RFP for Development of a Broadband Master Plan

City of Vacaville Request for Proposal (RFP) for DEVELOPMENT OF A BROADBAND MASTER PLAN All Proposals Must Be Submitted To: City of Vacaville Attention: Keith McDonald 650 Merchant Street Vacaville, CA 95688 Deadline for Proposal Submittal: September 30, 2021 2:00 p.m. PST 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 3 II. CITY OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................ 3 III. SCOPE OF WORK .............................................................................................................................. 3 IV. CALENDAR OF EVENTS ..................................................................................................................... 9 V. CONTACTS

........................................................................................................................................ 9 VI. RFP AMENDMENT AND CANCELLATION ........................................................................................ 10 VII. EVALUATION CRITERIA ................................................................................................................... 10 VIII. RFP PROCESS AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................... 11 IX. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................................... 11 X. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS .............................................................................................. 12 3 I. INTRODUCTION Broadband access is viewed by cities nationwide as an important factor in lowering business costs, improving productivity, attracting businesses, retaining highly skilled residents, and creating sustainable jobs in economies fueled by entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity. Broadband access relates to the critical functions of City government, quality of life, and even economic and social justice. The City of Vacaville seeks to develop a Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan that will guide the development of broadband infrastructure in the years and decades to come. City officials have identified three specific City goals central to the Plan’s development: 1. Expand fiber access for public facilities and infrastructure to ensure continuous connectivity and service resilience for public safety, emergency response, and other essential City functions. 2. Address the ‘digital divide’ by increasing high‐speed internet access for low‐income and disadvantaged residents. 3. Improve fiber access in key commercial areas to maintain Vacaville’s economic competitiveness, retain, and attract job‐creating businesses, entrepreneurs and other technology‐reliant innovators. City officials hope that the development of this plan will provide more information about existing public and private infrastructure, increase coordination among City departments and external stakeholders create a transparent process to identify and prioritize opportunities to expand broadband access, and position the City to maximize the community benefits of future public private partnerships. II. CITY OVERVIEW The City of Vacaville is located in Solano County, midway between San Francisco and Sacramento. The City incorporated in 1892 and is approximately 29 square miles bordered by rolling hillsides, fruit orchards and fertile farmland. The City’s rich history has transformed the community from a small agricultural town to a thriving and progressive municipality with a diverse population of just under 98,000. III. SCOPE OF WORK The City anticipates a project scope that includes activities outlined below; however, vendor(s) should develop a plan of work they believe will most effectively meet the City’s objectives of assessing current gaps and developing a roadmap for improved business systems to achieve operational excellence. The consultant shall schedule a kick‐off meeting to be held at City Hall and optional via Zoom Conference. The consultant shall prepare and transmit a draft Project Management Plan (PMP) prior to the meeting. The PMP will include a schedule for all Tasks and identify deliverables and progress reporting dates. The consultant shall receive feedback on the draft PMP and submit a final PMP within ten working days following the kick‐off meeting. 4 TASKS: Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan  Task 1: Needs assessment. The City of Vacaville wishes to identify both met and unmet broadband infrastructure, service and access needs. This objective includes public access needs, such as Wi‐Fi hot spots, community informational kiosks, as well as commercial and industrial broadband resource requirements and other economic development opportunities or constraints, and the resources required to support City operations. The City expects this assessment will require: 1. Review of research, analysis and planning previously completed by the City. 2. City staff workshops. 3. Engagement of the community to gather feedback on priority sites and broadband uses through a public engagement process, e.g. community workshops, council meetings, downtown business association and online survey. 4. Business owners’ assessment process, e.g. workshops, online survey, interview representatives of commercial business districts including Business Improvement Districts (BID). 5. Meetings with service providers. 