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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING AND/OR ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES

FOR THE CITY OF HIAWASSEE, GA
23-RFP-01-01

Amended

Statements of qualifications and proposals are being requested from engineering/architectural firms with a strong record in successfully assisting local governments with the implementation of Appalachian Regional Grant programs. Responding firms should be technically qualified and licensed in the State of Georgia to provide these services.

Plans are to contract for engineering/architectural design services required for a FY2022 ARC project for engineering/architectural services for the construction of the project known as the “Lake Chatuge Boardwalk and Accessible Fishing Pier” between Mayors Park and Lloyds Landing, located in the City of Hiawassee, GA.

All contracts are subject to Federal and State contract provisions prescribed by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Interested parties should request copies of the Statement of Qualifications Form Package prior to preparing and submitting their proposal. To be considered for this contract, interested parties must submit three (3) copies of the proposal on or before 4:00 pm, EDT, Monday, March 6, 2023, using a sealed two-envelope system. One envelope contains the technical proposal of the design services exclusive of the design fees and the second sealed envelope outlines the cost of the project. Proposals received after the above date and time may not be considered. We reserve the right to accept or reject any and all proposals and to waive informalities in the proposal process.

Any questions may be directed to Denise McKay, Director Economic Development, via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone at 706-896-2202.

SECTION I INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background

The installation of the boardwalk addresses three (3) critical factors vital to the City of Hiawassee: pedestrian safety, community connectivity, and recreational opportunity creation.

Pedestrian Safety and Community Connectivity: Because of limited right-of-way (ROW) on U.S. Route 76, which is the main throughfare through the city, sidewalk construction is not a viable option, alternative solutions were necessary.

Recreational Opportunity Creation: The construction of the boardwalk and fishing pier will provide much-needed pedestrian safety and connectivity options while increasing opportunities for small businesses catering to residents and guests to attract additional foot traffic.

The city’s alternative solution addresses or all three critical factors is the installation of the Lake Chatuge Boardwalk and Accessible Fishing Pier. The City submitted and received the necessary permitting from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to construct an 814-foot boardwalk with fishing platforms and sidewalk connection options.

1.1 General Goals

The City of Hiawassee, Georgia is soliciting Requests for Proposal (RFP’s) from qualified firms or individuals to provide engineering design services for the installation the project known as the “Lake Chatuge Boardwalk and Accessible Fishing Pier” between Mayors Park and Lloyds Landing, located in the City of Hiawassee, GA. The selected firm or individual will be responsible for the completion of construction documents including the processing of permits through all regulatory agencies having jurisdiction and provide a color rendering of the proposed boardwalk. The final set of construction documents must recognize the sensitivity and constraints of the project and identify measures to mitigate impacts.

1.2 Minimum Qualifications

The key project staff must have at least five-years of prior experience on similar types of projects. Interested parties responding to this Request for Proposal (RFP) will be evaluated based on their expertise, prior experience on similar projects, demonstrated competence, ability to meet the project schedule, adequate staffing, understand of the project, and responsiveness to the needs and concerns of the City of Hiawassee.

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1 SECTION II

INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

2.0 Submission Requirements

Consultants are requested to submit proposal packages using a two-envelope system. One envelope is to be labeled Technical Proposal and is exclusive of the design fees. The second sealed envelope to be labeled Fee Proposal outlines the cost of the project. The evaluation of the consultant on the project will be completed prior to the Fee Proposal envelope being opened. .

Three (3) copies of the proposal must be submitted in a sealed package on or before 4:00 PM Tuesday, Monday, March 6, 2023. All proposals shall be clearly marked – Design Services for the Lake Chatuge Boardwalk and Accessible Fishing Pier to

City of Hiawassee
Attn: Denise McKay, Economic Development Director 50 River Street
Hiawassee, GA 30546
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Consultants shall be responsible for the actual delivery of proposals. It shall not be sufficient to show that the proposal was mailed in time to be received by the scheduled closing time.

