Reading is Just the Beginning Request for Proposals Regarding Capital Project Financing for New Branch at Blake James Drive, Lexington, KY

Transcription

1 Reading is Just the Beginning Request for Proposals Regarding Capital Project Financing for New Branch at Blake James Drive, Lexington, KY. Page 1 of 5

2 Introduction Our Vision: A community engaged in a lifetime of discovery Our Mission: Lexington Public Library connects people, inspires ideas, and transforms lives. The Lexington Public Library (LPL) serves a merged city-county jurisdiction of 300,000+ people through a central library, 5 neighborhood branches, an active Outreach department, and rapidly expanding virtual services. In addition to traditional library services, we support a digital studio with a full array of video and audio editing equipment for customer use; an art gallery; state of the art theater for live performances, movies, and presentations; a job lab where customers can get personalized help with resumes and job applications; a bilingual homework help program; a Storytime Bus which takes our reading readiness programs to children in day care centers; a library cable TV channel; and a "Book a Librarian" program for customers who need in-depth research assistance, reader s advisory, or help with their digital devices. Whatever your age or interest, you can expand your horizons and exercise your brain by visiting the "people's university" your local public library. Here you will find resources, programs, and experts to help you explore any topic you desire. Lexington Public Library is ready to welcome you! The LPL Board of Trustees voted to purchase property for a new branch on the city s east side. The property is at the corner of Palumbo Drive and Man o War Boulevard and includes a 27,000-square-foot building that formerly housed the Jaguar Land Rover car dealership. The new branch is expected to open by May 2015 and will replace the existing Eagle Creek Branch at 101 N. Eagle Creek Drive. By replacing the branch, the library system will be moving to a building with twice the square footage to accommodate library collections, public access to technology and library programming. It also will move closer to the heavily-populated Hamburg area, one of the fastest-growing areas in Lexington. The Eagle Creek Branch has one of the library system s higher circulations but is housed in the library s second smallest location. Eagle Creek s meeting room has a capacity of 40 people, without tables, which has been inadequate for many community meetings and the library s most popular programs. The new branch will feature: A 25-percent increase in the number of books and other materials. Multiple meeting rooms and study rooms, including a larger meeting room. Increased parking, from 89 spaces at Eagle Creek to 121 spaces, with room to add more, if necessary. Drive-through service, where customers can drop off returns and pick up materials they have placed on hold. The location of the new branch allows for continued convenience to neighborhoods now served at Eagle Creek while moving closer to the rapidly-growing Hamburg area. Page 2 of 5

3 The library will purchase the property for $3.995 million. The total cost of the project with renovations is anticipated to be $7.5 million. The cost of the purchase and renovation will be funded from a combination of funds from LPL s existing fund balance, the sale of the Eagle Creek property, private donations to the Lexington Public Library Foundation raised through a five year capital campaign, and long term debt. Financing Requirements The following describes the Library s requirements in establishing financing: Amount: - $5.5 million Rate: Fixed, tax-exempt rate Debt to be retired as follows: o $1.2 million Proceeds from sale of current Eagle Creek Branch o $3.0 million 5 year capital campaign o $1.3 million 20 to 25 year operating expense Prepayment provisions: The loan is subject to prepayment, without penalty, in whole or in part at any time following five (5) business days notice by the Library. Fees and expenses: Any and all fees and expenses related to the origination, establishment, management or conclusion of the loan(s) should be included within the amortization schedule. Submission Requirements A. Please submit an original and two (2) copies of your proposal in a sealed envelope to the contact person shown below no later than the date listed in the RFP Schedule. No oral or electronically transmitted proposals will be accepted. Proposals not received by the specified time noted will be rejected. All proposals submitted shall become the property of LPL. All responses to the Request for Proposal shall be submitted to: Lexington Public Library Attn: Karen King Finance Officer 140 East Main Street Lexington, KY Questions may be submitted via to: kking@lexpublib.org B. Each proposal should address all pertinent areas and be specific. Any and all conditions, terms or restrictions should be stated. C. Interested Proposes may submit more than one proposal or option. Page 3 of 5

4 RFP Schedule Release of RFP August 18, 2014 Questions due from prospective institutions VIA August 27, Addendum released with answers to all questions August 29, 2014 Written proposals due prior to 2:00 September 10,2014 Review and evaluation of proposals Week of September 15, 2014 Target award date Around September 19, 2014 Evaluation of Proposals The Lexington Public Library will review submitted proposals based upon cost, but not solely limited to that criteria. A. Rejection of Proposals a. The Library reserves the right to reject any or all submissions in whole or in part for any reason without incurring any cost or liability whatsoever. All proposals will be reviewed for completeness of the submission requirements. b. If a proposal fails to meet a material requirement in the Request for Proposal, or is incomplete or contains irregularities, the proposal may be rejected. A deviation is material to the extent that a response is not in substantial accord with the requirements in the RFP. B. Evaluation Process a. A selection committee will review in detail all proposals that are received to determine the awarded institution. b. The Library reserves the right to determine the suitability of proposals on the basis of a proposal's meeting administrative requirements, business objectives, technical requirements, the review team's assessment of the quality and performance of the proposing institution, cost, and other criteria as assessed by the review team. c. The Library may require the institution to clarify an answer. Failure to do so may result in sufficient cause for being non-responsive d. After reviewing all proposals, the Library may ask that the finalist make a formal presentation to the LPL Budget/Finance Committee. C. Errors in the RFP a. If an institution submitting a proposal discovers any ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy, omission, or other error in the RFP, the institution should immediately provide the Library with written notice of the problem and request that the RFP be clarified or modified. D. Withdrawal and Resubmission/Modification of Proposals a. An institution may withdraw its proposal at any time prior to the deadline for submitting proposals by notifying the Library in writing of its withdrawal. Modification offered in any other manner, oral or written, will not be considered. Proposals cannot be changed after the evaluation process begins. E. News Releases Page 4 of 5

5 a. News releases pertaining to the award of a contract may not be made without the prior written approval of the Library. F. Disposition of Materials a. All materials submitted in response to an RFP will become the property of the Library and will be returned only at the Library's option and at the expense of the vendor submitting the proposal or bid. One copy of a submitted proposal will be retained for official files and become a public record. However, any confidential material submitted by an institution that was clearly marked as such will be returned upon request. G. Form of Notice a. Where any notice is required or permitted in writing, the notice must be sent by U.S. mail and . Page 5 of 5