Fire Rescue Headquarters and Training Facility Feasibility Study

The City of Bartow, Florida (City”) actively seeking a qualified and innovative company with experience evaluating fire department facilities and staffing and developing long-term planning solutions. Through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process, the City plans to contract professional services to conduct a Fire Rescue Headquarters and Training Facility Feasibility Study. This study will assess current and future needs for new or modified fire stations, identify optimal locations for fire stations, and evaluate asset deployment to ensure response-time standards are met throughout the fire protection district.

These services are partially funded by state appropriated funds. All services must be performed in accordance with applicable Federal, State and Local regulations.

Background

The City of Bartow, Florida (hereinafter known as "the City") was granted its municipal charter in 1882. It is located in Central Florida, within Polk County, and is accessible from U.S. Highway 17 and State Road 60. Its neighboring cities are Lakeland and Winter Haven, and it is situated between Tampa and Orlando. It is the County Seat and serves a resident population of approximately 22,084, and one of the largest counties in Florida and one of the fastest growing counties in the country.

The mission of the City of Bartow Fire Department is to protect life and property, through education and awareness as well as caring and efficient response with the highest quality service possible.

The feasibility study will serve as a foundation for making informed decisions regarding the design, location, construction, and operational needs inclusive of staffing and a new Fire Headquarters and Training Facility.

According to the City of Bartow Planning Department and the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, there were over 5,000 new single-family units and over 2,500 new multi-family units planned or in-progress throughout the city as of 2024.

The Bartow Fire Department (BFD) is a full-time career fire and rescue agency with 27 uniform personnel. From an operational perspective, three shifts consisting of a Lieutenant, Drivers/Engineers, and five additional Firefighter/EMT’s provide all-hazard incident response services. The BFD currently provides these services to a 54-square mile area from two locations located in the City. In addition to providing emergency services, the BFD also conducts fire inspections, code enforcement, plan reviews, fire cause investigations, disaster preparedness and response, and public education and prevention activities. Over the last five-year period, the BFD has experienced a service demand increase of nearly 18%.

With these factors in mind, it has become critical to provide a new fire rescue headquarters and training facility to replace the antiquated 1966 fire station. Current station is insufficient to house existing personnel, equipment and meet demands and growth occurring; 1st responders living quarters are above the equipment garage, thereby creating a health hazard for emergency personnel where exhaust soot needs daily cleaning and removal from the living quarters, entry/exist from station is safety hazard for pedestrian/bike traffic.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 26-10
• Department: Fire Department
• Department Head: Jay Robinson (Fire Chief)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-03-24T20:00:00.000Z

Meetings & Milestones

Evaluation Criteria

• Executive Summary (5 pts) —

  Executive Summary

  • The purpose of the Executive Summary is to provide an overview of the Proposer’s qualifications to perform the scope of services.
  • Introduction letter describing your company, experience, number of years in business, licenses and/or applicable certifications, contact name, company address, phone number and email address of contact person who can sign on behalf of your entity and will be assigned as the main contact for the resulting agreement. (One page, single or double sided)
  • Provide documentation showing proper incorporation by the Secretary of State.
  • All forms listed under Section 8: Forms
• Organizational Resources (5 pts) —
  • As part of the evaluation process, the City has the responsibility of taking into account the size and complexity of the project/tasks and be assured that the company/team has the organizational and financial resources required to successfully deliver this project/task. Please describe your operational stability, corporate financial resources, and insurance limits.
  • Describe the companies’ current and future projected workload. Describe specifically the companies’ daily ability to handle each aspect of the scope of services described herein. (Limit response to two (2) pages maximum)
• Experience and Expertise (40 pts) —
  • Describe the company’s experience with providing similar size and scope of work as outlined in this RFP. Proposers should be detailed on their level of experience in similar work and the knowledge it has provided them. (One page, single or double sided).

