When the Purchasing Agent determines that competitive sealed bidding is not practical or not advantageous to the County, a contract may be awarded based upon a competitive proposal process. Competitive proposals may be solicited by a Request for Proposals, Request for Quotation, or a Request for Qualifications, along with such additional content as may be deemed appropriate by the Purchasing Agent or designee. Request for Proposals, Request for Quotation, or a Request for Qualifications may be awarded on a Best Value basis and may state the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors. Price may not be the sole evaluation factor. Numerical ratings may be used at the discretion of the Purchasing Agent. Public notice of the Requests for Proposals, Request for Quotation, or a Request for Qualifications shall be given in the same manner as public notice for competitive bids. The Purchasing Agent may request of the head of the using agency and any other County agency that a representative of such agency be designated to serve on a Proposal Analysis Group (PAG) to assist the Purchasing Agent in the evaluation of proposals in response to the Request for Proposals and to make recommendations to the Purchasing Agent as to which proposal is most advantageous to the County. Before proposals are received, the Purchasing Agent or designee may conduct a preproposal conference with all potential offerors for the purpose of assuring full understanding of the using agency's requirements, as described in the Request for Proposals, Request for Quotation, or a Request for Qualifications. All such offerors shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to this conference. The Purchasing Agent or designee and the proposal analysis group may not disclose to a competing offeror any information derived from a proposal of, or from interviews with, another competing offeror. Proposals and best and final offers are irrevocable for the period specified in the Request for Proposals or any request for best and final offers, except that the proposal may be withdrawn or corrected as provided in regulations issued by the Purchasing Agent. The Purchasing Agent shall review the recommendations of the Proposal Analysis Group and direct the Proposal Analysis Group to negotiate a contract with one of the top three offerors whose proposal and best and final offer is determined to be the most advantageous to the County, in accordance with the evaluation factors set forth in the Request for Proposals. The Proposal Analysis Group shall forward the final negotiated contract to the Purchasing Agent for approval. This process shall allow streamlining under simplified procurement procedures: performance or function-based specs; fewer contract clauses; shorter timelines.