Emmet County Website Redesign & Development

1 | P a g e REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS EMMET COUNTY WEBSITE REDESIGN & DEVELOPMENT ISSUED BY: Emmet County 200 Division Street Petoskey, MI 49770 RFP # EC-08-2022#15 Release Date: November 16, 2022 2 | P a g e Emmet County Finance Department Suite G74 200 Division Street Petoskey, Michigan 49770 A. PROPOSAL REQUESTED The County of Emmet is seeking proposals for the redesign and reformat of its website. The goal for the website includes, but is not limited to:  Improving communications between the county and its constituents  Promoting community and economic development  Supporting special events within the community  Enhancing the county’s image and identity  Delivering e-government services  24-hour access to county information, forms, additionally will allow for residents to make electronic inquiries in order to minimize phone calls, in-person visits and outgoing mail that would otherwise occur B. PROJECT BACKGROUND 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. Below is the websites included in this RFP along our current estimated metrics for each site. Based on some internal research we believe that we can get down to about half of these total pages, per website. Likely closer to 70% can go from Emmet County. Third party applications that are either embedded or linked to the website include various BS&A Internet Services (bill pay, assessing lookup, etc.) and Graphite Payments, an online payment system used by the courts. WEBSITE TRAFFIC DISK SPACE APPROX # OF PAGES TOTAL # OF URLS (CONTROLS) www.emmetcounty.org ~80 GB ~10 GB > 2000 > 2000 www.midarkskypark.org ~10 GB ~2 GB > 2000 > 2000 www.camppetosega.org ~5 GB ~1 GB 80 270 www.emmetcountyems.org ~5 GB ~1 GB > 2000 > 2000 www.emmetchxfair.org ~5 GB ~5 GB 15 119 www.mcgulpinpoint.org ~5 GB ~1 GB 32 133 www.pellstonairport.org ~10 GB ~5 GB 8 143 http://www.emmetcounty.org/ http://www.midarkskypark.org/ http://www.camppetosega.org/ http://www.emmetcountyems.org/ http://www.emmetchxfair.org/ http://www.mcgulpinpoint.org/ http://www.pellstonairport.org/ 3 | P a g e ESTIMATED TIMELINE – RFP Released November 16, 2022 Deadline to Submit Written Questions December 2, 2022 @ 3:00 PM EST Response to Questions December 9, 2022 @ 3:00 PM EST Proposal Due Date & Public Bid Opening – Admin Conf. Room January 10, 2023 @ 3:00 PM EST Project Review and Award Date Pending BOC Approval January 26, 2023 (tentative) *BOC = Board of Commissioners C. SCOPE OF WORK The purpose of this request for proposal is to invite prospective vendors to submit a proposal to supply a redesign and reformat of seven (7) websites listed in section B on previous page to Emmet County. The proposer will redesign Emmet County’s websites, including a new design, a new website structure and the options for a new CMS, or external content management system provided by the contractor. A final scope of work will be developed in agreement between the county and the proposer. The following acts only as a preliminary scope to generally communicate the county’s expectations. Proposals for redesign of the website and CMS should include or account for, but not be limited to, the following: Creation of a highly useable website using dynamic design and organization that will allow users to easily find information a. Convey a sense of place and organizational culture consistent with the county brand b. Demonstrate the county’s commitment to transparency and high-quality customer service by increasing measurable public self-service options c. Act as a marketing tool for Emmet County, providing users with news about County projects and events d. Consolidate and migrate existing content to the new website e. Incorporate various specific needs of each department and the community as a whole into the overall design The Vendor shall provide the following related to this particular RFP: 1. General Requirements:  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  A photo slideshow header on the home page, with ability to change out photos as needed  Photo header on other sections of the webpage with ability to have different photos for each section/department and the ability change out photos as desired  Ability to embed photographs of county facilities and events in the site  Integration of audio and video  Standard website features while maintaining a unique and consistent look  Easy maintenance by county staff, including making programmable changes internally without having to contact vendor  Ability to plug in future technologies  Search engine and web crawler optimized  Detailed analytics reporting 4 | P a g e  Multiple redundant backups for transparent downtime recovery  Fully functional, both viewing and editing, with the major browsers and operating systems on PC and Mac  Emmet County will own the website code Must Have Features:  Robust, Google-like, intuitive search functionality  Current events and announcements on the home page  CAN-SPAM-compliant email subscription program for an e-newsletter and public service announcements  Ability to post and download forms and securely submit online  Employee intranet with plug-in capability for current accounting and administrative systems  Indexed document archiving and retrieval system, including agendas and minutes  Online reservation and payment system  Online calendar must be downloadable and available for import into users’ personal calendars  Searchable business directory  Online job posting and resume submission  VPN capabilities to remotely access intranet and personal files The county is soliciting a vendor with the desire, experience and talent to develop a superior plan or “blueprint” for its website. Most importantly, the website must be designed from the customer’s perspective. The county will pursue vendors with proven track records in providing government websites together with ongoing technical support, maintenance and upgrades. It is the county’s goal to design a website that best meets the needs of residents, businesses, visitors, staff and other stakeholders. Improvements or suggestions to any condition in the RFQ are welcome and should be explained in the bid. A significant portion of the county’s residents do 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. 2. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES Emmet County would like to create a customer-focused website using intuitive navigation controls that will allow for easy access to information by site visitors. The county would like to redesign the current website utilizing the latest technology. Balance Government Look and Feel with Unique Web Presence Government sites are informative in nature and should clearly portray that purpose on this website. The site should also portray a unique web presence that is attractive as well as functional to fulfill the model of online government services. The vendor will be expected to work with county staff to develop the “look and feel” of the site to convey the county’s unique brand. This shall include a cohesive graphic design incorporating the county’s brand, colors, logo, culture, etc. 5 | P a g e Site Navigation and Organization The site navigation should use modern tools/techniques to help guide visitors to their desired information. The site should incorporate, but not be limited to, these strategies:  User-centric design and organization  Robust, Google-like, intuitive search functionality and menu system as the primary navigation tools  Each department will have its own main page to guide visitors to department specific news and services Content Management System The vendor shall provide a comprehensive, widely used, CMS solution as an option of the proposal. The CMS software proposed should not be a beta, release candidate, other early adopter technology or easily susceptible to hacking. The CMS shall be accessible via external access. The vendor will provide a search engine solution to support indexing of all contents within the CMS. Calendar Program The county is looking for a flexible calendar program. Desired features include the ability to view the calendar in either day or month format. In addition, the ability to add to specific days hyperlinked events that can lead to either a web page or a document (such as a PDF) is required. It is preferable that the calendar maintain the look and feel of the new website but retain the standard calendar look. Email Subscription Another required feature is the ability for visitors to sign up to a mailing list for various communications such as e-notifications and subscription-based newsletters. This needs to be CAN- SPAM compliant. The website company must provide email marketing capabilities that are seamless with the website and have the ability to integrate with current email marketing software. The website company must provide one email template that is consistent with website design. Maps Incorporate the county’s Geographical Information System (GIS) maps and/or data to show aerial and street level views of all county buildings, parks, facilities, etc. Provide door-to-door directions, brief information and links to other pages within the site. Online Newsroom/Calendar Ability to post news to a page or pages on the site. News should have the ability to be automatically archived in an easily retrievable manner at a predefined time after publishing and scheduled to be published at a future date and time. News headlines should have the option to be displayed on the homepage in an order defined by staff. Audio and video embedding Ability to embed audio and video in website pages. Forwarding page feature Ability to forward pages to friends, coworkers, etc. using a simple form that asks for the sender and recipients email addresses and allows the sender to include a short message to the recipient. 6 | P a g e Integrated RSS Feeds Integration with social networking applications, including, but not limited to, Facebook and Twitter, so users can share county information with their social media contacts. The ability to integrate with future social media tools should also be provided.  RSS Feed Reader: Ability for staff to set up feed readers for important county information  RSS Feeds: Ability for users to sign up to receive RSS feeds Integration of Third-party Sites and Services Third party tools, features and databases should have the same look and feel as the county’s website and the links to the third-party websites should be integrated into the site’s navigation:  Possibility of live streaming county’s government TV channel and future video streaming service for videos and county meetings  GIS mapping viewer  Integration of Microsoft Outlook for internal email and calendar services  Action Line -- An online service request system allowing visitors to request information, submit requests for service, or submit comments for review Browser/Device Compatibility Responsive site design. Any new website design for this project should be easily viewable from a desktop, tablet or mobile device of any manufacture. The user experience should be similar across all devices, allowing for differences in device layouts or requirements fully functional, both viewing and editing, with the major browsers and operating systems on PC and Mac. Ensure implementation is functional with the current versions and one version back of major browsers and operating systems:  The site will be required to