Consultant Services for the Community Development Block Grant Services (CDBG)

REVISED Request for Proposals CDBG Economic Development Grant Administrationand Related Consultant Services Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation seeks a consultant to administer the Sunnyside Ventures LLC project and related CDBG economic development assignments within the scope defined in this RFP. Anticipated issue date October 8, 2026 Questions due November 5, 2026 Proposals due November 20, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time All proposals and questions should be sent to: Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation Attention: Rosemarie Strandburg, Project Manager 201 West 3rd Street, Suite 115 Jamestown, New York 14701 Email: [email protected] Background and Scope of Services Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC) anticipates receiving Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding from Chautauqua County under a grant awarded to the County by the New York State Office of Community Renewal (OCR). The grant provides financing for Sunnyside Ventures LLC, DBA Paradiso Spa and Suites, to establish a boutique hotel, spa, gym, and smoothie bar in the Village of Mayville. The project includes acquisition and renovation of buildings at 31 South Erie Street and 11 South Erie Street, Mayville, NY 14757; purchase of machinery, equipment, furnishings, and fixtures; and working capital expenses. The selected consultant will coordinate with County and CREDC personnel. Grant administration. Assist with books of account, financial and program management systems, recordkeeping, procurement and contract administration, environmental review records, applicable federal requirements, required reports, audit coordination, and grant closeout. The consultant will support the authorized responsible entity in environmental review; governmental determinations and certifications remain with the authorized entity. Project financing and monitoring. Assist with grant, loan, or deferred-loan closing documents, as applicable; project cost documentation; disbursement reviews; employment requirements and documentation; and monitoring of employment and financial information for Sunnyside Ventures LLC and other economic development funding recipients assigned under this contract. Related economic development services. Provide technical assistance for commercial and industrial project development and economic development program planning and implementation. Future CDBG assignments are limited to the economic development specialty and the service types described in this RFP. Housing rehabilitation administration, public works grant administration, unrelated programs, construction, and architectural/engineering design are outside this procurement. Future assignments. Each assignment must be authorized in writing with its project scope, deliverables, schedule, funding source, and maximum compensation. Assignments must remain within the originally competed scope and contract term. Services outside that scope will be procured separately under applicable requirements. No future assignment or minimum volume is guaranteed. Deliverables. Provide organized grant files, financial and employment monitoring records, environmental review support documents, required reports and closeout materials, and assignment-specific products identified in the written work authorization. Contract Term and Proposal Requirements Term and schedule. The contract term will not exceed three years from execution. Services for Sunnyside Ventures LLC must be completed by December 31, 2027. Future assignments must be completed within the contract term unless separately procured as required. Proposals must explain staffing and scheduling sufficient to meet these commitments. Proposals must include the following information: a. Firm background and references. Describe the firm or individual, relevant history, and similar assignments. Provide recent client references with project descriptions, contact names, telephone numbers, and email addresses. Relevant employer references may be supplied by newer firms or individuals. b. Qualifications and approach. Describe OCR/CDBG economic development grant administration experience, commercial financing expertise, federal environmental review experience, and the approach to the work. Explain coordination with CREDC and County staff, recordkeeping, compliance monitoring, and completion of reports and closeout. c. Personnel and capacity. Identify the proposed project manager, staff, and subcontractors; provide resumes and assigned responsibilities. Describe current and projected workloads, availability, estimated hours by task and staff category for the Sunnyside project, and a proposed work schedule. d. Cost and fee proposal. Provide hourly rates by staff category, identifying labor, overhead, and profit or fee components; explain the calculation of other charges and reimbursable expenses. Provide the estimated total cost of administering the Sunnyside project, supported by task-level hours, staffing, expenses, and assumptions. Identify exclusions and assumptions about the volume of future assignments. No undisclosed charges will be accepted. e. Eligibility and disclosures. Disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest and any participation in preparing this RFP or its scope. Certify eligibility to participate in federally funded contracts and disclose applicable exclusions or debarments. Identify proposed subcontractors and any MWBE, SDVOB, veteran-owned, small-business, or Section 3 status claimed, with supporting certification or