On-Call Services for Traffic Signal Maintenance & Repairs

Request for Qualifications with Price Proposals

RFQ/P #46-002

For the provision of

On-Call Services for Traffic Signal Maintenance & Repairs

Hall County, Georgia, Board of Commissioners (herein “County”) is soliciting bid responses from qualified vendors specializing in Traffic Signal Maintenance and Repair Services (Herein “Services”) according to the Scope of Work as specified herein.

Schedule of Events:

Bid Post Date: March 19, 2025 _____________

Bidder’s Questions Due Date: April 9, 2025, by 5:00PM

Bid Due Date: April 17, 2025 @ 2:00PM_______________

Bidding Process: The County is now accepting sealed bid proposals from qualified vendors (Herein “Bidder” or “Contractor”) for traffic signal maintenance and repair services on an annual basis. The County will accept bids in the Purchasing Division located on the fourth (4 ^th ) floor of the Hall County Government Center, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, until April 17, 2025, at 2:00pm EST. All bid packets must be time and date stamped by the receptionist on the 4 ^th floor to be considered for award.

Term: It is the County’s intention to award more than one (1) firm for the Services listed herein, for an initial one (1) year term, followed by four (4) additional renewal options. Renewal options are not guaranteed.

Schedule of Fees: Bidder’s proposed schedule of fees, if accepted, shall be firm and fixed for the initial contract term.

Definitions: For the purpose of this RFQ/P, the terms “Contract”, “Letter of Engagement”, and “Agreement” shall mean one and the same. Furthermore, the terms “Bidder” and “Firm” shall mean one and the same. “Bid Packet” includes all documents of this solicitation, its Exhibits, and attachments.

Contact: Address all questions and communications solely to Julie Dorough, Issuing Officer, at For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. for clarification to any part of this RFQ/P requirements.

Public Reading: Bid openings are open to the public and Bidders. Bidders are not required to attend bid openings but may do so. The Issuing Officer named herein will open and publicly read all Bidders’ company names on the date, time, and address above. Cost will not be read at this time.

Addendums: If needed and in the best interest of the County, the Purchasing Division may make an extension of the bidding period by a formal written Addendum and publicly posted on the County website. All Addendum must be signed by the Bidder and returned with the bid packet.

Proposal Documents: Bidders may obtain all submittal documents at no cost via the County’s website at https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx , then click the On-Call Services for Traffic Signal Maintenance & Repairs links to download all required documents. Any Addenda will also be posted at the bottom of the solicitation as needed and bidders are responsible for checking for Addenda. Addendums must be signed and returned along with the Bid Packet.

Request for Clarification: The County reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted though a written Request-For-Clarification.   The County may also request in-person, virtual presentations or interviews, and may choose to enter into negotiations with potential bidders as needed.

Bid Response: The County considers a bid response as an irrevocable offer, good for a period of one-hundred and twenty (120) days from submission. Furthermore, the County reserves the right to reject all proposals, in full or partial, and to negotiate fees, conditions, or other terms with the respondent submitting the overall best scored proposal. Furthermore, the County may cancel the RFQ/P in its entirety if in the best interest of the County. The County may waive nonmaterial irregularities, informalities, and errors and seek clarification of such.

Legally Binding Agreement: The County and the awarded Bidder(s) shall enter into a formal agreement; substantially in the form of the attached Exhibit B – Contract for Services by counter signing the contract. Contracts are only valid if they are countersigned. Bidders should sign the Contract and submit it with their bid response. All questions regarding the Scope of Work should be submitted to the Issuing Officer by April 9, 2025, 5:00pm EST via email at For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. . If there are no written objections, then the County will understand this to be an affirmative acceptance of the Scope of Work as it is presented.

The County reserves the right to reject all proposals, in full or in part, and to negotiate fees, terms and conditions with the Bidder submitting the overall best scored proposal.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

Technical Qualifications & Proposal Response: Bidders must answer all ten (10) Mandatory Questions found on Exhibit G – Mandatory Scored Questions, which are weighted and will be scored by the County’s evaluation committee. The County’s Evaluation Committee will score and assign point values to the answers. The total maximum points are set at 1,000. The County has assigned a 60% / 40% split for scoring points; six hundred (600) points available for Technical Qualifications, and four hundred (400) points available for the Cost Proposal. The bidder with the highest total- point scores closest to 1,000 will be the apparent contract award winner.

