March 2012 - Nebraska Department of Roads

Local Ledger
Page 3
Locally Funded Procurement Procedure
To initiate the locally funded procurement process,
the LPA should indicate their intention to use
local funds on the DR-530 (if known at that time).
In addition, the RC must submit written notification
to the NDOR LPD Project Coordinator (PC)
stating the intent to use local funds and in which
specific phase of the project.
The PC will issue a Notice-to-Proceed for every
locally funded project phase. The LPA must select
a firm that has been approved by NDOR to perform
the scope of services required. The selection
must be qualifications based.
After the procurement process is completed, the
LPA will submit the following documentation to
the PC for review:
1. Public Notice and solicitation
documentation
2. Selection memo, justifying the ranking of
firms based on qualifications (If fewer than
three (3) firms responded, forward documentation
efforts made and steps taken to
seek additional firms)
3. Justification memo for any instances when
negotiations were terminated
4. Agreement, including scope of services
and final consultant fee proposal
5. LPA Certification statement that all local
laws and ordinances were followed
6. Conflict of Interest Forms from both the
LPA and Consultant.
The LPA is required to use NDOR’s template for
LPA/Consultant Locally Funded Professional Services
Agreement. The PC will forward the template
to the LPA following a review of the solicitation
documentation.
For more information about the locally funded
process contact your PC or refer to Chapter 4 of
the LPA Guidelines Manual.
Status of MUTCD Compliance
On August 31, 2011, FHWA published a
Notice of Proposed Amendment that proposed
to eliminate, revise, or extend existing
compliance dates for traffic control
devices in the Manual on Uniform Traffic
Control Devices (MUTCD). FHWA is
currently analyzing the comments and expects
to publish the final rule in the Summer
of 2012.
Until then, State and local agencies are
advised to focus efforts on long-range
planning for the maintenance and upgrade
of existing traffic control devices. Agencies
should not focus on compliance dates
that may be extended or eliminated.
Threatened & Endangered Species Project Reviews
The Threatened & Endangered (T&E) Matrix Programmatic
Agreement between NDOR/FHWA/
USFWS/NGPC has been finalized.
As a result, NDOR will not be required to forward
all T&E project reviews to the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA). If the project review
is not forwarded to FHWA, the Overview of
Effects sheets will not be signed by a representative
from their office.
The new agreement will shorten the review and
approval process during the environmental phase
of project development.