VIA FEDEX AND ELECTRONIC MAIL
Nashua Finance Committee
May 13, 2022
Page 2
that competitive proposals would be used or discussion of the relevant factors, it appears that the
City used competitive sealed bidding.
Under the competitive sealed bidding process for contracts with an estimated cost above
$10,000, “[cJontracts shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.” NRO § 5-78(G).
Importantly, “[iJn determining lowest responsible bidder, in addition to price, the Manager shall
consider” 10 criteria, including “[t]he ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the
contract or provide the service required” and “[t]he quality of performance of previous contracts
or services.” Jd. Where competitive proposals are used, the City must set forth, in the RFP, “the
relative importance of price and other significant evaluation factors which shall be considered”:
RFP0718-022322 sets out several such factors that substantially overlap with the criteria
considered as part of the competitive sealed bidding process. See NRO § 5-82(A); RFPO718-
022322. Thus, even if the City used competitive proposals, the analysis below applies and the
contract should be awarded to CMSG because it was the low bidder and is far more experienced
than BRB in public access television.
NRO § 5-78(G) makes clear that the primary consideration in awarding a contract is
price. CMSG’s proposal was the lowest bid. It offered four cost proposals based on the
provision of different services, including whether CMSG or the City would provide the studio
director and whether the City approved the hiring of a part-time news director. Based on the first
proposal—which represents the current services CMSG provides to the City and which have
built a successful and engaging public access station over the last decade—the first year’s cost
would be $145,000. With an annual increase of five percent in years two and three, the overall
cost of the proposal for three years is $457,112.50. BRB’s proposal, in the first year, would cost
$175,000. For three years it would cost $506,800, nearly $50,000.00 more than CMSG’s
proposal.
There may also be additional costs that increase the price tag of BRB’s proposal. As
discussed at the CTAB meeting, Appendix I to BRB’s bid outlines additional services, including
rebranding, expanding streaming content, and adding closed captioning. There are no prices
included in this appendix. Moreover, BRB’s bid includes a transition period of two months,
during which CMSG would stay on. This would add an additional $23,000 to the cost of BRB’s
bid. Hiring BRB to manage the public access channel would be significantly more expensive for
the City of Nashua. Thus, the presumption weighs in favor of awarding CMSG the contract.
Looking beyond the cost issue, CMSG has successfully managed and operated Nashua’s
public access television channel since it was created in 2011. Public access television is a
platform for members of the public to create content on a wide range of topics for consumption
by the community. CMSG has worked with over 70 producers to create 75 series, with
approximately 3250 episodes, several of which have won awards. It has extensive experience in
public access television and a proven track record in Nashua. CMSG is well-respected in the
PEG television world. Most importantly, it is dedicated to the mission of public access
