We are excited to share that we received over 75 proposals for our website redesign project. Due to the high volume of submissions, we are extending our review process to ensure each proposal is given thorough and equitable consideration. We appreciate the effort and creativity from all participants and will provide updates as we progress through the evaluations. 

Website Redesign RFP

Website Redesign RFP Questions and Answers

Intro/Summary 

The City of Greenbelt is a unique chartered municipal government located within the Baltimore-Washington region in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Greenbelt is nationally recognized as one of the historic planned communities of President Roosevelt’s New Deal era. In 2017, Greenbelt celebrated the 80th anniversary of the community’s incorporation and community spirit of cooperation and inclusion. The Council-Manager form of government serves an active citizenry of over 24,000 residents. Seven Councilmembers appoint a City Manager who oversees over 225 city employees who provide a variety of services, including city police; social services (individual and family counseling, emergency relief, independent senior living support (geriatric case management, home visits by student nurses), GED and English as a Second Language Tutoring, training for parents and children); recreation including two community centers, an aquatic and fitness center, an arts program, as well as numerous parks, trails, a forest preserve, and Greenbelt Lake; public works; planning; code enforcement, animal control; and an affordable housing apartment building. Greenbelt has earned the Sustainable Maryland designation and has dedicated its staff to environmental stewardship. The City coordinates with the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) as the City does not have zoning authority. For more information about the City, including department profiles, please visit www.greenbeltmd.gov. 

This RFP aims to find a partner to redesign our website at www.greenbeltmd.gov. We believe that this project has the potential to significantly improve our ability to communicate our mission, move many daily functions to the web, provide timely information to citizens and companies, and present economic development opportunities. The information provided in this RFP is the minimum we are looking for, and we are open to learning about any new technology or innovative ideas to learning about any new technology or innovative ideas. 

Context 

Our site was built in 2018 and has been selectively updated since then.  The site is outdated in its visual appeal with extremely large images, icons, fonts and, with a significant amount of outdated and extraneous content. The site also lacks the latest technology and functionality, especially when updating older pages or adding new content. Our goal is to implement a new plan to refine our current processes to make things simpler internally and allow for more excellent connectivity, interaction, and citizen/business customer service through our website. Additionally, we would like to allow form submission, payments, job applications, and other online functions to make processes more efficient and provide more streamlined customer service to our citizens, companies, visitors, City Council, and City staff. 

Existing Website Constraints: 

• Internal Search including Council packet PDFs 

• No tracking (don’t know how many people come or contact us through it) 

• Unappealing and outdated 

• Disorganized – redundant content, old, abandoned content 

• Difficult to update/modify 

• Difficult to add innovative features 

The new site must be one that City staff can manage, that will look great, and that allows us to search, create and edit pages and do it quickly. 

Prioritized Goals 

This new website should support the following goals: 

• Provide user-friendly access to City information. 

• Allow for the submission of forms, resumes, permits, etc. 

• Allow for online electronic payments (permits, fees, registrations) 

• Allow for intuitive and straightforward content edits and additions 

• Allow for Document Library 

• Allow for Multiple Calendar management and integration of calendars with Email Providers, such as Google and Outlook.  

• Be ADA-compliant and allow for easy language translation 

• Be visually appealing  

• Equally functional across multiple platforms (PC/Mac, tablet, phone) 

• Offsite hosting 

• Mobile App (Optional) 

Project Team 

The following project team will partner with the selected consultant to develop and implement the new City of Greenbelt website. The consultant will work through a single point of contact in the City and incorporate the Web Committee's ideas, issues, and concerns. 

Chondria Andrews, Public Information Officer 

Ms. Andrews will co-manage the internal team and serve as the Project Manager and primary point person for the project. She is responsible for the timeliness and success of this project and will approve critical deliverables and the final website design.  

Functionality Requirements & Services 

The list below presents a basic set of features and services the City wants this web redesign and hosting contract to include. 

Our new website will require: 

• Responsive layout 

• Events calendars (with a registration system to get on the e-mailing list if desired) 

• Online payment system 

• Public Works service requests 

• Newsletter registration 

• Social integration (sharing pages, embedded social feeds) 

• Contact form 

• Log-in area for City staff and City Council 

• Google Analytics integration 

• Ability to edit key pages through an open-source content management system (WordPress is preferred) 

• Website hosting 

• Ongoing technical support 

• Municode integration 

• WCAG/GDPR/508/ADA Compliant 

• Calendar integration (ical, Google cal, etc.) 

• Search function with predictive text 
  Document Library 

• Possible mobile app 

Integrations/Technology Requirements 

The new site will need to include, at a minimum, the following features, functionality, and characteristics: 

• Administration/City Clerk 

• Secure log-in for City staff, access to restricted areas 

• Secure log-in for City Council with a download area 

• Finance 

• Online Bill Pay 

• Code Enforcement 

• Support online form submission and payment 

• Potentially support database integration 

• Human Recourses 

• Compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems and Fillable Online Job Application 

• Public Works 

• Citizen concern/complaint form 

• Emergency alerts 

• Call-a-bus and other requests 

Budget 

Our budget is $45,000. 

While we prefer the most cost-effective solution, we will consider all proposals that fall reasonably within or around this range based on their value. 

All invoices for this project must be billed before June 30, 2025. 

Proposal Requirements 

Please include the following in your proposal response: 

• Company description 

• Project process overview 

• Recommended approach of how you will meet our goals 

• Proposed timeline 

• Team bios, identifying the Project Manager 

• Three recent relevant project samples: Links to the site are sufficient, along with a description of the key features and functionality. 

• Three client references 

• Line-item pricing 

• Terms and conditions 

Evaluation Criteria  

Evaluation of proposals will be based on criteria at the Owner’s sole discretion but will broadly be based on the overall best value to the following criteria: 

• Overall Experience of the Firm/Team 15%  

• Experience and Qualifications of the Project Team 25%  

• Project Approach and Schedule 35%  

• Project Cost 15%  

• References 10%  

Interview Format (if needed) 

Upon reviewing the proposals submitted, the city’s Project Manager may determine a short list of teams for interviews. If interviews are warranted, a short list of firms will be notified, and a schedule of available days/times for in-person interviews will be provided. 

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION:  

PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE 4 PM ON OCTOBER 18, 2024.  

Please provide an electronic and original hard copy to: Chondria Andrews, Public Information Officer, 25 Crescent Rd Greenbelt, MD 20770, candrews@greenbeltmd.gov 

Disclaimer: 

The RFP, including the documents incorporated and/or referenced in it, has been prepared to solicit proposals and is not a contract offer. The only document binding on the Owner is the contract, if any, duly executed by the Owner and the selected Consultant. No proposal shall be construed as creating any contractual relationship between the Owner and any party responding to this RFP.