Patriot News MN

Planning and Zoning Administration

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OF NEW

PERMITTING SYSTEM

Prepared By:

Sherburne County Planning and Zoning Administration

13880 Business Center Drive, Ste 101

Elk River, Minnesota 55330

October 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL OF NEW

PERMITTING SYSTEM

SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................... 3

1.1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION.......................................................... 3

1.2 PROJECT INFORMATION CONTACT.................................... 3

1.3 PROJECT TIMETABLE............................................................. 3

SECTION 2.0 SCOPE OF WORK................................................. 3

2.1 PURPOSE.................................................................................... 3

2.2 SCOPE OR WORK.......................................................................4

2.3 CLOUD BASED STANDARDS.................................................. 5

2.4 ITEMS PROVIDED BY THE COUNTY.....................................6

SECTION 3.0 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.................................7

3.1 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION..........................................................7

3.2 PROPOSAL CONTENT...............................................................7

3.3 PROPOSAL EVALUATION & SELECTION ........................... 8

SECTION 4.0 TERMS AND CONDITIONS ................................ 9

SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The County of Sherburne (County) Planning and Zoning Administration (Zoning) is seeking proposals from qualified proposers to provide for a permitting system that will meet the specifications identified in this Request for Proposal (RFP). It is our objective to purchase a customizable permitting system to meet the Land Use and Permitting needs of County Zoning and County Solid Waste. The customized permitting system will automate the permitting and land use processes and provide County Zoning Staff with a flexible comprehensive solution.

1.2 PROJECT INFORMATION CONTACT

Questions concerning content of the RFP shall be in written format, sent by U.S. Mail or E-Mail and directed to the below listed name, must be received prior to 4:30 p.m. on November 2, 2021.

Sherburne County Planning and Zoning Administration

Attention: Carrie Winter, Office Supervisor

13880 Business Center Drive

Elk River, MN 55330

Carrie.Winter@co.sherburne.mn.us

1.3 PROJECT TIMETABLE

The following timetable will be followed during the course of the RFP process:

Request for Proposals Issued: October 19, 2021
Deadline for Written Questions: November 2, 2021
Written Response, Addenda Sent: November 10, 2021
Deadline for Proposals (by 4:30 p.m.): November 17, 2021
Job Notification: December 21, 2021

SECTION 2.0 SCOPE OFWORK

2.1 PURPOSE

It is our objective to seek a modernized permitting system that enhances the Citizen experience, improves the Land Use and Permitting process of County Zoning and integrates the Solid Waste Division. The successful proposer will present a permitting system that will be used for customer submission, tracking, processing, permitting and payment of fees. The customer submission will result in less time spent with data entry and more time more efficiently spent on the permit process for an improved customer experience.

The Sherburne County Planning and Zoning Office issues approximately 2,500 permits annually for multiple project types and fee calculations. The current permit system is utilized for this process. The successful proposer will integrate the information from our current system as well as programs, as listed in the Scope of Work, into the new system. The successful proposer will be mobile-friendly for both the customer and the staff who is utilizing the program in the field.

The successful proposer will include robust reporting options with the ability to customize, will be agile and easy to maintain.

2.2 SCOPE OFWORK

The successful proposer is required to complete the following Scope of Work during the course of the project:

