PAP.2.6.070 Determination of Need

The CPO working in cooperation with the TGB shall determine the need for management improvements and other professional services.

(a) Solicitation. The Tribe shall prepare a request for proposal (RFP), which clearly identifies the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors and sub factors on the award decision (i.e. the weight given to each technical factor and sub factor). A mechanism for fairly and thoroughly evaluating the technical and price proposals shall be established by the Tribe before the solicitation is issued. Proposals shall be handled so as to prevent disclosure of the number of offers, identity of the offers, and the contents of the proposals. The proposals shall be evaluated only on the criteria stated in the RFP solicitation.

(b) Evaluation Factors.

(1) The RFP for the procurement of management improvement contracts and other professional services shall include evaluation factors that clearly identify the criteria that are going to be used in the award decision. The proposals shall be evaluated only on the criteria stated in the request for proposal. Such determining factors may include Indian Ownership, Indian training and employment opportunities, availability of materials, ability to meet the delivery schedule, shipping methods, price, etc. When this method is used, prior to the issuance of the solicitation, scoring criteria shall be developed, as part of the solicitation packet, which outlines the criteria and their respective weights that will be used to determine contract award.

(2) The scoring criteria shall be made an integral part of the RFP packet that is distributed to an adequate number of possible respondents.

(1) The request for proposal (RFP) may be restricted to qualified Indian-owned economic enterprises and Indian organizations if the Tribe has a reasonable expectation of receiving offers from two (or a greater number stated in the RFP) such entities.

(2) The Tribe shall solicit proposals for non-Indian as well as Indian-owned economic enterprises and Indian organizations if:

(A) The TGB prefers not to restrict the RFP;

(B) There are an insufficient number of qualified Indian-owned economic enterprises or Indian organizations to be able to satisfactorily respond to a restricted RFP; or

(d) Preparation of Request for Proposal.

(1) The Procurement Department of the Tribe shall prepare the RFP. The RFP shall at least contain the following information:

(A) A brief description of the Tribe and the project contemplated;

(B) The specific professional services required;

(D) The evaluation factors and their relative importance in the award of the contract;

(E) The submission deadline; and

(F) The name of Tribe's contact person.

(2) The RFP shall request that the respondent provide a proposal that:

(A) Demonstrates an understanding of the required services needed and the firm's or individual's ability to perform the services in a timely and effective manner (including a profile of the firm's principles, staff and facilities);

(B) Provides a cost estimate to perform the work; and

(e) Advertisement of RFP. The Procurement Department shall advertise the RFP through public announcement in local newspapers, trade publications, the Tribal newsletter, the tribe's website, or direct requests to qualified respondents in the Tribe's files which the Tribe or other authorities have previously retained, and/or direct requests to local associations of minority respondents. The advertisement shall run for a period of 2 weeks thus allowing firms adequate time for preparation of bids or proposals. The CPO shall furnish all interested parties with a copy of the RFP.

(f) Pre-Proposal Conference. The CPO may hold pre-proposal conferences to inform the proposers about the requirements of the scope of work and also give a walkthrough of the proposed project, if applicable.

(g) Addendum to RFP. The Procurement Department shall issue changes to the standard RFP package in the form of an addendum. The CPO shall not interpret the meaning of RFP documents except by addendum. Each addendum shall be numbered sequentially by the Procurement Department who will provide a copy to each proposer of record to each place where RFP documents are on file. The addendum also shall specify, if applicable, the revised deadline date for submission of proposals. If the Addenda are issued within 5 working days of the date of the RFP submission date, the RFP closing date shall be moved at least 5 days or as otherwise determined by the Tribe from the date of the issued Addenda.

(h) RFP Submission Date.

(1) Upon receipt of each proposal, the Procurement Department shall mark the date and time on the envelope and keep it unopened in a secure place. At the date and time specified in the Request For Proposals, it shall be noted that the time for submission has occurred and a list of firms submitting proposals shall be compiled for the public record, copies of which will be forwarded to the CPO and the Finance Department along with the proposals.

