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STE i IN] Jefferson Mill Building
N ial S
S [El] U [= | 6701 fh Commercial Street
PO Box 1120
Manchester, NH 03105-1120
1 (603) 623-8700
F (603) 623-7775
Roy W. Tilsley, Jr.
Shareholder
VIA FEDEX AND ELECTRONIC MAIL 603-665-8093 direct
May 13, 2022
Nashua Finance Committee
City of Nashua
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
Re: — Bid Process for Request for Proposal RFP0718-022322
Dear Members of the Committee:
My firm represents Community Media Services Group LLC (““CMSG”), which currently
manages and operates the City of Nashua’s (the “City”) public access television channel. In
2021, CMSG approached the City of Nashua about renegotiating its contract. In response, the
City opted to initiate a Request for Proposal process for the management and operation of its
public access channel. The City issued RFP0718-022322 (the “RFP’) on January 28, 2022, with
a deadline for proposals of February 24, 2022. Two proposals were submitted in response to the
RFP—one by CMSG and one by Bartis-Russell Broadcasting TV, LLC (“BRB”).
On April 1, 2022, the Cable Television Advisory Board (“CTAB”) recommended that the
City accept BRB’s bid. As the RFP concerns a contract for more than $25,000, it next goes to
the Finance Committee for approval. See Nashua’s Revised Ordinances (“NRO”) § 5-90(C). If
approved by the Finance Committee, because the contract extends beyond the current fiscal year,
it goes to the full Board of Alderman for approval. See NRO § 5-74(B).
As CMSG was both the lowest bidder and the organization best suited to provide quality
programming through the Access Nashua public television channel, I am writing to request that
the Finance Committee not follow the CTAB’s recommendation of BRB’s bid and instead award
the contract to CMSG.
Nashua’s Revised Ordinances set out two bidding procedures that could apply in these
circumstances: competitive sealed bidding and competitive proposals. See NRO §§ 5-78, 5-80,
5-81. Competitive sealed bidding is the preferred method; competitive proposals are only used
“Ti]Jn cases where competitive sealed bidding is not practical” and the decision to use them must
be in writing and consider certain factors. NRO § 5-81. As the RFP contains no written notice
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