   

  • Identify a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) comparable or similar projects with a like population, demographics, infrastructures and building use and type to the City of Bartow’s Fire Department from within the past five (5) years that demonstrate your company’s experience with the scope of services outlined.  For each project identified, provide the following:
  • • Description of project
    • Final cost of effort
    • Completion dates (if applicable)
    • Name of client
    • Experience with implementation, coordination and funding plans.
    • Reference information, per project (one current contact name and title with telephone number and e-mail address)
    • Example of final reports provided

   

  • Identify the key members of the team and provide resumes, (limited to one page per employee), of the individuals who will perform required tasks under the Proposal. All discipline and area leads shall be licensed in the State of Florida.  Resumes shall include professional credentials and experience of the company’s key members who would complete required tasks. Identify the proposed Project Manager who will have primary contact with the City for all work associated with a continuing contract. For each member, provide his or her:
    • • Title
      • Area of Specialty
      • Office Location assigned for previous two years. If recently reassigned, provide explanation and timing.
      • Total years of experience
      • Years with company
      • Specific involvement/role in projects used as references or experience summary.
      • Include an organizational chart.
• Approach to Project (30 pts) —
  • Describe the approach, project management and organization that will provide support to the project. Describe systems used for planning, scheduling, estimating and managing progress. The company/team’s experience in qualifications submitting for should be included.

   

  • Provide a timeline for achieving the City’s goals and objective for this project.

   

  • Briefly describe the company’s experience with quality control, dispute resolution, and stakeholder engagement.
• Women/ Minority Owned Business Enterprise (W/MBE), Disabled Veteran & Veteran Owned Business Utilization (5 pts) —
  • Any firm certified as a W/MBE and/or Veteran Owned Business will be allotted the maximum amount of points for this Tab. A copy of your company’s certification must be included in your response.

  Provide certifications and descriptions of services being rendered for any subconsultant firm(s)/ subcontractor(s) being utilized on this project. One (1) point will be given for each W/MBE and/ or Veteran business utilized up to the maximum points allotted for this Tab.

• Local Firm or Intent/capacity to affect the local economy through the use of local labor, vendors, sub-contractors and resources (5 pts) —
  • Identify the location of the company’s principal office and the home office location of key staff on this project. Any company’s offices can be considered as the company’s principal office for the purposes of this RFP so long as the designated location is the home office of key team members and is where actual work for the City will be performed. If proven to be local, your company will be allotted the maximum points for this Tab.

   

  If the company submitting is not located in the Bartow Utility Services Area (BUSA), you may provide documentation and descriptions of services being rendered for any subconsultant(s)/ subcontractor(s) being utilized on this project. One (1) point will be given for each local business located within the BUSA utilized up to the maximum points allotted for this Tab.

• Performance Surveys (10 pts) —
  • Surveys shall be sent to all clients for whom has identified under Tab 3 – Experience and Expertise.  Surveys should correlate to all projects identified under Tab 3. Please refer to Exhibit I for detailed Instructions on how to prepare and send performance surveys.
  • Completed surveys. Purchasing will take the average of all surveys, and score as follows
    • Average Score between 9-10 10 Points
    • Average Score between 7-8    8 Points
    • Average Score between 5-6    6 Points
    • Average Score between 3-4    4 Points
    • Average Score between 1-2    2 Points
    • Average Score of 0                    0 Points
• Cost (10 pts) —
  • Provide a detailed cost proposal inclusive of all associated costs to complete services as described within this RFP.

Submission Requirements

• Technical Proposal Submittal (required)
• Price Submittal (required)
• REQUIRED FOR HARD COPY ONLY: Addenda Acknowledgement —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Bidder Incorporation Information (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Proposer's Certification Form (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Performance Surveys (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

  1. The Contractor is responsible for sending out a performance survey to the clients that have been identified under Tab 3. The survey can be found on the next page.
  2. The company should enter past clients’ contact information, and project information on each survey form for each reference. The company should also enter the name of the Consultant being surveyed.
  3. The company is responsible for ensuring all references/surveys are included in their submittal under Tab 7 – Performance Surveys.
  4. City of Bartow (COB) may contact the reference for additional information or to clarify survey data. If the reference cannot be contacted, there will be no credit given for that reference.
• Drug Free Workplace Form (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Proposed Debarment, and Other Responsibility Matters (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Certification Regarding Lobbying (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Affidavit Certification Immigration Laws (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• E-Verify Certification (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Sworn Statement on Public Entity Crimes (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Non Collusive Affidavit (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Vendor Certification Regarding Scrutinized Companies List (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Affidavit Regarding the Use of Coercion for Labor or Services (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Additional Information
• Submission Process (required)
• Will there be interviews? (required)
• Are permits needed? (required)
• Bond Requirements? (required)
• Federally Funded? (required)
• Pricing Table (required)

Questions & Answers