§ 26-8a-405.5. Use of competitive sealed proposals -- Procedure -- Appeal rights.

(1)

(a) The department shall issue a request for proposal for non-911 services in a geographic service area if the department receives a request from a political subdivision under Subsection 26-8a-405.4(3)(a)(ii)(B) to issue a request for proposal for non-911 services.

(b) Competitive sealed proposals for non-911 services under Subsection (1)(a) shall be solicited through a request for proposal and the provisions of this section.

(c)

(i) Notice of the request for proposals shall be published:

(A) at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county; or

(B) if there is no such newspaper, then notice shall be posted for at least 20 days in at least five public places in the county; and

(ii) in accordance with Section 45-1-101 for at least 20 days.

(2)

(a) Proposals shall be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competing offerors during the process of negotiations.

(b)

(i) Subsequent to the published notice, and prior to selecting an applicant, the department shall hold a presubmission conference with interested applicants for the purpose of assuring full understanding of, and responsiveness to, solicitation requirements.

(ii) The department shall allow at least 90 days from the presubmission conference for the proposers to submit proposals.

(c) Subsequent to the presubmission conference, the department may issue addenda to the request for proposals. An addenda to a request for proposal shall be finalized and posted by the department at least 45 days before the day on which the proposal must be submitted.

(d) Offerors to the request for proposals shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revisions of proposals, and revisions may be permitted after submission and before a contract is awarded for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers.

(e) In conducting discussions, there shall be no disclosures of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors.

(3)

(a)

(i) The department may select an applicant approved by the department under Section 26-8a-404 to provide non-911 services by contract to the most responsible offeror as defined in Section 63G-6a-103.

(ii) An award under Subsection (3)(a)(i) shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the public, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposal.

(b) The applicants who are approved under Section 26-8a-405 and who are selected under this section may be the political subdivision responding to the request for competitive sealed proposals, or any other public entity or entities, any private person or entity, or any combination thereof.

(c) The department may reject all of the competitive proposals.

(4) In seeking competitive sealed proposals and awarding contracts under this section, the department:

(a) shall consider the public convenience and necessity factors listed in Subsections 26-8a-408(2) through (6);

(b) shall require the applicant responding to the proposal to disclose how the applicant will meet performance standards in the request for proposal;

(c) may not require or restrict an applicant to a certain method of meeting the performance standards, including:

(i) requiring ambulance medical personnel to also be a firefighter; or

(ii) mandating that offerors use fire stations or dispatch services of the political subdivision;

(d) shall require an applicant to submit the proposal:

(i) based on full cost accounting in accordance with generally accepted accounting principals; and

(ii) if the applicant is a governmental entity, in addition to the requirements of Subsection (4)(e)(i), in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards and in compliance with the State of Utah Legal Compliance Audit Guide; and

(e) shall set forth in the request for proposal:

(i) the method for determining full cost accounting in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and require an applicant to submit the proposal based on such full cost accounting principles;

(ii) guidelines established to further competition and provider accountability; and

(iii) a list of the factors that will be considered by the department in the award of the contract, including by percentage, the relative weight of the factors established under this Subsection (4)(e), which may include such things as:

(A) response times;

(B) staging locations;

(C) experience;

(D) quality of care; and

(E) cost, consistent with the cost accounting method in Subsection (4)(e)(i).

(5) A license issued under this section:

(a) is for the exclusive geographic service area approved by the department;

(b) is valid for four years;

(c) is not subject to a request for license from another applicant under the provisions of Sections 26-8a-406 through 26-8a-409 during the four-year term, unless the applicant's license is revoked under Section 26-8a-504;

(d) is subject to supervision by the department under Sections 26-8a-503 and 26-8a-504; and

(e) except as provided in Subsection (4)(a), is not subject to the provisions of Sections 26-8a-406 through 26-8a-409.

Amended by Chapter 347, 2012 General Session