Request a Bid Package
Request for Qualifications with Cost Proposals for GPS/AVL Vehicle Tracking Systems RFQ/P #44-008
Schedule of Events:
Bid Post Date: June 8, 2023
Bidders Questions Due Date: June 15, 2023
Answers to Questions Due Date: June 22, 2023
Bid Due Date: July 6, 2023 @ 2:00pm EST
Bidding Process: The County is now accepting sealed bid proposals from highly qualified vendors who have the expertise necessary to supply, install, train, support and maintain a fleet of Global Positioning System/Automatic Vehicle Location (GPS/AVL) systems for a portion of the fleet of Hall County (herein ‘Service’). The County will accept bids in the Purchasing Department located on the fourth (4
th
) floor of the Hall County Government Center, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, until July 6, 2023, at 2:00PM.
Addendums: If needed and in the best interest of the County, Purchasing may make any extension of the bidding period by a formal written addendum and publicly posted. The County will not read cost factors at that time but may publish the results once the evaluation process is completed.
Proposal Documents: Bidders may request submittal documents via the County’s Website at
https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx
,then click the ‘Request a Bid Packet’ link, fill out the requested information, click ‘Submit’, and Purchasing will send you a bid package via email.
General Qualifications:
1. The contractor shall be responsible for all work performed in support of this contract. Sub-contractors shall perform no work unless pre-approved in writing by the County. Contractors must disclose any intended Sub-contractors within the bid at the time of bid submissions. If the bidder intends to use a sub-contractor to fulfill one entire segment of this contract, then the bidder should submit to the County professional references for the sub-contractor on jobs similar in size and scope. Once the County has awarded the contract, the contractor cannot change sub-contractors without seeking written pre-approval from the County. The County reserves the right to check all references and conduct background checks on any changes to sub-contractors or workers performing work under this contract. The contractor shall be wholly responsible for the quality of their sub-contractor’s work. The contractor shall not award more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the work to sub-contractors on any project, without prior approval of the County Representative.
2. The awarded contractor(s) shall provide products and services as detailed in this RFQ/P.
3. The County must pre-approve any change orders in writing. The County may deny any work done before the issuance of a written change order. Contractor is not to accept any verbal change order(s) from the project manager. The County will work will be considered out of scope and thus not compensated.
4. Contractor shall provide copies of the following Licensing with their bid response:
A. Valid Business License
B. Required licenses and certifications
C. Letter of Bondability that your firm can acquire Performance and Payment bonds equal to 100% each of the contract value for Performance and Payment bonds. Awarded Contractors must produce the Bonds prior to any work commencing.
Request for Clarification: The County reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted and to request additional information of one or more applicants. The County considers a bid response as an irrevocable offer, good for a period of one-hundred and twenty (120) days from submission.
Legally Binding Agreement: The County and the selected Service Provider shall enter into a formal agreement; substantially in the form of the attached EXHIBIT K: SAMPLE CONTRACT TEMPLATE. All questions regarding the scope of services should be included in the response to the Proposal. If there are no objections, an affirmative statement to this effect is required.
The County reserves the right to reject all proposals, and to negotiate fees, conditions, or terms with the respondent submitting the overall best proposal.
Proposal Information: In consideration of service fee proposal, assume the following:
Technical Proposal Response: Bidders must answer all mandatory questions, which are pass/fail, and the mandatory scored questions, which are weighted. The County’s Evaluation Committee will weigh the answers with point values. The total maximum points available for the Technical Proposal response is eight-hundred (800) points.
The proposer’s response should be limited to direct answers to the questions asked. Proposers are required to answer all the mandatory, scored questions.
Bidders may expanded 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.
Responses to the questions should be clear and concise. If possible, summarize key information or points for each question at the beginning of answers.
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 Proposal’ that outlines the bidding firm’s qualifications and experience and its approach to offering the Service. The total available points available is eight-hundred (800) points.
The Evaluation Committee will then evaluate cost for such services to determine the best value in the interest of the County. The total available points available for cost is two hundred (200). The total highest score is a possible one-thousand (1,000) points. The highest scoring proposal will be the apparent award winner and may enter negotiations with the County.
The County has determined its own Evaluation and Selection Committee to review the submitted qualifications and the cost proposals of submitting firms. During the evaluation process, the County reserve the right, when it may serve the County’s best interest, to request information for clarification from proposers and to allow corrections to errors or omissions.
