12 Miss. Code. R. 9-5.2
Issuance of the IFB shall be advertised in the newspaper in the county or municipality in which the Agency is located and/or the county or municipality where the services will be performed once a week for two consecutive weeks. The IFB shall also be concurrently:
Agencies shall retain documentation proving the time, date, and means of all public notice required by this rule. When calculating any time requirements in these rules and regulations, the earliest date on which all requirements of this Section have been met will be considered the date of public notice.8 The IFB posted on the Agency website shall remain publicly posted on the Agency's website until a contract resulting from the procurement is fully executed following PPRB approval or the procurement is canceled.
The newspaper advertisement shall provide as much information as possible to maximize competition. At minimum, the advertisement shall contain the:
* Agency name;
* the personal or professional services sought;
* the RFx number of the solicitation;
* the name of the Agency official responsible for the procurement;
* the means of contacting the Agency official responsible for the procurement;
* the bid submission deadline; and
* the means of obtaining a full copy of the IFB.
There shall be a minimum of 30 calendar days between the date of public notice described in Section 5.2.1 and the bid submission deadline, unless the Agency Head or their designee determines, in writing, that a shorter time is deemed necessary for a particular procurement. Any such written determination shall be included in the Agency Procurement File. Bidders shall be given a reasonable amount of time to prepare bids. Under no circumstances shall there be less than 14 calendar days between the date of public notice and the bid submission deadline unless permission for a shortened timeframe is explicitly granted by PPRB.
Any potential bidder has an opportunity to request that the procuring Agency reconsider the terms of the solicitation. Any such request shall be filed with the Agency official primarily responsible for the procurement and the Director of OPSCR within three business days following the date of public notice as defined in Section 5.2.1. It shall be the sole responsibility of the requesting vendor to ensure the request is timely received by all required parties. Failure to timely request reconsideration in compliance with this Section results in waiver of any claim regarding the terms of the solicitation.
The request shall contain the requesting vendor's name, a single contact person, all contact information for the contact person, the RFx number of the solicitation, and the date the IFB was issued. The request shall identify which of these rules and regulations the requesting vendor believes to have been violated by the solicitation, as written. The request may not be based on anything other than the solicitation document and these rules and regulations. Exhibits shall not be included with the request. Rather, the requesting vendor shall clearly identify the section(s) of the solicitation document at issue in its request. The request shall not be supplemented.
These rules and regulations provide the opportunity to request reconsideration of the terms of an IFB which may result in a contract requiring PPRB approval. No such opportunity exists for an IFB which will not result in a contract requiring PPRB approval unless explicitly so stated by the procuring Agency.
The Agency shall consider whether the solicitation document, as written, contains the violation alleged by the requesting potential bidder and issue a written response to the request. The Agency's discretion to make subjective decisions in response to a request for reconsideration is limited only by the requirement that such discretion be supported by a legitimate business reason and exercised in a manner that is fair to all potential bidders.
The Agency's decision shall be issued in a sufficient amount of time for the requesting bidder to consider the Agency response in preparation of its bid, even if this requires the bid submission deadline to be amended. If the Agency decision is issued less than 14 days prior to the bid submission deadline, the Agency shall make a written determination that the amount of time allotted between the issuance of the Agency decision and the bid submission deadline is reasonable under the circumstances and shall state the facts supporting that conclusion.
To issue the Agency decision, both the request for reconsideration andthe Agency decision shall be (1) sent directly to all potential bidders known to have received a copy of the IFB, including the requesting bidder; (2) posted, publicly, on the procurement portal; and (3) posted, publicly, on the Agency website. The request for reconsideration and the Agency decision shall also be made part of the Agency Procurement File.
The request for reconsideration and the Agency decision do not amend the IFB. If the Agency decision requires an amendment to the IFB, the Agency shall adhere to all rules regarding Amendments to an IFB in Section 5.3.4.
8 With respect to the requirement to advertise in the newspaper, the date of public notice requires only the first of the two required advertisements to have run.
12 Miss. Code. R. 9-5.2