6. Identification of trends within Vacaville that will shape broadband use. 7. Develop top‐level projections of broadband service demand. 8. Identify and map potential businesses, school, government and other locations that have a need for broadband service 9. Given the City's future information technology needs, assess the network resources required to meet these needs and recommendations for utilizing and further developing City‐owned and third party resources in order to meet these needs. This assessment will include both wireless and wireline technologies, and address the full spectrum of current and future City information technology needs, including but not limited to: Fiber to all City Buildings to include city owed parks, community centers, aquatics, gymnastics and sports facilities, Smart city initiatives, Traffic and Safety Applications, IoT applications, Autonomous vehicle support, Wireless field support for mobile workers and fixed installations, Advanced high speed network operations, Wholesale access to high capacity Internet bandwidth. This assessment will also evaluate the resiliency of current and future resources, in light of the City's need to maintain critical services during disasters and other emergencies and its need to maintain a high level of service availability in normal circumstances. 5 The deliverable for Task 1 will be a report developed in close consultation with staff that establishes broadband infrastructure goals for public use, economic development and City operations purposes, supported by primary market and stakeholder research data and consistent with the City's overall policies, priorities and aspirations.  Task 2: Inventory and assessment of City‐owned broadband assets. The City maintains records of the assets it owns, however not all of this information is complete, easily accessible, or organized in a way to support overall broadband planning. In addition, it might not reflect the actual condition of these assets or some assets might not be currently identified as being broadband‐relevant. The objective of this Task is to review city assets, infrastructure, data and information required to facilitate the preparation of an engineering study, network design, deployment cost model and potential business model for a fiber optic network. This Task will involve research and evaluation of the current supply of broadband communication assets, products, capacity and services in the City. When feasible, the market value of these assets should be estimated and any external constraints on such pricing should be identified. The consultant will work with City staff and collect independent information to assess the condition of existing infrastructure. The consultant shall produce an inventory and assessment of infrastructure required to support deployment of a fiber optic network. This will include Esri GIS maps of current public and private telecommunications broadband infrastructure from available data. The City wants this information to be collected, updated and organized, and for the condition, capacity and suitability of these assets to be evaluated by professionally qualified technical personnel using best engineering practices. When feasible, the market value of these assets should be estimated and any external constraints on such pricing should be identified. This assessment will include, but not necessarily be limited to: 1. Physical inspection and evaluation (e.g. "rod and roping"), of City‐owned communications conduit, including but not limited to traffic signal interconnect conduit and the downtown conduit system. 2. Verification of any existing documentation of City‐owned fiber routes. 3. Inventory of Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Projects in progress and the projects planned for next five (5) years 4. Inventory of T1 infrastructure Bond Projects approved in Phase I and potential future projects 5. Inventory of paving projects 6. Inventory and capacity estimate of broadband‐relevant city‐owned real estate, including but not limited to existing and potential wireless sites and wireline node locations (e.g. cabinets, fiber huts, data centers). 7. Inventory and capacity estimate of City‐owned vertical assets outside of the public right of way (e.g. buildings, stadium lights). 6 The deliverable for Task 2, will be a comprehensive inventory and assessment of broadband relevant city‐owned assets that is based on technical inspection, testing and analysis as appropriate including estimated market value of these assets, ESRI based GIS maps.  Task 3: Assessment of privately and publicly (non‐city) owned broadband resources. The majority of the broadband infrastructure and other resources located in Vacaville are owned by private companies and, to a more limited extent, other public agencies. The City wishes to identify and evaluate these resources for expansion that is necessary to achieve broadband infrastructure goals. 1. This evaluation should include a determination of whether: A. These resources are in a condition to support the City's broadband‐related goals and needs. B. Sufficient capacity exists. C. The utility of these resources is constrained by access policies, business practices or other discretionary or non‐discretionary factors. D. The cost of accessing these resources. 