support browser versions that are more than 3 years old where the older version still accounts for 10% of site Web traffic  The site will not be required to support any browser no longer available for download from the manufacturer’s website or whose manufacturer has ceased development  The site will not support browsers for operating systems not currently supported by the OS’ manufacturing company, or whose manufacturer has ceased development  Functional viewing and editing with all major mobile devices. The website will be easy to use by viewers and content managers with all major mobile devices, including but not limited to: o Tablets – iPad, Samsung Tablet, MS Surface o Smart Phones – iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows Mobile phones  The development of mobile applications is excluded from this project scope but site compatibility with mobile devices is within the scope. While outside of this project’s scope, vendors may provide information on mobile application development for future consideration. Hosting The website company will provide hosting of the website and intranet. In addition, there should be redundant server back-up to ensure 100% up time. Downtimes must be transparent to the user with processes and procedures to preclude data loss and file corruption. 7 | P a g e Website Analytics Analytics tracking and reporting must be integrated on the site to allow for website visitor tracking, page tracking, etc. ADA Compliance Comply with Americans with Disabilities Act Section 508 and World Wide Web Consortium standards.  Site should be accessible to those with disabilities. The final design must comply with all requirements of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.0 (Minimum Level AA).  Site should have the ability to scale fonts on each page.  Cascading style sheets will be utilized to ensure consistency and separation of content and design.  The site will support W3C standards as much as technology will allow, so long as it does not reduce the active functionality of the site to our supported users.  Ensure the site is HTML5, and CSS3 compliant. Search Engine Accessibility Search engine optimization (SEO) and site search functionality. The site should provide for search engine optimization to allow the highest possible ranking of the individual pages within the site from all major search providers, including but not limited to Bing, Google, MSN Search and Yahoo!  The site should be accessible by spiders for the purpose of indexing the site.  The site should be structured in a manner that spiders can crawl easily.  The site should provide meta-title and meta-description tags that can be maintained by county staff.  The site should provide robust and prominent smart search functionality allowing users to type in a word or phrase to find information on the site.  The search feature should provide results for a single word, combination of words, or the exact phrase searching using quotation marks.  The search feature should auto correct and/or provide results that best match misspelled words or phrases.  The search feature should enable search of both HTML pages and documents, such as PDF files.  Results will be returned in order of relevance based on the frequency of the search words in the page content or metadata, and results can be browsed by category.  Users should be able to browse search results within different content types, such as documents, event calendar and news. Data Migration Data and file migration from existing site and integration into new site: Understanding that this RFP provides the county with the opportunity to restructure and update its content, the county has a significant investment in the existing content and files. Proposals should include the necessary process for migrating the data and files from the existing site into any new or upgraded CMS. This includes indexing and integrating existing content into the new design and navigation structure. 8 | P a g e Knowledge Transfer and Skills Training The newly designed website will bring new technologies to the county and new ways to use existing technologies. The county expects the vendor to work closely with the county’s Communications Director and other key staff members to answer questions and give demonstrations on the new site features. Describe how your company will provide initial training for the county’s appointed content users, should the county select an internal CMS. In addition, describe how you will provide on-going support by job title, including project management, development, help desk support and training as separate items. Preference will be given to vendors who provide support as an unlimited part of ongoing services, within reason, rather than a pay-per-use system that discourages customer questions and interaction. Long-Term Management Include a strategy for the long-term management of the website’s architecture and Content Management System including:  Review site usage statistics and provide the county suggestions for improvements on a bi-annual basis  Maintenance of website architecture  Technical support of CMS  Assistance with implementation of third party software on the website 3. WEBSITE PROJECT PHASES The following website project phase outline is provided to demonstrate what the county anticipates the project will involve. This outline shall be further discussed with the awarded Vendor. A. Concept 1. Determine Content a. Evaluate existing web content for inclusion on the new site b. Brainstorm to identify potential new content c. Interview County Department heads d. Document all content for new site e. Document relationships between content for use during site layout 2. Navigation Structure a. Determine