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Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR FOR EMERGENCY BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE CITY MANAGERS OFFICE CITY OF PASADENA

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Page 1: Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) · 19 hours ago · Notice of Funding Availability - Program Administrator for Emergency Business Grant Program Release Date: October 8, 2020

Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR FOR EMERGENCY BUSINESS

GRANT PROGRAM

FOR THE

CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE

CITY OF PASADENA

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Notice of Funding Availability - Program Administrator for Emergency Business Grant Program Release Date: October 8, 2020

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NOTICE REGARDING DISCLOSURE OF

CONTENTS OF DOCUMENT

All responses to this Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) accepted by the City of Pasadena (City) shall become the exclusive property of the City. At such time as the City Manager recommends a sub-recipient to the City Council, and such recommendation, with any recommended agreement appears on the Council agenda, all applications accepted by the City shall become a matter of public record and shall be regarded as public, with the exception of those elements of each application which are defined by the sub-recipient as business or trade secrets and plainly marked as "Trade Secret", "Confidential" or "Proprietary". Each element of application which a sub-recipient desires not to be considered a public record must be clearly marked as set forth above, and any blanket statement (i.e. regarding entire pages, documents or other non-specific designations) shall not be sufficient and shall not bind the City in any way whatsoever. If disclosure is required or permitted under the California Public Records Act or otherwise by law, the City shall not in any way be liable or responsible for the disclosure of any such records or part thereof.

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Notice of Funding Availability - Program Administrator for Emergency Business Grant Program Release Date: October 8, 2020

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Table of Contents

A. ANNOUNCEMENT .................................................................................................... 5

B. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................... 6

1. Summary 6 2. Background 6 3. Contact Information 8 4. Timeline 8

C. SUBMITTAL PROCESS AND INSTRUCTIONS ............................................................... 9

1. Funded by the Housing and Urban Development 9 2. Submission and Delivery Instructions 9 3. Deadline for Proposal Questions 11 4. Pre-Proposal Meeting 11 5. Addenda Error!

Bookmark not defined. 6. Review and Award Recommendation Process 12 7. Withdraw of Proposal 12

D. OBJECTIVE .............................................................................................................. 13

E. SCOPE OF WORK .................................................................................................... 14

1. Overview 14 2. Requirements 15 3. Location 15 4. CHANGE ORDER MANAGEMENT 16

F. EVALUATION PROCEDURES & CRITERIA ................................................................. 17

G. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND CONDITIONS……………………………………………………………18 Attachments: A – Required Documentation B - Emergency Business Assistance Program Guidelines Draft 0920 C – CDBG Agreement

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Notice of Funding Availability - Program Administrator for Emergency Business Grant Program Release Date: October 8, 2020

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City of Pasadena

NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY (NOFA) FOR

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)

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Notice of Funding Availability - Program Administrator for Emergency Business Grant Program Release Date: October 8, 2020

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A. ANNOUNCEMENT

AWARDING AGENCY: City of Pasadena

FUNDING AVAILABILITY TITLE: Community Development Block Grant CATALOG OF FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 14.218 FEDERAL AWARD IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (FAIN): B-20-MC-06-0525

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Notice of Funding Availability - Program Administrator for Emergency Business Grant Program Release Date: October 8, 2020

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B. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This section provides a general overview of the process and applicable requirements and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be a full disclosure of all applicable federal, state and/or local rules, regulations, procedures and/or reporting requirements. The City of Pasadena is a grantee of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The CDBG program is funded and regulated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and authorized under Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Regulations for the programmatic administration of the CDBG program can be found under 24 Code of Regulations (CFR) Part 570. CDBG is also subject to uniform administrative requirements found under 2 CFR Part 200. The CDBG program provides grants on a formula basis to entitled cities and counties with the statutory primary objective of developing viable urban communities, principally for low to moderate income persons (LMI). Since 1974, the CDBG program has provided a flexible source of annual funding to communities nationwide.

1. Summary

Through this NOFA, $425,000 will be made available for a business grant program. It is anticipated that one grant award will be made through this announcement. The City of Pasadena is seeking a nonprofit organization (selected agency) to administer an Emergency Business Reimbursement Grant program to provide grants to micro-enterprises needing financial assistance in overcoming the temporary loss of revenue due to the COVID-19 outbreak as outlined in this Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

The program is Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funded.