Evaluation and Selection: The County will evaluate all submittals in accordance with the Official Code of Hall County, Georgia 3.10, and as further detailed herein.  The County will evaluate proposals using a two-step process. The first is the ‘Technical Qualifications Proposal’ that outlines the bidding firm’s qualifications and experience and its approach to deliver the services.

Cost Evaluation: This solicitation is heavily focused on a Firm’s qualifications, experience and capabilities. Therefore, awards may not be made solely based on the lowest cost bid. Cost will be given more importance when all the other evaluation criteria are relatively equal.

The County may deem an unreasonably low cost, and the highest cost, as materially unbalanced. In such cases then the County reserves the right to reject the proposals.  One method of measuring reasonableness is to divide the proposed cost by a reasonable average hourly rate to show hours of effort that might be expected.

Although cost is not the driving consideration for award, it is a vitally important component. If, in the County’s consideration, qualifications between two or more bidders are equal, then the County may make an award to the lower cost bidder among them. The County will evaluate cost as presented on Exhibit C - Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet. The cost is weighted and will be scored by the Evaluation Committee. Lower cost will receive higher scores. Any and all fees should be detailed in the response, if applicable.

Bidders may expand their answers to the questions onto separate pages if needed, with the question repeated at the top of each page, in addition to the space provided next to each Mandatory Scored Question Worksheet.  Bidder’s may input “see attached” in the space provided next to each question.

Please do not submit bound bid responses. Provide one-sided documents only. Do not include superfluous marketing brochures nor unnecessary promotional materials. These will not be evaluated. Address each specific question with direct, detailed answers.

BIDDER RESPONSE:

Technical Qualifications

Each bidder must provide five (5) sets of hardcopies with one (1) marked “Original” and four (4) marked “Copy” of their Technical Qualifications response. Submit all five (5) hardcopies in a sealed envelope(s) separate from the Cost Proposal.

Cost Proposal

Bidders are to also submit one (1) hardcopy of their Exhibit C – Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet.

Combined Digital Response

Additionally, bidders must provide their response on one (1) USB drive with two (2) folders therein, one entitled “Technical Qualifications Response”, containing your Technical response, and one (1) entitled “Cost Proposal”. Do not include your cost proposal in the Technical response folder as this may cause your proposal to be rejected.

All quantitative material should include complete assumptions and be supported by detailed schedules evidencing all calculations and results.

Responses to the questions should be clear and concise.  Where appropriate, Bidder’s should show statistical information in a tabular chart format, and textual information in bullet form.  Summarize key points at the beginning of each answer.

Validation: Bidders must sign and notarize their submittals. Digital signatures are acceptable. Hall County requires that bidders provide a cover letter with a signature by an officer of the firm with the submittal to ensure its originality.

Bid Retention: The County reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and use any idea(s) in a proposal regardless of contract award or not.  The County shall have the right to waive any informality or irregularity of immaterial deviation, omissions and clerical errors in any bid received.

Mandatory Documents: Bidders must complete and return all forms and documents entitled ‘Mandatory’ with the bid proposal. Failure to do so may deem the proposal non-responsive and the County may not evaluate it for award.

Award Process: The County reserves the option to reject any or all bids, in whole-or-in-part, or to select any bidder to complete the described Service.  The County will not make an award of contract solely based on lowest bid, but also on approach, references, qualifications and other subjective criteria as the County may deem necessary and determine at its sole discretion.

Questions: Bidder’s must present all questions in writing and directed solely to the issuing officer at For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. .

Non-Collusion Requirement: (aka Cone-of-Silence) : Bidders must not have contact of any nature with other bidders, County staff members including the Director of Financial

Services, administration, elected officials, nor Commissioners during the evaluation process. The County may deem such as collusion and thus render the submission in violation of the Official Code of Hall County and therefore the County may render the proposal as non-responsible and not evaluate the proposal for an award.

By submitting a proposal, the bidder represents and warrants that no official or employee of Hall County Government has, in any manner, an interest, directly or indirectly in the proposal or in the contract which may be made under it, or in any expected profits to arise there from.

