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Page 21 of 40 <br /> (c) The Contractor may use procurement methods set forth in <br /> N.C.G.S. 143-135.9 in developing and evaluating requests for proposals. <br /> (d) The Contractor may negotiate with any proposer in order to <br /> obtain a final contract that best meets the needs of the Contractor. <br /> (e) Any negotiations shall not alter the contract beyond the scope of <br /> the original request for proposals in a manner that deprives the proposers or potential proposers <br /> of a fair opportunity to compete for the contract; and would have resulted in the award of the <br /> contract to a different person or entity if the alterations had been included in the request for <br /> proposals. <br /> (f) Proposals submitted shall not be subject to public inspection until <br /> a contract is awarded. <br /> (3) The Contractor agrees that the RFP method, in accordance with FTA <br /> Circular 4220.1 F, under the guidelines of FTA "Best Practices Procurement Manual," should be <br /> used for procurements of professional services, such as consultants for planning activities and <br /> for transit system operations/management. The Contractor acknowledges that certain <br /> restrictions apply under North Carolina law for use of the RFP method and these restrictions <br /> and exceptions are discussed in Subsections 16t(1) and 16t(2) of this Agreement. For all <br /> architectural, engineering, design, or related services, the Contractor agrees that the <br /> qualifications-based competitive proposal process shall be used (see Subsection 16q, this <br /> Agreement). <br /> (4) When the RFP method is used for procurement of professional <br /> services, the Contractor agrees to abide by the following minimum requirements: <br /> (a) Normally conducted with more than one source submitting an <br /> offer(proposal); <br /> (b) Either fixed price or cost reimbursement type contract will be <br /> used; <br /> (c) Generally used when conditions are not appropriate for use of <br /> sealed bids; <br /> (d) Requests for proposals will be publicized; <br /> (e) All evaluation factors will be identified along with their relative <br /> importance; <br /> (f) Proposals will be solicited from an adequate number <br /> (3 is recommended)of qualified sources; <br /> (g) A standard method must be in place for conducting technical <br /> evaluations of the proposals received and for selecting <br /> awardees; <br /> (h) Awards will be made to the responsible firm whose proposal is <br /> most advantageous to the Contractor's program with price and <br /> other factors considered; and <br /> (i) In determining which proposal is most advantageous, the <br /> Contractor may award to the proposer whose proposal offers the <br /> greatest business value (best value) to the agency. "Best value" <br /> is based on determination of which proposal offers the best <br /> tradeoff between price and performance, where quality is <br /> considered an integral performance factor. <br /> U. Award to Other than the Lowest Bidder. In accordance with Federal and <br /> State statutes, a third party contract may be awarded to other than the lowest bidder, if the <br /> award furthers an objective (such as improved long-term operating efficiency and lower long- <br /> term costs). When specified in bidding documents, factors such as discounts, transportation <br /> costs, and life cycle costs will be considered in determining which bid is lowest. Prior to the <br /> award of any contract equal to or greater than $2,500 to other than apparent lowest bidder, the <br /> Revised 02/20/13 <br />