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City staff reviews procurement rules, advises firms to register for solicitations
Summary
Public works and procurement processes were reviewed at the Folsom workshop; staff described selection methods for public-works, professional and nonprofessional services and recommended small businesses register with the city for notices.
Procurement staff reviewed the city's contracting rules, selection methods and risks at a Feb. 28 workshop, and urged businesses seeking city work to make themselves known to staff.
Marcus Yasutaki, Environmental Water Resources, described how the city differentiates public-works projects (competitive sealed bidding), professional services (qualifications-based selection / request for proposals) and nonprofessional services (request for proposals where cost is evaluated). He also summarized emergency procedures used when urgent repairs are required.
Under the procurement rules Marcus described, public-works projects are awarded to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder after advertised bids are opened and verified. Professional services follow the Brooks Act/Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) approach in which selection is based on demonstrated competence and qualifications; when cost is considered, staff weigh technical scores and cost to identify best value. Nonprofessional services (landscaping, janitorial, etc.) are procured by RFP with cost factored in the award decision. Emergency services may be procured under a waiver of bid to allow immediate repairs, Marcus said.
Marcus told council members that failure to follow statutory procurement methods can expose the city to bid protests, legal challenge, loss of state or federal funding and increased project costs. "If you aren't careful, you can potentially have increased project costs, additional life cycle costs because something did not go right in the bidding process and something was potentially missed," Marcus said.
Council members raised questions about how small businesses find city solicitations. Marcus said departments maintain lists for typical consultants and contractors in each discipline; if firms contact the department and ask to be added to a distribution list they will be notified when a relevant RFP is released. Staff said they would follow up with the information technology team to evaluate a centralized vendor-registration or keyword-notification system to alert interested businesses when bids are posted.
Marcus also described the content of typical staff reports for council contract actions: the municipal-code section authorizing the award, an explanation of the selection process, the ranking of technical proposals (if applicable) and the budget or funding source for the contract. If an awarded contract exceeds budget, the staff report will request an appropriation increase for council consideration, he said.
Ending: Procurement staff urged businesses to register with departments that most closely match their services and asked council support for staff follow-up to improve the city's vendor-notification process.
