General Instruction
News Releases: Public disclosure regarding this RFQ, the SOQs or subsequent awards, will be coordinated by the City of St. Petersburg.
Inquiries: Questions regarding the RFQ may arise as Teams are preparing their documents. Please direct questions electronically to: PierCompetition@stpete.org
Signature Requirements: SOQs must be signed by a duly authorized official(s) of the Team. Consortiums, joint ventures, or Teams submitting SOQs, although permitted and encouraged, will not be considered responsive unless it is established that all contractual responsibility rests solely with one firm or legal entity which shall not be a subsidiary or affiliate with limited resources. Each SOQ shall indicate the entity responsible for execution on behalf of the qualification statement team.
SOQs Delivery: The City must receive the SOQ no later than 4:00 P.M., on the date stated in timeline, at the office of the Engineering & Capital Improvements Director, seventh floor, attention Bryan Eichler, Municipal Services Center, One Fourth Street North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701.
RFQ Addenda: In the event that it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFQ, or if additional information is necessary to enable the proposing Teams to make an adequate interpretation of the provisions of this RFQ, an Addendum(s) to the RFQ will be provided to each Team that has requested a copy of this document from the City.
Rejection Rights: The City of St. Petersburg reserves the right at any time to modify, waive, or otherwise vary the terms and conditions of this Request for Qualifications including, but not limited to, the deadlines for submission, the submission requirements, and the information provided within the Competition Manual. The City further reserves the right to reject any or all submittals and to cancel or withdraw this Request for Qualifications at any time. Selection is also dependent upon the negotiation of a mutually acceptable contract with the selected design team.
Cost of Preparing SOQs and Design Competition Stipend: No reimbursement will be made by the City of St. Petersburg for any costs incurred in the preparation of any SOQ. Subject to City Council approval, the short listed Teams that are invited to participate in the Design Competition will be paid a stipend of $50,000 U.S. dollars upon submission and determination by the City of St. Petersburg of compliance with the competition regulations.
General Conditions
Prohibited Interest: No consulting service contract will be awarded to any firm or corporation for a period of one year after they have employed any exempt management employee directly from City employ, provided, however, that this provision will not apply in the event the employee so hired is not involved in any way with work being performed by the firm or corporation for the City.
Taxes: Unless otherwise indicated, estimated fees and expenses shall not include taxes of any kind. The City of St. Petersburg is exempt from all state taxation including state sales and use taxes.
Equal Employment Opportunity: In connection with this qualification statement, the Team shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, handicapped or disadvantaged person, or Viet Nam‑era veteran. Such action shall include, but not be limited to, the following: employment, upgrading, demotion or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising, layoff or termination; rate of pay or other form of compensation and selection for training, including apprenticeship.
The Team shall furnish all necessary information and reports and shall permit access to its books, records and accounts by the City of St. Petersburg for purposes of investigation to ascertain compliance with the non‑discrimination/ minority business provisions of any resultant contract.
City Standard Documents: Teams shall not submit a SOQ to provide professional services to the City if the Team is not prepared to agree to the City Standard Architectural/Engineering Agreement or to use the City Standard Contractual Conditions, including general conditions, with the design documents. SOQs and/or interview presentations shall include a statement of the Team's exceptions or qualifications of these documents. A proposed draft of the Architectural/Engineering Agreement is included in this RFQ as Exhibit E. The City's standard construction documents are on file in the office of the Engineering & Capital Improvements Director.
Reuse of Documents: All documents prepared under authority of this Project, shall become the property of the City. All documents prepared are subject to reuse by the City in accordance with the provisions of S.287.055, Florida Statutes.
Lobbying: Lobbying of City employees, Mayor, Jury or elected officials regarding this RFQ by any member of a Team's staff, or those people who are members of, or employed by, any legal entity affiliated with an organization that is responding to this RFQ is strictly prohibited. Such actions may cause the SOQ or design concept submission, or the SOQ or design concept submission you are supporting, to be rejected.
Crime Conviction: Each Team shall notify the City within 30 days after a conviction of a contract crime applicable to it or any officers, directors, executive, shareholders active in management, employees, or agents of its affiliates.
Debarment and Suspension: By signing and submitting any submittal to the City in connection with this RFQ or the Competition (e.g., Registration, SOQ or design concept submission), the Team certifies that no principal (which includes officers, directors, and executives) is presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible or voluntarily excluded from participation on this Project by any federal or state department or agency.
Federal, State, Regional Authorities: Projects performed under the Architectural/Engineering Agreement may be funded by federal, state, regional and/or private agencies. As such, consultants performing work on these projects may be subject to specific requirements of the funding agency. These requirements may include, but are not limited to; length of time records need to be retained, access to technical and financial information, equal employment opportunity (EEO) requirements, disadvantaged business (DBE) requirements, minority business (MBE) requirements, E-verification requirements, and/or other requirements. The Team agrees to fully comply with all requirements of the funding agency.
