A.
Professional services may be procured by competitive
negotiation.
B.
When the County, after consultation with its attorney,
determines in writing that the use of competitive sealed bidding is
either not practicable or not advantageous to the County, a contract
may be entered into by use of competitive negotiation.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Virginia Code §§ 2.2-4303B
and 2.2-4303C.
Proposals under this article shall be solicited
through a request for proposals. Adequate public notice of the request
for proposals shall be given in the same manner as provided for competitive
sealed bids.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Virginia Code §§ 2.2-4301
and 2.2-4303.
B.
No proposals shall be handled so as to permit disclosure
of the identity of any offeror or the contents of any proposal to
competing offerors during the process of negotiation.
C.
The request for proposals shall state the relative
importance of price and other evaluation factors.
D.
As provided in the request for proposals, discussion
may be conducted With responsible offerors who submit proposals determined
to be reasonably susceptible to being selected for award, for the
purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of, and conformance
to, the solicitation requirements. Offerors shall be accorded fair
and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion
and revision of proposals, and such revisions may be permitted after
submission and prior to award, for the purpose of obtaining best and
final offers. In conducting discussions, there shall be no disclosure
of the identity of competing offerors or of any information derived
from proposals submitted by competing offerors.
E.
Award shall be made to the responsible offeror whose
proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the
County, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors
set forth in the request for proposals. No other factors or criteria
shall be used in the evaluation. The contract file shall contain the
basis upon which the award is made.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Virginia Code §§ 2.2-4301
and 2.2-4303.
B.
The purchasing agent shall engage in individual discussions
with offerors deemed most fully qualified, responsible and suitable
on the basis of initial responses and with emphasis on professional
competence to provide the required services. Repetitive informal interviews
shall be permissible. Such offerors shall be encouraged to elaborate
on their qualifications and performance data or staff expertise pertinent
to the proposed project, as well as alternative concepts. These discussions
may encompass nonbinding estimates of total project costs, including,
where appropriate, design, construction and life cycle costs. Methods
to be utilized in arriving at prices for services may also be discussed.
Proprietary information from competing offerors shall not be disclosed
to the public or to competitors.
C.
At the conclusion of discussion, as outlined in Subsection B above, on the basis of evaluation factors published in the request for proposals and all information developed in the selection process to this point, the purchasing agent shall select, in the order of preference, two or more offerors whose professional qualifications and proposed services are deemed most meritorious. Negotiations shall then be conducted, beginning with the offeror ranked first. If a contract satisfactory and advantageous to the County can be negotiated at a price considered fair and reasonable, the award shall be made to that offeror. Otherwise, negotiations with the offeror ranked first shall be informally terminated and negotiations conducted with the offeror ranked second, and so on until such contract can be negotiated at a fair and reasonable price.
D.
Should the County determine, in writing and in its
sole discretion, that only one offeror is fully qualified, or that
one offeror is clearly more highly qualified and suitable than the
others under consideration, a contract may be negotiated and awarded
to that offeror.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Virginia Code §§ 2.2-4301
and 2.2-4303.
