Puget Sound Regional Council

Transcription

1 Puget Sound Regional Council PSRC Request for Qualifications for Legal Services Consultant Services Solicited by the Puget Sound Regional Council Released: November 12, 2009 Submissions Due: 4:30pm, November 30, 2009 Submit Proposals to: Andrew Werfelmann, Accountant Phone: , Fax: , Puget Sound Regional Council 1011 Western Avenue, Suite 500 Seattle, Washington Phone: , Fax: , Website:

2 Request for Qualifications for Legal Services Submissions Due: 4:30pm, November 30, 2009 I. REQUEST The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is requesting qualifications from firms to provide on-call legal services. The work will be subject to PSRC's proposal review and consultant selection process. The available budget for this project is not to exceed $134,000 over two years with the option to renew for an additional two years. Submittals must be received at PSRC office by 4:30pm, November 30, PSRC promotes equal employment opportunity in the evaluation of any proposal and in the award of any resultant contract. PSRC's work program complies with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and procedures. Respondents to this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) should prepare a statement of qualifications for staff that will be responsible for the tasks outlined above. At a minimum, proposals should include: A brief discussion of previous work done regarding services described in Part III (Proposed Scope of Work) of this document. The resources to be devoted to each service. The rates of staff that will be assigned to work with PSRC. II. BACKGROUND PSRC is an association of local government and state agencies in the central Puget Sound region of Washington State. It serves as a forum for developing policies and making decisions about important economic, growth management, and transportation issues. PSRC has traditionally contracted with outside consulting firms on an as-needed basis for human resources services as well as advice and counsel. III. PROPOSED SCOPE OF WORK A. PURPOSE PSRC seeks the assistance of a legal consulting firm to provide a variety of legal services as needed with an emphasis on issues related to Regional Metropolitan Planning. If additional funds or tasks are identified, an amendment to the contract may be proposed to reflect the additions. RFQ for Legal Services Page 1 Puget Sound Regional Council

3 B. TASK DETAILS General legal Services Consulting: The proposing firm should be available as needed to provide legal consulting services. Professionals from the firm must be available to work directly with upper management and the Board of Directors. Consulting should be provided to staff on as-needed basis. IV. PROJECT SCHEDULE The following is an outline of the proposed project schedule. The schedule may be modified while refining the contract scope of work after the consultant selection process has been completed. A. CONSULTANT SELECTION SCHEDULE: All submissions due... 4:30pm, November 30, 2009 Consultant interviews (if needed)...december 1-4, 2009 Consultant selected & notified... December 7, 2009 Refine scope of work for contract...december 8-9, 2009 Sign contract with PSRC... December 10, 2009 V. BUDGET AVAILABLE The budget for this project is not to exceed $134,000 over two years with the option to renew for an additional two years. Consulting firms are advised that upon subsequent review, evaluation, and discussion of proposals and approaches to the project, PSRC may make budget adjustments to optimize achievement of project objectives and opportunities within currently available resources. VI. PUGET SOUND REGIONAL COUNCIL'S RIGHTS This RFQ and/or the selection process do not obligate PSRC to enter into any contracts. PSRC reserves the following rights, in addition to those accorded by policy and law: The right to negotiate all proposal elements. The right to reject any and all proposals, waive irregularities and re-solicit proposals. The right to change the scope of work depending on funding available. The right to approve any and all subcontractors selected after an award. The right to renegotiate the agreement for such additional service as may be necessary. The right to make an award to other than the lowest bidder. VII. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO) & TITLE VI REQUIREMENT The Contractor shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability or national origin. The Contractor RFQ for Legal Services Page 2 Puget Sound Regional Council

4 shall take affirmative action to ensure that the hiring of applicants and treatment of employees during employment is conducted without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to the following: employment, upgrading, demotion or transfer, recruitment, advertising, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation and selection for training, including apprenticeship. The Contractor further agrees to insert the foregoing provision in all subcontracts. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) hereby gives public notice that it is the policy of the agency to assure full compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, Executive Order on Environmental Justice, and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. Title VI requires that no person in the United States of America shall, on the grounds of race, color, sex, or national origin, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity for which PSRC receives federal financial assistance. Any person who believes they have been aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatory practice under Title VI has a right to file a formal complaint with PSRC. Any such complaint must be in writing and filed with PSRC s Title VI Coordinator within one hundred eighty (180) days following the date of the alleged discriminatory occurrence. For more information, or to obtain a Title VI Discrimination Complaint Form, please see our Web site at or call (206) The Puget Sound Regional Council, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 78 Stat. 252, USC 2000d 42 and Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation, Subtitle A, Office of the secretary, part 21: Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs of the Department of Transportation Issued Pursuant to Such Act, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that any contract entered pursuant to this advertisement will afford minority business enterprises full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation, and will not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, sex, or national origin in consideration for an award. The Puget Sound Regional Council will make available to interested persons a directory identifying all firms eligible to participate as DBE s in its program as provided by the Washington State Office of Minority and Women s Business Enterprises. This list may be found on the Internet at The information is available by vendor names and by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). VIII. CONTENT AND FORMAT OF PROPOSAL A. CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL: The consultant s proposal format should emphasize clarity and brevity in describing understanding of the project, approach to each task, and personnel experience. The proposal should be prepared on white bond paper (standard 8.5 x 11") in 12-point type. RFQ for Legal Services Page 3 Puget Sound Regional Council

