Request for Proposal -City Website Redesign Project

Request for Proposal
City Website Redesign Project
GENERAL
The City of Claremont, NH (hereafter referred to as the "CITY") invites qualified firms
(hereafter referred to as the "CONTRACTOR") to submit proposals for the City of Claremont
Website Redesign Project. Details of the project will be covered in the scope of work section of
this document.
INSTRUCTIONS
Proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope no later than,1:00 P.M. EDT on Tuesday
September 1st, 2026, c/o City Manager's Office, City Hall, 58 Opera House Square, Claremont
NH 03743. Envelope must be clearly marked "City of Claremont Website Redesign Project"
Proposals will be opened publicly at 1:00 P.M. EDT on Friday September 4th, 2026. Unsealed,
late, emailed, or faxed proposals will not be accepted.
CONTRACTORS submitting proposals are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the
City of Claremont websites and conducting a full assessment of the requested project. The
contact person for this project is:
George Smith, PMP
Project Manager
Phone: (603) 542-7008
Email: gsmith@claremontnh.com
GUIDELINES
All Proposals become the property of the CITY and will therefore be considered a public
document which will be open to public viewing, after the bid opening. This Proposal, if
accepted, will become a legally binding addendum to the eventual contractual agreement with
the CITY. This request for proposal in no way commits the CITY to make an award or reimburse
any CONTRACTOR for any expense incurred in responding to this request.
Page 1 of 9

The successful CONTRACTOR will be required to provide proof of General Liability, Motor
Vehicle, Worker's Compensation, and Excess Liability (an "umbrella" policy) insurance,
identifying the CITY as an additional insured, and must be submitted to the CITY upon signing
of a contract for services. The policy must be issued by a carrier that is duly licensed to do
business in the State of New Hampshire. Any subcontractors will be subject to the same
insurance requirements.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
All proposals received in response to this RFP will be evaluated to determine if they are
complete and meet the requirements specified in this RFP. The vendor will be chosen based on
who will provide the "best value" taking into consideration the most beneficial combination of
qualifications, services and cost and who has met the requirements of this RFP. Only proposals
judged to be responsive to the submission requirements set forth in this RFP will be evaluated.
The CITY will review, analyze and evaluate all proposals considering a maximum budget for
this project as $50,000.
The CITY will review, analyze and evaluate all proposals and score them in accordance with the
criteria below. Additional information may be requested from one or more CONTRACTORS.
The CITY reserves the right to:
* Accept or reject any or all bids in whole or in part and accept the lowest price proposal.
* Waive any technical defect, qualification, omission, informality, or irregularity in any
proposal received.
* Amend, modify, or withdraw this RFP.
* Require supplemental statements or information from a CONTRACTOR.
* Extend the deadline for responses to this RFP.
* Waive or correct any irregularities in proposals received.
The CITY may award a contract based upon the proposals received without discussion of such
proposals with proposers. Each proposal should therefore be submitted with the most favorable
terms the proposer can make to the CITY.
The RFP documents and Notice of Award shall be the agreement between the CITY and
successful proposer with respect to the matters dealt with herein, and such shall supersede all
other oral and written proposals, representations, understandings, and agreements previously
made or existing with respect to any such matter.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Each CONTRACTOR must demonstrate the capacity and ability to successfully complete the
work described in this solicitation. At a minimum, proposals must include:
Page 2 of 9

