Southborough committee sets vendor-review schedule after five RFS responses

The Town of Southborough elementary school building committee agreed on a process and timeline to review proposals after staff said the district received five responses to a request for services.

Becky, a district staff member, told the committee the RFS “was issued on March 18th and responses did come back to the district last Thursday” and later added, “we've received five responses.” She outlined the procurement schedule and the scoring rubric the committee will use: project schedule and team availability (30%), experience and qualifications (40%), quality of past work and references (25%), and quality of the submittal package (5%).

Committee members agreed to pre-score the proposals individually and share scores with Becky for tabulation. The group discussed narrowing the field to finalists for interviews rather than bringing all five firms in for presentations, with some members suggesting a small subcommittee handle initial scoring to identify finalists. Jason, a committee member, said a subcommittee could “whittle down” the list while preserving the opportunity for public deliberation after scores are tallied.

The committee tentatively scheduled a short meeting to review scores on Monday the 13th and to hold finalist interviews on Wednesday the 15th, while reserving the option to postpone if members are not ready. Becky said she can notify firms that dates have shifted and that not all firms will be called for interviews.

Members noted the limits of the committee's authority: the building committee can recommend a consultant, but the select board must approve and execute any contract. Becky said the select board was not scheduled to meet until April 28 after town meeting and that a special select board meeting might be required to finalize a contract once the committee makes a recommendation.

The committee did not make a final consultant selection at the meeting; next steps are pre-scores due from members and a posted meeting to review tallies and confirm which firms will be interviewed.