In compliance with HUD and City regulations, the selected agency will be responsible for the oversight and reimbursement of funds for the Emergency Business Grant program. Responsibility will include the creation of a Review Committee, preparation of an application form and scoring rubric, and evaluation submitted applications. The final program and eligibility guidelines will be approved by the City. A draft is attached for review (Attachment B).

The selected agency will also be responsible to disburse the reimbursed funds. It should be noted that individual grants cannot exceed $7,500 per business and total funding for the program is $425,000. The program is expected to award 50 grants. The awarded agency will execute a CDBG reimbursable agreement with the City (Attachment C).

The selected agency may need to meet other certain minimum qualifications to propose on this specification. See Section titled "Proposal Format" for required certifications and qualifications.

2. Background

The City of Pasadena is an ethnically diverse community that is home to approximately 141,029 people. Pasadena is the ninth-largest city in Los Angeles County. It is one of the primary cultural centers of the San Gabriel Valley. The City covers approximately 22.5 square miles, with an

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average of ten residents per acre. The median age of its residents is approximately 36.9 years. There are over 100,000 jobs in a wide variety of industries in the City of Pasadena.

This section provides a general overview of the process and applicable requirements and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be a full disclosure of all applicable federal, state and/or local rules, regulations, procedures and/or reporting requirements.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Eligible Applicants

This NOFA is open to public or private non-profit agencies or organizations only. Faith-based organizations are allowed to compete for CDBG funds on the same basis as other non-profits; however funds cannot be used to support worship, religious instruction or proselytization. Faith-based organizations that participate in the CDBG program shall not discriminate against a program beneficiary on the basis of religion or religious belief. Organizations are strongly discouraged from applying for funds unless they are ready to implement the activity proposed for funding. This is a reimbursement program and the selected agency will be reimbursed for grant awards. There are no requirements for cost sharing, matching or cost participation.

Those who wish to submit proposal for funding may attend the pre-proposal virtual meeting (refer to Section C below). Agencies must successfully complete a proposal and submit by the deadline in order to be considered CDBG funding. Proposers that do not meet the requirements described above will have their proposals returned without review.

Proposers must have the following computer equipment and software in order to successfully implement a CDBG-funded project:

- Adobe Arcobat Professional 10 or higher

- Google Chrome, Firefox, Mozilla, or Internet Explorer (web browsers)

- Scanner (used to convert hardcopies into electronic files for uploading required documentation)

Proposers should consider the following with regard to their CDBG project:

1) No partial awards will be made through this announcement.

3) Unexpended funds are subject to reprogramming (allocated to other uses) by the City Council.

4) Indirect project delivery costs are limited to the rate negotiated with their cognizant agency.

5) Indirect administrative costs are not eligible.

6) All non-personnel and capital costs must be procured according to federal or local regulations during the program year, and prior to purchase.

7) Any service contracts existing prior to CDBG award are ineligible for reimbursement, unless there is proof that federal/local procurement requirements were followed.

Each proposed CDBG project must:

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(a) Be an eligible activity consistent with the provisions of CFR Title 24 Part 570, and

(b) Be located, primarily conducted, or serving the residents in the City of Pasadena.

3. Contact Information

Project Contact: Ruth Martinez-Baenen Project Manager 100 North Garfield Avenue City Manager's Office 4th Fl. Pasadena, CA 91101 Email: [email protected] Phone: (626) 765-7351 Department: City Manager’s Office

4. Timeline

Release Project Date October 8, 2020

Pre-proposal Meeting

October 22, 2020, 1:30 pm

Please email [email protected] for the meeting link.

Question Submission Deadline October 26, 2020, 4:00pm

Proposal Submission Deadline October 29, 2020, 4:00pm

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C. SUBMITTAL PROCESS AND INSTRUCTIONS

1. Funded by the Housing and Urban Development

Notice to Prospective Proposers

This project is being funded by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Therefore, the Contract is subject to certain federal requirements, including, but not limited to: Equal Employment Opportunity; Affirmative Action; Small Business Enterprise (“SBE”), Minority Business Enterprise (“MBE”), and Women’s Business Enterprise (“WBE”) utilization; Equal Employment Opportunity (Attachment C).