Open Records: All documents, communication, and proposals fall under the Georgia Open Records Act and are subject to disclosure to an Open Records request.

Taxes : Hall County, Georgia, is exempt from State of Georgia Sales and Use Tax. A Certificate of Exemption will be made available upon request to the awarded firm.

Bonds : Bonds are not required for Professional Services.

Table of Contents

1.0       Introduction

2.0       Statement of Need

3.0       General Business Requirements

4.0       Scope of Services

5.0       Submission of Proposals

6.0       RFQ/P Response Preparation

7.0       Selection Process

8.0       Steps to Award

9.0       Exhibits and Attachments

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Hall County, Georgia, desires to award a pool of vendors a multi-year contract with an initial one (1) year contract with four (4) yearly renewal options. and is soliciting submissions for this Request for Proposals (herein “RFP”) for the Service.

2.0       STATEMENT OF NEED

The County expects the awarded companies to be prompt, attentive, and able to perform the work in a timely and scheduled manner and with personnel, including subcontractors, to be professional in approach and uniform in production.

In case of default by the awarded bidder then the County reserves the right to move on to the next highest scoring bidder to complete the services.

3.0       GENERAL BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Insurance Requirements. If awarded, the Contractor must maintain insurance policies at the Contractor's own expense and must furnish the County with a Certificate of Insurance (COI) providing evidence of coverage at least in the amounts indicated in Exhibit B – Contract for Services. The COI must list County as the certificate holder and as an additional insured under the commercial general, automobile, and umbrella liability policies as follows: “Hall County, Georgia, its Board of Commissioners, officers, employees, servants, and agents, 2875 Browns Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30504”.

3.2 Performance and Payment Bonds. N/A for this bid

3.3 Bid Bonds : N/A for this bid

4.0       SCOPE OF WORK

To provide On-Call Services for Traffic Signal Maintenance & Repairs for Hall County. This contract is for all needed traffic signal services including but not limited to: Emergency response repair services due to vehicle crash damage, storm damage, equipment failure, etc., preventative maintenance, troubleshooting, repairs, modifications & upgrades on traffic signals, school zone beacons, overhead beacons, back-lit road name signs & other signal devices, development & implementation of timing plans for isolated intersections & signal systems, signal design, ITS services (design, install and setup) etc. as needed.

General Requirements:

4.1    Hall County Traffic Engineering will serve as Project Manager. The Contractor is to notify the Traffic Engineer, Scott Puckett, at 770-531-6800 or Traffic Technician, Coy Ward, at 770-531-4956 to advise of scheduling, coordinate inspections, etc.

4.2    All work shall conform to Section 647 and materials shall conform to Section 925 of the State of Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Standard Specifications of Transportation Systems, latest edition, as well as all applicable GDOT Construction Standards & Details unless otherwise noted by the Hall County Traffic Engineer.

4.3    Contractors must be a prequalified GDOT contractor or a contractor in good standing with the GDOT. All persons operating & maintaining signal equipment & any required machinery shall be fully trained & qualified. Direct supervision from an IMSA certified level II (or higher) technician is required. For certain items, a Georgia registered Professional Engineer (PE) & Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) will be required.

4.4    Schedule: The need for the project to be completed in a timely manner is very important to Hall County. Emergency response shall be no more than three (3) hours from notice to proceed and normal response shall be no more than three (3) days unless preapproved by Hall County Traffic Engineering. Preventative maintenance will be scheduled as necessary.

4.5    Materials and Equipment:  The Contractor shall stock all materials & have available all equipment necessary to address needs in a timely manner. Hall County may provide materials if available. Any materials needed not provided by Hall County shall be provided by the Contractor at a cost plus rate percentage. Any salvageable equipment from an install, repair, upgrade or replacement will be returned to Hall County Traffic Engineering unless otherwise noted. Unsalvageable equipment & items will be disposed of by the Contractor.

4.6    Reports:  Contractor will be required to maintain a detailed repair and preventative maintenance log including any equipment and timing changes within each cabinet. The reports shall be provided to the Hall County Traffic Engineer upon request.

