The Engineering Department is initiating a project to preserve historical engineering records stored on microfiche, aperture cards and microfilm into searchable PDF files. Converting these records to PDF will help preserve important historical information while making documents easier for staff to access, share, and manage digitally.
Background
The Engineering Department maintains a large collection of historical engineering documents stored on microfiche, aperture cards and microfilm. These records include non-current plans, engineering drawings, and archival documents that remain important for reference, historical context, and supporting future infrastructure projects. Many of these documents are not available in digital format, making them difficult to access and share among staff.
Accessing these records currently requires specialized equipment, which has been experiencing ongoing operational issues. The limited availability and reliability of the equipment makes retrieving information time-consuming and can delay research, project review, and records requests. Additionally, microfiche and microfilm is an aging storage medium, and continued reliance on it increases the risk of data loss or degradation over time.
Converting these records to PDF will preserve the information while making the documents significantly more accessible to staff. Digital files can be easily stored, searched, and shared, supporting day-to-day engineering work, historical reference, and long-term records management. Digitization also aligns with broader departmental efforts to modernize document management and improve accessibility to critical engineering records.
- Key Challenges
- Volume of records: There is a large quantity of historical records that must be reviewed and converted.
- Approximate Count
- 65k Microfiche Slides
- 20k Aperture Cards
- 200 Reels of Microfilm.
- Aging format: Microfiche requires specialized equipment and handling, which can slow access to records.
- Equipment limitations: Existing microfiche scanning equipment has reliability issues and replacement costs are high.
- Preservation needs: Historical engineering documents must be carefully preserved to ensure important infrastructure records are not lost.
Addressing these challenges through digitization will help ensure the department’s historical engineering records remain preserved, accessible, and usable for years to come.
Project Details
- Reference ID: Quote- 26 - 191
- Department: Engineering
- Department Head: Director (Director)
Important Dates
- Questions Due: 2026-03-31T16:00:00.000Z
- Answers Posted By: 2026-04-02T19:00:00.000Z
Addenda
Evaluation Criteria
- Qualifications and Experience of Firm and Staff (10 pts) —
This section evaluates the Proposer’s qualifications, relevant experience, and capacity to successfully perform the required services. Scoring will be based on the firm’s history of similar projects, technical expertise, organizational structure, key personnel credentials, and demonstrated past performance.
- Project Approach (10 pts) —
This section evaluates the Proposer’s proposed methodology for delivering the services, including processes used on similar projects and the approach envisioned for this engagement. Scoring will be based on the clarity and feasibility of the project plan, schedule, key activities, deliverables, and the proposed coordination process with the City’s Project Manager.
- Cost Analysis (10 pts) —
This section evaluates the Proposer's completed cost analysis and proposed fee for the project. Scoring will be based on the completeness, clarity, and reasonableness of the pricing information provided.
- Business Enterprise Program Outreach and Utilization (10 pts) —
This section evaluates the Proposer’s status as an SBE, MBE, WBE, or combination, and the firm’s demonstrated commitment to outreach, inclusion, and utilization of small and minority-owned businesses in performance of the contract. Scoring will be based on documented outreach efforts, planned mentoring and capacity-building initiatives, and processes for inclusive subcontracting.
Submission Requirements
- Is the Vendor registered with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) in accordance with Florida Statute §607.1501? (required)
- Is the Vendor a City of St. Petersburg certified SBE? (required) —
If you have submitted an application and it is pending, please send an email to osd@stpete.org. In the subject line- provide the solicitation number and due date.
- Is the Vendor a City of St. Petersburg certified MWBE? (required) —
If you have submitted an application and it is pending, please send an email to osd@stpete.org. In the subject line- provide the solicitation number and due date.
- Address for Headquarters location. (required)
- Address of office providing service, if different than above.
- Signature Authority (required) —
Please provide a letter certifying who is authorized to execute the agreement on behalf of Company.
- Describe the nature of company’s business. (required)
- Year the Company was Founded. (required)
- Number of years company has operated under the current name. (Note: if the company has modified its corporate structure since its founding (e.g., from a corporation to an LLC), you may list the number of years the company was founded under the original corporate structure). (required)
- Company’s bank of record. (required)
- Describe any litigation that the vendor has been a party to in the last five years where it was alleged that the offeror breached a contract for similar services with a client/customer and describe any contracts for similar services that the vendor failed to complete for similar services. Describe the facts and status of any such litigation or contract. (required) —
Type N/A if not applicable.
- Identify any government entity that has debarred or otherwise prohibited the vendor from responding to its competitive solicitations within the last five years. Describe the circumstances surrounding such debarment or other prohibition. (required) —
Type N/A if not applicable.