Defined Terms: For the purpose of this Request for Qualifications and Cost Proposals, the terms; ‘consultant’, ‘submitter’, ‘proposer’, ‘firm’ and ‘bidder’, ‘contractor’, ‘agency’, ‘company’, shall mean one and the same. Additionally, the terms ‘submittal’, ‘bid’, ‘response’ and ‘proposal’ shall also mean one and the same. Additionally, ‘Hall County, Georgia’, ‘Hall County Government’, ‘Hall County Board of Commissioners’, and ‘County’, shall all mean one-and-the-same.
Validation: Bidders must sign and notarize their submittals. Hall County requires that bidder’s provide a cover letter with a signature by an officer of the firm with the submittal to ensure its originality. Please submit one (1) hard paper proposal marked “Original” with a signature, along with three (3) copies, and additionally provide the proposals (technical and separately cost) in a digital format on a flash drive, in both Microsoft Word and Excel, as each document requires.
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 in any bid received.
Bidders must complete and return all forms and documents entitled ‘Mandatory’ with the bid or the proposal. Failure to do so may deem the proposal non-responsive and the County will not evaluate 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. Bidder then expressly understands that the County may reject the proposal for any reason without liability on part of the County to the Bidder.
Questions: Bidder’s must present all questions in writing and directed solely to the issuing officer at
mhawkins@hallcounty.org
For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address.
. No other contact of any nature, verbal, email, or other communication is permissible with any other County staff member, nor its 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 thus the County may render the proposal as non-responsive and not evaluate the proposal for an award.
A pre-bid meeting will be held Tuesday, June 13, 2023 @ 10:00 AM at the following address:
Hall County Fleet Maintenance Building
1670 Barber Road
Gainesville, GA. 30507
This will give an opportunity to ask any questions.
Respectfully,
Mike Hawkins, Buyer
Hall County, Georgia
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 Exhibits and Attachments
1.0. INTRODUCTION
Hall County, Georgia, incorporated in the State of Georgia, desires to establish a qualified vendor, and is soliciting submissions for this Request for Qualifications with Cost Proposal (herein ‘RFQ/P’) for the service.
2.0. STATEMENT OF NEED
The County seeks to award one (1) company for the Global Positioning System/Automatic Vehicle Location (GPS/AVL) systems. The County expects the awarded company to be prompt, attentive, and able to perform the work in a timely and scheduled manner and with personnel, including sub-contractors, to be professional in approach and uniform in production.
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 K – SAMPLE CONTRACT TEMPLATE FOR SERVICES. The insurance certificate 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 Government, its Board of Commissioners, its officers, employees and agents, 2875 Browns Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30504”.
3.2 Performance and Payment Bonds. The successful awarded Contractor must furnish to the County both a Performance and Payment bond equal to one-hundred percent (100%) each of the total amount of the initial year’s contract award amount and at each renewal and extension thereafter. The County will only accept surety companies licensed to do business in the State of Georgia.
4.0 SCOPE OF SERVICES
Contractor agrees to provide the service to the County as described in this RFQ/P #44-008 and the bidder’s response. The selected Contractor will be asked to perform all operational responsibilities associated with this system on an annual basis. This Contract shall have a one (1) year initial term, with four (4) additional one (1) year renewals based on the approval of both parties. Hall County reserves the right to reject all proposals.
4.1 CONTRACTOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES
The County is looking to partner with a company that can meet the functional specifications set forth below, has extensive experience and focus in the public sector, particularly within the State of Georgia, and has a technology platform that will allow the County to potentially scale to more extensive software solutions over time.
The County intends to establish a service agreement with the vendor who can meet the requirements below and would be the best partner based upon the vendor’s background and experience with similar implementations. The services provided by the awarding vendor will initially address four-hundred (400) vehicles but may be extended to other departments, municipalities or political subdivisions within Hall County or beyond, at such time as necessary.
A. Basic Requirements / Specifications
In the response to this RFP, please discuss your company’s ability to meet the following requirements:
-
The selected vendor shall provide a vehicle tracking GPS/AVL solution which will include a real time vehicle tracking device that is accurate and without interruption of coverage. The proposed system should be completely inclusive of all necessary equipment, software, and programming.
2. Software Platform - Minimum system specifications are as follows:
2.1. Ability to track individual or multiple vehicles (real-time and logged tracking) within one minute intervals
2.2. Simultaneous real-time mapping of multiple vehicles
2.3. Ability to establish polygonal geofences
2.4. Ability to add and remove points of interest or landmarks
2.5. Ability to group vehicles by department
2.6. Ability to track each vehicle's speed and number of starts and stops
2.7. Ability to detect if any vehicle's ignition is on or off
2.8. Ability to monitor idling behavior
2.9. Ability to provide preventive maintenance reports
2.10. Web and smart phone access for tracking, reporting and viewing maps with vehicle locations
2.11. The system shall have the ability to create, store, rerun and print custom queries, built-in reports, and individual vehicle reports
2.12. The system interface shall allow the export of reports and raw data to a Microsoft Excel compatible format and directly to Adobe acrobat portable document format (pdf). Reports must be able to show both current and historical data.