2.1 Proposal Format

In order to maintain uniformity with all proposals furnished by consultants, the proposals shall be limited to a maximum of 30 pages (excluding front and back covers, section dividers, and resumes) and must include the following:

1)  History of firm and resources

2)  Experience with Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and Georgia Department of

Community Affairs (DCA) grant programs

3)  Key personnel/qualifications

4)  Experience with similar projects and list of references 

5)  Statement of project understanding containing any suggestions to improve or expedite the project or special concerns of which the City should be made aware. The project approach shall contain clarifications or additional scope of work necessary for the successful completion of the project.

6)  Scope and level of proposed services including a schedule of the stage of work, time frames, and ability to perform the required services in a timely manner to ensure project design and construction within 18 months of conception.

7)  Errors and Omissions Insurance

8)  Statement of Qualifications Form

9)  Fees proposal in a separate sealed envelope

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Any interpretations, clarifications or additional information not disclosed in this RFP and determined to be necessary by the City in response to questions, will be issued by means of addendum or addenda, which addendum or addenda will be posted to the City website, Bid Opportunities (hiawasseega.gov) to all interested parties identified by the City as having received the bid documents. The Bidder is required to check the site to see if there has been any addendum or addenda posted for this Bid. Only questions answered and information supplied by means of such an addendum or addenda will be considered as binding.

Any responses received by the office of the City after the due date and time specified in this RFP will not be considered. All corrections of any kind to any RFP must be accepted (initialed) by an authorized representative of the Design-Build Contractor. All Proposals must contain a signature of an authorized representative.

2.2 Right of Rejection of the Lowest Fee Estimate

The City of Hiawassee is under no obligation to award this project to the Consultant having the lowest fee estimate, or to any consultant. The City of Hiawassee has the right to award in whole or in part and to waive minor immaterial defects in proposal submissions. Evaluation criteria included in this document shall be used in evaluating proposals. The Consultant acknowledges that it shall have no claim against, or entitlement to damages from the City of Hiawassee by reason of the City’s rejection of its proposal or of all proposals.

2.3 Request for Additional Information

Prior to final selection, Consultants may be required to submit additional information which the Review Committee may deem necessary to further evaluate the Consultant’s qualifications.

2.4 Denial of Reimbursement

The City of Hiawassee will not reimburse Consultants for any costs associated with the preparation and submittal of any proposal, or for any travel and/or per diem costs that are incurred.

2.5 Right of Withdrawal

A proposal may be withdrawn at any time up to the official closing time by submitting a letter bearing the signature of the authorized representative who has signed the proposal.

2.6 Right of Negotiation

The City of Hiawassee reserves the right to negotiate with the selected Consultant the exact terms and conditions of the contract.

2.7 Insurance Requirements

The Consultant shall secure and maintain a minimum of $3,000,000 Commercial General Liability Insurance and add as an additional insured the City of Hiawassee. The Consultant shall

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provide to the City of Hiawassee 30 days’ notice of any material change or policy cancellation. The Consultant shall also prove Proof of Professional Liability Insurance in the amount of $3,000,000. The Consultant shall provide the City of Hiawassee with a Certificate of Insurance complying with the RFP upon the Consultant’s acceptance of the contract.

2.8 Right to Submitted Material

All proposals, responses, inquired, or correspondence relating to, or in reference to, this RFP, and all reposts, charts, and other documentation submitted by consultants shall become the property of the City of Hiawassee upon final payment to the Consultant.

2.9 Basis of Award

A Review Committee will be formed to evaluate the proposals according to the matrix noted below. Following individual evaluations by each member, the committee as a whole will review and discuss the results prior to a final decision being made.

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The City of Hiawassee reserves the right to conduct interviews with any or all Consultants as it deems necessary.