documentation when applicable. Such status is not required to submit a proposal. f. Minimum qualifications. Demonstrated capability in economic development grant administration, CDBG management, federal environmental review, and project management is required. Qualifications must be relevant to the services solicited and will not be based on local residency or previous work for CREDC. Evaluation and Selection CREDC will evaluate responsive proposals using written evaluation procedures and the criteria below. Award will be made to the responsible respondent whose proposal is most advantageous considering price and the other published factors. These proposed weights must be finalized before the RFP is issued. Evaluation criterion Weight OCR and CDBG economic development experience 30% Technical approach, personnel, and capacity 20% Cost and fee proposal 20% Commercial financing expertise 15% Federal environmental review expertise 15% Total 100% Scoring. Each evaluator will rate each criterion from 0 to 5: 0, not demonstrated; 1, substantially deficient; 2, partially meets requirements; 3, meets requirements; 4, exceeds requirements; 5, substantially exceeds requirements with strong supporting evidence. Weighted points equal the rating divided by five, multiplied by the criterion weight. Evaluator totals will be averaged to establish rankings. Cost evaluation. The cost rating will consider the reasonableness of hourly rates, staffing mix, estimated hours, total estimated Sunnyside project cost, reimbursable expenses, and profit or fee. Evaluators will assess the completeness and credibility of assumptions against the solicited work. Lowest price alone does not determine award. Written clarifications may be requested to resolve inconsistent assumptions; any material change to the requested pricing basis will be shared equally with affected respondents. Interviews and references. CREDC anticipates interviewing more than one qualified finalist when sufficient responses are received. Finalists will be asked the same core questions. Interviews will clarify proposals under the published criteria; no additional undisclosed scoring factors will be used. References will be checked to verify qualifications and performance before award. Negotiation and multiple awards. CREDC may select one or more consultants in ranked order, subject to negotiation of scope, schedule, reasonable compensation, and contract terms. If negotiations with the highest-ranked respondent fail, CREDC may proceed to the next. For multiple awards, assignments will be offered in rank order to consultants qualified for the task and available to meet its schedule; the basis for proceeding to the next consultant will be documented. Respondents will be notified of the selection results in writing. Participation and Procurement Integrity Business participation. Minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs), service-disabled veteran-owned businesses (SDVOBs), other veteran-owned businesses, small businesses, labor surplus area firms, and Section 3 business concerns are encouraged to respond as prime consultants, subcontractors, or members of a qualified team. CREDC will conduct and document direct outreach to qualified MWBE firms by email, letter, or fax and additional affirmative outreach efforts, such as a NYS Contract Reporter posting or an MWBE-specific outlet. Qualified firms in the other categories above will be included on solicitation lists and contacted when appropriate. Participation will be facilitated through reasonable schedules, appropriate opportunities to divide work, and teaming or subcontracting where practicable. The selected consultant must apply applicable business-participation requirements to its subcontracts and retain supporting outreach and selection records. This draft establishes no mandatory MWBE or SDVOB percentage. Any contract-specific goal, utilization plan, reporting requirement, or waiver procedure required by the funding agreement must be identified and included before issuance. Section 3. Where the funded project is subject to Section 3, applicable contracts and subcontracts must incorporate HCR’s current Section 3 clause and follow applicable participation-plan, outreach, documentation, and reporting requirements under 24 CFR Part 75. Applicability will be determined from the project’s covered HUD assistance and funding commitment date. Section 3 requirements will be applied to this professional-services contract only to the extent applicable; construction labor requirements are not automatically imposed on consultant staff. Full and open competition. No preference will be given for local residency, an existing local office, familiarity with the community, or previous work for CREDC or the County. Firms that developed or drafted this RFP, its specifications, or statement of work are excluded from competing for this procurement. CREDC will review disclosed organizational conflicts and protect the integrity of the selection process. Eligibility and conflicts. An award may not be made to an ineligible, suspended, or debarred party. CREDC will document federal SAM exclusions checks for the proposed awardee and key individuals and applicable New York State debarment checks before award. Evaluators and personnel administering the procurement will follow written conflict-of-interest standards and disclose conflicts requiring recusal or other appropriate action. Protests. Written protests must be directed to Rosemarie Strandburg at the contact address on the cover. CREDC will handle protests under its written procurement protest procedures and disclose protests to OCR. Those procedures