the functional top level navigation tabs b. Determine the sub-level navigation tabs 3. Acceptance a. Concept report of findings and recommendations b. Present to management B. Design 1. Functional Specifications a. Detail exactly how the website will operate b. Specify all deliverables c. Set specific milestones 2. Design Site Layout a. Organize site structure b. Determine all of the templates needed for various functions c. Determine a look and feel for the site, including color schemes, graphic elements and navigation tools 9 | P a g e 3. Mock-up Templates a. Create visual models of how the user interfaces will operate b. External web pages 4. Acceptance a. Present to management b. Implement suggestions c. Final acceptance C. Development 1. Create user interface templates for staff to add, change or delete content 2. Design Web Applications a. Develop server-side objects and components b. Develop client-side scripts and controls 3. Testing a. Develop user testing b. Usability testing 4. Acceptance a. Present to management b. Implement suggestions c. Final acceptance 5. Document Conversion – Convert current site pages and modify for new layout D. Implementation 1. Install web applications 2. Install object and components developed 3. Site testing a. Usability testing b. Stress testing c. Load testing 4. Acceptance a. Present to management b. Implement suggestions c. final acceptance E. Go Live – Replace current site with new site F. Training and Support/Maintenance 1. Train staff a. Provide training applicable staff personnel b. Provide documentation that outlines maintenance process 2. Support a. Provide support documentation b. List support number and hours of operation c. Process for obtaining and installing updates 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 line items by building location. 10 | P a g e 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 January 2023 with the project commencement soon after. Submittals will be evaluated and ranked based on the following criteria: A. Team Experience (they must be available and participating in the project). 25% of the evaluation; B. Costs for the website redesign and any potential ongoing costs . 25% of the evaluation; C. Approach to project to accomplish the County’s goals. 40% of the evaluation; D. Warranty, service contracts, industry standards and references and history of similar projects carried out and completed on-time with no cost over runs or increases incurred. 10% of the evaluation. Bidders are required to submit their statements in the format and order of the above listed evaluation criteria. Submittals should use no smaller than size 11 font on 8-1⁄2” x 11” paper. Resumes or bios of team members, if warranted, should be included within the number of pages identified above. Proposals will be reviewed by an internal committee where quotes will be evaluated and ranked. 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 firm 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. 11 | P a g e E. REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS Full name and address of the firm with a short description of the firm. Include a description of the following: A. Business organization B. Year established C. Federal ID number D. Michigan tax ID number E. The firm’s legal formation (e.g. corporation, sole proprietor, etc.) F. State of incorporation, if applicable. G. List the firm’s officers (up to three). H. List the location and address of the firm’s office in Michigan that will provide the services requested. I. Provide a list of firm’s 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. Costs for subcontractors are to be broken out separately. H. CONFLICT OF INTEREST Disclose any conflicts or perceived conflicts of interest. 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 (as applicable) The successful firm/consultant must meet the following minimum insurance requirements and provide proof of coverage on a Certificate of Liability Insurance form submitted with proposal: A. If Quote is awarded, Certificate of insurance must name Emmet County as a certificate holder. 12 | P a g e B. 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. C. 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 D. Automobile Liability a. $1,000,000 Combined Single Limit; or b. $1,000,000 Bodily Injury c. $500,000 Property Damage E. 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. K. INSTRUCTIONS FOR FIRMS: Please submit three (3) hard copies in your SEALED BID to Priscilla Meyer at pmeyer@emmetcounty.org no later than 3:00 p.m. on January 10, 2023 to: EMMET COUNTY FINANCE DEPARTMENT ATTN: Priscilla Meyer, Civil Counsel Office 200 DIVISION STREET, SUITE G70 PETOSKEY, MI 49770 1. Response to this RFP MUST be clearly marked RFP# EC-08-2022#15 – EMMET COUNTY WEBSITE REDESIGN & DEVELOPMENT. 2. Questions shall be submitted in writing to Michele Murray at mmurray@emmetcounty.org no later than 3:00 p.m. on December 2, 2022: 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:pmeyer@emmetcounty.org https://www.emmetcounty.org/open-bids-rfps/ 13 | P a g e 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 six (6) months from this certification date. Signature: _____________________________________________________________________________ Print Name: ___________________________________________________________________________ Title: _______________________________________________ Date: _____________________________ Company Name: _______________________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Contact Name: _________________________________________________________________________ Office: ________________________________________ Cell: _____________________________