REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL For PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. Water & Stormwater Utility Rate Analyses

Transcription

1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL For PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Water & Stormwater Utility Rate Analyses 1. INTRODUCTION The intent of this REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL is to obtain a qualified person, firm, or corporation, hereafter referred to as Consultant," to provide professional services to complete to a cost-of-service study and rate design project. Cañon City, hereafter referred to as City, is the county seat of Fremont County in south-central Colorado, with a population of approximately 16,000 people within the city limits, and another 8,000 to 9,000 people within the surrounding environs of Cañon City city limits. The City is located in a mountain bowl along the Arkansas River valley as it flows east from the Rocky Mountains and the mouth of the Royal Gorge. A combination of unique geography and an elevation of 5,300 feet above sea level protect the City from harsh weather conditions, making the City the Climate Capital of Colorado, with temperatures generally 10 degrees warmer than other nearby Colorado communities. The Royal Gorge Bridge, owned by the City, is one of the major attractions located within the county. This, along with other nearby natural attractions such as the Arkansas River, the National Forest, and the beauty of the surrounding land, draws numerous tourists to the area year round with peaks during the summer season. The City s Water and Stormwater utilities are enterprise funds as defined under Colorado Law and under the Taxpayer s Bill of Rights (TABOR). By law, it is required to sustain at least 90% of its operations solely from the collection of user charges and fees. The City last conducted a cost-of-service study for its Water utility only in 2009 and in 2005 for its Stormwater utility. To ensure that the current rates being charged to customers for both utilities are still fair and equitable based on customer demand on the systems the City desires to update those studies. In addition, the City wants to re-examine the current water rate structures that promote fairness among and between the customer classes for simplification. Request for Proposal Page 1 of 12

2 The scope of work required for the project is described below. Additional information about the water and stormwater utilities, including the current rate structure, is provided at the City s website ( 2. INQUIRIES AND CORRECTIONS All inquiries relating to this request shall be addressed to: City of Cañon City Attn: Harry Patel, Finance Director P. O. Box 1460 Cañon City, CO (719) If a proposing Consultant submitting a proposal finds discrepancies in or omissions from the Request for Proposal (RFP), or should require additional clarification of any part thereof, a written request for interpretation may be submitted. Any interpretation of, or change made to the RFP will be made by written addendum to each proposing Consultant, and shall become part of the request for any contract awarded. The City will not be responsible for the accuracy of any oral explanations. All inquiries shall be made in writing and all responses will be provided in writing, with copies being sent to all proposing firms. To be given consideration, inquiries must be received at least ten (10) calendar days prior to the date established for the opening of the proposal. It shall be the responsibility of each proposing Consultant to verify that every addendum has been received prior to submitting proposals. 3. SUBMITTAL DATE & LOCATION All proposals must be received by the Finance Department of the City of Cañon City, 128 Main Street, P. O. Box 1460, Cañon City, CO prior to 11:00 AM, February 21, Proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope plainly marked "REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL WATER AND STORMWATER RATE ANALYSES and addressed to the Director of Finance. 4. LATE AND TELEGRAPHIC PROPOSALS Late proposals will not be accepted under any circumstance, and any proposal so received shall be returned to the proposing Consultant unopened. In addition, telegraphic and/or proposals sent by electronic devices are not acceptable and will be rejected upon receipt and will not be returned to the proposing firm. Proposing Consultants will be expected to allow adequate time for delivery of proposals. Sole responsibility rests with the proposing Consultant to see that their proposal is received on time. Request for Proposal Page 2 of 12

