Monday, August 10, 2020

With new RFP, City of Prince Rupert seeks out contractors for future infrastructure work

The City is giving some thought towards using
a contractor's list for potential future 
infrastructure work in Prince Rupert


The City of Prince Rupert is looking towards some of their future infrastructure work and having taken stock of what they describe as their limited in-house assets, has posted a Request for Contractor Services through the BC Bid website.

The notice posted Friday to the provincial procurement site comes from Richard Pucci, the Director of Operations, who made note of some of the challenges the City faces as it looks to rebuild some vital components of infrastructure. 

The City is planning over the next several years to undertake improvements to its various assets, such as roads and sidewalks and associated sewer and water infrastructure and drainage improvements. 

The City has limited in-house access to personnel, equipment and operators and wishes to engage with a contractor that is able to support the City's needs from time to time in respect of the Projects. 

The City is seeking proposals from qualified contractors capable of undertaking the Projects on behalf of the City. The completed Projects will be owned, operated, and generally maintained by the City. 

The City has formulated the terms and procedures set out in this RFP to ensure that it receives proposals through an open, competitive process, and to ensure that the Proponents receive fair and equitable treatment in the solicitation, receipt and evaluation of their proposals.

Towards the Request for Contractor Services the scope of the work and specific assignments expected of the successful applicants notes the following: 

It is expected that, in connection with a particular Project, the Contractor will be responsible for some or all items of work associated with developing site access, construction site security, traffic control and pedestrian safety, quality management (such as inspection and testing requirements) and environmental management (such as erosion and sediment control). 

The actual number or scope of the Projects is not currently known and the City makes no representations or warranties as to the minimum or set number of Projects for which the Contractor will be required to provide the Services. 

It is envisioned that, depending upon the specific nature and requirements of a Project, the Services will be delivered on a 'time and materials' basis using the hourly rates provided by the selected Contractor in their Proposal.

Those with an interest in providing the services required by the City, have until September 7th to submit their bid to Mr. Pucci.

As for the details to the Closing of the competition and how the city will process the applications the city's protocol looks as follows:

The City will not accept submissions of any Proposals after the Closing Date and Time. 

Any submissions received or submitted after the Closing Date and Time shall be considered disqualified. Under no circumstances, regardless of weather conditions, transportation delays, technology issues or any other circumstances, will late submissions be accepted. 

The City accepts no responsibility for non-receipt and/or delays in receipt caused by transmission and reception problems, equipment failure, or any other similar cause. 

The City will not be opening Proposals in public and will not be disclosing evaluation results to the public. The City may produce copies of the Proposals for its internal use only.

The last line of that passage makes for an interesting approach towards transparency for  City Council members it would seem.  

The city's elected officials may want to speak to the initiative and perhaps fill in some of the details for the public on their new focus for infrastructure concepts, as part of their only public Council session for August, set for next Monday.

The City also notes in their prospectus for would be contractors that "there is no guarantee" by the City the RFP will continue, or that the process will result in any contract work for the City.

As for those who submit a proposal, the path forward toward success looks like this: 

The City intends to short-list the two (2) highest ranked Proponents for an interview and presentation process for the purpose of identifying the highest ranked and most preferred Proponent with whom the City may negotiate with to conclude a contract for the Project. 

Proponents will be responsible for any costs associated with the preparing for, and attendance at, the interview, to take place at a specified location within the City. 

An interview will be by a format selected by the City (such as in-person, by telephone or by video-conference). The City reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to negotiate with either or both of the short-listed Proponents.

The full background to the city's quest can be explored through the BC Bid website.

For more notes related to city's past Requests for Proposals and Successful bids see our archive page here.

Further items of interest on past Civic initiatives can be reviewed through our Council Discussion archive.



1 comment:

  1. So glad, it has been painful watching the city work on piping projects. What happened to Fulton and 6th project. are we still waiting on parts. Not acceptable in private sector why should the taxpayers have to take the hit for inefficient staff.

    ReplyDelete