Town of Dresden Invitation for Proposal: Website Design, Implementation, Support, and Hosting

Start Date: April 26, 2024
End Date: July 26, 2024
Type: Requests for Proposals (RFP)
Phone: 2077374335
Email: townadmin@dresdenme.org

TOWN OF DRESDEN
534 Gardiner Road | P.O. Box 30 | Dresden, ME 04342
INVITATION FOR PROPOSAL

WEBSITE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, SUPPORT, AND HOSTING
The Town of Dresden, hereafter called (Town), is publicizing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit proposals for WEBSITE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, SUPPORT, AND

HOSTING
The services sought from the Contractor (Contractor) include but are not limited to providing municipal website design, implementation, client support, and hosting services for the Town of Dresden, ME (dresdenme.org) website at the highest level of services to the Town. The Contractor shall provide the Services based on those specified in the Request for Proposals document.

INTENTION of TOWN
The Town seeks proposals from qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced companies to provide municipal website design, support, and hosting. Your expertise is crucial in supporting the Town's needs. We encourage companies to submit the most comprehensive proposal possible, offering the highest quality of service.
The Town of Dresden is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering diversity and inclusion. We encourage all small and minority-owned firms, women's business enterprises, or veteran-owned businesses to apply and be part of our community.

The nature of the service will be ongoing support and coordination primarily with the Town Administrator to ensure proper website implementation. The company chosen will be responsible for maintaining the website's functionality, updating its content, and ensuring its security. They must work closely with various departments within the organization, providing support as required or instructed. The Contractor will provide general professional services remotely as needed, primarily during regular business hours: M-F, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. However, the vendor may be requested to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays.

Minimum Qualifications

The vendor is expected to
● Provide website design and hosting.
● Coordinate with the Town regarding any photo or text resources required for the site.
● Provide an accurate timeline for design and implementation.
● Adhere to this schedule to ensure timely delivery of the redesigned website.
● Provide training to employees and administrators.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY
All interested parties are invited to secure the request for proposals document beginning April 26, 2024.

PROPOSAL DUE DATE
Email proposals to the below-named person at the email address no later than noon on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Nicole Rogers, Town Administrator
534 Gardiner Road | P.O. Box 30
Dresden, ME 04342
(207) 737-4335
TownAdmin@dresdenme.org

REQUESTS OF QUESTIONS & CLARIFICATION
Please address any questions or clarifications concerning this RFP by email on or before April 24, 2024, at 4:00 PM to:
Judy Tunkle, Chairperson
Broadband, Communication, Tech Committee
judytunkle@gmail.com

An emailed factsheet will answer all questions and clarifications and be sent to all who secure a copy of this RFP from the Town Administrator or request to be added to the list.
 

TIMETABLE
April 26, 2024 RFP published
May 1, 2024 Questions & Clarifications due
May 3, 2024 Questions & Clarifications answers
May 10, 2024 Proposal deadline 12:00 noon
May 24, 2024 Anticipated decision on proposals

CONTRACT TERM
The term of the resulting contract shall be in effect for an Initial Term of one (1) year, with contract award on or about May 24, 2024, and services commencing July 1, 2024, and terminating on June 30, 2025, unless sooner terminated by mutual agreement of both parties. Before the expiration of the Initial Term, the contract may be extended by mutual agreement for a "to be determined" Extension Term.
If there is advantageous pricing to the Town for option years, the Contractor may provide option year pricing.

QUALIFICATIONS
Contractors to this RFP should have the following qualifications:
• Should have and show previous experience in designing and implementing municipal websites.
• Know all requirements indicated on municipal websites and current best practices and design principles.

SCOPE OF SERVICES
The successful company shall agree to the contract with the Town to provide the following:
1. Determine the Town's needs for an updated and redesigned website.
2. The website redesign must incorporate a single landing page built to serve the Town website directories at http://DresdenME.org/. The landing page should welcome the community to the website. The landing page will feature the Town's logo/branding.
3. Make suggestions, utilizing examples, until a design is understood.
4. Provide the first draft of the home page for a review of the format, templates, and general design.
5. Work with town staff and provide regular updates, which will be agreed upon at the time of the award.
6. Present the finalized website on time and within budget.
7. Provide all necessary access to the website so that the town staff can have complete control of the content.
8. Provide any necessary technical support for the length of the contract after implementation.
9. Provide website hosting services, including but not limited to software updates, website health checks, backups, search engine indexing, and security.
10. Analytics installation and monitoring.

OTHER POTENTIAL SERVICES
• The Contractor shall manage the Town's email system and ensure domain names are correctly maintained as needed. Existing email information shall be migrated to the system.
• Website Hosting
• Document management
• Backup and replication services
• Attend meetings when requested by Town staff.
• Participate in the Town's budget process when requested.

INSURANCE
● Contractor shall, at its own expense, carry and maintain, during the period of performance:
○ The state requires workers' compensation insurance and employers' liability insurance for its employees, with limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence or evidence of self-insurance where permitted by law.
○ The Contractor shall provide the Town with a Certificate of Comprehensive General Liability Insurance with minimum limits of $2,000,000 within 30 days of award, on which the Town, its Select Board members, employees, agents, and volunteers are named additional insureds.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality of computer information and data is vital. The selected Contractor and their employees will be required to sign and adhere to a confidentiality clause that information in the system must remain confidential under penalty of law.

NOT INCLUDED
The contract to be awarded does not obligate the Town to purchase computer equipment, hardware devices, cabling, licenses, software, et al; from the successful vendor; however, the Town may choose to do so based on the vendor's recommendations.
The Town's procurement policy will be utilized for all hardware, peripherals, or software purchases and may require multiple quotes.

RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS
• By submitting a proposal, you represent that you have (1) thoroughly examined and become familiar with the scope of services outlined in this RFP and (2) can achieve a positive outcome, attaining all the Town's objectives.
• Before submitting a response, the Contractor must carefully review this solicitation and any addenda subsequently issued. The Contractor is responsible for seeking any clarification or information needed to respond. The Contractor is solely responsible for any deficiencies in the response submitted.
• Upon award, the Contractor will be provided other terms and conditions not found in this RFP, which will be mutually agreed upon between the parties.
• The Contractor is solely responsible for all direct or indirect costs incurred in responding to this solicitation. The Town will incur no obligation or liability in connection with the submittal of a response.
• The Town shall have no obligation to review or consider and reserves the right to reject any Proposal that fails to satisfy or conform to any RFP requirements. At the same time, it reserves the right to waive any irregularities at its discretion.
• Purchases made by the Town of Dresden are not subject to state, local, or federal excise taxes. Exemption certificates will be furnished upon request.
• Each vendor must state that no Town of Dresden officer or Selectboard member is directly or indirectly invested in or has a material interest in the proposal.
• Proposals shall remain firm, pending award, for not exceeding sixty (60) days from the proposal opening date.

RESPONSE CONTENT
A responsive submittal should include the following sections and specific item requests:
Website Requirements
• Upon award, the Town will provide the Contractor the points of contact to name the Town-designated website administrator(s ) and contributors to the website.
• Town employees should efficiently complete text editing using a "cut and paste" methodology.
• An example or demonstration of what our website redesign might look like is requested but not required.
Mandatory Website Features:

• Landing Page
• Mobile-Friendly Design
• Backups
• Site Search
• Easy content management
• Hosting with software updates
• Calendar of Events
• Site Map
• Ability to Sign Up for Notices
• SSL certificate
• ADA Compliance
• Permission-based login (Manager level controls)
• Unique and Custom Homepage Design

Desired Website Features:

• FAQ Page
• Fillable forms on-site
• Slideshows
• Published Notices syndicated to social media
• Online Payments
• Video Hosting

Proposal Summary
• Provide a statement of how your firm differentiates itself from other firms.
• Provide a conceptual plan for meeting the Scope of Services in a manner that you believe is appropriate for the Town. Indicate how your firm's resources (e.g., number and type of personnel allocated by hours) will be assigned.
• Timeline of Transition from Current to New Website
• Training and guidance that will be provided after the site is created
• Provide a statement describing the degree of work to be subcontracted, if any.

Qualifications Statement
• A brief description of the Contractor's firm or business entity, including firm history, number of employees, organization structure, ownership structure, and expertise.
• Resumes of the Contractor and any other employees who could work on the project.
• Estimated fraction of each person's time devoted to the project.
• Name of the technical lead person.
• Identification of any sub-contracting of services – name of firm, specific services, applicable experience, and reference contacts.
• The advantages of your company and an explanation of your services, including the flexibility of your product to evolve as the town's needs change.
• A description of how your firm communicates with clients regarding the status of assigned duties.
Consultant's Background
• General information about the Consultant (i.e., location of office(s), years in business, organization chart, number and staff titles, and any certifications or degrees).
• Name, title, experiences, and qualifications of the personnel assigned to the Town to perform the Scope of Services.
• A list of three (3) past and current clients for website design and hosting, especially municipal clients - including name, address, phone number, and municipality/company size. Provide a brief description of the services provided and dates of service.
• Any other relevant information that the Contractor believes would assist the Town in evaluating the submittal.

