RFP: Sevier County Government Website and Mobile Application

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
SEVIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
WEBSITE REDESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, CONTENT MIGRATION,
HOSTING, SUPPORT AND MOBILE APPLICATION SERVICES

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES:
* All proposals must be received at the Sevier County Mayor's Office, Attn: Alicia
Viviano, 125 Court Avenue Suite 102E Sevierville, TN 37862 by Friday, October 30th,
2026 at 10:00 AM. At this time all proposals will be publicly opened and read aloud in
Room 100E at the Sevier County Courthouse. Proposals arriving past the appointed date
and time will be considered late and will not be opened.
* Proposals must be sealed. The vendor's name, address, proposal due date and time, and
the quotation "Sevier County Government Website and Mobile Application" must be
printed on the sealed opaque envelope containing the proposal.
* Vendor must provide original proposal and (2) copies of the proposal.
* Proposals must clearly address all questions and requirements as presented in this RFP. If
you wish to submit alternative solutions, you may do so with any deviation from any
requirement or specific description clearly noted and explained.
* Proposals must clearly note the price for the base description. If an additional option is
described below, any addition or reduction in price as a result of this option must be
noted within the proposal.
o Price as included must be all-inclusive. Any additional fee or charge must be
clearly noted and described.
* Proposals must include an updated Form W-9 for submitting vendor.
* It shall be the responsibility of the vendor to submit a response that complies with the
conditions and specifications of the Request for Proposal; Policies and Procedures of
Sevier County, applicable laws of the State of Tennessee, and any other applicable laws,
regulations, and requirements.
* Sevier County reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals for any reason,
and to accept the proposal deemed most favorable to the interest of Sevier County.
* Sevier County, in accordance with the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 (78 Stat. 252, 42 US.C. 2000d to 2000d-4) and the Regulations, hereby notifies
all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that any contract entered into pursuant to this
advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full and fair
opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated
against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.
* Contracts awarded under this bid solicitation will be subject to T.C.A. 12-3-1203
(formerly 12-3-1004) allowing those said entities to "piggyback" contracts whereby
cities, counties, utility districts, and other local governments in Tennessee may purchase
supplies, goods, equipment, and services under the same terms as contracts or price
agreements entered into by any other local governmental unit of this state.

1. REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Sevier County Government is soliciting proposals from qualified firms to provide comprehensive
website redesign, development, content migration, hosting, maintenance, technical support, and
mobile application services for Sevier County Government.
The County is seeking a qualified partner to design and implement a modern, accessible, secure,
user-friendly digital platform that improves how residents, businesses, visitors, County
employees and other members of the public interact with Sevier County Government.
The selected vendor will be responsible for providing a complete solution that includes, but is
not limited to:
1. Website strategy and information architecture
2. Website design and development
3. Content management system
4. Content migration from the existing County website
5. Search functionality
6. Accessibility
7. Hosting
8. Cybersecurity
9. Website maintenance and technical support
10. Analytics and reporting
11. Integration with County and third-party systems
12. Mobile application development
13. Mobile application hosting and maintenance
14. Training
15. Ongoing technical support and software updates
The County intends to select a vendor capable of providing a long-term partnership rather than
simply completing a website development project.
Submission of a proposal does not constitute a contract or create any obligation on the part of
Sevier County.
2. COUNTY BACKGROUND
Sevier County is located in East Tennessee and includes the communities of Sevierville, Pigeon
Forge, Gatlinburg and Pittman Center, as well as numerous unincorporated communities.

Sevier County Government provides a broad range of services to residents, businesses and
visitors. The County website serves as a primary source of information regarding County
government, elected officials, departments, public meetings, public notices, employment,
services, payments, emergency information, news, events and other public resources.
The existing website contains a substantial volume of information and content maintained by
numerous County offices, departments and elected officials.
The County anticipates that the redesigned website will maintain a similar overall volume of
information while allowing the selected vendor to recommend improvements to the existing
information architecture, navigation, page organization and content structure.
The County's goal is not simply to reproduce the existing website in a new design. The County
seeks a modern digital platform that makes information easier to find, easier to understand and
easier for County employees to maintain.
The current website may be reviewed at: www.seviercountytn.gov
3. PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
The purpose of this project is to replace the County's existing website with a modern digital
platform that serves as the primary online gateway to Sevier County Government.
The new platform should:
* Make County services easier to find
* Improve the public's ability to navigate County government
* Provide a consistent and professional County brand
* Improve communication with residents and visitors
* Improve accessibility
* Improve mobile usability
* Improve website search
* Make County information easier for employees to maintain
* Improve emergency communication capabilities
* Improve access to public meetings and government information
* Provide improved integration with third party systems
* Provide useful analytics and reporting
* Provide a foundation for future digital services
* Provide a companion mobile application
* Support the County's long term digital communication needs
The selected vendor should approach this project as a complete digital experience rather than
simply a visual redesign.