The points for the fees will be calculated based on the lowest bid receiving the maximum of 20 points. All other bids will be prorated, e.g. low bid of $15,000 will receive 20 points while a bid of $17,500 will received 15,000/17,500 x20 = 17.14 points

The successful proponent will be the submission with the highest score out of the possible 100 points, i.e. technical + financial.

2.10 Termination of Contract

The City of Hiawassee may cancel the contract at any time for breach of contractual obligations by providing the successful Consultant with a written notice of such cancellation. Should the City of Hiawassee exercise its right to cancel the contract for such reasons, the cancellation shall become effect on the date as specified in the notice of cancellation

The Consultant may cancel the contract at any time for breach of contractual obligations by providing the City of Hiawassee wit ha written notice of such cancellation and proper supporting documentation.

2.11 Assignment

The successful Consultant shall not sell, assign, transfer or convey and contract resulting from this RFP, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the City of Hiawassee.

2.12 Conflict of Interest

The Consultant convents that they presently have no interest and shall not acquire any interest, directly or indirectly, which would conflict in any manner or degree with the performance of the services hereunder. The Consultant further covenants that no person having any such known interest shall be employed or conveyed an interest, director or indirectly, in the contract.

2.13 Contract

The contract between the City of Hiawassee and the Consultant shall consist of the Request for Proposal (RFP) and any amendments thereto, the proposal submitted by the Consultant to the City of Hiawassee in response to the RFP and in the event of a conflict in language between the documents referenced above, the provisions and requires set forth and/or referenced in the RFP shall govern. However, the City of Hiawassee reserves the clarify any contractual relationship in writing with the concurrence of the Consultant, and such written clarification shall govern in case of conflict with the applicable requirements stated in the RFP or the Consultants proposal. In all other matters not affected by the written clarification, if any, the RFP shall govern.

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SECTION III
SCOPE OF SERVICES

3.0 Project Analysis and Review

Analyze the project., perform field review and investigations, evaluate existing conditions, review existing plans and records and meet with the City staff to define the detailed project and scope of objectives. The consultant shall take notes during the meeting(s) and prepare meeting minutes that shall be submitted to the City for approval within one week after the meeting.

Identify any project constraints or concerns and provide mitigation measures to be addressed in the design and/or construction

The selected consultant will be required to conduct all necessary geotechnical investigations to design the project.

3.1 Utility Investigation/Coordination:

The Consultant shall notify all utility companies, obtain plans of all existing utility infrastructure, and identify and precisely locate all utilities (both underground and overhead) within the project limits. The consultant shall be responsible to resolve any conflicts with utility infrastructure.

The Consultant shall obtain approval in writing from utility companies for any necessary utility work and clearance. The consultant shall submit all utility correspondences to the City.

3.2 Design and Construction Services

The Consultant is required to ensure the design meets all applicable standards, acts, regulations and codes. The Consultant will be required to coordinate with all utility owners and must include relocation of utilities in the design, if required. The Consultant is required to obtain all information required to complete the design and construction documents.

The Consultant will act as an independent agent and provide design services, preparation of permitting documents where required, preparation of tender documents, preparation of construction plans and specifications, on-site inspection during the construction phase of the project to ensure the contractor completes the work in accordance with the plans and specifications, and warranty period review. Survey data acquisition will be the sole responsibility of the consultant to ensure the necessary design information is collected.

