RESERVED RIGHTS
The City of Oak Forest reserves the right at any time and for any reason to cancel this Request for Qualification/Proposal or any portion thereof, to reject any or all proposals, or to accept an alternate proposal. The City reserves the right to waive any immaterial defect in any proposal. Unless otherwise specified by the offeror, the City has ninety (90) days to accept. The City may seek clarification from an offeror at any time and failure to respond promptly is cause for rejection. INCURRED COSTS
The City of Oak Forest will not be liable for any costs incurred by respondents in replying to this RFQ/RFP.
DISCUSSION OF PROPOSALS
The City of Oak Forest may conduct discussions with any offeror who submits a proposal. During the course of such discussions, the City shall not disclose any information derived from one proposal to any other offeror.
RESPONSIBILITY & DEFAULT
The Contractor shall be required to assume responsibility for all items listed in this Request for Proposals. The successful offeror shall be considered the sole point of contact for purposes of this contract.
INTERPRETATION OR CORRECTION OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Proposers shall promptly notify City of Oak Forest of any ambiguity, inconsistency or error, which they may discover upon examination of the Request for Proposals. Interpretation, correction and changes to the Request for Proposals will be made by written addendum. Interpretation, corrections or changes made in any other manner will not be binding.
TAXES
The City of Oak Forest is not subject to Federal Excise Tax. The City of Oak Forest is exempt from state and local taxes.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Equal Employment Opportunity Clause, Section 6.1 of the Illinois Department of Human Rights Rules and Regulations shall be a material term of this contract.
ITEMS TO BE SUBMITTED
Proposals must also include general information and reference sheets (all of which are attached). Proposals lacking these completed forms may not be considered for award.
Submission of any additional documentation supporting proposer’s performance record, financial resources, experience, and reliability to execute this contract as described herein is encouraged. Any and all exceptions to these RFQ/RFP terms and specifications must be clearly documented on company letterhead.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
AWARD
It is the intent of the City of Oak Forest to select a brokerage firm who has developed excellent carrier relationships with proven records of securing low renewals, possibly with options for multiple guaranteed rate years.
The City of Oak Forest reserves the right to consider the proposal with the best fees and/or commission rates, or in any way determined to be in the best interests of the City of Oak Forest. Award will be based on the following factors (where applicable): (a) adherence to all conditions and requirements of the RFP specifications; (b) fees/commissions; (c) qualifications of the bidder, and d) additional services offered beyond the scope of work, including past performance, financial responsibility, general reputation, experience, service capabilities, and facilities.
TERM
This contract shall be in effect for a two (2) year period from the date of award. The City of Oak Forest reserves the right to renew this contract for three (3) additional one (1) year period(s), subject to acceptable performance by the brokerage firm. At the end of any contract term, the City of Oak Forest reserves the right to extend this contract for a period of up to sixty (60) days for the purpose of getting a new contract in place.
TERMINATION
The City reserves the right to terminate this contract, or any part of this contract, upon thirty (30) days written notice. In case of such termination, the Brokerage firm shall be entitled to receive payment from the City for work completed to date in accordance with the terms and conditions of this contract. In the event that this contract is terminated due to firm’s default, the City shall be entitled to purchase substitute items and/or services elsewhere and charge the firm with any or all losses incurred, including attorney’s fees and expenses.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Proposals will be reviewed by a committee comprised of City of Oak Forest officials and end users. This contract will be awarded based on the following criteria:
1) Compliance with the requirements of the Request for Proposal.
2) Experience, reliability, and financial stability of proposer’s organization, as well as qualifications of personnel proposed to service the City of Oak Forest.
3) Fee and/or commissions which should be stated in the proposal.
4) Experience in obtaining low renewals.
5) Experience in risk management and reducing losses.
6) Value added services.
7) Similar services performed for other organizations of comparable size to the City of Oak Forest.
CHANGE IN STATUS
The Contractor shall notify the City of Oak Forest immediately of any change in its status resulting from any of the following: (a) vendor is acquired by another party; (b) vendor becomes insolvent; (c) vendor, voluntary or by operation law, becomes subject to the provisions of any chapter of the Bankruptcy Act; (d) vendor ceases to conduct its operations in normal course of business. The City of Oak Forest shall have the option to terminate its contract with the vendor immediately on written notice based on any such change in status.
ESCALATOR PROVISION
Prices for commissions and/or fees, submitted in the proposal shall remain fixed throughout the initial two (2) year term of the contract. Written requests for price revisions after the initial two (2) year period shall be submitted ninety (90) days prior to the end of the year to the City of Oak Forest. The City reserves the right to reject any price increase and to terminate the contract.
HOLD HARMLESS CLAUSE
The Contractor agrees to indemnify, save harmless and defend the City of Oak Forest, its agents, servants, employees, and each of them against and hold it and them harmless from any and all lawsuits, claims, demands, liabilities, losses, and expenses; including court costs and attorney’s fees for or on account of any injury to any person, or any death at any time resulting from such injury, or any damage to property, which may arise or which may be alleged to have arisen out of, or in connection with the work covered by this project. The foregoing indemnity shall apply except if such injury is caused directly by the willful and wanton conduct of the City of Oak Forest, it agents, servants, or employees or any other person indemnified hereafter.
LAW GOVERNING
This bid and any contract resulting therefrom shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of the State of Illinois.
PRECEDENCE
Where there appears to be variances or conflicts, the following order of precedence shall prevail: City of Oak Forest Request for Proposals Specifications, Request for Proposals Terms & Conditions, Request for Proposals General Information, General Terms & Conditions, and the Contractor’s Bid Response.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Should the bidder require additional information about this bid, please email to dpreer@oak-forest.org no less than seven (7) days prior to the bid opening date. ANY and ALL changes to these specifications are valid only if they are included by written Addendum to All Bidders. No interpretation of the meaning of the plans, specifications or other contract documents will be made orally. Failure of any bidder to receive any such addendum or interpretation shall not relieve the bidder from obligation under this bid as submitted. All addenda so issued shall become part of the bid documents. Failure to request an interpretation constitutes a waiver to later claim that ambiguities or misunderstandings caused a bidder to improperly submit a bid.