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CITY OF EAGLE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES Release Date: April 3, 2020 Due Date: April 23, 2020 - 5:00 p.m. MST The City of Eagle, Idaho, (“City”) hereby solicits proposals from law firms (“Applicants”) to represent the City as its counsel. The Applicant selected by the City would serve as legal counsel to the Mayor and City Council as set forth in Idaho Code 50-204 and 50-206 and will serve City departments and various boards, committees, and commissions. The City of Eagle’s selection will be based on its evaluation of the written proposal, the Applicant’s qualifications and experience, client references, the areas of legal services which the Applicant is willing to provide, an oral presentation (if requested) and the overall fee structure. The City may engage more than one Applicant for services should that be in its best interest. Proposals must be received by the City Clerk, on or before 5:00 p.m. MST on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Applicants must submit proposals electronically in portable document format (PDF) either via email to [EMAIL REDACTED] - or to Eagle City Hall 660 E. Civic Lane Eagle, Idaho (via a non-returnable flash drive), both should be clearly marked with a reference line of “Proposal for Legal Services – name of firm”. The City will not be responsible for any expenses incurred by an Applicant in preparing, submitting or presenting a proposal. All proposals shall provide a straightforward, concise delineation of the Applicant’s capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the request. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content. The City reserves the right to waive any informalities in proposals, to accept or reject any or all proposals for any reason, to negotiate with any attorney, law firm, or business and to select one or more of the law firms that submitted a proposal which, in the judgment of the City, is in the best interest of the City. The City specifically reserves the right to accept more than one proposal and may select more than one law firm to serve as a legal counsel to the City. Proposals may be held by the City for a period not to exceed sixty (90) days from the date of the opening of proposals for the purpose of reviewing proposals and investigating the qualifications of the Applicant prior to the award of a contract. The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive any non-statutory informality and to negotiate or hold interviews with any one or more of the respondents. The City further reserves the right to make the contract award deemed by the Mayor and City Clerk/Treasurer of the City to be in the best interest of the City. The City’s decision to accept or reject the contract shall be final. Visit www.cityofeagle.org to obtain the RFP requirements in it’s entirety, or you may contact Eagle City Clerk’s Office [PHONE REDACTED] to have a paper copy mailed to you. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS 1. Please read all documents contained in the proposal specifications. 2. Applicants are responsible for submitting their proposals to the appropriate location at or prior to the time indicated in the specifications. No proposal will be accepted after the designated time or date indicated in the proposed specifications. No exceptions. 3. Applicants are responsible for reporting, in writing, any errors in the proposal specifications to the City Clerk. Should an Applicant find discrepancies or omissions in the specifications, it shall notify the City Clerk, at once, and they will send written instructions to all law firms. The City will not assume responsibility for any oral instructions, or interpretations of meaning of the specifications or other contract documents to any law firm by any person or persons. 4. Questions or clarifications to the technical specifications must be sent in writing to the City Clerk prior to the submission of the proposal. These questions/clarifications shall be submitted via e-mail to [EMAIL REDACTED]. All questions must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. MST on April 13, 2020. Answers to all questions will be posted on the City of Eagle website by 5:00 p.m. MST on April 17, 2020. 5. Proposals must be received by the City Clerk, on or before 5:00 p.m. MST on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Applicants must submit proposals electronically in portable document format (PDF) either via email to [EMAIL REDACTED] - or to Eagle City Hall 660 E. Civic Lane Eagle, Idaho (via a non-returnable flash drive), both should be clearly marked with a reference line of “Proposal for Legal Services – name of firm”. 6. The Applicant assumes all responsibility for having their proposal submitted on time in the office of the City Clerk, and confirming receipt of the same. 7. The City reserves the right to reject any proposal if its investigation of the Applicant reveals that, in the opinion of the City, the law firm is not properly qualified to carry out obligations of the contract and complete it as outlined herein. 8. The City is an equal opportunity employer and expects the Applicants to comply with Federal and State Anti-Discrimination Laws. 9. The City reserves the right to appoint the Applicant to represent the City only for specified areas designated by the Applicant, or in all areas as the City determines. ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 INTRODUCTION The City has a Mayor/City Council form of government with the Mayor operating as the Chief Executive Officer. The population of the City is approximately 32,560. The annual budget of the City is approximately $32,000,000. The City currently contracts prosecution services, excluding code enforcement, through Ada County Prosecutor’s Office. Pursuant to Section 50-204 of the Idaho Code, the City is required to have an appointed City Attorney. The City is a municipal corporation and operates under extensive City policies and ordinances. Like most municipalities, the City is involved in a variety of activities which require a diversity of legal services, including, but not limited to, land use planning, zoning, law enforcement, labor relations, human resource matters, contract services, and economic development matters. ---PAGE BREAK--- 4 THE PROPOSAL Scope of Legal Service The City is seeking proposals from Applicants having experience and qualifications in representing public sector entities, preferably municipalities. It is the intention of these specifications that the Applicant could be engaged to provide a variety of services, including but not limited to the following: • Municipal Corporation Law - matters pertaining to municipal corporation law specifically the laws affecting elections, finance, boards and commissions; • Employment Law – matters pertaining to non-collective bargaining agreement claims and human resources law and policy including employee benefits issues; • Collection Law – matters related to the collection of accounts receivables and other related collection issues; • Litigation – litigation related to planning and zoning issues and governance matters pursuant to applicable law; • Real Estate and Development Law – matters involving land development, real estate, leasing, land use, and cell towers, including naming rights for facilities and the relation of all these issues to governmental bodies. • Water rights • Community Infrastructure Districts • Generation of and/or review of draft contracts, agreements ordinances, resolutions, easements, interpretation and application of state and county statutes, etc. • Municipal financing i.e. bonding, tax anticipation notes, enterprise funds etc. Your response to the proposal should address, at a minimum, your capacity to provide services in each of the areas of legal work described above, including prior experience. You may add additional information that you deem to be appropriate. Unless the Applicant indicates that the Proposal may only be accepted if the Applicant is selected to represent the City in every area designated by the Applicant, the City reserves the right to appoint the Applicant to represent the City only for specified areas designated by the Applicant, or in all areas as the City determines. In addition, even if an Applicant is selected to represent the City with regard to one or more or all of the areas of legal work designated by the applicant, the City reserves the right, at its discretion, to appoint another attorney and/or law firm to represent the City with regard to such designated area of legal work from time to time if the City deems such action to be in the best interest of the City. Qualifications and Experience of Legal Counsel The proposal must identify the principle attorneys within the Applicant law firm who will be providing legal services to the City. The proposal should demonstrate the qualifications, competence and capacity of the attorneys to represent the City in each of the municipal legal service areas. Résumés shall be submitted for each lead attorney specifically assigned to provide services to the City. The Applicant making a proposal must describe the firm’s expertise in providing municipal legal services, specifically ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 identifying its expertise in dealing with State and Federal regulatory processes, zoning, land use, code enforcement, finance, taxation, environmental, economic development, real estate, labor and employment, legislation, law enforcement, government relations and litigation. Client references List three or more clients and references with addresses and phone numbers who may be contacted by the City in connection with the proposal, of which current or previous elected officials of the City of Eagle may not be utilized. OTHER REQUIRED NARRATIVE TOPICS Good Standing and License: The Applicant submitting a proposal must be in good standing and licensed to practice law before all courts and administrative agencies of the State of Idaho. Access and Availability: Each Applicant must identify an address of the offices of the attorneys who would provide services to the City and their proximity in miles and driving time to the Eagle City Hall. The Applicant must provide the processes they will undergo to assure the handling of the City’s legal services are dealt with in a timely manner. It is the requirement of the City that legal representation shall be present at all Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council meetings, and any additional meetings so designated by the Mayor and Council. In addition, legal counsel shall commit to a minimum of eight “office hours” weekly on site at Eagle City Hall to provide services. In rare circumstances (emergency situations) there may be times that legal representation is needed at other times including weekends and holidays. The City reserves the right to request the services from the attorney and/or firm in such situations. The Applicant must also provide advance notification to the Mayor or his/her designee of times when counsel will be unavailable (e.g. - vacations, professional conferences, etc.), and the name(s) of legal counsel who will handle City legal affairs in his/her absence. Casework-Management: The City expects each Applicant to demonstrate how it will manage casework for the City. Each Applicant shall identify their standard response time to questions and assistance (e.g. — verbal and email response within 1 day, contract review within 3 days, etc). Applicants shall also explain availability in emergency situations when an immediate response is needed. Proactive Practices: The City is interested in developing and implementing practices that promote litigation prevention through