5 Three (3) copies and one original copy (in copy ready format) of the consultant s proposal should be submitted to PSRC by the closing date and time described in Part IV, Project Schedule. Proposals will not be reviewed and will be considered non-responsive if they arrive past the noted deadline or exceed a total of 5 pages in length for all required proposal information. The 5-page limit shall include a transmittal letter with the proposal, signed by the individual(s) from the consultant team able to commit the resources of the consultant, and shall identify the key person and phone number to contact regarding such proposal. This 5-page limit does not include the front and back covers of a proposal, if they are provided. Each submission must include the following information: 1. Participation of principal, investigators, key support, and technical staff, including cost breakdown by each key participant in the project. Total cost shall not exceed $134,000 over two years with the option to renew. 2. Description of relevant experience and qualifications for each senior person involved in the project. 3. List of people, with telephone numbers, who can be contacted for reference on relevant experience. 4. Documentation of equal employment opportunity commitment for the prime and each subcontractor, if any. 5. A completed Information on Proposing Firm(s) form. B. DESIGNATION OF PERSONNEL: The proposal should identify and describe the qualifications of the individuals who would work on the project. It should estimate the time availability of each individual over the period of the project. It should list references who can verify the recent experience of each individual. C. DBE/WBE REQUIREMENTS AND PARTICIPATION: Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) or Women-owned Business Enterprises (WBE) should indicate their ownership status in the qualification statements. Non-DBE/WBE consultants will be expected to provide assurance as to their commitment to equal employment opportunities for minorities and women, as well as to the utilization of qualified DBEs/WBEs, if a subcontract is required. A DBE is any firm certified as such at the date and time of bid by the Washington State Office of Minority and Women s Business Enterprise (OMWBE) or by the Federal Small Business Administration under Section (8a) of the Federal Small Business Act, as amended. PSRC promotes and encourages Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (M/W/DBE) participation on its contracts and is interested in submittals that reasonably involve such participation as prime consultants, joint venture partners or subcontractors. PSRC has not established a DBE/WBE participation goal for this contract opportunity. RFQ for Legal Services Page 4 Puget Sound Regional Council

6 IX. CONSULTANT SELECTION A. SELECTION CRITERIA: The primary selection criterion will be the ability of the firm to understand the issues and accomplish the tasks described in Section II (Background) and Section III (Proposed Scope of Work). Other selection criteria will include: 1. Experience and qualifications of principal investigators. 2. Recommendations of references. 3. Ability to work within deadlines and to develop mutually agreed dates for deliverables. 4. The criteria may also include Disadvantaged Business Enterprise involvement and satisfaction of EEO goals. Award of a contract with PSRC will be contingent upon compliance with 49 C.F.R B. SELECTION PROCESS: The consultant selection process will be conducted as follows: 1. The closing date and hour for receipt of the proposal is 4:30pm, November 30, Proposals received after this date and time will not be considered. In the event that sufficient proposals are not received, the date may, at PSRC s sole discretion, be extended until an adequate number of proposals are received. 2. The proposal review and selection process may require personal interviews with one or more proposing firms. These interviews will be held from December 1-4, Selection of the consultant shall be based on PSRC s evaluation of the best proposal and best-qualified respondent using the criteria and information outlined in Sections VIII and IXA above. Such determination shall be made at the sole discretion of PSRC. 4. Contract negotiations will be initiated immediately upon selection of the consultant. If PSRC is not able to negotiate a satisfactory contract, scope of services, billing rates or overhead costs consistent with Federal and State requirements, negotiations will be terminated and the consultant will be notified by mail. In this event, the proposals of the remaining pool of respondents will be evaluated and negotiations will be initiated with one of the remaining respondents selected in accordance with Sections VIII and IXA above as most qualified to complete the work. 5. This selection process does not obligate PSRC to enter into a contract with any of the responding firms. 6. Unsuccessful proposers will be afforded the opportunity of debriefing conferences if they so request. The request for a debriefing conference must be made within three days of receipt of the written notification indicating that their proposal was not selected. Discussions will be informal and limited to a critique of the requesting consultant s proposal. This feedback will assist the proposer in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their proposal. PSRC representatives will explain the scoring of a consultant s proposal. Debriefings may be conducted in person or by telephone and may be limited to a specific period of time. RFQ for Legal Services Page 5 Puget Sound Regional Council

7 X. SUBMITTAL Three (3) copies of the proposal, plus one original in copy-ready format, must be received by the closing date and time described in Part IV, Project Schedule. Proposals may be delivered or mailed to PSRC office at the following address: Andrew Werfelmann, Accountant Puget Sound Regional Council 1011 Western Avenue, Suite 500 Seattle, Washington Questions regarding the outlined scope of service should be directed to: Thu Le at (206) or X:\ADMIN\CONTRACT\RFP\RFP FY2010 RFQ for Legal Services Page 6 Puget Sound Regional Council

8 1. Information on firm: Information on Proposing Firm(s) Firm: Address: Phone: Fax: Years in business: Website: Status as MWBE or DBE with WA State: WA State MWBE/DBE certification ID #: NAICS and/or SIC code: Gross receipts: Under 1 mil. 1 mil. 100 mil. Over 100 mil. Where did you hear about this RFP(Q)? 2. Project manager contact information: Contact name: Phone: 3. Information on ALL firms that will participate in this contract: Name of firm DBE # Address Phone/fax % of Work* *The sum of all firms % of work must equal 100% 4. Description of work each DBE will perform: Name of firm Description of work