1. Licensing and Insurance: Proof of appropriate licensing, bonding, and insurance to
perform website development work in New Hampshire, including compliance with all
applicable state and municipal requirements.
2. Project Experience: Three (3) references for municipal website design and deployment
projects completed within the past five (5) years, including project name, URL,
completion date, scope summary, and owner contact information.
3. Specialized Expertise: At least five (5) years of experience in the development and
deployment of municipal government websites and identification of key personnel with
relevant web development experience and certifications.
4. Capacity and Schedule: Statement of current workload and ability to complete the
project within the proposed schedule, including potential risk factors affecting schedule,
go-live, integration and resources.
5. Proposed Solution: Include a detailed explanation of your approach to website design,
development, and deployment. Description of tools and technologies to be used.
6. Project Plan and Timeline: Detailed project timeline with key milestones and
deliverables. Phased approach for design, development, testing, and launch. New website
should be fully operational and complete by December 4th, 2026.
7. Budget Breakdown of max. $55,000: Comprehensive cost breakdown, including -
Design and development, hosting, CMS implementation, train the trainer, training
documentation, content migration and ongoing support and maintenance costs through
June 30th, 2027.
8. Financial Stability: Statement of financial stability and proof of insurance meeting or
exceeding City and State requirements.
9. Conflicts and Exceptions: Disclosure of any actual or potential conflicts of interest. Any
deviations or exceptions to the RFP, including additional features and/or unique or
innovative solutions that could enhance the project should be on a separate page titled
"Exceptions."
The CITY reserves the right to verify qualifications through reference checks, prior contract
review, and inspection of facilities or equipment. Failure to provide requested information may
result in disqualification.
PROPOSAL EVALUATION
This Award will not be based solely on cost. The CITY will evaluate proposals on qualifications,
experience, value, and other factors to determine the most advantageous proposal. Evaluation
criteria include:
* Reputation and References: Reliability and performance on comparable web projects,
including past municipal website work.
* Quality of Past Work: Completeness and useability on prior web development projects,
verified through references or website inspections.
* Financial Stability: Adequate resources to complete the project successfully.
* Schedule Compliance: Ability to meet the City's required schedule and respond to
coordination, milestone or technical integration needs.
* Experience and Capability: Demonstrated technical qualifications, personnel, technical
ability, and organizational capacity.
Page 3 of 9

* Cost Proposal: Reasonableness and competitiveness in relation to scope and current
emerging technologies.
The CITY may request interviews or additional documentation prior to award.
SCOPE OF WORK
Project: City of Claremont Website Redesign Project
Overview:
The City of Claremont, NH is looking for a well-established CONTRACTOR with experience
working with city governments to improve their online capabilities. The CITY of Claremont
requires a new website that satisfies high standards for design quality and visual appeal,
improves citizen-centric information and customer service, and makes managing content easier.
The new website needs to be created with a responsive design, which means it should work on an
array of devices. In addition, the website needs to be simple to update without requiring any
technical development knowledge. The new website will combine the CITY of Claremont's two
websites, into a single website.
The two URLs are as follows:
CITY of Claremont - https://www.claremontnh.com/
Claremont Parks and Recreation Dept - https://sites.google.com/view/claremont-parks-rec/home
The new website will be fully functional, as detailed in functional requirements section, allowing
the personnel of the CITY to optimize procedures and offer the greatest possible user experience
to our residents.
In addition, the City of Claremont is looking for a contractor to integrate the existing Claremont
Community Calendar. The CITY may request additional features or integrations after award
through mutually agreed change orders. The CITY requests that the provider offer 24/7/365
support around-the-clock and secure cloud-based hosting services and guarantee 99.9% uptime
through June 30th, 2027, within the initial proposal.
Together with the selected contractor, the CITY aims to establish an online presence that
consistently interacts with our residents.
All proposals should include the following:
* Cover Letter
* Company Profile and Qualifications
* Project Understanding and Approach
* Detailed Work Plan and Schedule
* List of Key Personnel
* Relevant Project Experience and References
* Itemized Cost Proposal
Page 4 of 9

1. Website Redesign & Content Management System (CMS)
Minimum functional requirements must include:
Community Engagement
* Clearly post alerts on the website, notifying subscribers via text and email
* Dynamically post updates or news releases to pertinent pages based on category
* Electronic subscription, scheduled notifications for SMS and Email
* Provide links on each page to share content via social media and email
* Publish or update departmental or category calendars, each of which has a main calendar
that shows all events
* When logging in to the site, visitors have the option to select which information is
automatically added to their profile
* Citizens can submit requests with automated workflow to correct individual/department
with exportable statistics and reports
Document Administration
* Create as many customized forms as needed, track them, and export the data.
* Keep meeting minutes, agendas, newsletters, and other documents in storage.
* Manage, organize, approve, and upload new and current agendas.
* Photos/banners that rotate and have slide show functionality.
* The ability to save photos on a website in one central spot.
* The capacity to upload and download files up to 1 GB, as well as conduct back-end
searches across both public and unpublished materials.
Navigation & Information
* Ability to group FAQs according to departments or pages.
* Allow users to look up contact information on City employees.
* Easily post RFP's and bid requests to the site.
* Establish events, show the timetables, restrict the number of attendees who can sign up.
for each event and send emails to those who have signed up for events.
* List facilities with maps, filtered search, and reservation functionality.
* Candidates can fill out an online profile, apply, and attach files.
Administrative Features
* A sitemap and breadcrumbs that are created and updated automatically.
* An internal website search engine with a keyword log.
* Any device with internet connectivity can be used to create, edit, and remove content.
* Capability to receive safe online payments and provide confirmation message.
Page 5 of 9

