Summary and Background
Buckeye Hills Regional Council (BHRC) is a council of governments established in 1968 and serves the counties of Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry, and Washington in rural Appalachian Ohio. Buckeye Hills administers funding from multiple State and Federal sources in the areas of community and economic development, transportation planning, and aging services to address the needs of member communities.
The Appalachian Community Grant Program (ACGP) is a $500 million program, created by House Bill 377, that provides planning and development grants for communities located in Ohio’s 32-county Appalachian region. Program funds are provided by Ohio’s designation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars and are administered by the Governor’s Office of Appalachia within the Ohio Department of Development. Projects should be designed to bring about transformational change and be a catalyst for future development by providing generational investments in the Appalachian region.
Project Description
In anticipation of Round 2 of ACGP, BHRC has communicated with stakeholders and communities to identify centers of gravity of similar projects and interests. BHRC has worked with partners across the region to determine the best State Procured Planner to work with on their projects and aided communities in applying for and receiving services from these planners. Through conversations with planners, gaps in services have been identified that may prevent communities from submitting competitive applications in round 2 of ACGP. BHRC aims to fill in these gaps by procuring services for healthcare feasibility studies, historical architecture, and legal advisement. Respondents to this request for qualifications will be expected to work with BHRC staff, communities, and State Procured Planners where necessary to ensure communities are able to take full advantage of the Appalachian Community Grant Program.
Scope of Services
The Respondent shall be readily available to perform all legal work necessary in connection with the Appalachia Community Grant Program as directed by BHRC representatives. These requests will be in support of the Lead Applicant, Subordinate Applicants, community stakeholders, jurisdictions, and other participants located or represented within the eight-county council footprint. Anticipated assignments include:
- Structure lead applicant and subrecipient obligations in cooperative agreements memorandums of understanding, contracts, or other legal instruments as needed within each Development Application Group for use throughout the application, implementation, and operational phases of the project for the length of the obligations but not less than twenty years.
- Provide all necessary legal services regarding real estate transfers, easements, or use agreements, including but not limited to the review of utility easements and ownership, purchase agreements, title search, closing documents, and reviews to certify conformance to Local, State, and Federal regulations when needed.
- Draft and/or review all legal documents, papers, contracts, agreements, waivers, and other such legal drafting as may be required.
- Consult on legal process and make recommendations on the most advantageous method to project implementation as needed. Examples may include recommendations for Tax Incremental Financing Agreements or a variety of designations for segments of a Downtown Area, etc.
Period of Performance
The period of performance for the Appalachian Community Grant Program is congruent with other ARPA-funded programs. All funding within the program must be obligated by October 2024 and completed by October 2026. The respondent(s) selected would be expected to serve as a consultant for communities beginning at the contract award, projected to be September 1, 2023, and continue until October of 2024, at which time all funds will be obligated under the program. Contractor may still be consulted through October of 2026 to provide interpretation of documents they created during the period of performance.
Requirements to be Responsive to RFQ
The period of performance for the Appalachian Community Grant Program is congruent with other ARPA-funded programs. All funding within the program must be obligated by October 2024 and completed by October 2026. The respondent(s) selected would be expected to serve as a consultant for communities beginning at the contract award, projected to be September 1, 2023, and continue until October of 2024, at which time all funds will be obligated under the program. Contractor may still be consulted through October of 2026 to provide interpretation of documents they created during the period of performance.
Requirements to be Responsive to RFQ
Responses to this Request for Qualifications shall be prepared in accordance with the rules codified in 2 CFR 200 (Unified Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards) and submitted with the following listed sections completed as part of one singular document. The submission must be in a digital format with print capabilities. BHRC may solicit additional information at a later time.
Part 1 – Company and Response Information Summary
The respondent must provide information as follows:
- Company Name and Address in which to send contract/service agreement (if awarded)
- Company Description and Overview
- Website Address
- Name, Bio, Phone Number, Email Address of Key Representative(s) that will be responsible for carrying out project activities, inclusive of billing for services
- Comprehensive list of company’s technical assistance expertise area(s) relative to the scope of work.
Part 2 – Consultant Qualifications and Experience (50%)
- Provide a description of the qualifications and experience of key personnel as it pertains to the scope of work for which respondents are submitting. Please specifically include details on work completed within the Appalachian region of Ohio.
- Provide descriptions of previous projects that the Respondent has undertaken that are similar to this Project. Please include references as detailed in Part 3 of this RFQ
- Sample client listing of entities receiving similar assistance. Please include dates for provision of service
- Web links to related projects are encouraged
Part 3 – References (40%)
Provide a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 references for clients receiving similar services. References of projects should ideally be similar to those that are in development in the BHRC region. If such references are not available, list references that match as closely as possible.
Part 4 – Cost (10%)
BHRC anticipates entering into an agreement for services with the successful respondent(s). The successful respondent(s) should expect to provide invoices to BHRC on an as-needed basis or at least quarterly for the duration of the project.
Respondents should address the following in response to this RFQ:
- Total cost of services
- Retainer fee cost
- Detailed breakdown of activities/tasks to be completed and cost associated with each
- Methodology for tracking and billing on an as-needed basis
Timeline and Deliverables
Interested respondents should respond by email to Sam Miller, Development Director, smiller@buckeyehills.org. The subject line should read ‘BHRC ACGP Technical Assistance RFQ-LEGAL.’
RFQ Issued: August 11, 2023
Responses DUE: August 25, 2023
Notification of Award: August 30, 2023
Responses received after the time and date specified are not eligible for consideration. ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE SIGNED.
Failure to provide this information may result in rejection of the response.
BHRC reserves the right to reject any response not prepared and submitted according to the provisions herein outlined and may reject any or all responses.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The respondent is cautioned against last-minute attempts to meet the due date and time, and BHRC will not be responsible for network outages and other related internet malfunctions on the part of the respondent in submitting their proposal.
Evaluation and Selection
All qualified responses submitted in accordance with the terms of the RFQ will be evaluated to determine the most responsive entity. A uniform selection process will be used to evaluate all proposals.
Staff from BHRC will review and evaluate all responses received in response to this Request for Qualifications. Proposals will be evaluated and ranked based on the selection criteria outlined below. After the conclusion of the evaluation process, the firms, groups, or persons will be ranked in priority order, with the highest-ranking firm, group, or person being selected to negotiate a contract and scope of services with BHRC. If a contract satisfactory to both parties cannot be negotiated, BHRC will then enter negotiations with the next highest-ranked firm, group, or person, and so on until an agreement is reached.
In the event BHRC elects to negotiate a contract with a selected firm, group, or person, BHRC reserves the right to negotiate such terms and conditions of the contract, including, but not limited to, scope, role, price, and staffing which may be in the best interests of BHRC.
Proposal evaluation will be based upon the following criteria:
- Scope of services
- Experience and ability to successfully complete the scope of services
- Experience working in Appalachian Ohio
- Demonstrated experience from the perspective of references