REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL -WEBSITE RE-DESIGN AND SUPPORT SERVICES The Corporation of the Municipality of Markstay-Warren & Community Development Corporation invites you to submit a proposal for Web Site Design & Implementation. The purpose of this request is to prompt a response from firms actively engaged in the design, supply and installation of Corporate Web Pages meeting our requirements. Your proposal must contain recommendations to satisfy the requirements described in the "Terms of Reference" sections supplied with this request. During the period for proposal preparation, any questions concerning the requirements or intent of the statements contained herein should be addressed to Lorraine Demore, Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk or Paul Hughes, Project coordinator, Telephone (705) 853-4536 Fax (705) 853-4964 ldemore@markstay-warren.ca This Request for Proposal and accompanying documents must be returned with your proposal. If you decline to submit a proposal, a written statement to that effect should be provided with the return of all documents. Proposals are due and will be accepted no later than 3pm Friday December 15th, 2006. We look forward to receiving your response. Yours sincerely Lorraine Demore Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk 1
Sealed proposals plainly marked confidential as to contents, will be received by the Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk, Markstay-Warren, Ontario until: for: 3:00 pm, FRIDAY, December 15TH 2006 MUNICIPAL WEB SITE DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION Request for Proposal Documents may be obtained from the office of the Corporation of the Municipality of Markstay-Warren, P.O Box 79 21 Main St South. Markstay, Ontario P0M 2G0 Proposal Copies Five (5) complete sets of the proposal documents are required. One (1) set to be designated as the Original and the four (4) sets shall be copies. The original set shall contain original signatures. The lowest or any proposal will not necessarily be accepted. Lorraine Demore Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk 2
INTRODUCTION: The Corporation of the Municipality of Markstay-Warren is located within the Sudbury East area, between the City of Greater Sudbury and the City of North Bay. It is comprised of Townships of Hagar, Ratter, Dunnet, Awrey and portions of the Townships of Hawley, Street, Loughrin and Henry. The three (3) settlements within the Municipality are the Village of Markstay, the Village of Hagar, and the village of Warren. The Municipality has a population of 2,666 permanent residents, where the use of the French language is predominant in relation to the use of English. The Town s current website was launched in 2003 and requires to be updated and receive appropriate support. PROJECT SCOPE AND TERMS OF REFERENCE The Town is seeking proposals to provide professional services to re-design its website that will: Upgrade and revamp the website Provide a more dynamic way to deliver information that can be found quickly Page design that will utilize menus, pictures, surveys, opinion polls Improve search capabilities Improve navigation Give the website a portal look Incorporate universal website accessibility design features Brighten its look through the use of pictures and color Incorporate a calendar Include an email alert capability Be flexible to add new features and services in the future Provide a common look and feel throughout the site Incorporate a publishing tool that will allow multiple users to modify the information and/or final review and publishing assigned to only one or two individuals Include documentation management system of website documents to ensure web Pages are current In addition; the selected bidder will be responsible to: Launch the new website Provide ongoing support services as requested Provide training for staff 3
GENERAL PROCEDURE: 1. Review the current website 2. Review best practices 3. Review comments for improvements received from staff, and board members. 4. Organize the data into a flow chart 5. Prepare a draft design 6. Meet with Town Clerk or other staff, Board members or members of its subcommittees a minimum of three (3) meetings: at commencement of Project, a draft completion and at final completion 7. Make recommended changes 8. Receive final approval 9. Launch new site 10. Train staff This is a suggested procedure only. If you feel changes are required, please outline your procedures in the methodology section of your RFP response. In completing the website, meetings may be required with the Senior Management Team, board members or its sub-committees. PROJECT REPORTING Lorraine Demore Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk will be the key contact person. Her phone, fax numbers and e-mail address are as follows: (T) (705) 853-4536 (F) (705) 853-4964 ldemore@markstay-warren.ca. PROJECT TIMING The successful candidate shall commence work on the project as soon as possible upon being notified by the Town and the design and launch aspects of the project are to be completed by March 31, 2007 4
