SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- The City continues to refuse to name the members of any evaluation committees.
The City of Sioux Falls has replied to KELO.com New's request for information about the City's upcoming request for proposal process in finding a consultant to do a study on the warped panels on the Premier Center.
One of its negative responses concerned who will be on the committee that considers the RFPs to examine and evaluate the Premier Center's siding.
The siding and some additional issues were bundled up on a purported $1 milliion secret settlement agreement among the City and several contractors and sub-contractors. The South Dakota Supreme Court ordered the settlement made public after the Argus Leader sued the City to obtain the agreement.
KELO.com News made requests for information on a variety of topics related to the upcoming proposal process to study the structural integrity of the panels and the area behind the panels on the event center on Oct. 19, 2017. Assistant city attorney Diane Best responded on Oct. 26, 2017.
From prior correspondence, the City Council says they will be selecting evaluation committee members Nov. 7, 2017. City Council Theresa Stehly has requested the Council that she be one of the appointees.
The City also says it will not release the RFPs that are submitted. They also say the RFP evaluation committee is not required to abide by the state's open meeting laws. Best also said it wasn't a certainty that a draft report would be prepared by the eventual winner. She did say the final report, if any, would be released.
Here is KELO.com News' request:
“In addition to Councilor Stehly's request below, I would like to add that KELO.com News asks to be informed of who the RFP committee members will be, as well as to obtain a copy of the RFP, who has been or will be sent the RFP, copies of the RFP submissions once they are submitted by proposers, when and where the RFP committee plans to meet, any billing or costs associated with the RFP process, and a copy of any draft or final reports on the event center siding issue prepared by the RFP awardee”. the referenced request from Council Member Stehly stated as follows: “ I wanted to make a formal request to be a part of the RFP selection committee for the siding evaluation of the event center. I had also made this request to Councilor Erickson after the meeting on Tuesday night.”
Here is the City's response:
"Below is the response in the order of your requests:
1) Your initial request does not appear to seek any information or public record. If you are seeking a copy of CM Stehly’s written request, a copy is already attached to the email you sent to the City.
2) Your second request appears to seek the identity of those who will be reviewing competitive sealed proposals in response to the City’s Request for Proposals 17-0137 (Building Enclosure Consulting Services). Releasing such names would impair the integrity of the competitive sealed proposal process which requires evaluation of proposals on their own merit without disclosing the contents of such proposals to other persons. This process, which is guided by state law, does not allow for partiality or consideration of extrinsic dialogue. As such, releasing the names of persons evaluating the proposals would impair the process, any negotiations, and possibility the award. The City policy is to make the names of the selection committee public after the process is complete and the Notice of Intent to Award is made.
3) You have asked for a copy of the RFP. It is provided here via this link: http://www.siouxfalls.org/business/rfq/2017/10/rfp-17-0137
4) You have asked “who has been or will be sent the RFP?” The RFP has been released to the public via the web address cited above. This site can be used by various firms seeking to do business with the City. In addition, the link to the RFP has been provided to large out of state firms who are known for structural work and building enclosures and who were not involved in the Premier Center project. This includes Raths, Raths, and Johnson; Morrison Hershfield; and Simpson, Gumpertz, and Heger. No specific firms were courted or prequalified and any responses by these or any other firms will be reviewed and considered.
5) You have asked for copies of RFP responses. None have been submitted yet. When submitted, RFP proposals are not released until such time as the project is awarded. SDCL 5-18A-6 and 7 and SDCL 1-27-1.3 . Releasing such information prior to final award would impair "present or pending" negotiations or awards and such information is specifically exempt from the public records laws under SDCL 1-27-1.3. Further, under SDCL 5-18A-6 and SDCL 5-18A-7 , all information related to a request for proposals, including the number and names of offerors submitting proposals, is confidential until an award has been made. RFP responses are not opened publicly and only the registry of proposals and the response, excluding proprietary information, of any offeror selected for contract proposal is subject to public inspection after an award has been made.
6) You have asked for the place where the RFP committee will be meeting. At this point it is unclear what meetings will be held, if any. If you are requesting to be provided with a copy of an agenda or other notice, no public notice will be made. This advisory group includes two city personnel, two city council members, and a citizen member. As such, it does not include a quorum of the Sioux Falls City Council or any entity subject to SDCL 1-25-1 and is not subject to the South Dakota Open Meeting law.
7) You have asked for “any billing or costs associated with the RFP process.” You appear to be asking about expenditures t (six) for personnel and out of pocket costs to solicit responses, conduct meetings, travel, copying etc. The City has not incurred billings or costs specific to this competitive sealed proposal process. The City’s procurement team routinely processes competitive sealed bids and competitive sealed proposals and this RFP is not expected to generate unique costs. If you are asking for the amount the City will be spending for the Building Enclosure Consulting Services to be performed, the amount has not been established. That is the purpose of the RFP process. This amount of the fee for the consultant and any costs will be available to the public in the future when the award is made.
8) You have asked for “any draft or final reports on the event center siding issue prepared by the RFP awardee”. At this time no such reports have been prepared and it is unknown whether any draft reports will be prepared. The final report to address the items outlined in the Building Enclosure Consulting Services RFP is expected to be public."