Emmet County Website Redesign & Development

1 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS EMMET COUNTY WEBSITE REDESIGN & DEVELOPMENT RFP # EC-02-2023 #03 ESTIMATED TIMELINE – RFP Released February 24, 2023 Deadline to Submit Written Questions March 10, 2023 @ 3:00 PM EST Response to Questions March 16, 2023 @ 3:00 PM EST Proposal Due Date & Public Bid Opening – Admin Conf. Room March 28, 2023 @ 3:00 PM EST Project Review and Award Date Pending BOC Approval April 10, 2023 (tentative) Initial Meeting May 2023 Beta Site Launch / Final Site Launch TBD RFP PROCUREMENT CONTACT – Tatem Phelps, Technology Director, tphelps@emmetcounty.org A copy of this RFP may be obtained from the BidNet Direct website at https://www.bidnetdirect.com until the deadline date and time noted above. Emmet County Administration Office • 200 Division Street, Suite G70 • Petoskey, Michigan 49770

href="http://www.emmetcounty.org" target="_blank">www.emmetcounty.org https://www.bidnetdirect.com/ 2 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 A. PROPOSAL REQUESTED The County of Emmet is seeking proposals for the redesign and reformat of its current website (emmetcounty.org). B. PROJECT BACKGROUND Emmet County is in the northern most part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The population was 34,112 at the 2020 census. The County currently employs 205 full time staff. In addition to administrative staff, other departments include EMS, Parks & Recreation, Sheriff’s Office, three Courts, and Pellston Regional airport. The county seat is in Petoskey. Emmet County is currently partnered with Gaslight Media and is using the WordPress content management system, hosted and provided by Gaslight Media. The current iteration of the website was launched and designed by Gaslight Media in 2015. The current domain (emmetcounty.org) will remain in use for the redesigned site. Preference is for the website to be hosted at data centers within the United States. The key users of the site will be residents, visitors, business owners, community groups, the Board of Commissioners, committee members, and County staff. Our vision is to have a secure site that is fully- functioning on desktops, tablets and mobile devices. It should also be functional without limitation on all major desktop and mobile browsers such as, but not limited to, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari. A significant portion of the county’s residents does not have high-speed/broadband internet access and have slow download speeds as a result. Thus, fast download is a critical consideration in page design. C. SCOPE OF WORK Creation of a highly useable website using a centralized, dynamic design and organization that brings 24- hour access to county information and forms with consistent visibility to the services and functions that Emmet County provides to its constituents. Final scope will be determined in consultation with the successful vendor. Emmet County will own the website code. Requirements: • Website Hosting, Maintenance and Support, and Redesign • CAN-SPAM-compliant email subscription program for an e-newsletter and public service announcements • Indexed document archiving and retrieval system, including agendas and minutes • Online job posting & resume submission • Email Subscription (optional) • Newsroom/Calendar (optional) • Forwarding Page Feature (optional) • Integrated RSS Feeds (optional) • Website Analytics (optional) • Incorporate the county’s Geographical Information System maps within the site (Optional) Vendors should organize their proposal into the following areas for consideration: 1. Design • Redesign the Emmet County website to provide a consistent organized government look with user-friendly intuitive navigational options • Intuitive, mobile responsive design for simple navigation – easy to find and use tabs and drop down boxes – two clicks to find desired information – ADA compliant • Integration of audio and video • Current events and announcements on the home page • Searchable business directory • Provide at least three (3) proposed design mock-ups for review or three (3) acceptable past examples of government website work 3 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 2. Content Management • CMS focused on ease of use for County staff to maintain, update and make programmable changes without breaking existing links in the websites or having to contact vendor • Editor permissions should be able to be assigned on a department/project level • Ability to embed photographs of county facilities and events in the site • Ability to plug in future technologies • Ability to post and download forms and securely submit online • Integration of Third-party Sites and Services • Hosting solution for forms, data caches, documents, etc. 3. Production • The successful vendor will provide a fully operational and working website • As directed in consultation with Emmet County, undertake content migration of all existing content on current old sites to the new website • Must have cross browser capability; including mobile device considerations (auto detect) • Robust, Google-like, intuitive search functionality / Search engine and web crawler optimized • Multiple redundant backups for transparent downtime recovery • Browser/Device Compatibility • Deliver and maintain a secure website (HTTPS) that is encrypted and verified by a trusted third- party with a valid SSL certificate. • Support for DDoS Protection services supplied by 3rd party such as CloudFlare.com • Support for optional 3rd party site protections via technology such as CAPTCHA. • Platform upgrades and security scans: o County is notified at least one week in advance of any patches/upgrades. o Any security vulnerabilities that are considered high impact are addressed by vendor within 10 days of detection. o Website security scan reports are created and sent to County monthly. o County is notified at least 48 hours prior to scheduled maintenance and advised within 5 hours of any unplanned downtime of the projected length of the down time. 4. Training and Support • Provide full training on CMS usage for applicable staff, both admin training for IT staff and End User training for department staff who will be maintaining content • Creation of a user manual for Emmet County • Outline of ongoing support options, including potential future site redesign schedules • Site monitoring solutions. Vendor shall provide its support process and escalation procedures. Contract Term: The term of the contract shall be for a period of five (5) years from the date of award, with one (1) additional 2-year extension option, which may be exercised at the discretion of Emmet County. 