DATE MILESTONE Dec 15/06 RFP submission Deadline Jan 10/06 Review report recommending winning bidder Jan 10/07 Board of Director s approval Jan 15/07 Start of contract Subject for boards approval Feb 5/07 Draft Design due for review and comments Mar 31/07 Completion of website and launch Mar 31/07 Staff training completed SUBMISSION DETAILS Proposals must detail the firm s understanding of the requirements and acknowledgement of the required deliverables, the proposed method of work and the work plan with time schedule. The bid must include an agreement to undertake the full scope of the project and meet all of the terms of reference and reporting conditions within the prescribed time lines. A list of all work to be considered within the scope of this project and any work to be considered outside of the scope of this project Provide information on your firm including number of years in business. Identification of the individual(s) who will be assigned to the project, a description of their experience related to the design of websites and supporting background material and references including title, organization, address and phone number. Provide three website addresses for websites that have been designed by that individual(s). Provide a sample of a recent web site development Explanation of review methodology, project phases and milestones, reporting, timing, estimated hours of work for each project phase, type of testing and quality of assurance undertaken 5
A clear statement advising of the maximum upset limit associated with this project. This amount will include all staffing, travel, disbursements and taxes. The costing shall be broken down into the relevant units i.e. completion of report, travel, disbursements, taxes, etc. (Note: No extras will be allowed for this project unless authorized in advance by a resolution of the Directors of the Municipality of Markstay-Warren & Community Development Corporation Per diem rates should additional deliverables be required Four (4) copies of the Request for Proposal are requested Upon completion of the project, the Municipality of Markstay-Warren & Community Development Corporation will be the sole owner of all information provided to the Town. The information provided to the Town may be copied by the Town without exception. The successful firm will receive credit for all original material. Should the firm wish to maintain intellectual property rights over any portion or aspect of the final submission, this must be clearly identified in the project submission. Late submissions will not be given consideration. The lowest, or any bid, will not necessarily be accepted and the Municipality of Markstay-Warren & Community Development Corporation reserves the right to accept or reject any part of the accepted proposal Bidders shall reply to this Request for Proposal in sufficient detail to provide a basis for evaluation, and may be required to provide further information or clarification on the contents of their submission Proposal is to be limited to five (5) pages public appendices 6
Submissions for this Request for Proposal will be physically received in a sealed envelope marked CONFIDENTIAL and addressed to the attention of: Ms. Lorraine Demore Corporation of the Municipality of Markstay-Warren P.O Box 79 21 Main St South Markstay ON P0M 2G0 No later than 3:00pm local time on Friday December 15, 2006. This condition will be strictly enforced. The Municipality of Markstay-Warren & Community Development Corporation explicitly reserves the right to negotiate terms, conditions and approaches with the successful firm. NOTE: Additional work not noted above that may be recommended as part of the work program, shall be included as a separate component of the submission SELECTION PROCESS Bidders are advised that only complete submissions will be reviewed and evaluated. The evaluation criteria may include, but not be limited to the following: 1. Demonstrated related experience (including designing municipal websites) and capability to perform the required work. (50%) 2. Compliance with the Request for Proposal submission requirements (10%) 3. Understanding the scope of work and acknowledgement of required deliverables (10%) 4. Fee structure (30%) 5. Interview (if required) 7
After all proposals have been received, reviewed and deemed eligible, selected consultants may be invited to attend an interview. ERRORS OR OMISSIONS It is understood and acknowledged that while the Request for Proposal includes specific requirements, a complete review and recommendations are required. Minor items not herein specified but obviously required, shall be provided as if specified. Any misinterpretation of requirements within this proposal bid shall not relieve the bidder of the responsibility of providing the services as aforesaid. CONFLICT OF INTEREST The Consultant and the Chief Administrative Officer are to discuss any perceived or potential conflict of interest prior to proposal submission to the Town. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Currently, the municipal web site is hosted by a 3rd party web hosting service provider. Supported Software: CGI-BIN - Perl - PHP - ASP (Active Server Pages) - ColdFusion Support - JSP Support - Microsoft Access - Microsoft SQL Server Support - MySQL (if database to be utilized, it needs to be based on MySQL) - RealAudio /RealVideo -Current web requirements are similar to the sites defined as examples. -Web site should be built with scalability in mind for future improvements based on current and future technologies. -Web site creation cannot be based on a proprietary model. -All content must be created to have the capability of hosting on a 3 rd party service or in-house. -Current web site to include a public section only with the capability of enhancing the web site for a private section with password protection. 8
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