The Consultant will provide the necessary design and supervision services for a complete project including, but not limited to the following:

• Prepare detailed design and specifications documents, electronic and printed, for the project;

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• Obtain all necessary approvals and permits;

• Coordinate with the City on selection of light fixtures and site furnishings to be incorporated in the package;

• Provide construction cost estimate;

• Tender administration including, but not limited to, preparation of paper sets of documents for the City, advertisement in the local newspaper, Georgia procurement website and City website, field contractor inquiries;

• Contract administration and inspection during construction including, but not limited to,preparation of contract documents within 10 days of award, review of shop drawings, site supervision as required to ensure specifications are met, scheduling and administrating job meeting, preparing minutes of meetings, issuing f instructions, preparation of change orders, certification of payments, substantial performance inspection and certification of substantial performance;

• Warranty period services will include follow-up with the contractor on any deficiencies that may arise throughout the warranty period. The Consultant will be responsible to monitor the project throughout the warranty period to ensure prompt attention to any deficient items that may arise and attend a warranty inspection 1 months after substantial completion of the work; and

• The site inspector for the project shall be a qualified engineer, engineer-in-training or an individual with equivalent experience and technical abilities in similar projects.

  3.3 Schedule of Events

  The design package must be submitted in time to allow for construction completion by September 2024. The anticipated schedule of events are as follows:

  1. RPF for Design Services Issued	January 19, 2023
  2. Questions received by	February 13, 2023
  3. Answers posted to website	February 23, 2023
  4. Proposals received by City	March 6, 2023
  5. Recommendation of award presented to City Council	March 27, 2023
  6. Award Design Services Contract	April 4, 2023
  7. Contract Package Issued	April 11, 2023

SECTION IV

PROPOSAL FORM     

I have read and understand the requirements of this request for proposal (RFP) and agree to provide the required services in accordance with this proposal and all attachments, exhibits, etc. The proposed fee shall include all labor, material and equipment to provide the services as outlined including communications devices, computer hardware and software, electronic and

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printed documents, any travel or per diem expenses and any other miscellaneous expenses involved. The fixed lump sum fee for providing the required service as described herein is:

Design:                                                                               $________________________________

Geotechnical Investigation                                                $________________________________

Contract Administration during Construction                    $________________________________

Total                                                                                    $________________________________                                                                                     

In addition to the above, please provide an hourly rate for on-site inspection services during construction. This will be as required to ensure specifications are met. For the purpose of bidding only, assume 4 hours per day for 40 days. The final construction schedule will be determined after the tender and award of the project.

Fixed Hourly Rate for on-site inspection $_______________________________ during construction, includes all expenses

SUBMITTED BY:
Consultant: _________________________________________

By: ________________________________________________

Signature

Name (Print): __________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Telephone Office: _________________________

Email: __________________________________

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Engineering/Architectural

Statement of Qualifications

*********************************************************************************************************************

NAME OF FIRM:        _________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS:                __________________________________________________________________

                                 ___________________________________________________________________

1. Years in Business in Present Form:

2. Firms History and Resource Capability to Perform Required Services:

            ______________________________________________________________________________

            ______________________________________________________________________________

      3. Titles, Names, and Addresses of all Officers:

          _______________________________________________________________________________

          _______________________________________________________________________________

          _______________________________________________________________________________

4. List categories in which firm is legally qualified to do business. Include Licenses and Registrations where applicable.

           ______________________________________________________________________________

           ______________________________________________________________________________

      5. Does your firm carry Errors and Omissions Insurance? _____

      6. Can your firm meet the draft PER deadline? YES____ NO______

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       8. List up to five (5) projects which demonstrate skills to be used on CDBG projects.

Note    project name, location, owner, year, contract amount, and nature of firm’s responsibility. 

      1. _______________________________________________________________________________

      2.________________________________________________________________________________

      3.________________________________________________________________________________

      4. _______________________________________________________________________________

      5. ______________________________________________________________________________

      9. List key personnel (with qualifications) likely to be involved on these projects and explain their specific role in CDBG work.

         ________________________________________________________________________________

         ________________________________________________________________________________

        ________________________________________________________________________________

10. List three (3) references for the Firm.

1. ______________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________

11. Certifying that:

Mr./Mrs./Ms. _____________________________________________ (signature) being duly sworn

disposes and states that he/she is the ______________________ (title)

of ____________________________________ (name of firm) and that answers 
questions and all statements herein contained are true and correct.

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