Integration-Integrate the current Microsoft CRM permitting system and Sherburne County systems including GIS Hyland OnBase, AS400, existing data in Windows Explorer, Forte payment system and Outlook. These systems need to be integrated to allow the permitting program to pull/push accurate and current data from these systems.
Import Data-Import data from our existing systems, into the new system. This includes a shared drive and the current Microsoft CRM permitting system. The file share is approximately 50 MB and the Access database is approximately 8MB.
Creation of Forms-Utilize existing forms and integrate these electronically into the new permitting system. Provide letter generation tools and training for form template changes, utilizing Microsoft Word or similar functionality.
Permit Reviews-Ability to utilize concurrent review process for all applications.
Parcel Activity Log-Inclusion of activity
Process -Document, understand, and automate the current Land Use and Solid Waste system processes within your solution.
End User Documentation-Sherburne County will write the Quick start guide for employees.
User Acceptance Training (UAT)-The successful vendor will work with key users to test the new permitting system. The successful vendor will gather information and feedback from users in order to make the necessary changes recommended by users. The total user count of the permitting system will be 28 users of which 11 users are view only.
Changes after UAT- The successful vendor will make changes to the forms, processes and workflows within the new permitting system according to the user feedback gathered during the testing phase.
Clean Data Import- All of the data used for the testing phase will be removed from the new permitting system by the vendor. The successful vendor will import clean data from the Microsoft CRM system.
Training- The successful vendor will train users on how to use the new permitting system.
Go Live Date- The vendor along with County IT will have staff available for the official go live date to assist users on-site with questions and issues that may arise.
Report Writing- The successful vendor will train an individual from County IT, Zoning and Solid Waste on how to write reports for the new permitting system.
Citizen Portal- The successful vendor will provide a public facing portal for information and interactive permitting services.
Mobile- The successful vendor will provide mobile users access to the permitting and payment program
Electronic Plan Review- The successful vendor will provide users the ability to receive, review and mark up plans.
The desired solution would rely upon internal employee User Identification and Access Management as derived from the Sherburne County Microsoft Active Directory and Multi-Factor Authentication tools.
Necessary computer applications will be compatible with a Windows 10 desktop environment or comparable functionality.

2.3 CLOUD-BASED STANDARDS

Security Standards. Off-site solutions may be provided in a secure cloud-based or secure vendor-provided environment. The hosted data service should meet or exceed SOC3 standards and FedRamp requirements.
Microsoft Compatibility. Cloud or vendor-provided hosting solutions should be able to leverage Microsoft ADFS for a single sign-on experience for Planning and Zoning Department staff.

2.4 ITEMS PROVIDED BY THE COUNTY-

Software. The County will provide software for the permitting project. Our servers are virtual servers running on VMware within an on-site virtual server cloud environment. The table below describes the servers in more detail.

Servers Purpose Roles/Description

govCRMapp Application Discovery Web Service Organization Web Service Web

Application Server Deployment Tools Email Router

govCRMfes Services Asynchronous Service – Processes queued asynchronous events

govCRMssrs Reporting Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions –Provides

reporting functionality by interfacing with the Microsoft

Dynamics CRM system and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.

govCRMweb Web ADFS Server – Internet Facing Deployment

govDB Database SQL Server - Installs the MSCRM_CONFIG database on

the SQL Server

2.5 PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Sherburne County will pay 40 percent of the total cost of the project upon the completion of Step H in the Scope of Work. Another 40 percent of the cost of the project will be paid upon completion of Step K in the Scope of Work. The County will pay the remaining 20 percent of the cost of the project 90 days after the Go Live Date.

SECTION 3.0 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

3.1 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Qualified vendors shall submit their proposals using one of the following two methods; 1) PDF format, or 2) In writing with one (1) original and two (2) copies, printed back-to-back, by 4:30 P.M. CT on November 17, 2021. Failure to submit a proposal on time may be grounds for rejection of the proposal. The proposal shall be addressed to:

Sherburne County Planning and Zoning Administration

Attention: Carrie Winter, Office Supervisor

13880 Business Center Drive

Elk River, MN 55330

Carrie.Winter@co.sherburne.mn.us

All proposals must be received in completed form by November 17, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. CT Proposals received after that time will not be accepted.

3.2 PROPOSAL CONTENT

Submitted proposals shall contain the following to be considered complete and valid:

Cover Letter.
Proposer must include the following information:
Proposer Identification;
Description of the Proposer’s previous experience with
the services called for in the Scope of Work;
Any potential conflicts of interest;
Itemized Bid Estimate; and
The proposer must include an estimated start date and
end date for the project.
Proof of Insurance.