2.13. All data is the property of the County and at all times the County shall have access to this data. The County will have unlimited access to historical data and it should be available for no less than twelve (12) months from the date it was recorded at no extra charge. Upon termination of the contract, the County shall not incur a fee to retain the data.
2.14. System should be capable of sending notifications based upon set parameters such as speed or geofence violations
2.15. System shall be able to interface with MUNIS technologies asset management software.
3. Hardware Specifications:
3.1. All parts not specifically mentioned that are necessary to provide a complete unit shall be included in the proposal and conform in strength and quality of material and workmanship to that which is usually provided to the trade in general.
3.2. All equipment shall be new and of current model under standard production by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
3.3. The device must be durable, low maintenance, and hardwired into the vehicle (vs. plug in); under hood mount is preferred so that it is both out of sight and tamper resistant from the vehicle operator.
3.4. The vehicle hardware shall be resistant to vibration, heat, rain, and other elements.
3.5. The vehicle hardware must not impede the vehicle’s performance or maintenance in any way.
3.6. The unit shall not require operation or intervention by the driver.
3.7. Easy hardware installation that does not require extensive modification of vehicles or void any warranties for the vehicle.
3.8. The vendor shall deliver and install all hardware on-site at County facilities located at Fleet Maintenance, 1670 Barber Road, Gainesville, GA 30507. There may be some field installation for various vehicles and equipment.
3.9. Units shall be able to be removed from vehicles that are deemed surplus and reinstalled into new vehicles
B. Advanced Scalability
Vendor should have ability to provide more advanced technology solutions geared toward solid waste, water or utilities departments within public works, or for other departments or municipalities within Hall County or beyond. Such technology might include driver id and login, the use of tablet mobile data terminals, RFID service verification for solid waste services, work order management and beyond. Please describe any advanced technology capabilities that your company offers that are specifically geared towards public works departments.
C. Support and Maintenance
Please discuss the size and location of your customer Support team. The Customer Support team must be located within the United States, preferably in the State of Georgia, and be able to provide support during all working hours of Hall County.
D. Company Background
Experience and focus in the public sector is of vital importance. The County is looking to partner with a company that has years of experience successfully implementing, supporting, and maintaining hundreds of fleet technology deployments to government departments.
Please provide a comprehensive narrative history of the company and its experience in providing GPS/AVL systems to government municipalities, counties and departments. Please discuss the size of your company and its principle office location.
5.0 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
5.1 The County request that Bidders submit proposals addressing all items listed below. Failure to include any of these mandatory documents may result in disqualification. All responses must be in writing. Bidder’s should submit Four (4) copies of each proposal with one (1) marked “Original” and three (3) marked “Copy” and all documents loaded onto one (1) USB flash drive in MS Word, Excel and PDF formats depending on the document.
5.2 Bidder’s must submit their sealed bid response packages with clearly marked with “RFQ/P #44-008 GPS/AVL Vehicle Tracking System” on the outside in the lower left hand corner of the package. The bid submittal must have a signature on the “Original” proposal. Hall County suggests this bidder’s provide this signature on their “Introductory Letter”. Failure to sign your proposal in the introductory letter may render the proposal as “non-responsive” and thus not considered for award. Bidders MUST include their email address.
5.3 Follow these instructions carefully. Include in your bid response package two (2) separate, sealed envelopes. Mark one envelope with “RFQ/P #44-008 Technical Response,” and enclose these completed Exhibits:
Copy of Business License
Letter of Bondability
Certificate of Insurance
Exhibit A - Mandatory Bid Response Sheet
Exhibit D - Mandatory Questions Worksheet
Exhibit E - Mandatory Scored Questions/Responses
Exhibit F - Mandatory S.A.V.E. Program Affidavit
Exhibit G - Mandatory Cone-of-Silence Affidavit
Exhibit H - Mandatory Completed W-9 Form
Exhibit I – Mandatory E-Verify Affidavit
Exhibit J – Mandatory Contractor Ethics Affidavit
EXHIBIT K – Sample Contract Template for Services
In a separate sealed envelope from above, clearly mark “RFQ/P #44-008 Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet,” and enclose a completed Exhibit C - Mandatory Proposal Cost Worksheet.
