Request for Qualification Statements - Loan Underwriter and Loan Servicing Agent Services - BRLF

Bid Postings • Request for Qualification Statements - Loan U Skip to Main Content Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more. Website Sign In City Government Our Community Doing Business Just Visiting How Do I Search Home Bid Postings Print Sign up to receive a text message or email when new bids are added! Print Bid Title: Request for Qualification Statements - Loan Underwriter and Loan Servicing Agent Services - BRLF Category: Economic Development Status: Closed Description: CITY OF BELFAST, MAINE FISCAL YEAR 2022 UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY BROWNFIELDS REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROGRAM COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT BF-00A00906-0 REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION STATEMENTS LOAN UNDERWRITER AND LOAN SERVICING AGENT SERVICES 1. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST The City of Belfast is seeking qualification statements from firms wishing to provide loan underwriter and loan servicing agent services in connection with its Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Program. Brownfields are real property, the expansion, development, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. The City of Belfast received a $1,000,000 Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund Grant in 2022 from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and in September 2022, the City of Belfast entered into a cooperative agreement with the USEPA to administer this grant. This agreement provides funding for the City of Belfast to capitalize a revolving loan fund, as authorized by section 104(k)(3) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, from which to make loans and/or subgrants to clean up Brownfield sites and to conduct other necessary activities to prudently manage this fund. As a condition of this agreement, the City of Belfast is expected to establish economically sound structures and day-to-day management and processing procedures to maintain the fund and to meet long-term Brownfields cleanup lending/subgranting objectives, which include: underwriting principles that can include the establishment of interest rates, repayment terms, fee structures, and collateral requirements sufficient to recover, as a minimum, the principal amount of the loan less any repayment discounts; and, lending/subgranting practices that can include loan/subgrant processing, documentation, approval, servicing, administrative procedures, collection, and recovery actions. The selected firm will support the City of Belfast and its Qualified Environmental Professional in the achievement of the above requirements and is expected to perform responsible, professional work as described in this Request for Qualification Statements. 2. SCOPE OF SERVICES REQUIRED The scope of services to be provided by the successful proposer is required to include, but not be limited to, the following: 2.1. Perform credit analyses and due diligence for loan/subgrant applicants; 2.2. Prepare loan proposals for review by the City of Belfast Brownfields Selection Committee; 2.3. Give presentations to the City of Belfast Brownfields Selection Committee; 2.4. Arrange for any required real estate appraisals, reviews of financial good standing, and/or environmental reviews; 2.5. Produce and execute all loan documents; 2.6. Perform loan closings; and 2.7. Perform loan servicing activities. 3. QUALIFICATION STATEMENT CONTENT AND FORMAT In developing a response to this Request for Qualification Statements, responding firms must address each question or requirement below (3.1., 3.2., 3.3.1., 3.3.2., and 3.4.) in consecutive order. Qualification statements that do not follow this format or do not contain the requested information may be considered unresponsive and will not be considered by the City of Belfast. There is no minimum length for a qualification statement, while the maximum length for a qualification statement is 30 digital pages; this limit applies to the entirety of the qualification statement, whether it is the cover letter, responses, appendices, tables, resumes, any other supporting documents, covers, or divider sheets. Any pages that are in excess of the 30 will be removed from the qualification statement and will not be reviewed or considered. Respondents are encouraged to be concise as practicable with their qualification statements. Additionally, while the City of Belfast is not requiring any minimum or maximum font size, spacing, or margins, firms are strongly encouraged to consider readability when preparing their qualification statements. The maximum file size for the qualification statement is 10 Megabytes; this is to ensure the successful emailing of the qualification statement. A file that is larger than this size will be rejected and will not be reviewed or considered. 3.1: Cover Letter: the firm’s qualification statement shall be preceded by a cover letter expressing the firm’s interest in working with City of Belfast personnel, the City of Belfast Brownfields Selection Committee, the City of Belfast’s Qualified Environmental Professional, USEPA representatives, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) representatives, and other potential stakeholders. The firm shall affirm that they and all subconsultants used in this project will: 1) meet all requirements of the USEPA Brownfields Program; 2) meet all requirements of the cooperative agreement; and 3) not be found to be debarred or suspended or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal assistance programs, unless an exception has been obtained from the USEPA under 2 Code of Federal Regulations 180.135. This letter should be on the firm’s letterhead and signed by an officer of the firm authorized to bind the firm to all comments made in the qualification statement and shall include the name, e-mail address, and phone number of the person(s) to contact who will be authorized to represent the firm. 3.2: Firm Information: the firm shall provide a brief description of itself and its underwriting and loan servicing experience, particularly if that experience includes prior USEPA Brownfield Revolving Loan underwriting and/or loan servicing experience. 3.3: Qualifications and Experience of Assigned Personnel: 3.3.1: the firm will identify its members who will be assigned to this project, and will provide the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of each. The firm will include a brief biography of each person that specifically addresses their experience relevant to the City of Belfast’s proposed loan underwriting and servicing program, and will identify the responsibilities that he or she will be assigned for this engagement. The firm will identify the day-to-day project manager and the back-up project manager for this engagement. The firm will describe how they will ensure the accessibility of key personnel to the City of Belfast during this engagement. 3.3.2: the firm will provide the name, address, and telephone number of three references for whom the proposed project manager and the back-up project manager have served as loan underwriter and/or loan servicing agent within the past 5 years, carrying out similar responsibilities to those contemplated under this Request for Qualification Statements. 3.4: Cost Proposal: though it is understood that the actual amount of time and effort, and therefore, the actual costs, will vary from Brownfield to Brownfield, for the purpose of this response, the firm will provide a fee schedule for a typical Brownfields Revolving Loan process, one that addresses all of the services required and which includes: 1) estimated amounts of any personnel time and associated hourly labor rates; 2) estimated amounts of any expenses to be reimbursed; and 3) estimated amounts of any fees to be charged. 4. EVALUATION FACTORS Submitted proposals will be evaluated based on the following five factors, none of which in and of themselves are determinative, and which are not listed in any order of importance: 4.1: Quality of statement and responses to specific items included in this Request for Qualification Statements; 4.2: Relevant qualifications and experience of key personnel assigned to this program; 4.3: Understanding of the City of Belfast’s financing objectives; and 4.4: Reasonableness of fees. 5. EVALUATION PROCESS Following the receipt of the qualification statements, a working group comprised of some or all members of the City of Belfast Brownfields Selection Committee, and potentially assisted by USEPA and MEDEP representatives, shall evaluate the qualification statements and recommend a firm to hire to the Belfast City Council. The working group, at its discretion, may request additional information from and/or pose written questions to a responding firm. Also at its discretion, the working group may decide to conduct interviews of one or more firms prior to providing a recommendation to the Belfast City Council. Final authority to hire a firm and authorization to execute a contract with that firm rests exclusively with the Belfast City Council; it is anticipated that the Belfast City Council will do this at their regularly scheduled meeting to be held on the evening of Tuesday, September 5 th , 2023 . The hired firm is expected to begin work swiftly after this approval is granted by the Belfast City Council. 6. QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS REQUEST All questions regarding this request must be emailed to such that they are received by 5:00 p.m. local time on Friday, July 28 th , 2023 in order to be answered. The City of Belfast will provide prompt confirmation of successful receipt of a question to the sender via email. All questions submitted by this deadline will be answered and posted only on the City of Belfast’s website at www.cityofbelfast.org/rlf b y 9:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, August 1 st , 2023. Answers to questions will not be emailed to firms. All other communications with the City of Belfast related to