4 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 PROPOSAL SUMMARY All costs (including labor, tools, equipment, materials, shipping, handling and all other costs) must be included in the total bid price. Bidders are to submit prices on the lines (spaces) provided below. Every line (space) must contain a figure, zero (0), line (-) or “No Bid”. Failure to complete the bid summary as stated above shall be cause for rejection of bid. (Remember to double-check your addition, subtraction and multiplications.) State terms of sale: ____________________ (2% 10 Days, 1-1/2% 10 Days, Net 30 Days, etc.). State the maximum time this bid will be in force ______________________ (Minimum 90 Days). First Year Development & Design Fees: $________________ First Year Hosting Fees: $________________ On-Going Support Cost Year Hosting Fees Maintenance Support Total 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year 5th Year Future Redesign Fees: $________________ Company Name: ___________________________________ Signature: ___________________________________ Printed Name: ___________________________________ 5 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 The Vendor shall also provide the following as requested for all County RFPs: A. If applicable, provide continual or annual costs such as warranties or service contracts. B. Description of its invoicing process. Invoices should itemize the date of service, reason for the service, the amount and the vendor Tax ID number. C. An opportunity for Emmet County to complete a final inspection before acceptance of the work/ product. The Vendor will arrange for the return of all damaged or miss-shipped items. There will be no restocking fee for the return of items damaged or shipped by the vendor in error. All items returned will be credited to invoice within 14 days of receipt. D. Available financing options and terms. E. If applicable, no less than three (3) days of training to ensure adequate education of all personnel at the expense of the company providing the equipment to Emmet County. D. SUBMITTALS In responding to this RFP, the vendor accepts full responsibility to understand the RFP in its entirety, and in detail, including making any inquiries to Emmet County as necessary to gain such understanding. The County reserves the right to disqualify any vendor who demonstrates less than such understanding. Further, Emmet County reserves the right to determine, at its sole discretion, whether the vendor has demonstrated such understanding. That right extends to cancellation of award, if award has been made. Such disqualification and/or cancellation shall be at no fault, cost, or liability whatsoever to Emmet County. All information provided by Emmet County in this RFP is offered in good faith. Individual items are subject to change at any time. Emmet County makes no certification that any item is without error. Emmet County is not responsible or liable for any use of the information or for any claims asserted there from. The County intends to select a vendor in April 2023 but it is not obligated to do so. Submittals will be evaluated and ranked to determine the best value to the County based on the following criteria: A. Initial and Ongoing Costs for the Project. B. Quality of the Work. C. Conformity with Specifications and Suitability to the Requirements of the County. D. Warranty, Service Contracts, Industry Standards and References. *Include governmental website redesign references, if applicable. Proposals will be reviewed by an internal committee where quotes will be evaluated and ranked on a consensus basis. Proposing bidders may be asked to participate in an interview to further discuss qualifications and to answer questions from the committee. The contract will be awarded to the responsible, responsive vendor whose proposal, conforming to this solicitation, will be most advantageous to Emmet County, price and any other factors considered. Emmet County reserves the right in its sole discretion to accept or reject any or all proposals, in whole or in part, without incurring any cost of liability whatsoever, and to waive informalities and minor irregularities in bids received. The County shall retain the RFP, and all related terms and conditions, exhibits and other attachments, in original form in any archival copy. Any modification of these, in the vendor’s submission, is grounds for immediate disqualification. E. REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS Full name and address of the business with a short description of the business. 