A. Conditions for Use. When a purchasing department/division/unit determines in writing that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the county, a contract may be entered into by competitive sealed proposals subject to the provisions of Section 3.08.240 and the ensuing regulations, unless otherwise provided for in this section. County council may provide by regulation that it is either not practicable or not advantageous to the county to procure specified types of supplies, services, or construction by competitive sealed bidding.

B. Public Notice. Adequate public notice of the request for proposals shall be given in the same manner as provided in Section 3.08.150(C).

C. Receipt of Proposals. Proposals shall be opened publicly in accordance with regulations of the Colleton County council. A tabulation of proposals shall be prepared in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Colleton County council and shall be open for public inspection after contract award.

D. Request for Qualifications. Prior to soliciting proposals, the procuring department/division/unit, acting through the chief procurement officer, may issue a request for qualifications from prospective offerors. Such request shall contain at a minimum a description of the goods or services to be solicited by the request for proposals and the general scope of the work and shall state the deadline for submission of information and how prospective offerors may apply for consideration. The request shall require information only on their qualifications, experience, and ability to perform the requirements of the contract. After receipt of the responses to the request for qualifications from prospective offerors, the perspective offerors shall be ranked from most qualified to least qualified on the basis of the information provided. Proposals shall then be solicited from at least the top two prospective offerors by means of a request for proposals. The failure of a prospective offeror to be selected to receive the request for proposals shall not be grounds for protest.

E. Evaluation Factors. The request for proposals shall state the relative importance of the factors to be considered in evaluating proposals but shall not require a numerical weighting for each factor. Price may but need not be an evaluation factor.

F. Discussion with Offerors. As provided in the request for proposals, discussions may be conducted with apparent responsive offerors for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of the requirements of the request for proposals. All offerors, whose proposals, in the procuring department/division/unit’s sole judgment, needed clarification, shall be accorded such an opportunity.

G. Selection and Ranking. Proposals shall be evaluated using only the criteria stated in the request for proposals and there must be adherence to any weightings that have been previously assigned. Once evaluation is complete, all responsive offerors shall be ranked from most advantageous to least advantageous to the county, considering only the evaluation factors stated in the request for proposals. If price is an initial evaluation factor, award shall be made in accordance with subsection (I) of this section.

H. Negotiations. Whether price was an evaluation factor or not, the procuring department/division/unit, through the chief procurement officer, may, in its sole discretion proceed in any of the manners indicated below:

1. Negotiate price with the highest ranked offeror. If a satisfactory price cannot be agreed upon, price negotiations may be conducted, in the sole discretion of the procuring department/division/unit, with the second, and then the third, and so on, ranked offerors to such level of ranking as determined by the procuring department/division/unit in its sole discretion;

2. Negotiate with the highest ranking offeror on matters affecting the scope of the contract, so long as the overall nature and intent of the contract is not changed. If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated with the highest ranking offeror, negotiations may be conducted, in the sole discretion of the procuring department/division/unit, with the second, and then the third, and so on, ranked offerors to such level of ranking as determined by the procuring department/division/unit in its sole discretion; or

3. During the negotiation process as outlined in subsections (H)(1) and (H)(2) above, if a department/division/unit is unsuccessful in its first round of negotiations, it may reopen negotiations with any offeror with whom it previously negotiated.

4. If, after following the procedures set forth in subsection (H) of this section, a contract is not able to be negotiated, the scope of the request for proposals may be changed in an effort to reduce the cost to a fair and reasonable amount, and all responsive offerors must be allowed to submit their best and final offers. In conducting negotiations, there must be no disclosure of any confidential information derived from proposals and negotiations submitted by competing offerors.

I. Award. Award must be made to the responsive offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the county, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals, unless the procuring department/division/unit determines to utilize one of the options provided in subsection (H) of this section. The contract file shall contain the basis on which the award is made and must be sufficient to satisfy external audit requirements as determined by the county finance director. Procedures and requirements for the notification of intent to award the contract shall be the same as those stated in Section 3.08.150(J). (Ord. 03-O-04 (part), 2003)