Request for Qualifications: On-Call Engineering Services

Submittal of Qualification Statements
Issue Date: March 3, 2026
Closing Date and Time: April 1, 2026 at 4:00pm

 

Background

The Town of Sunset Beach is in located in Brunswick County, NC, and serves approximately 6,706 residents and 150,00 seasonal guests. The Town is currently responsible for managing town-owned streets, planning and zoning, parks, stormwater, and admin services.

Introduction

The Town is seeking qualified firms to provide professional services on an “On-Call” basis to assist the Town with engineering and other professional services associated with Town Departments to help with capital improvement projects and assist with the day-to-day engineering work for the Town. The Town of Sunset Beach is an Equal Opportunity Employer and invites the submission of proposals from small, minority, women-owned firms, and historically underutilized businesses.

Federal Uniform Guidance

If funding for any procurement is awarded by federal source, whether in whole or in part, all provisions pursuant to 2 C.F.R. 200 will apply and will be followed by the Town and the firm.

Professional Services Needed/Scope of Work

The Town is seeking Qualification Proposals from firms to provide professional civil engineering and related consulting services including, but not limited to:

  • Preliminary Engineering Studies
  • Attending Board Meeting as needed
  • Land Surveying
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Asset and record management (GIS, AutoCAD, etc.)
  • Current and future planning
  • Pavement condition surveys
  • Land development and planning
  • Current and future planning
  • Preparing text amendments
  • Permitting (NCDEQ, NCDOT. USACE, FEMA, etc.)
  • Design, including field surveys, plan and specifications preparation
  • ADA transitioning
  • Financial analysis
  • Watershed administration and planning
  • Construction Services including dredging, bidding, contract administration and observation

 

Additional civil engineering services needed by the Town:

Project Categories

The Town anticipates selecting a firm to provide these services with a wide variety of projects requiring engineering and planning expertise and experience in the following broad categories:

  • Transportation Projects
  • Recreation Project
  • Stormwater, Watershed, and Floodplain Management
  • Asset Management Systems
  • Park and Recreational Facilities
  • Dredging Projects
  • Town-Occupied Buildings and Facilities
  • The selected firm will help with all potential preliminary and subsequent post-award work (funding applications and administration, analytical reports such as environmental/biological/wetlands, engineering design, surveying, Geotech, easements, CA/CO studies, planning).

 

The selected firm shall also have experience in a variety of funding sources, not limited to but including SDA, Golden Leaf, NC Commerce, NC DWI, EDA, ARPA, FEMA and any other funding sources. The selected firm shall also be knowledgeable with all state and federal regulations and requirements along with uniform guidance as needed as well as good understanding of the Town of Sunset Beach Code of Ordinances, state and federal permit regulations, and all other practices that pertain to various projects.

Contract Term

The initial contract duration will be three (3) years with the option to extend up to five (5) years. Anticipated annual contract amounts for on-call services will be dependent upon specific needs for supplemental engineering services and available funding. No work is guaranteed under any contract with work assigned on as needed basis to be determined by the Town of Sunset Beach in its sole and absolute discretion. The Town reserves the right to assign additional tasks to the selected firms, based on the Town’s needs, and firm’s availability, as well as past and current performance of the firm.

Conflict of Interest Statement

By submission of a response, the firm agrees that at the time of submittal it has no interest (including financial benefit, commission finder’s fee, or any other renumeration) and shall not acquire any interest, either direct or indirect, that would conflict in any manner or degree with the performance of the firm’s services, and will not benefit from an award resulting in conflict of interest. A conflict of interest shall include holding or retaining membership, or employment, on a board, elected office, department division or bureau, or committee sanctioned by and/or governed by the Town. Firms shall identify any interests, and the individuals involved, on a separate document with their response and shall understand that the Town in consultation with legal counsel, may reject their proposal.