(2) Any RFP's submitted after the date and time specified in the Request for Proposals shall be date and time stamped and returned, unopened, to the Proposer with a letter indicating that the proposal was not received by the deadline.

(i) Review of Proposals Received.

(1) After the request period has ended, the CPO or designee will perform a completeness review of all proposals received utilizing a checklist made up of items listed under the "Minimum Submission Requirement" section of the RFP. Dependent on the necessity of the document requested, to the RFP, any omissions may render the proposal incomplete and therefore non-responsive. Once the review has been completed, the CPO or designee shall notify the TGB and the Tribes Legal Department of the results, select the review committee and schedule the pre-review conference to discuss the technical review process, the evaluation factors and the objective of the resultant contract award.

(2) The review committee shall independently review all proposals in accordance with the Evaluation Factors for the RFP. Each reviewer shall score each proposal in accordance with the rating points established for each evaluation factor and sub factor. Once all members of the review committee have completed the review of all proposals, the committee will meet to review and discuss the results of the scoring. Based on final discussion, the proposals shall be ranked with the firm receiving the most points as the "Top Ranked Firm" for that RFP.

(j) Negotiations.

(1) Unless there is no need for negotiations with any of the offers, negotiations shall be conducted by the Procurement Department with offertory who submit proposals determined to have a reasonable chance of being selected for award, based on an evaluation against the technical and price factors as specified in the RFP. Such offers shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for negotiation and revision of proposals. The purpose of the negotiations shall be to seek clarification of TGB questions and, if considered appropriate, advise the offeror of deficiencies in both the technical and price aspects of their proposals that may impact the offertory full understanding of; and conformance to, the solicitation requirements. No offeror shall be provided information about any other offeror's proposal, and no offeror shall be assisted in bringing its proposal up to the level of any other proposal. Offertory shall not be directed to reduce their proposed prices to a specific amount in order to be considered for award.

(2) A common deadline shall be established for receipt of proposal revisions during the negotiations. The Contracting Department shall determine if all required forms and/or documents are included in the submitted proposals.

(k) Award.

(1) After evaluation of the proposals (and any revisions), the contract shall be awarded to the responsible firm whose qualifications, price, and other factors considered are the most advantageous to the Tribe. The Tribe shall not order or agree to any changes in the contract work when prior funding agency approval is required. Contract changes shall include a description of the proposed change in work, the fixed cost (credit, debit or no change) of the change, and an estimate of any additional time required to complete the work.

(2) For solicitations restricted to qualified Indian-owned economic enterprises and Indian organizations, if two (or a greater number stated in the RFP) such entities submit acceptable proposals, award shall be made to the qualified Indian-owned economic enterprise or Indian organization with the best proposal, provided that the price is within the maximum total price established for the specific project or activity.

(3) If fewer then the number of Indian-owned economic enterprises or Indian organizations submits acceptable proposals, the Tribe should consider re-soliciting the RFP without restriction to qualified Indian-owned economic enterprises and Indian organizations. The Tribe may accept the sole proposal received, subject to HUD approval regarding HUD projects, in unusual circumstances (such-as when the Tribe determines that the delays caused by re-soliciting the RFP would cause higher costs or when the Tribe determines that the proposal has a fair and reasonable price.

(l) Contract Review and Approval.

(1) Once the Procurement Department has reviewed and approved the RFP process and award, it will prepare a contract which contains the following:

(A) A clear statement of the specific services and tasks to be performed;

(B) A description of the methodology to be used in carrying out the services;

(D) A time frame for completion of all services;

(E) A payment schedule that is related to the successful completion of specific tasks; and

(F) The total cost of the project.

(m) Abandonment or Termination.

(1) In the event of abandonment of the project or termination of the contract for any cause, under the respective sections of the contract, the terms of any settlement between the Tribe and the service provider shall be subject to approval by the TGB or designee.

(2) The Tribe shall not disburse any monies to the service provider after the notice of abandonment or termination has been issued and the funding agency (if required) have approved the settlement agreement.