3 5. CONDITIONS OF PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL All proposing Consultants shall comply with all conditions, requirements, and specifications contained herein; any departure will constitute sufficient cause for rejection of the proposal. The proposal must be signed by a duly authorized official of the proposing Consultant submitting the proposal. No proposal will be accepted from any Consultant that is in arrears for any obligation to the City, or that otherwise may be deemed irresponsible or unresponsive by the City. Only one (1) proposal will be accepted from any Consultant. All prices quoted must be firm for a period of ninety (90) days following the opening of the proposal. The City of Cañon City, Colorado reserves the right to reject any and all proposals or any part thereof. The right is reserved to waive any formalities or informalities contained in any proposal, and to award the proposal to the most responsive and responsible proposing Consultant as deemed in the best interest of the City of Cañon City. The City of Cañon City will not return proposals, or other information supplied to the City, to the proposing Consultant. 6. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS All proposals will be evaluated by a Selection Committee assembled by the City of Cañon City. Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the Evaluation Criteria noted herein. The Selection Committee may make a recommendation on the basis of the proposals received, or may choose to "short list" prospective Consultants for further negotiations. Should the Selection Committee develop a short list of prospective Consultants for further negotiations the Consultant may be required to meet with the Selection Committee. The Consultant selected for the award will be chosen on the basis of the apparent greatest benefit to the City, and not necessarily on the basis of the lowest price. 7. EVALUATION CRITERIA Proposals shall be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: A. Responsiveness to the needs of the City, both in service cost and in the scope of the services offered. Request for Proposal Page 3 of 12

4 B. Responsibility of the proposing Consultant and their experience in dealing with municipal governments; and other public utility service providers on projects of similar scope and nature. C. The degree to which the proposal meets or exceeds the terms of the Request for Proposal. D. The proposing Consultant s fee structure based on the services to be provided. 8. PROPOSAL ELEMENTS AND FORMAT Proposals submitted shall contain all information as requested herein and any additional information necessary to summarize the overall benefit of the proposal to the City of Cañon City. Proposals shall include the following: A. A cover letter shall be provided stating the name, address, telephone number, fax number and address of the proposing Consultant, and must bear the signature of the person having the authority to make the proposal for the Consultant and bind the Consultant in a formal contract with the City. B. A response that defines the methods and means by which the proposing Consultant will perform the services outlined in the Request for Proposal. C. A project timeline outlining the dates and specific tasks to be accomplished during the course of the project. D. A list of what portion of the work, if any, will be subcontracted and the name of the firm(s) that will be used. E. A list of at least (3) three references for which services have been provided by the proposing Consultant and subcontractor. Include contact names, addresses, and telephone numbers. F. The proposed not-to-exceed cost for services including an hourly fee schedule for all personnel to be utilized for the project. The cost proposal shall be subdivided into costs for individual scope-of-work line items. The City reserves the right to select only those items, which the consultant will be contracted to, perform and to exclude any scope-of-work line item(s) from the contract for services. G. Any other information deemed necessary by the proposing Consultant. Request for Proposal Page 4 of 12

5 H. Please provide six (6) copies of the proposal. Submittal of a proposal shall be taken as prima facie evidence that the Consultant has full knowledge of the scope, nature, quality, and quantity of the work to be performed, and the detailed requirements and conditions under which the work is to be performed. 9. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE SUCCESSFUL PROPOSING CONSULTANT The successful proposing Consultant shall be prohibited from assigning or subcontracting the whole or any part of the contract without the prior written consent of the City of Cañon City. The successful proposing Consultant and its employees will operate as an independent contractor and will not be considered employees of the City of Cañon City. The Consultant will include as part of their Request for Proposal, a Statement of Qualifications. This Statement shall include a list of those individuals who will be working on the project either as employees/principals of the Consultant and the names of subcontractor entities who will work on the project under the supervision of the Consultant. For employees/principals/subcontractors of the Consultant, a brief statement of individual education, professional registrations, areas and years of relevant experience is required as well as a brief list of representative clients. Provided that Consultant has been paid for the services, City shall be provided with and shall have the right to use all data, documents, maps, photographs, drawings and specifications resulting from Consultant s efforts on the project. Reuse of any such materials by the City on any extension of this project or any other project without Consultant s written authorization shall be at the City s sole risk. Consultant shall have the right to retain copies of all such materials. Consultant retains the right of ownership with respect to any patentable concepts or copyrightable materials arising from its services, provided that the work to be developed hereunder shall be the sole property of the City and may be copied, distributed, amended, and used by the City and others for any purpose deemed appropriate by the City. 10. SCOPE OF WORK (SOW) The minimum scope of work is outlined below. The Consultant is encouraged to recommend additional scope of work items, if certain items have been omitted from the outline below. Request for Proposal Page 5 of 12