4. SCOPE OF SERVICES
The selected vendor shall provide all services necessary to successfully plan, design, develop,
implement, launch, host, maintain and support the new Sevier County Government website and
companion mobile application.
The scope shall include, at a minimum, the following.
4.1 Project Discovery and Planning
The selected vendor shall conduct a discovery process with County representatives to
understand:
* County organizational structure
* County departments and offices
* Elected officials
* Existing website structure
* Existing content
* Existing technical systems
* Public user needs
* Internal County user needs
* Emergency communication needs
* Accessibility requirements
* Existing third-party applications
* Current website analytics
* Existing search behavior
* Current technical challenges
The vendor shall recommend an overall project strategy based upon the discovery process.
The vendor shall identify opportunities to improve the existing website's information architecture
and user experience.
5. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AND
NAVIGATION
The selected vendor shall develop a logical and intuitive information architecture for the new
website.

The website should allow users to locate information based on how members of the public
naturally seek County services rather than requiring users to understand the internal
organizational structure of County government.
The vendor shall provide recommendations regarding:
* Main navigation
* Department navigation
* Service based navigation
* Search
* Frequently requested services
* Emergency information
* Resident resources
* Business resources
* Visitor resources
* Government information
* Public meetings
* Online services
The County shall have final approval of the website's information architecture.
6. WEBSITE DESIGN
The selected vendor shall provide a modern, professional and responsive website design
appropriate for Sevier County Government.
The design shall reflect the County's identity as a welcoming, professional, service-oriented
government organization.
The website shall:
* Be responsive
* Be mobile first
* Function across commonly used browsers
* Function on desktop computers, tablets and mobile devices
* Provide consistent navigation
* Provide accessible design
* Provide fast page loading
* Support photographs and video
* Support modern web standards
* Allow the County to update design elements through the CMS where appropriate
The vendor shall provide design concepts for review and approval before development begins.

7. CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The proposed solution shall include a modern content management system that allows authorized
County employees to maintain website content without requiring advanced programming or web
development knowledge.
The CMS shall allow authorized users to:
* Create pages
* Edit pages
* Delete or archive pages
* Upload documents
* Upload photographs
* Upload videos or embed video
* Create news releases
* Create announcements
* Create events
* Manage calendars
* Manage links
* Create forms
* Manage staff information
* Manage department information
* Schedule content
* Publish content
* Unpublish content
* Archive content
* Search website content
* Review revision history
The system shall provide different user permission levels.
For example, a department employee should be able to maintain information for that department
without automatically having administrative access to the entire County website.
The system should support an approval workflow that allows designated users to review and
approve content before publication when required.
8. WEBSITE SEARCH
The new website shall include a robust search function.

The search system should allow users to search:
* Web pages
* Documents
* News
* Events
* Departments
* Services
* Forms
* Public meeting information
The system should provide useful search results and allow the County to review common search
terms and unsuccessful searches.
The vendor shall explain how search results are indexed and how County staff can influence
search results when appropriate.
9. CONTENT MIGRATION
The selected vendor shall provide complete content migration services from the existing Sevier
County Government website.
The vendor shall conduct a comprehensive inventory of existing website content and shall work
with the County to determine how that content should be incorporated into the new website.
Migration shall include, as applicable:
* Web pages
* Text
* Images
* Documents
* Forms
* News releases
* Public notices
* Calendars
* Meeting information
* Department information
* Staff information
* Links
* Historical information
The vendor shall identify duplicate, outdated or potentially obsolete content and provide
recommendations to the County.

The County shall retain final authority regarding whether content is retained, revised, archived or
removed.
The vendor shall also identify how existing URLs will be preserved or redirected to minimize
broken links and negative impacts to search engine indexing.
10. DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
The CMS shall provide a centralized method for managing downloadable documents.
The system should allow County staff to:
* Upload documents
* Replace documents
* Archive documents
* Assign descriptions
* Assign categories
* Search documents
* Track document usage
* Identify outdated documents
The vendor shall identify storage limitations, file size limitations and any additional fees
associated with document, image, video or other digital storage.
11. CALENDAR AND EVENTS
The website shall provide a comprehensive events calendar.
The system should allow authorized departments and offices to submit and manage events.
The County should have the ability to display:
* County meetings
* Public hearings
* Commission meetings
* Community events
* Department events
* Public notices
* Special events

The system should support recurring events and appropriate event categories.
12. NEWS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION
The website shall provide a modern news and public information platform.
County staff shall be able to publish:
* News releases
* Announcements
* Public notices
* Emergency information
* Community information
* Media information
* Department announcements
The system should allow content to be scheduled for publication and removal.
The vendor shall provide options for automatically distributing website content to the County's
social media channels when technically and commercially feasible.
13. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Emergency communication shall be a significant component of the new platform.
The website shall provide the ability to prominently display emergency information and alerts.
The vendor shall describe options for:
* Emergency banners
* Emergency alerts
* Emergency landing pages
* Public safety information
* Severe weather information
* Road closure information
* Emergency preparedness information
* CodeRED integration
* Social media integration
* Mobile application push notifications