PLANNING/ZONING BOARD SOLICITOR RFP

Description: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS TO BE AWARDED BY CRITERIA ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO N.J.S.A. 19:44-01 ET.SEQ. The Borough of Collingswood solicits statements of qualification for applicants for appointment to the following professional positions. Responses should address the general criteria and mandatory minimum criteria for the position sought. All responses will be treated as confidential and reviewed only by the Mayor and Borough Commissioners, unless otherwise required by law. Responses must be received in the Office of the Borough Clerk no later than 1:00 PM Thursday, November 19, 2026. All responses shall be opened and announced publicly, immediately thereafter by the Borough Clerk or her representative. Responses will be reviewed by the Mayor and Borough Commissioners. All appointments will be announced at a public meeting. Unless otherwise noted appointments shall be for the calendar year of 2027 and subject to the execution of an appropriate contract. Late submissions will not be accepted and will be returned unopened. No oral, written or other form of amendment will be accepted by the Borough Clerk after this time, unless requested by the Borough. The Borough reserves the right to reject any or all submissions, to waive any requirements of the RFP and to modify or amend, with the consent of the respondent, submissions. All submissions become the property of the Borough. Submissions which, in the sole judgment of the Borough, fail to meet the requirements of the RFP or which are in any way conditional, incomplete, obscure, contain additions or deletions from requested information, or contain errors may be rejected. SELECTION PROCESS Non-responsive and late responses will be rejected without evaluation. For vendors that satisfy "Minimum Requirements" and "Mandatory Contents of Proposal" evaluations will be made by the Borough on the basis of that which is the most advantageous, price and other factors considered. The evaluation will consider the criteria of experience and reputation in the field, professional expertise, including accreditation, licensing and/or membership in appropriate professional associations, knowledge of the Borough and the subject matter to be addressed under the contract, past performance on other work for the Borough, availability to accommodate any required meetings of the Borough, availability of personnel and other resources to do the work on the schedule set forth by the Borough, designated professional and support staff and location of offices, strength of assurances of performance provided, if required, financial stability and strength of the submitting firm, on-going criminal investigations or litigation, references in general, insurance provided, fee and compensation proposal, and other factors as demonstrated to be in the best interest of the Borough. In addition Responses will be evaluated using the following criteria: (i) qualifications of the Respondent and (a) experience in providing the desired services and (b) personnel qualifications and experience of the respondent and its staff; (ii) references; (ii) proposed costs and other charges (if any); and (iv) familiarity with the Borough and its requirements. Selection of the award shall be based solely on the Borough's evaluation of the submissions and the criteria. The Borough holds and may at its sole discretion, exercise the following rights and options with respect to this Request for proposals: 1. To interview the most qualified respondents. 2. To negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract to obtain the most advantageous situation for the Borough. 3. To reject any or all submissions and to waive information required in the RFp is explicitly reserved by the Borough 4. To issue additional solicitations for proposals and/or amendments to the RFp. 5. To modify dates. 6. To enter into agreements for only portions (or to not enter into an agreement for any) of the services contemplated by the proposal submitted. 7. All proposals prepared in response to this RFP are at the sole expense of the Proposer, and with the express understanding that there will be no claim, whatsoever, for reimbursement from the Borough for the expense of preparation. 8. Proposals submitted in response to this RFP may contain technical, financial, or other data whose public disclosure could cause substantial injury to a Proposer's competitive position, or constitute a trade secret. To protect these data from disclosure, the Proposer should specifically identify the pages of the proposal that contain such information, by properly marking the applicable pages and inserting the following notice in the front of its proposal. The Borough Will not honor any attempt by a Proposer either to designate its entire proposal as proprietary and/or to claim copyright protection for its entire proposal. DISCLAIMER "The contents and information provided in this Request for Proposals (RFP) is meant to provide general information to interested parties. The successful Proposers shall be required to execute an Agreement with the Borough that will govern the rights, duties and obligations between the Borough and the SUCCESSfuI PrOpOSEr. ACCORDINGLY, THE TERMS SET FORTH WITHIN THIS REOUEST FOR PROPOSALS SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE ANY CONTRACT BETWEEN THE BOROUGH AND THE SUCCESSFUL PROPOSER. MOREOVER, THE BOROUGH ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY OMISSIONS OR DELETIONS RELATING TO THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. However, the successful proposal will become part of the Agreement." Any questions regarding this solicitation or process should be submitted in writing to the Borough Qualified Purchasing Agent, via email at epigliacelli@collingswood.com. PLANNING/ZONING BOARD SOLICITOR GENERAL CRITERIA: The Borough of Collingswood desires to appoint a land use board attorney who will be the attorney for the Borough Joint Land Use Board. Applicants should demonstrate knowledge of general New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law and zoning laws. Any experience or knowledge of matters directly affecting the Borough of Collingswood should be addressed. MANDATORY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: 1. Must be licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey for a period of not less than five (5) years preceding the proposed appointment, and eligible to appear before all state and federal courts in New Jersey, as well as New Jersey administrative agencies and the Office of Administrative Law. 2. Must have a minimum of three (3) years' experience in the general representation of land use boards. 3. Must list past and present municipal or government authorities represented. 4. Must maintain a bona fide principal office in the State of New Jersey. 5. Must have sufficient support staff available to provide all land use legal services required by the Borough including, but not limited to, legal research, preparation of resolutions.