§ 2-109. Unsolicited proposals.

The purpose of this section is to provide a fair and uniform format to for the handling of unsolicited proposals to the county. This section establishes the procedures for the submission, receipt, evaluation, and acceptance or rejection of unsolicited proposals.

(a)

Any person or legal entity may submit an unsolicited proposal for a facility or project that would be a qualifying project as defined under F.S. § 255.065, (or such successor statute as may be hereafter adopted) or for a facility or project with an estimated cost in excess of $5,000,000.00 for which economic development funds are being requested or sought from the county for the development, design, establishment, enhancement, financing, construction, operation, maintenance, ownership, acquisition, or leasing of facilities and/or infrastructure which unsolicited proposals shall be governed by the provisions of this section serving a public purpose.

(b)

The county reserves the right to charge an initial processing fee which will be due at the time of submission of any unsolicited proposal. In addition to the initial process fee, the county reserves the right to charge the proposer an additional fee to cover the costs of processing, reviewing, and evaluating any unsolicited proposal, including a fee to cover the costs of attorneys, engineers, consultants, and financial advisors incurred by the county for review and response to the unsolicited proposal. The fees to be charged for the review and response to the proposal shall be established by the county administrator and will not be greater than the direct costs associated with evaluating the unsolicited proposal. "Direct costs" may include, but are not limited to: (i) the cost of staff time required to process, evaluate, review, and respond to the proposal, (ii) the costs of advertising the proposal, and (iii) the costs of attorneys, engineers, financial advisors and other consultants retained by the county to assist them in the review and evaluation process. Failure on the part of the private entity failing to provide such additional fees within 30 days of receipt of the county's written request may result in the county stopping any further review or consideration of the unsolicited proposal until such time as the fees are provided.

(c)

Upon receipt of an unsolicited proposal or group of proposals and payment of any required fees by the proposer or proposers, the county administrator shall note the date and time of receipt of such proposal and shall determine within 90 days whether to accept the unsolicited proposal solely for the purpose of proceeding to publication as described below. Alternatively, the county administrator shall reserve the right to reject the proposal within such 90 days. The initial review time may be extended by the county administrator as needed when in the best interest of the county. Final determination of whether to accept and publish notice that an unsolicited proposal (once its been reviewed and accepted by the county administrator) shall be made by the board of county commissioners. The proposal shall be published no later than 30 days following acceptance by the board of county commissioners.

(d)

In determining whether to accept the unsolicited proposal for publication, the county shall take into consideration such factors as: whether the proposed project is in the public's best interest; the costs of the proposed project and its funding sources; whether the proposed project may be accomplished through the use of county resources; the need for the proposed project; the scientific, technical or socioeconomic merits of the proposal; the contribution of the proposal to the county's goals and objectives; the qualifications, technical and management capabilities and experience of the proposer considered as a whole and considered in terms of the legal entities who may comprise the proposer or who may be serving as subcontractors to the proposer; the general reputation and financial condition of the proposer and its team members; the proposer's financial capacity to perform its obligations in the proposed contract; the financial viability and feasibility of the submitted proposal; the cost, if any, to the county to proceed with implementation of the proposal; and any other information the county deems appropriate for such initial evaluation.

(e)

Any unsolicited proposal shall include sufficient detail and information for the county to evaluate the proposal in an objective and timely manner and to determine if the proposal meets the above criteria and benefits the county. If such proposal is not deemed by the county to be complete or in sufficient detail, it may be rejected by the county administrator. The county administrator shall inform the proposer in writing of the reason(s) for rejection and shall report the same to the board of county commissioners. It is not the intent or obligation of the county administrator to assist the proposer in completing the proposal and the county administrator shall bear no responsibility to itemize or advise the proposer of the incomplete items or terms of the proposal.

(f)

Any unsolicited proposal shall contain at a minimum the following items, as appropriate to the proposed project:

(1)

Information and supporting documentation necessary for the county to evaluate the factors listed in paragraph (d) above.

(2)

A site plan indicating the location of the project proposed, if applicable.

(3)

A concise title and abstract of the proposed effort that contains the following information:

i.

Objectives of the effort or activity.

ii.

Method of approach and extent of the effort to be employed.

iii.

The nature and extent of the anticipated results.

iv.

The manner in which the work will help to support the accomplishment of the county's strategic objectives.

(4)

The proposed schedule for development of the project and/or the proposed term for operation of the project, along with an estimate of the life cycle cost of the proposed proposal.

(5)

A statement setting forth a method to secure any property interests required for the proposed project.

(6)

A list of all public utilities, railroad lines, navigable waters and flight paths, if any, that will be crossed or affected by the proposed project and a statement of the plan to accommodate such crossings or effects.

(7)

A statement setting forth the plans for developing, financing, constructing and/or operating and maintaining the project, including identification of any revenue, public or private, of proposed debt or equity investment proposed. The financing plans shall address any and all means by which the costs of the project will be borne by persons and/or agency(ies) other than the county.

(8)

Names and addresses of persons who may be contacted for further information concerning the request.

(9)

Information on how the project would benefit small and community based contractors within Pasco County.

(10)

A financial plan for the entire time period of the proposed project.

(11)

Performance guarantees, if any, and any proposed bonding to be provided by the proposer.

(12)

The names of owners, directors and officers of the proposer, and such information as may be necessary to evaluate the qualifications of the critical personnel to be engaged in the project.

(13)

Names and biographical information on the key personnel or firms who would be involved, including alternates.

(14)

A listing of all proposed obligations and requirements of the County and any other governmental agencies, including, but not limited to, contributions to the project financing, staffing and permitting.

(15)

Such additional material and information that a responsible public entity may reasonably expect, in order to review and evaluate such proposal.

(16)

Brief description of the organization, previous experience, and relevant past performance of similar projects.

(17)

The names, telephone numbers, and/or email addresses of County representatives that have been previously contacted regarding the project.

(18)

Proposer's name and contact information, with the signature of the person authorized to represent and contractually obligate the entity.

(g)

The county may seek the advice of internal staff or outside advisors, attorneys or consultants, or any combination thereof, with relevant experience in determining whether to accept the unsolicited proposal for publication and/or whether to enter into an agreement with the private entity or any competing proposer. At its option, the county may seek further clarification of the proposal.

(h)

If the county accepts the unsolicited proposal for publication, then the purchasing department shall publish a competitive solicitation statement that the county has received a proposal and will accept other proposals for the same project purpose. The timeframe within which other proposals may be accepted shall be determined on a project-by-project basis based on the complexity of the project and the public benefit to be gained by allowing a longer or shorter period of time within which other proposals may be received; however the timeframe for allowing proposals must be at least 21 days, but no more than 120 days after the initial publication. The purchasing director shall identify the procedures that will be used for evaluating the proposals in the notice or in a subsequent publication. Once the county decides to receive competing proposals, it may utilize its existing procedures for evaluating the proposals or may adopt project-specific procedures. The proposer shall be authorized to respond to the competitive solicitation and offer to the county a proposal in terms not less favorable to the county than the original proposal.

(i)

Proposal documents submitted by private entities are public records under F.S. ch. 119, (Florida's Public Records Law), subject to any exemption otherwise provided by law. Any competing proposer may request and receive a copy of such proposal, and the county reserves the right to publish such unsolicited proposal and solicit competing proposals within the response period. Proposers are advised to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Public Records Law and to seek legal advice regarding any proprietary or intellectual property rights which they may have in the proposal. In no event shall the county be liable to a proposer for the disclosure of all or a portion of a proposal submitted under this subsection.

(j)

When the private entity requests that the county not disclose information that is exempt from the disclosure requirements of the Public Records Law, the private entity must (i) invoke the exemption when the data or materials are submitted to the county or before such submission, (ii) identify the data and materials for which protection from disclosure is sought, and (iii) state why the exclusion from disclosure is necessary, citing the specific exemption to F.S. ch. 119, that the proposer believes applies. The county's determination as to confidentiality shall be final and binding upon the proposer. The proposer shall bear all attorneys' fees and costs associated with litigation for public access to claimed confidential documents. The county's need to maintain certain information confidential may be taken into consideration in the county's decision not to publish a solicitation.

(k)

After the response period has expired, the county shall within 45 days, or longer, as specified in the advertisement, evaluate all the competing proposals and rank them in order of preference utilizing the criteria published for the specific project.

(l)

The county may negotiate with the top-ranked proposers in the order of their ranking, and may, through such negotiations, aim to arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement.

(m)

If only one proposal is received, the county may negotiate in good faith with the one proposer and if not satisfied with results, may at its discretion terminate negotiations with the proposer.

(n)

No proposer is guaranteed the award of a contract as a result of being favorably ranked for this project. The issuance of an unsolicited proposal shall create no rights in the proposer including rights as a bidder, under contract or intellectual property. The county, in its discretion, reserves the right to reject all proposals at any point in the process prior to the full execution of a contract with a proposer.

(o)

The bid protest process provided for in this Code shall not apply to any decision to reject an unsolicited proposal but shall apply to any decision to recommend a contract award rejection, unless such protest is waived in accordance with this Code. The cone of silence provided for in this Code shall be imposed only following the publication of the competitive solicitation.

(p)

Nothing in this article shall affect the board of county commissioner's authority to recommend a waiver of competitive bids when such waiver is determined to be in the best interest of the county.

(q)

The intent of this section is to be supplementary to the provisions relating to unsolicited proposals under Florida law.

(Ord. No. 15-26, § 2, 12-15-15; Ord. No. 18-16, § 8, 6-5-18)