Do not enclose the Cost Proposal Worksheet in the Technical Response envelope. This will render your proposal as non-responsive and thus not evaluated for award.
5.4 The County will make all proposals submitted publicly available by a written Open Records Request.
Bidders may submit 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.
5.4.1 Hand Delivery/FedEx/UPS/USPS/Courier:
Hall County Government Center
Purchasing Division - 4th Floor,
2875 Browns Bridge Road
Gainesville, Georgia 30504
Attn: Mike Hawkins
5.4.2 Mailing Address:
Hall County Government Center
Purchasing Division - 4th Floor,
P.O. Drawer 1435
Gainesville, GA. 30503
Attn: Mike Hawkins
6.0. RFQ/P RESPONSE PREPARATION
6.1 The Contractor bears all responsibility for all expenses incurred in responding to this RFQ/P such expenses to be borne exclusively by the proposer.
6.2 Cover Letter: Prepare and submit a cover letter for transmittal addressing General Qualifications. Provide the following information: Name of Proposer, Name and title of the persons who will manage the engagement, mailing address, physical address, telephone numbers, and email address of Proposer
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 Services, indicate which ones, 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 Sub-Contracts with their proposal. 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-appointed Evaluation Committee comprised of Hall County stakeholders and subject matter experts. The Committee will evaluate the qualifications presented by the interested bidders. Those deemed most qualified by the Mandatory Scored Worksheet, may be short-listed as follows:
Step One (1) - considered for further evaluation. Once short-listing has been complete, the County will review the price proposals provided in a separate sealed envelope,
Step Two (2) - If necessary, the Evaluation Committee will schedule interviews of the “short-listed” bidders,
Step Three (3) - The County retains the right to ask for a Best and Final Offer.
7.2 Each proposal should contain the Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet (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, and other related criteria.
7.4 The successful respondent will be required to submit acceptable evidence of compliance with professional liability insurance coverage requirements as outlined in this document, prior to execution of the contract.
7.5 Respondents are encouraged to submit clear and concise responses and excessive length or extraneous information is discouraged. In an effort to ensure our ability to evaluate and choose a successful Contractor, respondents are encouraged to organize their proposal as follows:
Section 1 – Cover Letter and Executive Summary
Section 2 – Answer Questions and Scored Questions listed in RFQ/P
Section 3 – Cost Proposals (Sealed in a separate envelope)
7.6 Bidder’s 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.
7.7 If unable to reach an agreement with the highest scoring Contractor, the County retains the right to negotiate with the next highest scoring company 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 compatible, highly skilled companies 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 That, presents a compelling work plan that yields the desired contract services and deliverables; and,
7.8.3 Shows adequate resources to handle the project
7.8.4 Presents a focused effort to allocate those resources to the project
7.8.5 Demonstrates exceptional value for the cost of services proposed.
7.8.6 Bidders are to complete the attached Mandatory Scored Questions and submit with their bid. The total amount of points possible is 1,000. Eight-hundred (800) points are potentially available from the bidder’s Technical Response, and two hundred (200) points will be potentially available from the Bidder’s Cost Proposal.
7.9 Steps to Award
The Evaluation Committee will recommend award of the contract to the highest scoring company(s). Upon the County’s award of contract, the County will present an agreement to the selected contractor(s) for execution. If execution of this agreement with the selected Contractor is unsuccessful, the County retains the right to negotiate with the lower ranked Contractor(s) and so on, until reaching a satisfactory agreement.
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: Purchasing will then open the Cost Proposals and score the responses. Purchasing will combine these results with the results of Step 1 scoring. After this scoring, Purchasing will rank the highest scoring proposers on a short list.
Step 3: The Evaluation Committee may schedule interviews with the short list bidders. 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 Contractor(s) ranked highest in an attempt to reach agreement. If negotiations with the highest ranked firm are unsuccessful, the County may negotiate with the second ranked Contractor, and so on until reaching a satisfactory agreement.
8.0 Exhibits and Attachments
Exhibit A - Mandatory Bid Response Sheet
Exhibit B - RFQ-P Submittal Terms and Conditions
Exhibit C - Mandatory Proposal Cost Schedule
Exhibit D - Mandatory Questions Worksheet
Exhibit E - Mandatory Scored Questions and Responses
Exhibit F - Mandatory S.A.V.E. Affidavits
Exhibit G - Mandatory Cone-of-Silence Affidavit
Exhibit H - Mandatory W-9 Form
Exhibit I - Mandatory E-Verify Affidavit
Exhibit J - Contractor Ethics Affidavit
Exhibit K – Sample Contract Template