PROPOSED FEES
Fees should include all costs to the Town for the duration of the contract.
• Specify website design fee.
• Specify the annual fee for hosting services each year, including any anticipated changes for option years' annual pricing.
• Specify all hourly rates for additional services, including all travel time, night, weekend, and holiday surcharges.
• Describe any additional financial investment by the Town to implement the resulting agreement.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Specify whether the Contractor can provide any value-added services to the Town either for a fee or as a complimentary service.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION
The Town intends to enter a contract with the consulting organization that, in the Town's opinion, best meets the responsiveness and price criteria described below; however, this RFP does not commit the Town to select or enter a contract with any organization, and the Town reserves the right to reject any proposals.
Evaluation of Compliance "Best Value" Evaluation Score
• The Town will utilize a "Best Value" point ranking system to aid in the evaluation process.
1. Completeness of response to RFP as outlined in this solicitation.
2. Knowledge of municipal web presence, which has been presented in past projects.
3. Implementation schedule and organization of project timeline.
4. Ability to support the company's product after implementation.
5. The ability of the Contractors to meet or exceed the requirements defined in the RFP.
6. Fee schedule
• Scores will be tabulated based on the scoring method below, and the Selectboard will determine which vendors, if any, will be asked to attend an interview with the Selectboard.
• The total score will be made up of a total of three values
o Responsiveness Score (maximum 100)
o Price Score (maximum 60)
o Bonus Points (if added by the Selectboard, maximum 10)
• The maximum combined responsiveness and price points are 160, plus 10 possible bonus points.
• The maximum values of 100 and 60 points approximately represent a 5/3 ratio between responsiveness and price. The ratio may be different for actual point values.
• The Town reserves the right to use its discretion to eliminate unacceptable proposals.
• The Selectboard will determine whether the proposals comply with this RFP and reject late proposals. Failure to meet the requirements will affect the evaluation and may result in rejection.

Evaluation of Responsiveness Scoring
• The Town will determine whether any failure to supply information or the quality of information will result in rejection or downgrading a proposal. Contractors who do not rank sufficiently high need not be considered for price evaluation and selection. Contractors whose proposals meet minimum responsiveness requirements will be eligible for further consideration.
• Each Selectboard member (3), the Broadband, Communication, and Technology Committee Chairperson, and the Town Administrator will independently evaluate and score proposals for the responsiveness scoring value.
• Each will separately determine how well the proposals satisfy the RFP objectives regarding responsiveness. We will rank proposals without price consideration using a point ranking system (unless otherwise specified). The Town will consider references in this portion of the evaluation.
• The average of the five scores will be utilized to evaluate the responsiveness score for each vendor.

Responsiveness of Proposal Points
The following list describes the responsiveness evaluation point system.
• The maximum number of points for responsiveness is 100.
• Contractors receiving less than 70 responsiveness points will not be further considered for price evaluation and selection.
• The following table identifies the responsiveness evaluation criteria and their relative weights (points).
Responsiveness Criteria Points
Quality and comprehensiveness of the proposal 20
Qualifications of Vendor 20
Bidder's experience on projects of similar scope and size/ Qualifications and experience of proposed consulting team members 20
Timeline of Transition 20
Future Product Support 20
Total 100

Evaluation of Price Scoring
• The Town will calculate prices based upon the bidder's design fee + the total of the hosting fee for the duration of the 1-year contract.
• The Town will rank prices on a relative basis. The maximum number of price points is 60.
• The Town will determine price points for a proposal using the following formula.
• Maximum price points (60) X (lowest price/bidder's price) = price points
• The Town reserves the right to disqualify proposals having prices that appear unrealistic or significantly understated for the services offered.

Bonus Points
The Selectboard may, at its discretion, award up to 10 bonus points for the following services.
• M/WBE-certified vendor
• Veteran-owned vendor
• Local vendor from Lincoln County or any contiguous county
• Any additional value-added services by a vendor which may increase the desirability of a particular vendor,

Alternate Evaluation

If the Town receives fewer than three proposals, it may evaluate them using a simple comparative analysis of responsiveness and price instead of the announced evaluation method.