- The vendor acknowledges that it has read, understands and will comply with Florida Statute §448.095 pertaining to required use of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify system. Should the City terminate the contract with the vendor for violation of §448.095, vendor may not be awarded a contract with the City for at least one year. (required)
- The vendor acknowledges that its quote response is subject to Public Records laws (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes). (required)
- Will vendor allow other agencies to piggyback the contract if awarded? (required)
- The vendor hereby makes all certifications required by Florida Statute §287.135 related to scrutinized companies. (required)
- Is vendor required to provide any disclosures to the City regarding a foreign country of concern pursuant to Florida Statutes §286.101 (3)(a)? (required)
- If YES, please provide the disclosure(s) in accordance with the requirements of Florida Statute §286.101 (3)(a).
- The vendor certifies that it takes no exceptions to the agreement attached. (required) —
The City has deemed the following contract terms to be non-negotiable. Vendor is advised that if it wishes to take exception to any of the terms contained or referenced in the contract, it must explicitly identify the term and the exception in its response to the solicitation. Vendor's stated exception to a non-negotiable contract term may disqualify it from consideration:
- Indemnification.
- Insurance coverage.
- Governing Law and Venue.
- The City will not agree to the addition of any provision requiring a dispute resolution process or method, including but not limited to binding arbitration.
- The City will not agree to the addition of any provision waiving any remedy available to the City in law or equity (including but limited to the right to a jury trial)
- The City will not agree to the addition of any provision providing for the award of attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.
- The City will not agree to the addition of any provision limiting the liability of Vendor to a maximum dollar amount.
- If exceptions are taken to the attached agreement, please provide.
- Has the vendor identified any trade secrets or confidential information in its response? (required)
- If yes to the above question, please upload your redacted proposal here.
- I currently have the required insurance coverage as specified in the solicitation and will be able to provide a Certificate of Insurance if awarded. (required)
- References (required) —
Please download the below document, complete, and upload.
- Submittal Documents (required) —
Upload all other documents relating to this solicitation. Including but not limited to proposals/statements of qualifications, applicable bonds, warranty information, etc.
- Responsible and Responsive Construction Questions (required) —
Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.
- Living Wage Questions (required) —
Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.
- What type of project is this? (required)
- Number of Awards (required)
- Lowest Cost or Evaluation Criteria (required)
- Will background checks be needed? (required)
- What type of background check? (required)
- Will subcontractors/subconsultants be allowed? (required)
- What Business Enterprise Program Applies to this project? (required)
- Will a performance and payment bond be needed? (required)
- Is this a quote? (required)
Questions & Answers
Q (No subject): What type of microfilm does the city possess: 16mm x 100’, 16mm x 215’, or 35mm x 100’? Additionally, what reduction ratio was used when the film was created? Were the documents filmed in comic mode or cine mode? Are the films silver originals or diazo duplicates?
A: We have a few (2-3) 35mm x 100’, the remaining are 16mm x 100’. I do not have an exact count or know the reduction ratio. They are filmed in comic mode; most are diazo duplicates.
Q (No subject): Do any of the microfilm, microfiche, or aperture cards exhibit signs of vinegar syndrome?
A: We do have some older microfilms that have started to exhibit signs of this. It is a small percentage of them, 5-10 films.
Q (No subject): What is the condition of the microfiche jackets? Are they torn, have split sleeves, or are there loose images?
A: They are in good condition.
Q (No subject): Are the microfiche COM, 5-channel, 2-channel, or a mix of both?
A: We have 5-Channel microfiche
Q (No subject): What is the average number of images per roll of microfilm and per microfiche?
A: On average there are 800-1000 images, but we have seen higher.
Q (No subject): What DPI is the city requesting? Is it correct to assume that bi-tonal images will be required, given that 300 DPI is the standard for 1B-26-003?
A: Yes, the city would like bi-tonal images with a minimum of 300 DPI.
Q (No subject): If the vendor decides to take the project off-site, will the city organize and box the records to help reduce costs?
A: Yes, the city will organize and box the records for pick-up.
Q (No subject): Regarding file organization and naming, please provide a detailed description of the city-approved naming convention. The index is the most time-consuming aspect of this project and must be clearly defined for us to provide a lump sum price.
A: MicroFiche:
Each microfiche jackets is clearly marked with project number, subfolder information & # of jackets per subfolder, please recreate digital folder to match jackets.
MicroFilm, Aperture Cards
Project Folder - 23046-130 – SWWRF Digester Upgrades
Subfolder -
Document Name - (YYMMDD)_Document Name
Please see attachment B for more information.
Q (No subject): What is the budget for this project?
A: We estimate somewhere between $35-40k for the project.
Q (No subject): What are the benefits of being a certified MWBE with the City of St. Petersburg? Will the city recognize a MWBE certification from the City of Tampa?
A: To receive the benefits of the SBE and MWBE certification for this Quote, vendors must be certified with the City of St. Petersburg.
Benefits of the City's certification include but are not limited to access to our sheltered market program, bid discounts on qualifying quotes, training, resources and visibility. Please see section 2-283 (e) of the St. Petersburg City Code for further information.
https://library.municode.com/fl/st._petersburg/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIISTPECO_CH2AD_ARTVPUCOET_DIV10MIWOBUENPR_S2-283AUREPO
For more information on our certification programs or to apply please visit: https://www.stpete.org/business/procurement/small_business_enterprise_program.php