In addition, any contract arising from these specifications will be subject to certain City requirements contained herein.

The contract related to this NOFA is funded by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), a federal entitlement program administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Vendors must include all required documents in the proposal found in Attachment A.

2. Submission and Delivery Instructions

Form of Proposal Submission

Proposers are asked to submit one (1) original hardcopy, and two (2) electronic copies of their proposal, to be received no later than 4:00 pm, Thursday, October 29, 2020, at:

City of Pasadena – City Manager’s Office Attn: Ruth Martinez-Baenen, Project Manager

100 N Garfield Avenue, # S228 Pasadena, CA 91101

Proposal packages may be hand-delivered or sent via US mail, taking the deadline listed above into account. Faxed, e-mailed or late submittals will not be accepted. Submissions must be delivered in a sealed package with the statement, “PY2020 CDBG Business Grant Program” and with the names and address of the primary contact for the organization.

1. Use strictly 8.5” X 11” paper and print using the portrait orientation setting, single-sided.

2. Use 3-ringed binders, folders or similar products to submit the proposal.

3. Do not staple any sections and/or supporting documentation.

4. Use tabs to separate material/documents from one another.

5. Please clearly name all of the electronic files which are saved on a flash drive.

Please note that any premature commitment or expenditure of funds for proposed activities is prohibited. No project expenses will be eligible for CDBG reimbursement if they have been incurred or commissioned prior to environmental review and/or clearance. Project expenses will

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also not be eligible for CDBG reimbursement if they have been incurred or commissioned prior to the project start date identified in the executed CDBG Agreement with the City of Pasadena.

Documentation Requirements

The following is a list of documentation required to be submitted with the Proposal. It shall serve as a checklist to help eliminate errors and omissions which may render the proposal unresponsive. Failure to provide completed documentation in the proposal will result in not meeting the documentation requirements.

☐ Vendor Questionnaire (Attachment A)

☐ Tax Payer Protection Act (TPA) (Attachment A)

☐ Declaration of Non-Collusion (Attachment A)

☐ IRS Form W-9 (Attachment A)

☐ IRS Non-profit Determination Letter

☐ Authorizing Resolution (Attachment A)

☐ Proof of DUNS# clearance at www.SAM.GOV

1.1 Mandatory Contents

☐ Section A: Cover letter

☐ Section B: Qualifications and Experience

☐ Section C: Proposed Approach

☐ Section D: Required Documentation

1.2 Specific Requirements for each Section of the Proposal:

Section A – Cover Letter

Shall be a maximum one-page letter including the name and address of the organization submitting the proposal; whether the proposing firm is an individual, partnership, corporation or joint venture; and the name, mailing/e-mail addresses, and telephone/fax numbers the contact person who will be authorized to make representations for the organization. In addition, include the number and type of employees, and the number of years the organization has been in business.

Section B – Qualifications and Experience

1. Description of services the firm may provide for the Scope of Work services listed in Section E. Identify services that will be provide in-house and services that will be subcontracted. Include names of sub-consultants that will be used by your firm.

2. Overall capabilities of the organization, the organizational structure, and the number professionals, along with an organizational chart. Identify key management personnel that would be assigned to work on various tasks. For each key personnel, please include title,

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licenses, office location, role and a brief description of their relevant experience. Identify staff who will be the primary contact (program oversight), who will prepare financial reimbursement requests, and who will approve submissions of financial reimbursement requests; describe their experience with federally-funded reimbursable contracts.

3. Recent experience by the firm for similar projects described in Section E. Program Description. Include a description of each project, year completed (shall be within 5 years), your company’s role, and total project cost.

Section C – Proposed Approach

This section describe your proposed approach for meeting the scope of services required, as listed above in Section B. Program Description. Relevant considerations include marketing and outreach, client intake process, identify what professional services the agency will contract out for the proposed project, if any, to be covered by CDBG. Describe the financial system utilized by the agency, including details on how CDBG funds will be tracked separately from other funding sources as it pertains to personnel and non-personnel costs. In addition, please describe the agency’s purchasing procedures.

The entire proposal must be formatted on standard-size 8½”x11” pages; printed on one side only; 12 point font only and no more than 50 grand total pages.

Proposals received after the Proposal Deadline may not be accepted by the City.

3. Deadline for Proposal Questions

The deadline to submit questions related to this NOFA is Oct 26, 2020, prior to 4:00 pm.

Questions regarding this NOFA should be directed only to the person(s) designated below. Do not contact any other City employee or official regarding this NOFA.

Questions shall be in written format and be submitted ONLY via e-mail

General and/or technical questions:

City Manager’s Office

Ruth Martinez-Baenen, Project Manager (626) 765-7351 [email protected]

4. Pre-Proposal Meeting

There will be a NON-MANDATORY virtual meeting for this NOFA on Wednesday, October 22, 2020 at 1:30 pm. This will be a virtual meeting.

Please email Ruth Martinez at rmartinez@cityofpasadena for the meeting link.

If any person contemplating submitting a proposal of the items or services listed herein is in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of this NOFA, he/she may submit to the City representative(s) identified in Section 3, above, a written request for an interpretation or correction thereof.

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Any interpretation or correction of City specifications will be made only by addendum, duly issued by the City representative(s) identified in Section 3, above. Addenda (if any) shall be made available to each Proposer. A proposer’s failure to address the requirements of any and all addenda may result in the proposal not being considered. If the City determines that a time extension is required for the proposal, the City will issue an addendum that will give the new submission date. The City reserves the right to change any part of these Instructions to PROPOSERS and Specifications any time prior to Deadline for Submissions. Any changes shall be in the form of addenda and will become a part of the Proposal documents and of the contract.

5. Review and Award Recommendation Process

A screening committee will determine which proposals are responsive to City requirements and needs. The technical portions of responsive proposals will be evaluated by a selection panel consisting of personnel from the City. The selection may be based solely on the written proposals submitted.

Proposers may be invited to a meeting to provide additional clarification of the content of their proposal. The City reserves the right to invite all of the PROPOSERS for an oral clarification OR only the top three (3) ranked firms based on the initial written proposal review. The meeting will not alter the selection criteria but will be used to clarify content of the proposal. The final scoring and ranking will be made after the meetings. Proposals shall consist of the sections named in the “Contents of Proposal” outlined below.

Once an agreement is reached with a Proposer, staff will recommend award of a contract. The City reserves the right to select the firm which, in its sole judgment, best meets the needs of the City.

Any contract resulting from this NOFA, if $25,000 or more, shall not be effective until approved by the City Manager. Any contract resulting from this NOFA, if $75,000 or more, shall not be effective until approved by the City Council.

6. Withdraw of Proposal

Any Proposer may withdraw its proposal, by written request at any time prior to the time set for the opening of proposals.

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D. OBJECTIVE

The Notice of Funding Availability is seeking a qualified nonprofit agency to administer the grant program. Following HUD program guidelines, the selected agency will create a program including the development of an application and a scoring rubric, appointment of a qualified review committee, evaluating submitted applications in accordance with the criteria set, and approve or disapprove such applications. The final program and eligibility guidelines will be approved by the city.

The selected agency will also be responsible to provide the reimbursement of the awarded funds.

Past experience administering a small business grant program will be required.

Past experience working with government funding will also be required.

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E. SCOPE OF WORK

1. Overview

The scope of this program will included: a) Establish and appoint a committee to facilitate the deployment the reimbursement of grant funds to locally-owned businesses under the program up to $7,500; b) The Review Committee will be responsible for the preparation of an application form, scoring rubric, the evaluation of all applications submitted; b) manage the notification of applicants whether or not grant funds will be awarded; and c) disperse and manage funds per HUD guidelines.

A draft Program and Eligibility Guidelines can be found in Attachment B. The final program and eligibility guidelines will be approved by the city.

Proposer should be proposing their program approach to client intake, client file maintenance, process for tracking business reimbursement requests.

The proposer shall include their administrative costs in the submitted proposal.

The selected agency will be responsible for all City and HUD-related reporting and record keeping requirements including:

-Record Retention. The selected agency will be required to maintain the following information for federal reporting and monitoring purposes: the name, address, race, ethnicity, and female head of household status for all clients.

The selected agency shall maintain income documentation program beneficiaries.

- Payroll and Attendance Records. The selected agency must maintain payroll and time and attendance records signed by the employee and approved by the supervisor. Time distribution records will also be kept by program and shall account for total work time on a daily basis for all employees. On a minimum monthly basis, records of activity details must be documented for all personnel costs.

- Procurement. The selected agency will comply with procurement standards outlined in, 2 CFR, Part 200, Section 200.317 – 200.326, entitled Procurement Standards, for the purchase of all goods and contracted services using CDBG.

- Retention of Financial Records. The selected agency shall maintain during the term of this Contract and for a period of five (5) years thereafter complete and adequate financial records and accounts as are considered necessary by the City to assure proper accounting for all program funds and to support all program expenditures. These records and accounts shall include, but not be limited to, the following: a General Ledger that supports the costs charged to the CDBG Program; records documenting procurement of goods and services; contracts for goods or services; lease or rental agreements; invoices; billing statements; cancelled checks; timecards signed by employees and supervisors; personnel authorization records; payroll registers; payroll tax records; and bank statements, bank reconciliations and documentation to support the allocation of indirect costs.

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- Service Area. The selected agency shall confirm that each applicant counted toward the CDBG-funded activity’s actual accomplishments resides within the contract service area; thereby ensuring benefits to businesses of the City of Pasadena.

- Support of Expenditures. The selected agency shall submit adequate financial documentation to support the program expenditures reported in the monthly CDBG Funding Request forms. The financial supporting documentation will include contracts for goods or services, evidence of procurement, lease or rental agreements, invoices, billing statements, cancelled checks, time cards signed by employee and supervisors, payroll registers, payroll tax records, bank statements, bank reconciliations, a detailed General Ledger that supports the costs charged to the CDBG program, and an approved cost allocation method for indirect costs charged. Failure to submit the necessary supporting documentation will result in the disallowance of costs.

- Marketing and Outreach. To ensure that you provide opportunities to all available and eligible persons, please describe how your agency will outreach and market the project to the targeted population.

- Qualifications and Experience. Proposers responding to this NOFA must demonstrate qualifications and experience to manage the Emergency Business Grant Program.

2. Requirements

At a minimum the proposed solution must address the following requirements:

• Previous experience managing a small business loan/grant program

• Previous experience working with government funding

• Experience with designing an application and scoring rubric

Proposers responding to this Notice of Funding Availability must demonstrate qualifications and experience to manage the Emergency Business Grant Program.

Proposer should be proposing their program approach to client intake, client file maintenance, process for tracking business reimbursement requests.

The proposer shall include their administrative costs in the submitted proposal.

3. Location

The location is the City of Pasadena.

Duration and Service Dates

The initial term of the Contract resulting from this proposal is June 30, 2021. The compensation set forth in the Proposal shall remain valid and in effect during the initial term of the contract. There shall be two optional one-year extension periods subject to the approval of the City Manager, in his sole and absolute discretion, and which shall be memorialized in the form of an amendment to the contract, setting forth the agreed upon amount of compensation and such other terms and provisions as the parties may agree upon for each extension period.

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4. CHANGE ORDER MANAGEMENT

Any additional work identified during the course of the project that is deemed necessary, but outside the original Scope of Services, must be recorded as a Change Order and approved by the City Project Manager in writing before work is started.

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F. EVALUATION PROCEDURES & CRITERIA

Application Process A screening committee will determine which proposals are responsive to meeting the City’s documentation requirements. Please note that there will be no opportunity to submit missing documentation. Incomplete proposals will be disqualified. The technical portions of responsive proposals will be scored on average, and ranked by a review panel consisting of City staff. Proposers may be asked to participate in a conference call interview. The interview will not alter the selection criteria but will be used to clarify issues in the proposals. Evaluation of the proposals will be based on a competitive selection process, in which the evaluation of proposals will not be limited to price alone. The capability of the proposer to satisfy the City requirements identified in the Scope of Services, and the experience of the proposer in providing services of this type, size and scope will also be considered in the selection.

This Notice of Funding Availability has been structured to provide specific requirements which function as a standardized framework for the evaluation of a prospective consultant’s qualifications.

City staff will make grant award recommendations to the highest ranked proposals.

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Proposed Solution Points will be assigned for “Functional and Technical Merit” based on the capability of the proposer to satisfy the City requirements identified in the SCOPE OF WORK and as delineated. Points will be assigned for “Completeness of Proposed Solution” based on the vendor submitting a proposal that follows the guidelines specified in the SCOPE OF WORK.

Points Based 20 (20% of Total)

2. Qualifications and Experience The proposer’s qualifications and prior experience, including capability and experience of its key personnel, including their resumes and history of successfully performing similar service for public or private agencies.

Points Based 40

(40% of Total)

3. Proposed Approach The proposer’s proposed approach, including clarity of understanding of the scope of services to be provided and appropriateness of the proposed solution/services, as well as the ability to meet any required timelines or other requirements.

Points Based 30 (30% of Total)

4. Cost Proposal Points will be assigned based on a “Ratio Method.” The proposer’s cost must include the delivery of the proposed solutions, as well as any recurring costs (if any) as delineated in the Scope of Work and the PRICE PROPOSAL.

10

(10% of Total)

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With this method, the proposal with the lowest cost receives the maximum points allowed. All other proposals receive a percentage of the points available based on their cost relationship to the lowest price. This is determined by applying the following formula: Lowest Price / Evaluated Price X maximum points available = Awarded Points Example: The cost for the lowest proposal is $100,000. The next lowest proposal has a cost of $125,000. The total points available for cost = 10 points. ( $100,000 / $125,000 ) X 10 = 8 points

G. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND CONDITIONS

(a) Pre-Contractual Expenses

Pre-contractual expenses are defined as any expense incurred by the proposer in: (1) preparing its proposal in response to this NOFA; (2) submitting that proposal to the City; (3) negotiating with the City any matter related to this NOFA, including a possible contract; or (4) engaging in any other activity prior to the effective award date, if any, of a contract resulting from this NOFA. The City shall not, under any circumstances, be liable for any pre-contractual expenses incurred by the proposer(s), and proposer(s) shall not include any such expense as part of their proposals.

(b) No Commitment to Award

Issuance of this NOFA and receipt of proposals does not commit the City to award a contract. The City expressly reserves the right to postpone proposal opening for its own convenience, to accept or reject any or all proposals received in response to this NOFA, to negotiate with more than one proposer concurrently, or to cancel all or any part of this NOFA.

(c) Authorizing Resolution

Formal proof of the authority of the officer signing the proposal to bind the corporation must be submitted with said proposal.

(d) Withdrawal of Proposal

Any proposer may withdraw its proposal by written request at any time following the submission deadline.

(e) Documents to be Construed Together

The NOFA, the proposal, the Non-Collusion Affidavit, and all documents referred to in the complete specifications and the Contract to be entered into between the proposer and the City, and all modifications of said documents, shall be construed together as one document.

f) Errors and Omissions

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Proposer shall not be allowed to take advantage of any errors in or omissions in the NOFA. Full instructions will be given if such error or omission is discovered and timely called to the attention of the City.

(g) Joint Offers

Where two (2) or more agencies desire to submit a single proposal in response to this NOFA, they should do so on a prime-subcontractor basis rather than as a joint venture or informal team. The City intends to contract with a single agency and not multiple agencies doing business as a joint venture.

(h) Reservations

The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and any item(s) therein, and to waive any non-conformity of proposals with the NOFA, whether of a technical or substantive nature, as the interest of the City may require.

(i) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is not contractual

Nothing contained in the NOFA shall create any contractual relationship between the proposer and the City. The City accepts no financial responsibility for costs incurred by any proposer regarding this NOFA.

(j) Firm Commitment of Availability of Service

Once a proposal is opened, a proposer is expected to maintain an availability of service as set forth in its proposal.

(k) Standard Terms and Conditions

Prior to the award of any work hereunder, City and proposer shall enter into a written Sub-Recipient Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding.

(l) System of Award Management (SAM) Clearance

SAM checks are required to ensure that sub-recipients and contractors are not suspended or debarred from working on federally funded projects. Clearance printouts may be obtained at www.sam.gov under search records using an agency’s Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. If your agency does not have a DUNS number, one may be requested at https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform.