Not an official copy.

Newport, WA Municipal Code Chapter 2.12
Selection of Professional Consultants

Sections:

2.12.010 Compliance required.

Whenever the city requires the services of a professional consultant, the responsible city official or the consultant selection committee shall advertise the city's particular and general requirements for professional consultation services, shall interview, evaluate and select a professional consultant, and shall negotiate compensation for such services with the selected professional consultant that is fair and reasonable to the city, all of which shall be performed as provided in this chapter. (Ord. 635 § 1, 1982)

2.12.020 Definitions.

A. "Consultant selection committee" is a three-member committee composed of the mayor, one member of the city staff, and one member of the city council, chosen by the council on an annual basis.

B. "Letter of interest" means a professional consultant's statement of intent to compete for the advertised project, plus a statement of qualifications and performance date, the content of which shall be determined at the discretion of the responsible official.

C. "Professional consultant" means any individual, organization, firm, group, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture or combination thereof that provides professional services including, but not limited to, engineers, architects, appraisers,

surveyors and accountants.

D. "Responsible city official" means the mayor or his or her designee. (Ord. 635 § 2, 1982)

2.12.030 Major professional contract selection procedure.

A. Council Authorization. The city council shall authorize the selection of a professional consultant by the procedure of this section whenever it finds the public works project cost estimate will exceed $15,000.

A consultation project shall not be segmented or divided into phases thereby making the estimated cost of several or all such phases less than set forth above for the purpose of avoiding the procedures of this section.

B. Publication of Notice. After council authorization, the responsible official shall publish notice as often as he or she deems necessary and in newspapers or trade journals chosen at his or her discretion with the goal of soliciting an adequate number of letters of interest. The first such notice should be published at least 21 days before the date after which no further letters of interest will be accepted.

C. Notice Contents. The notice shall state:

The general scope and nature of the particular public works project for which the services are required;
The name, address and telephone number of the responsible official to whom inquiries may be directed and letters of interest may be sent; and
The date after which no further letters of interest will be accepted or considered.

D. Project Information. Upon request from professional consultants, the responsible official shall provide full details and specifications of the public works project for which the services are required, plus a full description of the selection procedure to be followed.

E. Consultant Screening.

The responsible official shall screen the letters of interest received, as well as those professional consultants who have submitted annual statements of qualifications and performance data as set forth in NMC 2.12.050, and select five consultants based upon the criteria developed and approved by the consultant selection committee as provided in this chapter.
The consultant selection committee shall review the names submitted by the responsible official and select no more than three consultants.

F. Request for Proposals. The responsible official shall request proposals from each of the consultants selected by the consultant selection committee and shall notify all unselected consultants of their rejection.

G. Consultant Interviews. The committee shall interview the selected consultants to discuss, among other things, the scope of services required, the work product anticipated, methods of performance, and any available alternative approaches that would equally meet the city's requirements.

H. Recommendation to the Council. The consultant selection committee shall evaluate each of the finalists on the basis of the criteria adopted by the committee as provided by this chapter and select one consultant for recommendation to the city council for approval.

I. City Council Action. The city council shall accept or reject the committee's recommendation. Upon acceptance, the council shall authorize the mayor or his or her designee to negotiate a contract with the selected consultant pursuant to the guidelines of this chapter. The council must approve any final contract negotiated with the consultant.

If the council rejects the committee's recommendation, or the city is unable to negotiate an acceptable contract with the consultant, negotiations with that consultant shall be terminated and the council may direct the consultant selection committee to recommend another consultant from the consultants previously screened or re-advertise the solicitation for new letters of interest according to the procedure set forth for original consultant selection. (Ord. 635 § 3, 1982)

2.12.040 Minor professional contract selection procedure.

A. Procedure. The following selection procedures shall be used for public works projects where the estimated cost therefor will be $15,000 or less.

B. Professional Consultant Selection. The responsible official shall review current letters of interest on file with the city as well as other consultants who may be qualified. The responsible official shall select a consultant after discussions with one or more professional consultants regarding the scope and purpose of the proposed project. The selection of the professional consultant shall be based upon the criteria adopted by the consultant selection committee as provided by this chapter.

C. Contract Negotiation. The responsible official shall negotiate a contract for the professional consultant's compensation regarding the proposed project, consistent with the negotiation guidelines provided in this chapter, and submit the contract to the city council for approval.

D. Council Approval. The council shall approve, modify or reject the proposed professional consultant contract and/or authorize the responsible officials to select another professional consultant using the procedures set forth in this section. (Ord. 635 § 4, 1982)

2.12.050 List of consultants and publication of requirements.

A. List Maintained. The responsible official shall maintain a list of professional consultants who have filed annual statements of qualifications and performance data. The responsible official shall encourage professional consultants who have contracted with the city or have expressed an interest in contracting with the city to submit annual statements of qualifications and performance data.

B. Publication of Notice. The responsible official shall publish a notice of the city's general projected requirements for minor professional consultation services, as described in NMC 2.12.040, in newspapers or trade journals selected at the discretion of the responsible official as appropriate for the type of services advertised, and at intervals consistent with the regularity of the city's need for such service.

C. Contents of Notice. The notice shall state:

The general requirements of the city for professional consultant services of a particular type or category;
The name, address and telephone number of the responsible city official who can be contacted for details of the selection procedure and with whom letters of interest may be filed. (Ord. 635 § 5, 1982)

2.12.060 Selection criteria.

A. The consultant selection committee shall adopt written criteria to be used in the evaluation and selection of professional consultants. The criteria shall generally include the consideration of the consultant's experience, capability, reputation, familiarity with the type of project, quality of work, budget control ability, existing workload, professional credentials, and upon the intuitive opinion of the interview(s).

B. In addition to the other criteria provided by this section, the consultant selection committee, pursuant to NMC 2.12.030, or the responsible official, pursuant to NMC 2.12.040, shall afford minority-owned and women-owned consultant firms the maximum practicable opportunity to compete for and obtain such contracts with the city. Furthermore, when considering the selection of minority-owned or women-owned consultant firms, the consultant selection committee or responsible official shall strive wherever possible to insure that the level of participation by minority-owned and women-owned firms in consultation projects for the city is consistent with the general availability of such firms within the professional consultant community involved. (Ord. 635 § 6, 1982)

2.12.070 Negotiation guidelines.

The responsible official shall negotiate the contract with professional consultants who have been selected pursuant to this chapter with the goal of establishing compensation for the services that is fair and reasonable to the city. The responsible official shall, among other things, consider the estimated value of services to be rendered against the scope, complexity and professional nature of the services required by the proposed project. (Ord. 635 § 7, 1982)

2.12.080 Emergency services.

In the event that the city council or the responsible official makes a determination that an emergency exists requiring the immediate execution of professional consultant services, and that any delay necessitated by the procedures of this chapter may be detrimental to the best interests of the city, the procedures of this chapter need not be compliedwith to the extent that the procedures would necessitate a delay. (Ord. 635 § 8, 1982)

Not an official copy.

Newport, WA Municipal Code Chapter 2.12 Selection of Professional Consultants

Newport, WA Municipal Code Chapter 2.12
Selection of Professional Consultants