98-24 Evaluation Report - Contract for Operation of West Orange Recycling Center - 2024.pdf

2 (5) Panayiota Reynolds, Qualified Purchasing Agent for the Township. Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:34-4.3(f) each member of the Committee executed a certification that they do not have a conflict of interest as to any of the vendors. On February 12, 2024, Mazza Mulch submitted a letter to the Township challenging the proposals submitted by Nature’s Choice NJ alleging that the pricing proposal set forth in Nature’s Choice NJ’s proposal deviated from the instruction in the RFP. Specifically, the RFP required that respondents propose a pricing proposal that included both: (i) an annual lease amount for use of the West Orange Recycling Center; and (ii) a percentage of annual revenues to be paid to the Township from the operation of the West Orange Recycling Center. Mazza Mulch argued that Nature’s Choice NJ’s proposed a flat rate rather than a percentage from the revenues from the operation of the West Orange Recycling Center. Prior to the evaluation and scoring of the proposals, the legal department for the Township examined the challenge and issued a memorandum to the members of the Committee whereby it concluded that the submission of a flat annual rate rather than a percentage did not constitute a material defect requiring rejection of the proposal from Nature’s Choice NJ. On February 14, 2024, the Township’s Environmental Consultant provided an initial evaluation of the proposal submitted in response to the RFP. A copy of the Proposal is annexed hereto as Exhibit “A.” Notably, Environmental Consultant provided an analysis of the pricing proposals based on “average value of each of the major material streams at the facility” in order to provide a basis for comparison. Evaluation and Scoring Each member of the Committee was provided a copy of the proposals submitted in response to the Township’s RFP. Each member evaluated the proposals and offer base scores in the following categories: (i) Revenue or Costs; (ii) Experience of the Respondent; (iii) Qualifications of the Staff; (iv) Equipment; (v) Violations, Fines, Notices of Violations; (vi) Evaluation of the Detailed Site Improvement Plans. The committee also decided the weighting of each of these categories as follows: (i) Revenue or Costs – 35; (ii) Experience of the Respondent - 25; (iii) Qualifications of the Staff - 10; (iv) Equipment - 10; (v) Violations, Fines, Notices of Violations - 10; (vi) Evaluation

lows: (i) Revenue or Costs – 35; (ii) Experience of the Respondent - 25; (iii) Qualifications of the Staff - 10; (iv) Equipment - 10; (v) Violations, Fines, Notices of Violations - 10; (vi) Evaluation of the Detailed Site Improvement Plans – 10. Consistent with the initial evaluation performed by the Township’s Environmental Consultant, the Committee’s scoring as to Revenues and Costs reflected disparity in the pricing based on the initial evaluation. The Township’s Environmental Consultant estimated the following prices: (i) Mazza Mulch - $810,000 rent and $0 revenue sharing; (ii) Nature’s Choice NJ - $631,869 rent and $375,000 revenue sharing; (iii) the Firewood Farm - $300,000 rent and $236,505 revenue sharing (estimated) ; and (iv) Yannuzzi Group - $312,000 rent and $208,315 revenue sharing (estimated) as well as $120,000 in site improvements. As Nature’s Choice NJ price proposal far