New Castle County panel votes to issue RFI before pursuing RFP for fire service operational study

The New Castle County Fire Service Strategic Planning Committee voted June 10 to suspend a previously approved Request for Proposals and instead issue a nonbinding Request for Information to scope an operational study of county fire service operations. The motion to accept the RFI was made by committee member Dan Bur and seconded by Chief Gordon Edwards; the motion passed and staff were authorized to advertise the RFI.

Robin, New Castle County chief procurement officer, told the committee the RFI is intended to identify who might perform the study, provide nonbinding budget estimates and suggest additions to the scope before the county issues a binding RFP. "Who could do this? Who can give you a guesstimate of how much it's going to cost?" she said, describing the RFI as a way to establish a budgetary baseline without obligating the county to award a contract.

Robin proposed tentative dates for the RFI process, including a short window for questions and answers and an early August opening for submissions. Committee members said the nonbinding nature of the RFI would protect vendor relations and reduce the risk of issuing a full RFP without a confirmed funding source; several members warned that issuing an RFP and not following through could damage the county's reputation with vendors.

The committee also discussed options for limiting RFP bidders to those who submitted an RFI response, but members agreed that decision should be made after reviewing responses so as not to restrict competition if too few vendors respond.

With the motion approved, Robin said staff will proceed with advertising the RFI and will update the committee as responses come in. The committee set a follow‑up meeting for June 24 to consider next steps and asked staff to circulate RFI materials and timelines to members.

The committee did not record a roll‑call vote tally in the transcript; the meeting record indicates the motion passed.