Discrepancies, Errors and Omissions: Any discrepancies, errors, or ambiguities in this RFQ or addenda (if any) should be reported in writing to the City's Assistant Engineering & Capital Improvements Director. Should it be found necessary, a written addendum will be incorporated into this RFQ. The City will not be responsible for any oral instructions, clarifications, or other communications.
Disqualification: The City reserves the right to disqualify any Team(s) before or after opening submittals, upon evidence of collusion with intent to defraud or other illegal practices on the part of the Team(s).
Public Records Disclosure and Trade Secrets Exemption: All documents submitted to the City in connection with this RFQ (including but not limited to Registration, SOQs, and design concept submissions and all documentation and materials attached thereto) are subject to public disclosure pursuant to Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. A statutory exemption for "trade secrets" may be available.
If any document submitted to the City in connection with this RFQ contains information that constitutes a "trade secret", all material that qualifies for exemption from Chapter 119 must be submitted in a separate envelope, clearly identified as "TRADE SECRETS EXEMPTION", with the name of the Team and the project name marked on the outside. The City will not accept a submittal when the entire submittal is labeled as a "trade secret" or "confidential."
"Trade secret" means the whole or any portion or phase of any formula, pattern, device, combination of devices, or compilation of information which is for use, or is used, in the operation of a business and which provides the business an advantage, or an opportunity to obtain an advantage, over those who do not know or use it. "Trade secret" includes scientific, technical, or commercial information, including any design, process, procedure, list of suppliers, list of customers, business code, or improvement thereof. Irrespective of novelty, invention, patent ability, the state of prior art, and the level of skill in the business, art, or field to which the subject matter pertains, a "trade secret" is considered to be:
- Secret;
- Of value;
- For use or in use by the business; and
- Of advantage to the business, or providing an opportunity to obtain an advantage, over those who do not know or use it when the owner therefore takes measures to prevent it from becoming available to persons other than those selected by the owner to have access thereto for limited purposes.
Be aware that the designation of an item as a "trade secret" by a Team may be challenged in court by any person or entity. By the Team's designation of material as a "trade secret" the Team agrees to defend the City, its employees, agents and elected and appointed officials against all claims and actions (whether or not a lawsuit is commenced) related to the Team's designation of material as a "trade secret" and to hold harmless the City, its employees, agents and elected and appointed officials for any award to a plaintiff for damages, costs and attorneys' fees, and for costs and attorneys' fees (including those of the City Attorney's office) incurred by the City by reason of any claim or action related to the Team's designation of material as a "trade secret".
Public Entity Crimes: A person or affiliate who has been placed on the convicted vendor list following a conviction for a public entity crime may not submit a bid on a contract to provide any goods or services to a public entity, may not submit a bid on a contract with a public entity for the construction or repair of a public building or public work, may not submit bids on leases of real property to a public entity, may not be awarded or perform work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a contract with any public entity, and may not transact business with any public entity in excess of the threshold amount provided in Section 287.017, for CATEGORY TWO for a period of 36 months from the date of being placed on the convicted vendor list.
Truth in Negotiations Certificate: For a lump sum, salary multiplier or cost‑plus‑a‑fixed‑fee professional service contract over the threshold amount provided in S.287.017, Florida Statutes, the proposer shall, if selected, execute a Truth in Negotiation Certificate stating that the wage rates and other factual unit costs supporting the compensation are accurate, complete and current at the time of contracting. If requested by the City, financial statements including balance sheet, profit and loss and statement of changes in financial position for the latest Annual Report for each participating Team shall be submitted together with the name of banks or other financial institutions with which the proposer conducts business.
Disputes and Complaints: All complaints or grievances should be first submitted in writing to the Engineering & Capital Improvements Director. The Engineering & Capital Improvements Director shall investigate the validity of the complaint and present the findings in writing to the Team. If the Team is dissatisfied with the Engineering & Capital Improvements Director's response, the Team may then make an appeal to the Mayor's office. The Team's appeal will be heard by either the Mayor, the City Administrator or the Public Works Administrator. All complaints, grievances or appeals must be made no later than seven (7) days preceding the date of the City Council meeting approving the Agreement or no later than seven (7) days following the selection of the Team if the Agreement does not need to be approved by City Council. This paragraph shall not apply to Team disqualifications. There shall be no right to appeal Team disqualifications.
Owner's Responsibilities:
The City will provide all available information regarding its requirements for the Project. The City will designate a Project Manager fully acquainted with the Project who has the authority to approve Project budgets and, changes (subject to any required approval of City Administration and/or City Council), render decisions promptly, and furnish information expeditiously.
The items, conditions and procedures in the Request for Qualifications are in conformance with City policies. These policies are designed to fully comply with Chapter 287.055, Laws of Florida (known as the "Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act"). These policies are also designed to fully comply with the Federal Government's Brooks Act. Teams are requested to notify the City, in writing, if they feel any portion of this Request for Qualifications is not in compliance with these policies.