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considered in awarding contracts shall be identified in the request for <br /> proposals. <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 obtain a final <br /> 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 <br /> proposers or potential proposers of a fair opportunity to compete for the <br /> contract; and would have resulted in the award of the contract to a <br /> different person or entity if the alterations had been included in the <br /> request for 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 Circular <br /> 4220.1F, under the guidelines of FTA "Best Practices Procurement Manual," should be used for <br /> procurements of professional services, such as consultants for planning activities and for transit system <br /> operations/management. The Contractor acknowledges that certain restrictions apply under North <br /> Carolina law for use of the RFP method and these restrictions and exceptions are discussed in <br /> Subsections 14t(1) and 14t(2) of this Agreement. For all architectural, engineering, design, or related <br /> services, the Contractor agrees that the qualifications-based competitive proposal process shall be <br /> used (see Subsection 14q, this Agreement). <br /> (4) When the RFP method is used for procurement of professional services, the <br /> 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(3 is <br /> 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 State <br /> statutes, a third party contract may be awarded to other than the lowest bidder, if the award furthers an <br /> objective (such as improved long-term operating efficiency and lower long-term costs). When specified <br /> in bidding documents, factors such as discounts, transportation costs, and life cycle costs will be <br /> considered in determining which bid is lowest. Prior to the award of any contract equal to or greater <br /> than $2,500 to other than apparent lowest bidder, the Contractor shall submit its recommendation along <br /> with basis/reason for selection to the Department for pre-award approval. <br /> 05/27/2015 Page 18 of 35 <br />