3.3 PROPOSAL EVALUATION & SELECTION

Selection Criteria. The County will review each proposal to identify the Vendor that most closely meet the County’s needs. Although cost will be considered in the award process, cost will not be the determining factor. Emphasis will be placed on the quality and functionality of the software, quality of customer service offered by the Vendor, the availability of the Vendor to provide timely delivery, the availability of the Vendor for support services, and other experience and customer service factors. After review of the proposals, a recommendation will be made to the County Board for a contract award.
Additional Information Requests. The County reserves the right to request additional information or clarification from Proposers during any phase of the proposal evaluation process. During the evaluation and selection process, the County has the right to request the presence of Proposer’s representatives and answer specific questions. Notification of any such requirement will be given as necessary.
Disqualification. Any one or more of the following may be considered as sufficient for the disqualification of a Proposer and the rejection of the proposal or proposals:
Incomplete Proposal Submittal.
Conflict of Interest with the County or its agents.
More than one proposal for the same work from an individual, firm, or corporation under the same or
different name.
Lack of qualifications or experience.
Unsatisfactory performance record; judged from the standpoint of references.
Failure of the Proposer to be properly licensed or insured.
Any other reason to be determined in good faith to be in the best interests of the County.
Failure to comply with any qualification requirements of the County.
Contract Award. Issuance of this RFP and receipt of proposals do not commit the County to selecting a Vendor or otherwise awarding a contract, nor does it obligate the County to pay for any costs incurred in preparing and submitting proposals in anticipation of a contract. The County reserves the right to postpone opening for its own convenience, to accept or reject any or all proposals received in response to this RFP, to negotiate with other than the selected Vendor, should negotiations with the selected Vendor be terminated, to negotiate with more than one Vendor simultaneously, or to cancel all or part of this RFP.
Selection. The County will notify the successful proposer following approval by the County Board.

SECTION 4.0 TERMS AND CONDITIONS

4.1 COUNTY RIGHTS

The County may investigate the qualifications of any Vendor under consideration, require confirmation of information furnished by the Vendor, and require additional evidence of qualifications requested in this RFP. The County reserves the right to:

Reject any or all proposals if such action is in the public interest;
Cancel the entire RFP;
Issue a subsequent RFP;
Remedy technical errors in the RFP process;
Establish a short list of proposers eligible for interview after evaluation of written proposals;
Extend the deadline or accept late proposals under extenuating circumstances at its discretion; and
Negotiate with any, all, or none of the proposers.

4.2 PRE-CONTRACTUAL EXPENSES

Pre-contractual expenses are defined as expenses incurred by the proposer in: 1) preparing its proposal in response to this RFP; 2) submitting that proposal to the County; 3) negotiating with the County on any matter related to this RFP; 4) any other expenses incurred by the proposer prior to the date of execution of the proposed agreement. The County shall not, in any event, be liable for any pre-contractual expenses incurred by the proposer in the preparation of their proposals.

4.3 CONTRACT AND INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

The selected Vendor will be required to enter into a contract with the County defining the parties’ roles and duties. The County will use its standard contract terms and conditions, which will be available on request. The Vendor will be required to maintain the following insurance coverages, with the County listed as an additional insured:

(a) Commercial General Liability Coverage in the amount of $1,500,000 each occurrence and $3,000,000 annual aggregate.

(b) Workers’ Compensation Insurance as required by Minnesota law and Employer’s Liability Coverage.

(c) Cyber Liability Coverage for claims arising out of its services and including, but not limited to, loss, damage, theft or other misuse of data, infringement of intellectual property, invasion of privacy and breach of data.in the amount of $2,000,000 each occurrence and $4,000,000 annual aggregate.

4.1 INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR STATUS

The selected Vendor will be an independent contractor and nothing contained in any contract awarded shall be construed to create the relationship of employer and employee between County and the Vendor.

4.4 PUBLIC INFORMATION

Data submitted to the County in response to a RFP are private or nonpublic data until the responses are opened. Once the responses are opened, the name of the responder becomes public. All other data in a responder’s response to a RFP are private or nonpublic data until completion of the evaluation process. “Completion of the qualification process” means that the County has entered into a contract with the selected Vendor. After the County has completed the evaluation process, all remaining data submitted by all responders are public with the exception of trade secret data as defined and classified in Minn. Stat.§ 13.37. A statement by a responder that submitted data are copyrighted or otherwise protected does not prevent public access to the data contained in the response. Proposals submitted in response to an RFP become the property of the County and will not be returned.

(Published in the Patriot: 10/23/21; 10/30/21).