6 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 Include a description of the following: A. Business organization B. Year established C. Federal ID number D. Michigan tax ID number, if applicable. E. The business’ legal formation (e.g. corporation, sole proprietor, etc.) F. State of incorporation, if applicable. G. List the business’ officers (up to three). H. List the location and address of the business’ office in Michigan that will provide the services requested. I. Provide a list of business’ primary services. Provide a list of similar projects completed by the firm. F. REFERENCES RFP reviewers may solicit references from some or all client contacts provided with previous experience examples above. Please include at least three (3) references. G. COMPENSATION / FEES Identify all costs including expenses to be charged for performing the services necessary to accomplish the objectives of the contract. The respondent is to submit a fully detailed budget including staff costs and any expenses necessary to accomplish the tasks and to produce the deliverables under the contract. The County is tax exempt for state and local taxes, personal property tax, and real property taxes. Prices shall not include taxes, unless the County is not tax-exempt for a specific service or deliverable. Exemption certificates for sales tax will be furnished upon request. Costs for subcontractors are to be broken out separately. H. CONFLICT OF INTEREST Disclose any conflicts or perceived conflicts of interest. Vendor shall to the extent practicable, disclose to the County the identity of vendor employees and relatives of vendor employees who are employed by the County as well as the identity of County employees who are employed by vendor. Identify what procedures your firm utilizes to identify and resolve conflicts of interest. I. COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS: A. Comprehensive General Liability and Property Damage coverage. (see below requirements) B. Professional Liability (Errors and Omissions) coverage. C. Worker’s Compensation coverage. (see below requirements) D. Automobile Liability (see below requirements) E. Any and all relevant license/registration numbers. J. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS AND BOND (as applicable) The successful bidder must meet the following minimum insurance requirements and provide proof of coverage on a Certificate of Liability Insurance form submitted with proposal: 1) If Quote is awarded, Certificate of insurance must name Emmet County as a certificate holder. 2) Certificate of insurance must name as an additional insured Emmet County, its agents, officers, officials, employees are hereby named as additional insureds, as their interest may appear. 7 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 3) General Liability Coverage: a. $500,000 Each Occurrence b. $500,000 Property Damage c. $5,000 Medical Expense d. $500,000 Personal & Advertising Injury e. $1,000,000 General Aggregate f. $1,000,000 Products & Completed Operations 4) Automobile Liability a) $1,000,000 Combined Single Limit; or b) $1,000,000 Bodily Injury c) $500,000 Property Damage 5) Workman’s Compensation insurance as required State statutory limits. If any proprietor, partner, executive, officer, member, or employee is excluded from worker’s compensation or if the Workers Compensation policy is for certificate purpose only, it must be stated on the certificate. The County reserves the right to require a performance or payment bond for certain services. K. INDEMNIFICATION The selected vendor shall be required to indemnify, defend, and hold the County harmless for all claims, incurred by or asserted against the County by and person or entity, which are alleged to have been caused from the acts or omissions of vendor or vendor’s employees. The County’s right to indemnification is in excess and above any insurance required by the contract. The vendor shall have no right against the County for indemnification, contribution or subrogation. L. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) AND SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE Vendors shall warrant that end users will be able to access the website in accordance with the accessibility requirements of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The website will conform, where relevant to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WACG) 2.0. M. NON-INFRINGEMENT Vendors shall ensure that the website design will be free of any rightful claim of infringement or similar claim by a third-party. N. NON-DISCRIMIATION Vendor, and its subcontractors, shall not discriminate against an employee or an applicant for employment, in hiring, any terms and conditions of employment or matters of employment for any reason that is unrelated to the person’s ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position, in accordance with applicable federal and state law. 8 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 O. DEBARMENT AND GRANT REQUIREMENTS If a bidder is presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or otherwise excluded from doing business with any government agency, which prohibits the bidder from participating in any procurement, the bidder must provide County with that information as part of their response. Failure to provide this information may result in disqualification of the response from consideration or termination of a purchase order or contract, if awarded. To the extent that an awarded contract is funded in whole or in part by any federal or state grant, vendor will be required to comply with the applicable requirements in the grant. P. NON-DISCRIMINATION Vendor, and its subcontractors, shall not discriminate against an employee or applicant for employment in hiring and terms and conditions of employment, for any reason that is unrelated to the person’s ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position, in accordance with applicable federal and state laws. Q. TERMINATION OF CONTRACT When the vendor has not performed or has unsatisfactorily performed the contract or in the event, any of the provisions of the purchase order are violated, the County may serve written notice of its intention to terminate the contract and/or purchase order for default. Upon termination for default, payment will be withheld at the discretion of Emmet County. Failure on the part of a vendor to fulfill the contractual