6 As part of the SOW the Consultant shall be required to attend a minimum of (3) four on site meetings. The purposes of those meetings are as follows: Kick-off meeting to meet City staff and to generate a list of data to be provided by the City to the Consultant. Meeting with City staff to review the draft analyses. Meeting to present Final Rate Analyses to City Council. Water System Development Fees The Consultant will collect the necessary data/information including existing rates and take all efforts necessary to calculate and update the system development fees (SDF) for the City s Water Utility using generally accepted utility ratemaking methodologies under applicable Colorado law. The SOW for this task includes the following: A. Collection of needed information - The Consultant will provide the City with a data request that will outline information needed to calculate the SDFs. B. Evaluate growth related capacity costs The Consultant will determine the estimated value of existing system capacity on a functional basis (functional basis means separating asset investment into categories based on function, e.g., transmission, collection, pumping, etc.). Consultant will work with the City and its designated representatives to determine the capacity currently available with the existing plant in service. The Consultant will evaluate the capital improvements, noting any improvements planned for expansion of the existing system capacities. Such growth-related planned improvements will be added to the value of the existing system and along with any change in capacity resulting from the planned improvements. C. Determine equivalent units of service The Consultant will work with the City and/or its designated representative to determine equivalent units of demand for each functional component of the water system. The Consultant will also determine the total capacity of each functional component measured in terms of equivalent units. D. Calculate fees The Consultant will calculate total water SDFs based on the unit cost values, taking into consideration any necessary adjustments for outstanding debt, contributed capital, or contractual considerations. E. Document results - The Consultant will document the results of the analysis in a memorandum that will be provided to the City along with all workpapers, computer model outputs, or other supporting information. Water Utility Cost-of-Service Study - The Consultant will collect the necessary data/information and take all efforts necessary to calculate and update the water utility user charges (i.e. rates) for the City using generally accepted utility ratemaking methodologies as described by the American Water Works Request for Proposal Page 6 of 12

7 Association, Manual M1 (Manual M1 describes the methods for developing water rates and charges). The SOW for this task includes the following: A. Collection of needed information - The Consultant will provide the City with a data request that will outline information needed to calculate the rate fees. B. Calculate and project the revenue requirements The Consultant will work in close coordination with the City to develop a 10-year financial plan that will project the water revenue requirements from the City s 2017 fiscal year to the year The projections will be based on City assumptions as to growth, demand, budgets and capital costs including revenue needed to address replacement of water mains under roads that are scheduled for reconstruction with monies made available with the passing of Proposition 2A in November The Consultant will use the projection of revenue requirements for 2017 as the basis for the recommended water rates. The projection of revenue requirements will take into account the proposed impact fees determined earlier in the project. C. Allocate revenue requirements in a cost-of-service study The Consultant will allocate revenue requirements to the City s various customer classes using generally accepted cost-of-service allocation techniques. The tasks necessary for the allocation include the following: 1. Determine customer class demands The Consultant will examine historical usage for each customer class in terms of average water use, peak water demands, fire protection requirements, meter sizes, and numbers of customers served. Consultant will determine normal levels for water demand on average and peak days for use in allocating costs. The City currently has a rate schedule for golf courses. The Consultant will update cost allocations and rates specifically for these customers. The City currently has a rate schedule for all of its municipalgovernment owned facilities in the existing rate structure. The Consultant will update cost allocations and rates specifically for the water services provided to City-owned properties. The City currently does not charge any fees to customers with private fire sprinkler systems and private fire hydrant lines. The Consultant shall provide cost allocations and rates specifically for customers with private fire protection systems and lines for consideration by City Council. 2. Allocate O&M costs Consultant will allocate O&M costs based on customer class usage of the system. O&M costs will be separated into functional components, allocated to average-day, max-day, Request for Proposal Page 7 of 12

8 max-hour, fire protection, and customer requirements, and ultimately allocated to customer classes based on their demonstrated demands in these areas. 3. Allocate capital costs Consultant will allocate capital costs based on customer class usage of the fixed assets of the water system. Fixed assets will be separated into functional components, allocated to average-day, max-day, max-hour, fire protection, and customer requirements, and ultimately allocated to customer classes based on their demonstrated demands in these areas. Capital costs will then be allocated to customer classes based on the allocation of fixed assets. 4. Allocate non-rate revenues Consultant will allocate non-rate revenues to customer classes in a manner similar to the allocation of O&M and capital costs. 5. Calculate cost-of-service rates The Consultant will determine cost-of-service rates for service including unit costs for averageday, max-day, max-hour, customer, meter, and fire flow characteristics. D. Develop recommendations for updating existing water rates The Consultant will work with the City to update the existing rates based on the findings of the cost-of-service allocation described above. E. Performance Indicators/Benchmarking Using readily available industry literature and data, review and benchmark the City s Water Utility against other comparable utilities to provide a reasonable measure of their overall performance and efficiency. Include performance indicators which reflect and measure customer service/relations, utility operations and business/financial/rate operations. Based upon the performance indicator/benchmarking review, provide your observations and appropriate recommendations. Stormwater System Development Fees The Consultant will collect the necessary data/information including existing rates and take all efforts necessary to calculate and update the system development fees (SDF) for the City s Stormwater Utility using generally accepted utility ratemaking methodologies under applicable Colorado law. The SOW for this task includes the following: A. Collection of needed information - The Consultant will provide the City with a data request that will outline information needed to calculate the SDFs. B. Evaluate growth related capacity costs The Consultant will determine the estimated value of existing system capacity or level of service. Consultant will work with the City and its designated representatives to determine the Request for Proposal Page 8 of 12

9 capacity or level of service currently available with the existing facilities. The Consultant will evaluate the capital improvements, noting any improvements planned for expansion of the existing system capacities. Such growth-related planned improvements will be added to the value of the existing system and along with any change in capacity resulting from the planned improvements. C. Determine equivalent units of service The Consultant will work with the City and/or its designated representative to determine equivalent units of demand for each functional component of the stormwater system. D. Calculate fees The Consultant will calculate total stormwater SDFs based on the unit cost values, taking into consideration any necessary adjustments for outstanding debt, contributed capital, or contractual considerations. E. Document results - The Consultant will document the results of the analysis in a memorandum that will be provided to the City along with all work papers, computer model outputs, or other supporting information. Stormwater Utility Cost-of-Service Study - The Consultant will collect the necessary data/information and take all efforts necessary to calculate and update the stormwater utility user charges (i.e. rates) for the City using currently accepted utility ratemaking methodology (impervious surface). The SOW for this task includes the following: A. Collection of needed information - The Consultant will provide the City with a data request that will outline information needed to calculate the rate fees. B. Calculate and project the revenue requirements The Consultant will work in close coordination with the City to develop a 10-year financial plan that will project the stormwater revenue requirements from the City s 2017 fiscal year to the year The projections will be based on City assumptions as to growth, demand, budgets and capital costs including revenue needed to address replacement of water mains under roads that are scheduled for reconstruction with monies made available with the passing of Proposition 2A in November The Consultant will use the projection of revenue requirements for 2017 as the basis for the recommended stormwater rates. The projection of revenue requirements will take into account the proposed impact fees determined earlier in the project. C. Calculate cost-of-service rates The Consultant will determine cost-ofservice rates for service including unit costs impervious surface per parcel. Request for Proposal Page 9 of 12

