Section 279C.410 - Receipt of proposals; evaluation and award(1) Notwithstanding the public records law, ORS 192.311 to 192.478: (a) Proposals may be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competing proposers during, when applicable, the process of negotiation.(b) Proposals are not required to be open for public inspection until after the notice of intent to award a contract is issued.(2) For each request for proposals, the contracting agency shall prepare a list of proposals.(3) Notwithstanding any requirement to make proposals open to public inspection after the contracting agency's issuance of notice of intent to award a contract, a contracting agency may withhold from disclosure to the public trade secrets, as defined in ORS 192.345, and information submitted to a public body in confidence, as described in ORS 192.355, that are contained in a proposal. The fact that proposals are opened at a public meeting as defined in ORS 192.610 does not make their contents subject to disclosure, regardless of whether the public body opening the proposals fails to give notice of or provide for an executive session for the purpose of opening proposals. If a request for proposals is canceled after proposals are received, the contracting agency may return a proposal to the proposer that made the proposal. The contracting agency shall keep a list of returned proposals in the file for the solicitation.(4) As provided in the request for proposals, a contracting agency may conduct discussions with proposers who submit proposals the agency has determined to be closely competitive or to have a reasonable chance of being selected for award. The discussions may be conducted for the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding of, and responsiveness to, the solicitation requirements. The contracting agency shall accord proposers fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals. Revisions of proposals may be permitted after the submission of proposals and before award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. In conducting discussions, the contracting agency may not disclose information derived from proposals submitted by competing proposers.(5) When provided for in the request for proposals, the contracting agency may employ methods of contractor selection including but not limited to award based solely on the ranking of proposals, negotiation with the highest ranked proposer, competitive negotiations, multiple-tiered competition designed to identify a class of proposers that fall within a competitive range or to otherwise eliminate from consideration a class of lower ranked proposers, or any combination of methods, as authorized or prescribed by rules adopted under ORS 279A.065. When applicable, in any instance in which the contracting agency determines that impasse has been reached in negotiations with a highest ranked proposer, the contracting agency may terminate negotiations with that proposer and commence negotiations with the next highest ranked proposer.(6) The cancellation of requests for proposals and the rejection of proposals shall be in accordance with ORS 279C. 395.(7) At least seven days before the award of a public improvement contract, unless the contracting agency determines that seven days is impractical under rules adopted under ORS 279A.065, the contracting agency shall issue to each proposer or post, electronically or otherwise, a notice of intent to award.(8) If a public improvement contract is awarded, the contracting agency shall award a public improvement contract to the responsible proposer whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the contracting agency based on the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals and, when applicable, the outcome of any negotiations authorized by the request for proposals. Other factors may not be used in the evaluation. 2003 c. 794, § 131; 2005 c. 103, § 24; 2007 c. 764, § 31