will be available on request before proposals are due. Contract and Funding Requirements Compensation and payment. CREDC anticipates a cost-reimbursement contract with a negotiated maximum compensation amount. Reimbursement will be limited to actual, allowable, reasonable, and documented costs under the contract and applicable funding rules. Any profit will be a separately negotiated fixed fee independent of actual costs incurred. Cost-plus-percentage-of-cost and percentage-of-construction-cost compensation are prohibited. Final terms will specify fee payment, approved expenses, and assignment budgets. Billing and performance. Invoices must include narrative progress reports, costs by authorized task, and hours by employee or staff category, with supporting expense records. CREDC will review performance, deliverables, and invoices before payment. Material changes to scope, personnel, schedule, or compensation require written authorization and any required OCR approval. Changes beyond the competed scope require separate procurement. Required contract provisions. The executed contract must include applicable federal, state, local, OCR, and funding-agreement provisions, including the following as applicable: Remedies and termination. Administrative, contractual, or legal remedies for breach where required, and termination for cause and convenience, including notice and settlement terms. These termination terms are required for contracts over $10,000. Records and oversight. Access to pertinent records by CREDC, the County, OCR, the Comptroller General, and authorized representatives; retention for the period required by the award and applicable law, including extensions for audits, claims, or litigation. Eligibility and lobbying. Debarment and suspension provisions, and required anti-lobbying certification for covered contracts exceeding $100,000, with disclosures where applicable. Other applicable terms. Applicable nondiscrimination, prohibited telecommunications/equipment, domestic-preference, environmental, invention-rights, and subcontract flow-down provisions; OCR-required indemnification and anti-job-pirating provisions where applicable. Construction-related requirements. If the funded project triggers Davis-Bacon and related labor standards, Section 3, Build America Buy America (BABA), or bonding requirements, the consultant will assist CREDC and the County with incorporating and administering the applicable requirements in project procurements. Wage determinations and HUD labor provisions belong in covered construction solicitations; BABA material requirements and certifications apply where triggered. This RFP does not procure construction or require consultant bid, performance, or payment bonds. CREDC and the County will identify current OCR-approved clauses, applicable thresholds, funding conditions, and any required certifications or riders before executing the contract. Applicable obligations must be expressly incorporated; a general reference to the OCR program does not replace required contract language. Submission and General Conditions Deadline. Proposals must be received by November 20, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Late proposals will not be considered. The respondent is responsible for timely receipt. Submission method. Submit either one searchable PDF by email to [email protected], with the subject “CDBG Economic Development Consultant Proposal,” or one signed hard copy addressed to Rosemarie Strandburg, Project Manager, CREDC, 201 West 3rd Street, Suite 115, Jamestown, New York 14701. A duplicate submission by both methods is not required. Hard copies may be mailed or hand delivered during normal business hours; mailing by the deadline does not constitute receipt. Email respondents should request acknowledgment and verify receipt before the deadline. Questions and addenda. Submit questions by email to [email protected] by November 5, 2026. Register an email contact with the project manager to receive written answers and addenda. CREDC will distribute material clarifications and addenda to registered prospective respondents and make them available through the same channels used to distribute the RFP. Respondents must acknowledge addenda in their proposals. Only written addenda modify the RFP; oral statements do not. Funding and award. Services are anticipated to be funded in whole or in part through the OCR CDBG program. Award and each future assignment are subject to funding availability, required approvals, eligibility, and execution of an acceptable written contract. No proposal guarantees an award or future assignments. Reserved rights. CREDC may reject any or all proposals with documented reasons, request clarifications, conduct interviews, and negotiate with respondents in ranked order under the published procedures. These rights do not authorize selection outside the solicited scope or bypass applicable procurement requirements. Material solicitation changes will be communicated through written addenda with adequate response time. Respondent costs. CREDC assumes no responsibility for expenses incurred in preparing proposals, providing additional information, attending interviews, or participating in negotiations. Additional work. Services outside this RFP’s defined scope or beyond the procured term will be subject to a separate procurement unless an applicable lawful exception is documented and required OCR approval is obtained. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: None Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 6.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) MBE Goal: 15.00% WBE Goal: 15.00%