2. The City has identified the types of broadband resources that should be assessed, however proposers are free to add to this list or suggest ways to re‐organize or recast it. These resources are believed to be: A. Privately and publicly (non‐city) owned conduit and fiber routes. B. Aerial routes, including general condition of and access to utility poles. C. Existing wireless telecommunications sites, including publicly available Wi‐Fi access points, cellular towers and other antenna placement locations, fixed wireless installations and technologies under development, including but not limited to narrow band systems. D. Privately and publicly (non‐city) owned data centers, Internet exchange facilities and intercity fiber route access points. The deliverable for Task 3 will be an assessment of the suitability, capacity and accessibility of privately and publicly (non‐city) owned telecommunications infrastructure. It will include recommendations for upgrades or expansion that are necessary to achieve the broadband infrastructure goals established in Task 1, including public and private options for obtaining these improvements.  Task 4: Assessment of City policy. The City has a wealth of existing policy, including practices, and ordinances, that directly or indirectly have an impact on broadband infrastructure development, deployment and use. The City wishes to have (1) these policies collected, cataloged and summarized in a comprehensive manner; (2) gaps identified; and (3) recommendations regarding policies and other best practices that cities have used to increase broadband quality and access to ensure City service resilience, support business/ economic development, and increase equitable growth; and (4) information regarding potential costs and replicability of those policies for the City of Vacaville. 7 These policies will include but not necessarily be limited to: 1. Mission statements. 2. General plan, master plans and other land use policies. 3. Broadband‐specific plans, policies and ordinances, including Dig once/open trench/shadow conduit/excavation policies, aesthetics policy, GIS logging and digital plan submission, and broadband infrastructure construction standards, including but not limited to conduit specifications, broadband building standards, smart building requirements, and specifications for public facilities, new construction and major remodeling projects. 4. Fiduciary requirements, constraints and procedures, including those related to City network operations and ownership, and the private use of municipal assets, including but not limited to master leases. 5. Regulatory policy, including but not limited to City's currently established role, franchise compliance, enforcement liaison with other agencies, and competitive access to multiple occupancy buildings. 6. Government operations, including but not limited to online access to City services, online permitting, open data and public housing facilities. 7. Wireless facilities permitting. The deliverable for Task 4 will be a compilation and summary evaluation of existing broadband‐ relevant City of Vacaville policies, and an identification of policy areas that might require further development in subsequent Tasks.  Task 5: Gap analysis. Once the needs assessment has been completed and existing public and private resources and the City’s policies have been inventoried and evaluated, the next step is to identify which resources and policy are currently sufficient for the purpose of reaching those goals, which are not and what additional steps are required. Specifically, the analysis will include: 1. A comparison of existing broadband resources and City of Vacaville policy to the broadband infrastructure goals developed in Task 1. 2. Identification of resources and policies that are sufficient for the purpose of attaining those goals, both immediately and for the long term. 3. Identification of resource and policy gaps that constrain or inhibit attainment of those goals. 4. Identification of existing resources and policies that are currently sufficient for the purpose of attaining those goals but could be better configured, managed or otherwise optimized or improved. 8 5. Recommendations on routes and locations of fiber infrastructure, equipment and points of connection and identify Infrastructure and technical requirements for any recommended network build. The deliverable for Task 5 will be a SWOT matrix, with supporting information, assessing the means currently available to the City, and the additional measures required, to achieve its broadband infrastructure goals.  Task 6: Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan. Specifically, the plan will include: 1. A strategic vision statement describing the City's broadband development goals, the City's role in achieving these goals and the general types of initiatives, such as public‐private partnerships, municipally owned and managed systems and direct engagement with service providers and regulators, that the City will consider while pursuing these goals. 2. An analysis of the overall broadband infrastructure available in Vacaville, starting with separate assessments of third party and City‐owned resources and proceeding to a scenario(s) involving coordinated use and possible integration of these resources. 3. A proactive strategy, including recommendations for implementable initiatives, for matching the broadband infrastructure, service and access available in Vacaville to the City's economic development needs, goals and plans. This strategy will include near‐term measures to match available technology and resources to the City's economic development objectives, and a long term road map that anticipates future emerging technology, such as small cell/5G networks and the Internet of Things, and the basic infrastructure improvements, such as fiber densification and vertical asset development, that these new platforms will require. 4. A public broadband access initiative that identifies key locations, including the downtown area, city owed parks, community centers, aquatics, gymnastics and sports facilities where wireless and/or wireline access to broadband and online services should be made available. This initiative may include Wi‐Fi hot spots, public kiosks and other recommendations for improving access to telecommunications resources and Internet delivered/enabled services for all Vacaville residents. 5. Cost benefit analysis for the City being a service provider to underserved communities. Wholesale vs Retail Pro’s and Con’s. 6. Options and recommendations for new, updated or amended City policies that will support the Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan's strategic vision, road map, initiatives and programs. 7. Financial resources and methods available to the City for broadband infrastructure development, management and utilization. This assessment will include, but not necessarily be limited to, an analysis of available grant funding, tax increment options, such as enhanced infrastructure financing districts, capital improvement funding, development loans, private investments and partnerships, and a summary of possible business models and plans. 9 8. The plan should provide next steps for implementing the Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan including estimates on the cost of each implementation phase, and a conceptual road map for long‐term implementation of all recommendations.  Task 7: Deliverables: The selected vendor shall be responsible for providing all reports, documents, and supporting materials to the City for future use. In addition to the Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan, the final deliverable will include: 1. An executive summary not to exceed three (3) pages and appendices (which may be compiled in a separate document) that contain the complete work product from all Tasks. 2. Final technical memoranda from each previous Task. 3. Final recommendations and implementation roadmap. 4. Maps and specific location data provided in the Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan should be GIS compatible so that construction can be coordinated with other City infrastructure projects. 5. The vendor shall also prepare a PowerPoint presentation and conduct presentations to the City Council and Committees or Commissions in support of the document’s approval. The vendor shall also attend meetings or teleconferences, if requested, with employees and officials to refine and clarify components of the Broadband Infrastructure Master Plan. We place a priority on timely performance of these services. Once the contract is awarded for this project, we expect the project to begin within two (2) weeks. IV. CALENDAR OF EVENTS The following RFP Calendar of Events represents the City of Vacaville’s best estimate of the schedule that shall be followed. The City reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to adjust this schedule as it deems necessary. Notification of any adjustment to the RFP Calendar of Events shall be provided to all Bidders in the form of an addendum. Event: Date: Issue Date of RFP September 1, 2021 Deadline for Proposer Questions September 13, 2021 Deadline for Receipt of Proposals September 30, 2021 Review Period of Proposals October 2021 Interviews October 2021 Vendor Selection Date November 2021 Service Agreement Start Date December 2021 V. CONTACTS Any questions regarding this RFP should be directed via email to the following RFP Coordinator: Keith McDonald keith.mcdonald@cityofvacaville.com 10 VI. RFP AMENDMENT AND CANCELLATION The City reserves the unilateral right to amend this RFP in writing at any time. The City also reserves the right to cancel or reissue the RFP at its sole discretion. If an amendment is issued, notification shall be posted on the City’s website at: http://ci.vacaville.ca.us/departments/administrative‐services/finance/purchasing/current‐bids VII. EVALUATION CRITERIA The City will evaluate the proposals in several critical areas listed below: Scoring Criteria Possible Points Proposal Submission � Quality of the proposal � Conformance with RFP guidelines � Alignment with the Areas of Focus 15 Qualifications � Expertise of the fields necessary to execute the proposal � Recent relevant experience of team members � Professional qualifications and education of team members Capacity (List # of projects in progress) and impacts on this project � Verifiable record of past successes � References 35 Project and Implementation Plan � Methodology for data collection, analysis, and reporting. � Approach for demands from diverse stakeholders � Project Management Plan (work breakdown structure, phases, tasks, Tasks, timeline) 30 Pricing � Please provide your best proposal. Any Proposals missing the pricing section will be disqualified. 20 TOTAL POINTS FOR WRITTEN PROPOSAL 100 The City shall make an award recommendation to respondent whose proposal represents the best overall value as solely determined by the City. The City’s determination shall not be subject to appeal. 11 VIII. RFP PROCESS AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS All proposal materials must be placed in a sealed package (envelope, box, etc.) clearly marked with the proposal name and the firm’s name. It is the responsibility of the firm to ensure that proposals are received by the City by the due date and time stated on the cover of this RFP. The firm is responsible for delivery of their proposal by the deadline notwithstanding any claims of error or failure to perform by a mail, courier or package delivery service. No proposals or proposal modifications may be submitted orally, electronically, or via telephone, facsimile or electronic mail (email). Six (6) original and digital copy in PDF format of the proposal are required and must be submitted and received no later than 2:00 PM (P.S.T) on September 30, 2021 to the address below. The original must be clearly marked and contain original signatures. Proposals will not be accepted after this deadline. Faxed or e‐mailed proposals will not be accepted. City of Vacaville Attention: Keith McDonald 650 Merchant Street Vacaville, CA 95688 IX. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS Proposals should include: A. Cover Letter B. Company Qualifications C. Related experience and references D. Scope of Services E. Cost Proposal F. Reports and System a. Cover Letter The cover letter will include the company name, address, and telephone number of the authorized person to be used as the contact. The letter will indicate whether the proposer is an individual, partnership, or corporation. It must be signed by the individual, partner, or an officer or agent authorize to bind the firm. A corporation submitting a proposal may be required to furnish a certificate as to its corporate existence and satisfactory evidence as to the officers authorized to execute the contract on behalf of the corporation. The firm shall be properly licensed to do business in the City and the State. b. Company Qualifications 1. A brief description of the organization (limited to one page). 2. Experience and qualifications of staff; 3. List the staff assigned, title, and responsibilities as it would relate to this engagement; 12 4. Include resumes of each staff assigned. 5. A list of five (5) references. Please include names, positions and telephone numbers for the individuals identified in the qualifications. Note: If the telephone numbers are incorrect the firm will receive zero points for that reference. c. Related Experience and References 1. Provide a brief summary of your broadband master plan experience. 2. Provide a list of at least five professional references and their contact information. d. Scope of Services 1. Describe how the firm proposes to meet the Scope of Work and any additional services. e. Project Schedule 1. Provide a timeline that shows the planned starting time and duration of each task in your scope of work. f. Cost Proposal 1. The cost estimate must include a breakdown of: i. Person‐hours per classification for each task / sub‐task ii. Billing rates per classification for each task / sub‐task iii. Direct labor costs iv. Indirect costs v. General and administrative costs vi. Other direct costs such as equipment and materials vii. Subcontractor costs X. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. Collusion By submitting a response to the RFP, each Proposer represents and warrants that its response is genuine and not made in the interest of, or on behalf of, any person not named therein; that the Proposer has not directly induced or solicited any other person to submit a sham response or any other person to refrain from submitting a response; and that the Proposer has not in any manner sought collusion to secure any improper advantage over any other person submitting a response. 2. Gratuities No person will offer, give, or agree to give, any City employee or its representatives any gratuity, discount, or offer of employment in connection with the award of contract by the City. 13 3. Required Review and Waiver of Protests Proposers should carefully review this RFP and all attachments, including but not limited to the Standard Professional Services Agreement, for comments, questions, defects, objections, or any other matter requiring clarification or correction (collectively called “comments”). Comments concerning RFP objections must be made in writing and received by the City no later than the "Deadline for Proposer Questions" detailed in the Calendar of Events. This will allow issuance of any necessary amendments and help prevent the opening of defective Information upon which contract award could not be made. Protests based on any objection will be considered waived and invalid if these faults have not been brought to the attention of the City, in writing, by the Deadline for Proposer Questions. 4. Nondiscrimination No person will be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, be discriminated against in the admission or access to, or be discriminated against in treatment or employment in the City’s contracted programs or activities on the grounds of disability, age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other classification protected by federal or California State Constitutional or statutory law; nor will they be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination in the performance of contracts with the City or in the employment practices of the City’s contractors. Accordingly, all Proposers entering into contracts with the City will, upon request, be required to show proof of such nondiscrimination and to post in conspicuous places, available to all employees and applicants, notices of nondiscrimination. 