proactive and educational methods. Each Applicant shall identify their thoughts and proposed approach toward providing proactive legal services, which will minimize claims and expensive litigation. Contract for Services: The Applicant that is selected by the City will be required to sign a contract and additional terms and provisions may be included in the contract. Compensation: Each Applicant must state the compensation that will be required for the services of the Applicant. The City will entertain proposals for payment on an hourly basis, on a flat or fee capped basis, or any combination thereof. The Applicant shall state whether the mileage associated with traveling to and from City Hall will be billed. The Applicant shall also identify any other miscellaneous costs they intend to pass costs to the City (i.e. office supplies, business luncheons, etc.). Itemized bills including the attorney ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 providing the service, date, time and description of service and department requesting service will be required to be submitted before each payment will be made by the City. Such bills shall be submitted on a basis no more frequently than Billings for services rendered shall be submitted for payment by the City no later than two months after services have been rendered. Billing for services shall be explained in detail including all support services and costs such as: paralegal, clerical, supplies, mileage, electronic research and other expenses if applicable. Applicants shall also list any services that will be provided free of charge such as attendance at annual, special City meetings and/or educational forums on various topics or any non-charged, in-house expenses. Each Applicant should provide an explanation of how the City will be billed for consultations between two attorneys who are both members of the Firm and for consultations between themselves and additional law firms that may be contracted by the City. The Applicant shall address their standard practices regarding billing for informational correspondence, i.e. courtesy copies and e-mails, other billing practices, etc. Communication: Communication between the City and the City Attorney shall be through the Mayor or his/her designee(s). It is specifically noted that answering inquiries from the general public and the press is outside the purview of the position of the City Attorney and that he/she shall courteously refer such inquiries to the Mayor or his/her designee, unless otherwise instructed by the Mayor or his/her designee. The City Attorney may communicate directly with employees or board members of the City as necessary to handle legal matters or as authorized by the Mayor or his/her designee. Except as otherwise requested by the City Council, or the Mayor, all communications regarding legal services by the City Attorney shall be transmitted to the Mayor or his/her designee. The Mayor or his/her designee shall forward copies of such communications dealing with significant issues to all Council members. There shall be no limits to the matters referred to the City Attorney. City officials agree to avoid asking for assistance and review of non-legal matters. Representation: The Applicant(s) selected to provide legal services for the City would not be allowed to represent any person, corporate entity or City employee in any action against the City or before any City board or committee in the regulatory process. Termination: The contract arrangement may be terminated pursuant Idaho Code 50-204 and 50-206. Assignment: The selected Applicant(s) will be prohibited from assigning, transferring, conveying, subcontracting, or otherwise disposing of this agreement or its rights, title or interest therein or its power to execute such agreement to any other person, company or corporation without the previous consent and approval in writing of the Mayor with consent of the City Council. ---PAGE BREAK--- 7 Indemnification: The Applicant shall indemnify the City from all suits, actions or claims of any kind brought on account of any injuries or damages sustained by any person in consequence of any negligence in performing contract work, or on account of any act or omission by the attorney or the firm or its employees, or from any claims or amounts arising or uncovered under any law, bylaw, ordinance, regulation, or decree, violated by such attorney or firm. Insurance: The Applicant shall be required to carry Professional Liability Insurance. Proposals must specify the carrier and coverage limits of no less than $1,000,000 per occurrence. The successful Applicant shall provide to the City a certificate of proof of insurance and shall maintain required insurance coverage. Specialized or Additional Counsel: The City shall not be restricted from appointing other counsel when, in the judgment of the City, the need arises. Fee Statement: Each Applicant must submit the compensation, which will be required for the services of the Applicant. The City will entertain proposals for payment on an hourly basis, on a flat fee or capped basis, or any combination thereof. Any variations in the hourly rate should be disclosed, along with a rate schedule for the members of the firm. Any additional billable costs for paralegal or other services should be noted in the proposal. Itemized bills including the date, time and description of service, attorney providing service and that attorney’s hourly rate will be required to be submitted prior to payment Selection Process: The City Attorney is a direct appointment of the Mayor, requiring consent of the City Council. Proposals shall be reviewed by the Mayor and City Council who shall select proposals to be further reviewed or interviewed. The Mayor shall make a recommendation to the City Council, who shall make a final selection. END OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL