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6 <br />3.2 CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROHIBITED COMMUNICATIONS DURING <br />EVALUATION <br />During the evaluation period—from the date proposals are opened through the date the contract is <br />awarded—each Provider submitting a proposal (including its representatives, sub-contractors and/or <br />suppliers) is prohibited from having any communications with any person inside or outside the using <br />agency, issuing agency, other government agency office, or body (including the purchaser named above, <br />department secretary, agency head, members of the general assembly and/or governor’s office), or private <br />entity, if the communication refers to the content of Provider’s proposal or qualifications, the contents of <br />another Provider’s proposal, another Provider’s qualifications or ability to perform the contract, and/or the <br />transmittal of any other communication of information that could be reasonably considered to have the <br />effect of directly or indirectly influencing the evaluation of proposals and/or the award of the contract. A <br />Provider not in compliance with this provision shall be disqualified from contract award, unless it is <br />determined in Orange County’s discretion that the communication was harmless, that it was made without <br />intent to influence and that the best interest of Orange County would not be served by the disqualification. <br />A Provider’s proposal may be disqualified if its sub-contractor and supplier engage in any of the foregoing <br />communications during the time that the procurement is active (i.e., the issuance date of the procurement <br />to the date of contract award). Only those discussions, communications or transmittals of information <br />authorized or initiated by the issuing agency for this RFP or general inquiries directed to the purchaser <br />regarding requirements of the RFP (prior to proposal submission) or the status of the contract award (after <br />submission) are excepted from this provision. <br />3.3 PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS <br />Orange County shall review all Provider responses to this RFP to confirm that they meet the specifications <br />and requirements of the RFP. <br />Proposals will be received from each responsive Provider according to the method of submission specified <br />in Section 2.5 of this RFP. <br />All proposals must be received by Orange County no later than the date and time specified on the cover <br />sheet of this RFP. <br />At their option, the evaluators may request oral presentations or discussions with any or all Providers for <br />clarification or to amplify the materials presented in any part of the proposal. Providers are cautioned, <br />however, that the evaluators are not required to request presentations or other clarification—and often do <br />not. Therefore, all proposals should be complete and reflect the most favorable terms available from the <br />Provider. <br />Proposals will generally be evaluated according to completeness, content, and experience with similar <br />projects, ability of the Provider and its staff, and cost. Specific evaluation criteria are listed in 3.4 <br />EVALUATION CRITERIA, below. <br />Providers are cautioned that this is a request for offers, not an offer or request to contract, and Orange <br />County reserves the unqualified right to reject any and all offers at any time if such rejection is deemed to <br />be in the best interest of the County. <br />Upon completion of the evaluation process, the County will make Award(s) based on the evaluation criteria. <br />Award of a Contract to one Provider does not mean that the other proposals lacked merit, but that, all <br />factors considered, the selected proposal was deemed most advantageous and represented the best value <br />to the County. <br />Docusign Envelope ID: 177AA06A-30B4-42FF-A85A-78B5A7C51DBE