Public Records and Submitted Proposals from the Firm

Records received by the Town in response to a bid solicitation or a request for proposals are public records and subject to the public inspection and copying. Some bid records are public as soon as received by the Town; others become public at bid opening, and others at bid award. The Public Records Law (N.C.G.S. 132-1 et seq.) authorizes the Town to withhold from public inspection and copying legitimate and properly marked “trade secrets” if a record meets all of the following conditions:

  • It is a “trade secret” as defined in G.S. 66-152(3)
  • It is the property of a private person as defined in G.S. 66-152(2)
  • It is disclosed or furnished to the Town in connection with a bid or proposal;
  • It is marked as “confidential” or as a “trade secret” at the time of its initial disclosure to the Town, then the Town may withhold that particular trade secret from the public record inspection request

 

If as a part of the firm’s bid or proposal, the firm submits to the Town any record, or portion of a record that the firm considers to be a “trade secret” meeting the definition contained in G.S. 66-152 (3), the firm shall clearly mark the particular record, or portion of the record, that meets the definition of trades secret as TRADE SECRET or CONFIDENTIAL TRADE SECRET. In the event the Town receives a public records request for records the firm designates as trade secret, the Town will notify the firm and give the firm the opportunity to, within one week of such notification, confirm in writing that the specific records, or portion of records, that the firm designated as trade secret meets their requirements of the general statutes, and the reasons for and to indemnify the Town in the event a challenge is brought for their withholding of a record based on firm having designated a traded secret. The Town will only withhold the record if both conditions have been fulfilled to the Town’s satisfaction.

Proposal Requirements

All proposals shall include the following items:

  • A Cover Letter/Letter of Interest/Statement (5 pages maximum) that states the firm’s interest and expertise in the categories listed above, when the firm was founded, number of employees, office locations, including any proposed sub-firms with like information.
  • A list of key staff/sub-consultants proposed for project assignment including the Principal in Charge, Project Manager/Engineer, Construction Administrator, SubConsultants, etc. This should include overall experience, tenure with the firms/subs, certifications/licenses, and areas of expertise. (10 pages maximum - 1 page maximum per person/sub-consultant)
  • Related Project Experience comprised of five (5) recently completed municipal projects, including client/ reference contact information, brief project description, initial & final project budget, construction costs & fees. (10 Pages maximum- 1 page per project)
  • Maximum RFQ submittal document size is 25 pages, excluding firms work examples.
  • A sample of the firm’s work represented by a Preliminary Engineering Report, typical construction plan sheet, details, etc., is an additional 20 pages maximum.


A group of key Town staff will evaluate each RFQ submittal, based on the specific submittal information requested, and may also utilize interviews, reference checks, past performance, etc. to evaluate and rate each submittal.

Evaluation of Proposals

The proposal shall be submitted by an official authorized to bind the submitters to its provisions and who is authorized to negotiate the final scope of work and fees for inclusion in a later Supplemental Professional Services Agreement with the Town.

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  1. Related project experience. (30%)
  2. Project staff experience. (20%)
  3. Methodology-understanding and approach to projects. (15%)
  4. Proximity to Town and Knowledge of the Town. (20%)
  5. Availability and interest in providing Services. (10%)
  6. References. (5%)

 

Submission Deadline and Address

All questions concerning the proposal requirements or general questions should be directed to Ken Klamar at kklamar@sunsetbeachnc.gov no later than March 23, 2026. Every attempt will be made by the Town to provide responses by March 27, 2026.

Electronic submittals (email) or hard copy submittals shall include all requirements listed above to be considered complete.

Electronic submittals shall be directed to: Ken Klamar, Interim Town Administrator, Town of Sunset Beach at kklamar@sunsetbeachnc.gov.

Hard copy-submittals must be clearly labeled as “Statement of Qualifications for On-Call Engineering Services” and received by the Town of Sunset Beach no later than 4:00 p.m. on April 1, 2026 at the following address:

Mr. Ken Klamar

Interim Town Administrator

Town of Sunset Beach

700 Sunset Blvd North

Sunset Beach, North Carolina 28468

It is the intent of the Town to finalize the selection process by mid to late-April 2026. It is also anticipated that based on the selected firms and the anticipated capital project needs, Master Service Agreements with selected firm will be in place by late to early-May, 2026.

Additional Requirements

The Town of Sunset Beach reserves the right to reject any Statement of Qualifications (SOQ). The SOQ shall be prepared at the sole expense of the consultant. All proposals shall be subject to public review and copying as a public record. After evaluation, the Town will select one firm. The firm selected will enter into a master agreement covering the general terms of the contract. The Town of Sunset Beach has the right to enter into an agreement with the firm which, at the Town’s sole discretion, best satisfies the requirements, goals, and objectives of the Town. The Town reserves the right to reject all SOQs and not enter into any contractors as part of this process.

Firms that do not meet the Town’s performance expectations, routinely decline opportunities to participate in this program, or lose significant internal expertise submitted with the original SOQ may be removed from the Town’s qualified consultant list.

RFQ for On-Call Engineering