Goods and services which are not required by law to be procured
by the Town pursuant to competitive bidding must be procured in a
manner so as to assure the prudent and economical use of public moneys
in the best interests of the taxpayers of the Town, to facilitate
the acquisition of goods and services of maximum quality at the lowest
possible cost under the circumstances and to guard against favoritism,
improvidence, extravagance, fraud and corruption. To further these
objectives, the governing board of the Town, by resolution, shall
adopt internal policies and procedures governing all procurements
of goods and services which are not required to be made pursuant to
the competitive bidding requirements of § 103 of the General
Municipal Law, as amended or changed, or of any other general, special
or local law.
The Town Board of the Town of Irondequoit shall require adherence
to the following:
A. To
consider first the interests of the Town of Irondequoit and the improvement
of its government.
B. To
endeavor to obtain the greatest value for every dollar expended.
C. To
strive for knowledge of municipal equipment and supplies in order
to recommend items that may either reduce cost or increase efficiency.
D. To
insist on and expect honesty in sales representation whether offered
verbally or in writing, through advertising or in a sample of a product
submitted.
This policy and procedure shall be used by the Town of Irondequoit
in the procurement of professional services, including accounting/auditing,
legal, engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, planning,
survey and other like services; however, selection of expert witnesses
and appraisers shall be subject to the approval of the appropriate
department head and Supervisor.
A. When professional services are required by the Town, the Town Board
shall be notified, and the Supervisor and Comptroller, together with
the head of the department that requires said professional service,
shall prepare a scope of services for the project or need of the Town
that requires such professional services.
B. At least three firms shall be solicited by the Town for consideration
as providers of the professional service. Factors to be considered
in determining which firms to solicit will be:
(1) The disciplines required by the project.
(2) The experience of the firm on a particular type of project and any
unique requirements of the project.
(3) The quality of performance of the firm on previous work done for
the Town.
(4) The experience record of the firm on a particular type of project.
(5) Location of office and staff who will perform the work.
(6) Any other pertinent considerations as may be identified.
C. The Selection Committee shall consist of five voting members:
(4) The head of the department requiring the service.
D. The Selection Committee shall determine by majority vote who will
write the request for proposal document.
E. Requests for proposals.
(1) A formal proposal on the descriptive scope of the project or services
sought shall be requested of the firms identified. The solicitation
of proposals will include the scope of the project or services sought
and a proposed schedule for completion or terms of said professional
relationship.
(2) The response to the proposal shall include discussion on the proposed
approach to the project or services required, any special aspects
of the project, schedule, staffing, projected budgets (if applicable),
any other information pertinent to executing the project or services
and a proposed fee schedule for such services.
F. Proposals shall be formally evaluated and ranked as to order of preference
by the Selection Committee. Interviews with each of the firms submitting
proposals shall be held prior to ranking, provided that if more than
three firms submit proposals, the Selection Committee may provide
a preliminary assessment of all proposals and elect to interview no
less than the top three firms. An evaluation memorandum shall be prepared
documenting the results of the evaluation and reasons for the selected
ranking.
G. When the ranking is completed, negotiations shall be held with the
top-ranked firm to establish detailed scope of such professional services,
a fair and reasonable fee for such professional services, and other
terms and conditions of the professional service agreement as may
be necessary given the nature of the project or services sought. In
the event that negotiations are not successful, the second-ranked
firm shall be invited to engage in a similar negotiation with the
Committee; and similarly the third-ranked firm shall be so engaged
in a negotiation if an agreement cannot be negotiated with the second.
H. In the event that the Selection Committee cannot recommend any of
the firms, the entire process as described above shall be reinitiated.
I. When negotiations are complete, the Selection Committee shall present
the scope of the professional services to be performed and the proposed
fee to the Town Board for approval.
J. Whenever practical, this process shall be used simultaneously when
more than one project of a similar type exists for which professional
services are required.
K. This procedure need not apply to services with an estimated cost
of less than $5,000. In such cases, the department proposing to utilize
such professional service shall review the qualifications of firms
capable of performing such professional service, negotiate the scope
of such professional service and the project work to be performed
and establish fees for such professional service.
L. The complete ranking sheet used by the Selection Committee shall
be made available for review in the office of the Town Clerk after
the Town Board has approved the contract with the consultant.
M. Upon completion of the professional services, the user department
and the Comptroller shall prepare an evaluation of the professional
services with particular attention to outstanding or unsatisfactory
performance. This evaluation shall be reviewed with the professional
service provider, modified by the professional service provider's
input, if appropriate, and submitted to and retained by the Selection
Committee for its information and consideration in making future determinations
and selections.
N. This procedure is considered fair and effective in ensuring quality
services at a fair, reasonable and controlled cost both to the Town
of Irondequoit and the professional service provider the Town retains.
A provision of the purchasing policies and provisions may be
changed by memorandum attached as an addition or deletion to the appropriate
provision by the Comptroller subject to the approval of the Town Board
and shall be added to the appendix herein.