10 D. Develop recommendations for updating existing stormwater rates The Consultant will work with the City to update the existing rates based on the findings of the rate study described above Documentation and Reporting The Consultant will provide the City with thorough documentation of the study s analyses and results, and will present the study findings to the City Council upon substantial completion of the SOW. The consultant will: A. Provide Draft Report for City Review The Consultant will provide the City with the draft Study report upon completion of the tasks identified above. B. Revise Draft Report Based on City Staff Comments The Consultant will revise the final report based on any comments received by the City. C. Prepare Presentation Materials As Needed The Consultant will work with the City staff to develop presentation materials that staff may require in order to present the Study findings to elected officials and/or customer groups. At the City s request, the Consultant will appear at up to two (2) public meetings to present the Study results. D. Provide Copies of All Deliverables to the City The Consultant will provide the following deliverables to the City during the Study: Fifteen (15) bound copies of the Final Report One (1) CD-ROM with the following items included: Final Report (in PDF) Water/Stormwater utility cost-of-service models Electronic copies of other Study data as appropriate 11. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CITY OF CAÑON CITY The City of Cañon City will provide the Consultant with the following: A. There is no expressed or implied obligation on behalf of the City to reimburse any consultant for any expenses incurred in preparing proposals or in attending any interview session in response to this request for proposal. B. Designate the Finance Director as the City s representative with respect to the services to be rendered under a contract. C. Provide all criteria and information as to the City s requirements for the study and report. D. Provide all previous reports and other existing data relative to the drainage basins. Request for Proposal Page 10 of 12

11 E. Provide copies of any existing data, aerial photographs and maps as needed for the study. F. Designate the City Engineer and the City Water Superintendent as the City s representatives with respect to documents pertaining to or pertinent to, the completion of the work as represented in the Scope of Work. G. Provide access to copies of applicable City ordinances and significant water service contracts. Request for Proposal Page 11 of 12

12 12. INDEMNIFICATION The Consultant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City of Cañon City, and its officers and its employees, from and against all liability, claims, demands, and expenses, including court costs and attorney fees incurred on account of any injury, loss, or damage, which may arise out of or are in any manner connected with the work to be performed, if such injury, loss, or damage is caused in whole or in part by, or is claimed to have been caused in whole or in part by, the negligent act or omission, error, professional error, mistake, accident, or other fault of the Consultant, subcontractor of the Consultant, or any officer, employee, or agent of the Consultant. 13. INSURANCE Consultant agrees to maintain during the performance of the Services: (1) statutory Workers Compensation coverage; (2) Employer s Liability; (3) General Liability; and (4) Automobile Liability insurance coverage each in the sum of $2,000,000. A Certificate of Insurance, naming the City of Cañon City as an additional insured, shall be completed by the Contractor's insurance agent(s) as evidence that policies providing the required coverages, conditions, and minimum limits are in full force and effect, and shall be subject to review and approval by the City of Cañon City prior to the commencement of any services. The completed Certificate of Insurance(s) will be filed with the City Clerk. The City shall be entitled to thirty (30) days prior notice of cancellation or material reduction in any liability coverage required hereunder. 14. SUGGESTED TIMELINE FOR PROJECT Release Request for Proposal - Week of January 17, 2017 Deadline for and Opening of Proposals February 21, 11:00 AM Evaluation of Proposals Completed by Committee/Staff before March 15, 2017 Approval and Award of Bid to Successful Consultant April 3, 6:00 PM Approval of Professional Services Agreement April 3, 2017 Completion of Preliminary Report August 23, 2017 Completion of Final Report September 5, 2017 Request for Proposal Page 12 of 12