obligations shall be considered just cause for termination of the contract. The vendor will be paid for work satisfactorily performed prior to termination less any excess costs incurred by the County in procuring and completing the work. The County reserves the right to require termination of the contract for its convenience, after providing notice to the vendor. If funds are not appropriated or otherwise made available to support continuation of performance, the County may terminate the agreement. Vendor shall be paid for work satisfactorily performed prior to termination. R. RIGHTS AND REMEDIES OF COUNTY FOR DEFAULT If any item furnished by the vendor fails to conform to specifications, or to the sample submitted by the vendor, the County may reject it. Upon rejection, the vendor must promptly reclaim and remove such item without expense to the County, and shall immediately replace all such rejected items with others conforming to such specification and samples. If the vendor fails to do so, the County has the right to purchase in the open market a corresponding quantity of any such items and to deduct from any monies due the vendor the difference between the prices named in the purchase order and the actual cost to the County. If the vendor fails to make prompt delivery of any item, the County has the right to purchase such item in the open market and to deduct from any monies due the vendor the difference between the prices named in the purchase order and the actual replacement cost to the County. The rights and remedies of the County identified above are in addition to any other rights and remedies provided by law or under the purchase order. S. INSTRUCTIONS FOR FIRMS For your bid to qualify, you must submit three (3) hard copies in your SEALED BID 9 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 no later than 3:00 p.m. on March 28, 2023 to: EMMET COUNTY FINANCE DEPARTMENT ATTN: Priscilla Meyer, Administration Office 200 DIVISION STREET, SUITE G70 PETOSKEY, MI 49770 1. Response to this RFP MUST be clearly marked RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 – Emmet County Website Redesign & Development. 2. Questions shall be submitted in writing to Tatem Phelps at tphelps@emmetcounty.org no later than 3:00 p.m. on March 10, 2023: 3. This RFP, any addendums, and any potential questions and answers will be posted on the Emmet County website at https://www.emmetcounty.org/open-bids-rfps/. 4. The County reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject any and all proposals, or parts of any proposal, for any reason whatsoever and waive technicalities. 5. The County will only accept proposals that are responsive to the RFP and are prepared and submitted in compliance with the requirements set forth in this RFP. 6. Emmet County will not award any proposal to an individual or business having any outstanding amounts due from a prior Contract or business relationship with the County or who owes any amount(s) for delinquent Federal, State or Local taxes, fees and licenses. No late submissions will be accepted. mailto:tphelps@emmetcounty.org https://www.emmetcounty.org/open-bids-rfps/ 10 | P a g e RFP# EC-02-2023 #03 IRAN LINKED BUSINESS CLAUSE The Respondent who is selected as Consultant shall certify to the County that neither it nor any of its successors, parent companies, subsidiaries, or companies under common ownership or control of the Consultant, are an “Iran Linked Business” engaged in investment activities of $20,000,000.00 or more with the energy sector of Iran, within the meaning of Michigan Public Act 517 of 2012. It is expressly understood and agreed that the Consultant shall not become an “Iran linked business” during the term of this Agreement. NOTE: IF A PERSON OR ENTITY FALSELY CERTIFIES THAT IT IS NOT AN IRAN LINKED BUSINESS AS DEFINED BY PUBLIC ACT 517 OF 2012, IT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CIVIL PENALTIES OF NOT MORE THAN $250,000.00 OR TWO TIMES THE AMOUNT OF THE CONTRACT FOR WHICH THE FALSE CERTIFICATION WAS MADE, WHICHEVER IS GREATER, PLUS COSTS OF INVESTIGATION AND REASONABLE ATTORNEY FEES INCURRED, AS MORE FULLY SET FORTH IN SECTION 5 OF ACT NO. 517, PUBLIC ACTS OF 2012. CERTIFICATION I hereby state that I have read, understand, and become thoroughly familiar with and understand the terms and scope of work contained in the RFP. I hereby state that all of the information I have provided is true, accurate and complete. I hereby state that I have authority to submit this RFP, which will become the basis for a binding contract if accepted by the Emmet County. I hereby state that this quote will remain valid for ninety (90) days from this certification date. Signature: _____________________________________________________________________________ Print Name: ___________________________________________________________________________ Title: _______________________________________________ Date: _____________________________ Company Name: _______________________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Contact Name: _________________________________________________________________________ Phone: _____________________________________ Email: __________________________________ MINORITY VENDOR CERTIFICATIONS Please check all that apply: The vendor represents that it IS IS NOT a woman or women-owned business. The vendor represents that it IS IS NOT a minority-owned business. The vendor represents that it IS IS NOT a disadvantaged business enterprise. The contractor represents and warrants that the company meets the above and can provide supportive documentation upon request. Any lines left unchecked will be considered as if the “IS NOT” box has been checked. ____________________________________________________ ______________________ Authorized Agent Signature Date ____________________________________________________ Authorized Agent Printed Name