New Castle County committee sets March 25 deadline for fire-service RFP scope

A New Castle County committee voted to request that the scope of work for a request for proposals (RFP) to study county fire and emergency medical services be documented and returned to the committee at its March 25 meeting.

The committee opened a broad discussion of the RFPs purpose and contents, and County Attorney Goldstein outlined the procurement steps: advertise the RFP, allow proposers to ask questions and submit proposals, appoint a selection committee to score bids and recommend an award, and then negotiate a contract that may adjust terms and price. "Once the proposal period is closed, a selection committee then reviews the proposals and scores them and makes a recommendation for purchase," Goldstein said.

Committee members said the RFP should incorporate elements of the earlier FACETS report and prioritize an operational study that will produce a comprehensive deployment analysis: which stations should remain open, where additional stations are needed, and what mix of engines, ambulances and specialized response units (heavy rescue, ladders, boats) the county requires. Members also asked the vendor to inventory current apparatus capability (the equipment carried) rather than rely only on vehicle type.

Speakers emphasized the need to measure volunteer availability and "responding volunteers" per call. Several members said previous volunteer counts in the FACETS work were inconsistent and that the vendor should collect up-to-date company-level response data so the study can assess staffing shortfalls and the impact on career, part-time and volunteer staffing models.

The committee also requested that the RFP ask vendors to assess compliance with external standards, including what it would take for the county to reach an ISO rating goal and to meet NFPA 1720-related response expectations. "We need the most accurate information on what we're judged on," one member said.

Budget and timeline were central concerns. The county CFO estimated roughly four months to process the procurement and suggested about eight months from RFP start to a vendor draft, depending on how quickly the county assembles data. Participants warned that compressed timelines can raise prices because vendors may charge more when extensive data collection is required or data access is delayed.

Committee discussion touched on prior funding and study costs. Participants referenced earlier allocations that were described in the meeting as $100,000 per county to offset study costs, and one participant reported a prior total price of $389,732 with the countys share about $289,732; members expressed differing recollections of those past figures and asked staff to provide accurate numbers.

On a motion that did not record a named mover on the transcript, the committee directed staff to document the RFP scope and present it at the March 25 SPC meeting; the motion was seconded and passed. The committee also added EMS billing and a Sussex County RFP example to a future meeting agenda for further discussion of whether billing arrangements should be incorporated into the operational study.

The meeting closed after public-chat comments were noted for the record and a motion to adjourn was seconded.

Next steps: staff will draft the scope based on the committees guidance, and the procurement office will review potential cooperative contracts or existing vendor lists to see whether the county can shorten procurement timelines once the scope is finalized.