4.7    Traffic Control: The contractor shall provide Traffic Control to include all items necessary to maintain safe travel for the public. All traffic control devices & work zones shall comply with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), latest edition. All traffic control items shall be maintained by the Contractor at all times throughout the length of the project.

4.8    Preventative Maintenance Items:

1. Check that all equipment is operating properly
2. Check grounding
3. Check head clearance
4. Check battery backup (if equipped)
5. Check cabinet doors & locks & lubricate
6. Clean inside & outside of cabinet
7. Check cabinet fan & thermostat (repair / replace if necessary)
8. Replace cabinet filter
9. Make sure cabinet doors & base are watertight (replace gaskets / caulk if needed)
10. Apply rodent control as needed
11. Tighten all screws & electrical connections
12. Inspect detector loops (induction or video) & seal / adjust as needed
13. Make sure all signal indications are working properly & align if needed
14. Check all pedestrian buttons
15. Check for loose field wiring on span & re-lash as needed.
16. Check span mounted signage & tighten / adjust as necessary
17. Check 24vdc power supply
18. Check controller for correct time & date
19. Check interconnect operation if equipped (radio, copper, fiber)

4.9    The unit rates indicated on the Fee and Rate Schedule will include routine supervision of field activities.

4.10  Hall County will not pay overtime charges.

4.11  Contractor shall not be paid for mileage and travel time to and from the site. Time charges shall begin when employee reaches site and end when employee leaves. Bidder should incorporate expected travel costs into the unit hourly rates.

4.12     Contractor shall be sure all billing/invoices are clear as to the department and project.

4.13     Hall County requires that pricing remains firm for the duration of the first twelve (12) month contract period with four (4) one (1) year options to renew.

5.0       SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

5.1    The County requests that Bidders submit proposals addressing all items listed below in 5.3. Failure to include any of these documents may result in bid disqualification. All responses must be in writing. Bidders should submit one (1) copy marked “Original” and four (4) copies marked “Copy” and load all documents onto one (1) USB flash drive in MS Word, Excel and/or PDF formats, depending on the document. The technical responses and cost proposals should be separated into two (2) different file folders on the USB flash Drive. Only one (1) copy of the Cost Proposal Worksheet is required.

5.2    Bidder’s must submit their sealed bid response packages with clearly marked with “RFQ/P # 46-002, On-Call Services for Traffic Signal Maintenance and Repairs.

5.3    It is mandatory that the following documents be completed and included in your bid response. Include in your bid response package two (2) separate, sealed envelopes. Mark one (1) envelope with “Technical Qualifications Response” and enclose these completed Exhibits:

Exhibit A – Bid Response Form

Exhibit B – Contract for Services

Exhibit D – W-9 Form

Exhibit E – E-Verify Affidavit

Exhibit F – Ethics Affidavit

Exhibit G – Mandatory Scored Questions

Copy of Business License

Certificate of Insurance

Copy of Professional Licenses or Certifications

In a separate sealed envelope from above, enclose the Exhibit C – Cost Proposal Worksheets and clearly mark “Cost Proposal Worksheets” on the envelope. Only one (1) copy is required for the Cost Proposal Worksheet.

Do not enclose the Cost Proposal Worksheets in the Technical Qualifications Response envelope. This may render your proposal as non-responsive and thus not evaluated for award.

5.4 Open Records Request. The County follows the State of Georgia Open Records provision by making proposals available upon request.

5.5 Delivery. Bidders must submit bids to the following address by the deadline date and time. All deliveries must be date and timed stamped. The County is not responsible for late bids due to mailing delays.

Hall County Government Center

Julie Dorough, Issuing Officer

Purchasing Division – 4 ^th floor

2875 Browns Bridge Road

Gainesville, Georgia 30504

6.0.      RFQ/P RESPONSE PREPARATION

6.1    The Bidder bears all responsibility for all expenses incurred in responding to this RFQ/P.

6.2    Cover Letter: Prepare and submit a cover letter for transmittal addressing general qualifications. Provide the following information: Name of Proposer(s), Name and title of the person(s) who will manage the engagement, mailing address, physical address, telephone number(s), and email address(es) of Proposer(s).