5. Proposal Preparation Costs The Proposer is responsible for any and all costs associated with the preparation, submittal, and presentation of any proposal. 6. Proposal Errors Proposers are liable for all errors or omissions contained in their proposals. Proposers will not be allowed to alter proposal documents after the deadline for submitting a proposal. The City, at its discretion, has the right to accept or reject a proposal in part or whole due to errors and/or omissions of the response. 7. Incorrect Proposal Information If the City determines that a Proposer has provided, for consideration in the evaluation process or contract negotiations, incorrect information which the Proposer knew or should have known was materially incorrect, that proposal may be determined non‐ responsive, and the proposal may be rejected at the sole discretion of City. 14 8. Prohibition of Proposer Terms and Conditions A Proposer may not submit the Proposer's own contract terms and conditions in a response to this RFP. If a proposal contains such terms and conditions, the City, at its sole discretion, may determine the proposal to be a nonresponsive counter‐offer, and the proposal may be rejected. 9. Assignment and Subcontracting The Contractor may not subcontract, transfer, or assign any portion of the contract without prior, written approval from the City. Each subcontractor must be approved in writing by the City. The substitution of one subcontractor for another may be made only at the discretion of the City and with prior, written approval from the City. Notwithstanding the use of approved subcontractors, the Proposer, if awarded a contract under this RFP, will be the prime contractor and will be responsible for all work performed and will be responsible for all costs to subcontractors for services provided by the Proposer. The Proposer is prohibited from performing any work associated with this RFP or using contractors for any service associated with this RFP offshore (outside the United States). 10. Right to Refuse Personnel The City reserves the right to refuse, at its sole discretion, any subcontractors or any personnel provided by the selected Vendor. The City reserves the right to interview and approve all Proposer staff members. Proposer’s staff may be subject to the City’s background and drug testing processes. Upon City’s request, Vendor will complete backgrounds checks for designated Vendor personnel assigned to provide the services herein to the City. The background check shall include, but is not limited to, a State of California and Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint based criminal background check through the State of California. The City reserves the right to refuse assignment of any personnel whose criminal background includes a felony conviction. 11. Proposal of Additional Services If a Proposer indicates an offer of services in addition to those required by and described in this RFP, these additional services may be added to the contract before contract signing at the sole discretion of the City. 12. Licensure Before a contract pursuant to this RFP is signed, the Proposer must hold all necessary, applicable business and professional licenses. The City may require Proposers to submit evidence of proper licensure. 13. Business License All businesses operating in the City of Vacaville are required to obtain a City of Vacaville Business License. Any business, whether the business is located in Vacaville, or located outside of the City but coming into the City to conduct business, is required to obtain a business license. 15 14. Lack of Funding The City may need to amend the terms of this contract in the event that budgetary funding is reduced or discontinued. The Contractor shall receive written notification of either condition as soon as practically possible, but no later than thirty (30) days prior to reduction or termination. 15. Terms of Payment Payment for monthly services shall be paid on a “Net 30” basis, in accordance with the Agreement terms. 16. Laws Governing Contract This contract shall be in accordance with the laws of the State of California. The parties stipulate that this contract was entered into in the County of Solano, in the State of California. The parties further stipulate that the County of Solano, California, is the only appropriate forum for any litigation resulting from a breach hereof or any questions arising here from. 17. Rights of the City of Vacaville The City reserves the right to: A. Make the selection based on its sole discretion B. Reject any and all proposals C. Issue subsequent Requests for Proposals D. Postpone opening proposals, if necessary, for any reason E. Remedy errors in the Request for Proposal process F. Approve or disapprove the use of particular subcontractors G. Negotiate with any, all, or none of the Proposers H. Select other than the lowest offer I. Waive informalities and irregularities in the proposals J. Enter into an agreement with another Proposer in the event the originally selected Proposer defaults or fails to execute an agreement with the City