The City must comply with Texas law when soliciting, selecting, and awarding Professional Service contracts to Engineers, Architects and Surveyors that seek to do business with the City of Georgetown. In short, State law requires municipalities to solicit for the most qualified firm through a Statement of Qualifications (SOQs) process and then enter into negotiations to award a contract for services. City staff is seeking Council feedback on the goals and recommended changes to the City’s selection, awarding, and contracting of Professional Services?
Background
The SOQ process is utilized to procure professional services, as defined in Texas Government Code (TGC), Chapter 2254. The process is used to create a listing of the most highly qualified firm(s) to perform Professional Services, which include engineering, architecture, and land surveying services. An SOQ for Professional Services requires a municipality to select firms based on “demonstrated competence and qualifications”; cost is negotiated during contract negotiations. The attached PowerPoint presentation outlines the current process for soliciting, selecting, and awarding Professional Services.
TGC Chapter 22.54.004 reads as follows:
Sec. 2254.004. CONTRACT FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OF ARCHITECT, ENGINEER, OR SURVEYOR.
(a) In procuring architectural, engineering, or land surveying services, a governmental entity shall:
(1) first select the most highly qualified provider of those services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications; and
(2) then attempt to negotiate with that provider a contract at a fair and reasonable price.
(b) If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated with the most highly qualified provider of architectural, engineering, or land surveying services, the entity shall:
(1) formally end negotiations with that provider;
(2) select the next most highly qualified provider; and
(3) attempt to negotiate a contract with that provider at a fair and reasonable price.
(c) The entity shall continue the process described in Subsection (b) to select and negotiate with providers until a contract is entered into.
After the selection of a qualified firm for Professional services, the City may enter into a Master Services Agreement (MSA) or a Task Order Agreement (TOA). An MSA is a contract containing most of the terms and conditions that will govern future Task Order agreements. Award and execution of said contract is made by the City of Georgetown’s City Council.
Task Order Agreements outline a statement of work to be performed. This contract will have terms and conditions or may reference a Master Services Agreement to govern the terms and conditions of a contract. Deliverables will be indicated on a TOA to determine acceptable services.
Presently, there are several challenges to the City implementing an effective SOQ and MSA process:
• Documenting award process to most highly qualified provider of Professional Services
• Time spent by department to award individual contracts or Task Orders
• Fairness to business community wishing to do business with the City of Georgetown
• The time and resources to evaluate many proposals in one single time period
• Adding new firms to be considered for future projects
• Maintaining rankings when scored at different periods
• The number of categories to manage rotating lists
• Tracking number of awards to each firm to show equality.
• Removing bias perception of Business community
• Five-year agreement before new qualifications are submitted
City staff have identified the following goals of an effective SOQ and MSA process
• Satisfy the Texas state law of Professional Service
• Select the most highly qualified firms on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications, then negotiate fair and reasonable price
• Meet City Council priorities and expectations
• Transparency of Selection process and rankings
• Efficient process for department to contract with qualified and competent firms
• Fair process for business community wanting to Do Business with the City
Based upon Council’s feedback, staff would like to return with a revised Statement of Qualifications (SOQs) Policy and Procedures.