6.3    Describe the organization of your firm, the location of offices, and your resources that are available to accomplish the work for the County.

6.4    Of the services listed in the Scope of Work, indicate which one(s), if any, your firm would be unable to provide. If there is another service that your firm could provide instead, please elaborate.

6.5    The County will not accept joint proposals unless otherwise noted herein. An awarded Contractor may utilize subcontractors, as needed and pre-approved by the County. Bidders must submit all intended subcontracts with their proposals. If plans to subcontract portions of the required services are included, please provide detail on such plans.

7.0       SELECTION PROCESS

7.1    The evaluation process will include a pre-selected Evaluation Committee comprised of Hall County stakeholders and subject matter experts. The Committee will evaluate the technical qualifications. The highest scoring Bidder(s) may be asked for an interview, further negotiations, demonstrations, or a Best and Final Offer.

7.2    Each proposal should contain the Exhibit C – Cost Proposal Worksheets in a separate envelope as provided with the RFQ/P document.

7.3    The Evaluation Committee will review each proposal with regard to demonstrated breadth of service, experience, financial stability, personnel, rates, references, lead times, and other related criteria.

7.4    The successful Bidder will be required to submit acceptable evidence of compliance with professional liability insurance coverage requirements as outlined in Exhibit B – Contract for Services.

7.5    Bidders are encouraged to submit clear and concise responses. Excessive length or extraneous information is discouraged. In an effort to ensure the County’s ability to evaluate and choose a successful Bidder, Bidders are encouraged to organize their proposal as follows:

Section 1 – Cover Letter and Executive Summary

Section 2 – Answer all Scored Questions

Section 3 – Cost Proposals Submitted in a separate sealed envelope

7.6    Bidders must locate and complete all Exhibits to this RFQ/P and submit with the bid. Bidders failing to do so may result in the bid to be non-responsive and thus not evaluated. Bidders are also encouraged to check Hall County’s website for addenda, attachments, and other supplemental documents for this RFQ/P during the bidding period.

7.7    If unable to reach an agreement with the highest scoring Bidder, the County retains the right to negotiate with the next highest scoring Bidder and so on until reaching a satisfactory agreement, or the County may terminate the process.

7.8    The County structured the evaluation process to secure highly competitive bidders who would be most effective in delivering the Services. The primary objective of the evaluation process is to select a firm that:

7.8.1    Clearly demonstrates a thorough understanding of the contract responsibilities; and,

7.8.2    Presents a compelling work plan that yields the desired contract services and deliverables; and,

7.8.3    Shows adequate resources to handle the project; and,

7.8.4    Presents a focused effort to allocate those resources to the project; and,

7.8.5    Demonstrates exceptional value for the cost of services proposed.

8.0       STEPS TO AWARD

The Evaluation Committee will recommend awarding the contract to the highest scoring Bidder. The County will follow with a Notice of Award and then issue a Notice to Proceed after bonds have been received.

Step 1: The Evaluation Committee will evaluate the Bidder’s responses according to the criteria as described herein, and score and rank the proposals. The County reserves the right to request clarification of information provided and to request additional information required to assist in the evaluation process.

Step 2: The Purchasing Division will open the Cost Proposals and score the responses. The Purchasing Division will combine these results with the results of scoring. After this scoring, the Purchasing Division will rank the highest scoring proposers on Bid Tabulation Summary.

Step 3: The Evaluation Committee may schedule interviews with the Bidder(s). All costs associated with the interview (if required) will be at the expense of the proposing Bidder.

Step 4: Based upon the results of the proposals, references, and the interviews, the Purchasing Division along with the Evaluation Committee may negotiate with the Bidder ranked highest in an attempt to reach agreement. If negotiations with the highest ranked Bidder are unsuccessful, the County may negotiate with the second highest ranked Bidder, and so on until reaching a satisfactory agreement.

9.0       EXHIBITS AND ATTACHMENTS.

Bidders must complete and return all Exhibits listed below.

Exhibit A – Bid Response Sheet

Exhibit B – Contract for Services

Exhibit C – Cost Proposal Worksheet

Exhibit D – W-9 Form

Exhibit E – E-Verify Affidavit

Exhibit F – Ethics Affidavit

Exhibit G – Scored Questions