded, however, unless same is authorized by resolution duly adopted in public session by the Township Council.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Township Council recognizes that the New Jersey Legislature has provided for the occurrence of certain emergencies, and further recognizes that, therefore, the procedure outlined above might not be capable of being achieved in the event of an emergency or similar time constraints. Thus, should a situation arise, and time does not permit resort to this procedure, and the immediate performance of services is necessary, then an award for same may be made in accordance with the provisions of the Local Public Contracts Law relating to emergency contracts, and such rules and regulations as may be promulgated, from time to time, by the Township Council with regard to same. No such emergency contracts, however, may be awarded without submission to the Township Clerk of a certification establishing a basis for the deviation from the procedures outlined herein.