Gateway Sign Request for ProposalsREQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFPs)
FOR
Gateway Sign Final Design, Fabrication, and Installation
INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMITTERS
1 GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1 Pursuant to the authority granted to it under MCA Title 7, Chapter S, Part 43, the City of
Kalispell is soliciting proposals for services and/or materials for gateway sign final design,
fabrication, and installation to provide such services and or materials for the City of Kalispell.
1.2 The Proposal must be received by the City Clerk at 201 First Avenue East, Kalispell,
Montana, by 3 pm local time, March 20, 2024.
1.3 General questions pertaining to the project should be directed to Katharine King, at
406.758.7713 or kkinggkali spell. com.
1.4 The City of Kalispell shall not be held responsible for any oral instructions. Any changes to
this Request for Proposals (RFP) will be in the form of an addendum, which will be added to the
RFP on the city website at: https://www.kalispell.com/bids.aspx.
1.5 The City of Kalispell reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals, to waive any
informality or irregularity in any Proposal received, and to be the sole judge of the merits of the
respective Proposals received.
1.6 A pre -submittal conference for the project will be held at 201 First Avenue East, Kalispell,
MT, in the first -floor conference room on March 6, 2024, at 3 pm. City staff will discuss the
scope of work, general contract issues, and respond to questions from the attendees. Because
staff will not be available to respond to individual inquiries regarding the project scope outside
of this pre -submittal conference, attendance at this pre -submittal conference is highly
recommended.
2 - ANTICIPATED SCOPE OF WORK
After being selected, the successful Vendor will execute an agreement with the City to provide
services and/or materials to fulfill the following scope of work:
Based upon designs generated through a public process in 2012 and coordinating with the
existing Downtown and city-wide wayfinding signs, finalize the design of a gateway entrance or
"Welcome to Kalispell" sign to be mounted on the pedestrian bridge spanning US Hwy 2 East,
on the east side of the structure. A minimum of three designs will be provided to the City
whereupon a final design will be selected. The sign is to be clearly visible and compliant with
any and all applicable regulations. The sign and its mounting hardware must be demonstrated to
be structurally sound for placement in this location. The sign will be fabricated with acceptable
materials and mounted as required for safety and aesthetics. 2012 Design concepts are attached
to this RFP for review and incorporation into final design.
3 - PROPOSAL SELECTION CRITERIA
3.1 The Proposal will be selected through the following selection process. Firms interested in
providing the above -described scope of services to the City of Kalispell must submit a Proposal
that addresses the following evaluation criteria. Applicants are encouraged to organize their
submissions in such a way as to follow the general evaluation criteria listed below. Information
included within the RFP may be used to evaluate your firm as part of any criteria regardless of
where that information is found within the RFP. Information obtained from the RFP and from
any other relevant source may be used in the evaluation and selection process.
3.2 Cover Letter (1-page) containing at a minimum: Company name, contact name, website
address, physical and mailing address, and email address.
3.3 Qualifications Criteria
3.3.1 General Information
Description of company
Legal company organization; organization chart with names
List of applicable Montana licenses
3.3.2 Relevant Company Experience
a. Applicant's overall reputation, service capabilities and quality as it relates to this
Proposal.
b. Referrals and references from other municipalities or local governments.
c. List and describe any litigation; arbitration; claims filed by your firm against any other
jurisdiction as a result of a contract dispute; any contract or negligence claims filed
against your company; premature termination from a services agreement.
d. Applicant's capacity and intent to proceed without delay if selected.
3.3.3 Company Qualifications
a. Describe the company's history in the industry. Provide resumes of key personnel who
will be assigned to this project in Appendix A. List professional continuing education.
b. Briefly describe certifications and licensure held by the company in the state of
Montana.
3.3.4 Contract Understanding and Approach
a. Describe your understanding of the scope of work and the particular expertise your
company has in this area of work.
b. Identify and discuss any potential difficult issues your company may face in providing
services within Flathead County.
c. Identify and discuss methods to mitigate these difficulties.
3.3.5 Approach to Contract Management
a. Describe your company's approach in initiating and establishing the service that meet
the needs and requirements of the City.
b. Describe systems used for planning, scheduling, estimating, and managing manpower
requirements.
c. Describe the firm's experience in maintaining training and certifications of personnel.
3.3.6 Proposal for Project
a. Provide a work schedule with beginning and ending times that meet the scope criteria.
b. Provide a full schedule of proposed work methods that meet the scope criteria.
c. Provide a full schedule of costs for each component of the work scope.
3.3.7 Other Factors
a. Current contracts and ability to proceed promptly.
b. Willingness to abide by the City's needs and requirements with few or no objections or
changes.
c. Relevant factors impacting the quality and value of service.
4 - SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS
4.1 The Proposal shall include a one -page cover letter plus a maximum of five (5) pages to
address the RFP criteria specified in Section 3 (excluding resumes). Table of Contents and
section divider pages do not count towards the total page count.
4.2 Five copies of the Proposal and an electronic version must be submitted to the City Clerk at
201 First Avenue East, Kalispell, Montana, 59901, mailing address PO Box 1997, Kalispell, MT,
59903, email: cityclerk@kalispell.com, by 3 pm local time, March 20, 2024.
4.3 Failure to comply with the following criteria may be grounds for disqualification:
• Receipt of submittal by the specific cut-off date and time.
• The number of originals and/or copies of the submittal specified.
• Adherence to maximum page requirements.
4.4 Adherence to the maximum page criteria is critical; each page side (maximum 8 1/2" x 11")
with criteria information will be counted. Pages that have photos, charts and graphs will be
counted towards the maximum number of pages.
5 - SELECTION PROCESS AND SCHEDULE
5.1 A 5-member Project Evaluation Committee will evaluate each Proposal according to the
above criteria and may select up to three finalists that will be Short Listed for the contract. If
interviews are determined to be desirable, the Short List firms will meet with the Project
Evaluation Committee for interviews. The purpose of the interview will be to expand on the
information provided in the Proposal, not to repeat information already provided. Those firms
selected for the Short List will be provided additional instruction by the City. Those firms not
selected for further consideration will be notified.
5.2 The following tentative schedule has been prepared for this project. Firms interested in this
project must be available on the interview meeting date.
Pre -submittal conference: 3 pm, March 6, 2024
Proposals due: 3 pm, March 20, 2024
Firms notified for interview: March 27, 2024
Interviews: April 3, 2024
5.3 Following the interviews, the Project Evaluation Committee will rank each Short List firm of
this RFP. Consideration will be given to both the written Proposals and any oral presentations or
interviews. No other factors or criteria will be used in the qualification ranking.
5.4 The highest ranked firm will be recommended to the City Manager and City Council for
contract award.
5.5 Requests for debriefings or selection decisions shall be made in writing to the City. All
information submitted by firms and related Project Evaluation Committee evaluations and
rankings shall be considered confidential until after contract execution and award by the City
Council.
5.6 The City will enter a contract upon selection of the firm for the project to be submitted to the
City Council for approval. A template of the proposed contract with the City will be provided to
the Proposers upon request. If the selected firm determines not to enter into a contract with the
City, the City may then contact the second or third highest ranked team until a contract is
executed, or may decide to terminate the selection process.
Publish Dates: February 14, 2024
March 10, 2024