* Completely mobile responsive design including forms, calendars, and other feature
views.
* Employs language translation tool.
* Establish or schedule the publication and expiration dates of material automatically.
* Permit system administrators to set permission levels for employees to edit, manage, and
access content according to their roles.
* RSS Feeds via registration according to category or department.
* Reports on site audits and analytics.
* Show feeds and send content to social media profiles.
* Provide a user-friendly content editing environment for non-technical staff.
Accessibility & Compliance
* Ensure the website is fully responsive across all devices, including smartphones, tablets,
and desktops.
* WCAG 2.1 AA conformance at launch
* ADA compliance support
* Accessibility statement page
* Accessible document guidance for PDFs and uploads
* Testing before launch and remediation after launch
* Vendor responsibility for correcting accessibility defects discovered within a
specified warranty period
Content Migration and Creation
* Transfer existing website content to the new platform.
* Work with CITY staff to remove outdated and redundant information.
* Assist in creating new content as needed, including graphics, forms and interactive tools.
Ongoing Technical Support & Services
* Secure cloud-based hosting service through June 2027, with option to extend contract.
* 99.9% uptime (outside of scheduled maintenance) guaranteed by Service Level
Agreement (SLA).
* U.S Based customer support with 24/7/365 system monitoring.
* Backup and Recovery: Automated daily backups and an efficient disaster recovery plan.
Support: 24/7 technical support for hosting-related issues.
2. STANDARDS AND COMPLIANCE
Excess Liability in the minimum amount of $3,000,000 each occurrence - CITY must be named
as an additional insured.
Proposals will be accepted that deviate from the Scope of Work, but all such submissions
must specifically state exceptions to the Scope of Work on their own page labeled
"Exceptions."
Page 6 of 9

3. REVISIONS
Any questions or inquiries must be submitted in writing and received by 1:00 P.M. on Tuesday
August 25th, 2026, no later than 7 calendar days prior to the proposal due date. Answers to all
questions or information given to a CONTRACTOR in response to a formal request of a
substantive nature will be posted on the City's Procurement Opportunities page on the City of
Claremont, NH website (https://www.claremontnh.com/procurement) no later than five (5) days
prior to the due date.
Only such amendments, when issued by the CITY, will be considered as being binding on the
CITY. Verbal explanations or instructions given by a CITY employee to a CONTRACTOR
regarding this solicitation shall not be binding on the CITY and shall be considered informal
unless confirmed in writing by the CITY. CONTRACTORS should note that all clarifications
and exceptions, including those relating to the terms and conditions of the contract, are to be
resolved prior to the submission of a proposal.
4. CONTRACT
The final contract will involve, to a minimum, the terms and conditions set forth in this Request
for Proposal including the general conditions and may include those reflected in the specific
proposal submitted. The content shall be the exclusive source of the CONTRACTOR'S rights
and remedies and shall supersede all prior writings, negotiations or agreements of any kind.
The CITY is exempt from all taxes.
All CONTRACTORS must comply with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity laws and
regulations.
5. EVENTS TIMETABLE
Events Timetable
RFP Published July 30th, 2026
Question Submittal Deadline August 25th, 2026
Addenda Issued If Any August 27th, 2026
Final Proposal Due Date September 1st, 2026
Proposal Opening Date September 4th @ 1:00PM
Anticipated Award Date September 15th, 2026
Note: This schedule is subject to change by addenda, and all entities will be notified.
Page 7 of 9

6. DEADLINES
Copies of your proposal can be delivered or mailed in and must be received by the CITY by no
later than 1:00 P.M. EDT on Tuesday, September 1st, 2026. Proposals received after this
deadline will not be eligible for consideration.
Proposals should be delivered to:
Claremont City Manager
RE: Claremont Website Redesign Project
58 Opera House Square
Claremont, NH 03743
(603)542-7002
Page 8 of 9