Request for Proposals: On-call Planning Consulting Services

RFQ Issued: March 13, 2018

Submittals Due: April 12, 2018 by 4 p.m.

City of Watsonville
Community Development Department
250 Main Street
Watsonville, CA 95076

Suzi Merriam, Director
suzi.merriam@cityofwatsonville.org
831.768.3074

INTRODUCTION

The Community Development Department of the City of Watsonville is seeking proposals from qualified persons or firms to enter into an Agreement for Professional Services to perform professional planning services on development applications and long-range planning initiatives on an "on-call" basis. The City is requesting proposals from persons or firms with expertise necessary to process development applications for residential, commercial, and mixed-use development projects, including design review, application of California Environmental Quality Act, and conformance with federal, state, and local regulations. The selected consultant may also facilitate, lead, or assist planning staff with long-range planning initiatives. The City anticipates this work will include a minimum of 15 hours per week.

The Community Development Department intends to select up to three (3) consulting firms to provide on-call planning services under this RFP. Selected firms will be placed on an official list of qualified consultants who will be called upon to perform project review and assistance with long-range planning initiatives in response to division fluctuations and work flow demands. The Agreement for Professional Services is expected to serve for a total of three (3) years with an option of an automatic one-year extension based on workload needs.

BACKGROUND

Watsonville is located in the Pajaro Valley in southern Santa Cruz County, immediately north of Monterey County. It is situated within the fertile Pajaro River Valley that is part of the crescent between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey. With respect to major metropolitan areas, Watsonville is about 45 miles south of San Jose and 85 miles south of San Francisco and Oakland. The city is centrally located between the Santa Cruz Mountains to the northeast and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest.

Watsonville serves as the urban center for south Santa Cruz County. The urbanized area provides a wide range of access to housing, employment, shopping, and recreation opportunities and government services for south county residents. As the second largest city in the Santa Cruz County with over 54,000 residents, Watsonville provides significant support, housing, processing, and transportation facilities to the agricultural, manufacturing, health, real estate, wholesale and retail trade industries.

As a charter City, is the organization is governed by a seven-member City Council, with members rotating as Mayor for a one year term, and an appointed City Manager. There is great emphasis on public participation in local government. The City is currently experiencing a significant period of growth in both the residential and commercial sectors. In the last 2 years, over 400 housing units have been entitled, and half of those are currently under construction. The City has approximately 37.5 acres of vacant land in the Manabe-Ow Specific Plan area that is expected to undergo planning review in the next 5 years for the development of a mix of industrial and commercial uses.

Highway 1 and State Highways 152 and 129 move vehicle traffic through Watsonville. Watsonville is also home to an airport owned and operated by the City of Watsonville.

The City adopted its current General Plan in 1994, and efforts to adopt a subsequent general plan in 2010 and 2012 were met with legal challenges. Completion of the General Plan update is a priority for the City, as is zoning code modification and a downtown specific plan.

CONSULTING SERVICES NEEDED

The Community Development Department requires the services of qualified persons or firms to manage applications or specific projects offsite or occasionally on-site at City Hall, according to the Planning Division's staffing needs. Under the direction of the Community Development Director or Principal Planner, the consultant(s) will provide the range of expertise necessary to carry out the normal functions of a professional planner. All services provided by the consultant shall be performed by individuals who meet the qualifications, education, and certifications/licensing requirements for the professional Planning levels of Assistant to Principal Planner. The primary needs are in the Associate to Principal Planner categories, however the Planning Division would like to have the flexibility to call upon any level of Planning professional during workload increases or to fill in during staff leave of absences. Based on qualifications presented in the response to this RFP, the City will select up to three firms or individuals that are best able to provide planning services for upcoming private and City initiated projects.

Examples of future projects:

• Downtown Specific Plan
• Cannabis ordinance modification
• Mobile home park ordinance
• ADU ordinance modification
• Affordable housing ordinance modification
• General Plan update
• Alcohol ordinance modification
• Emergency shelter ordinance
• Zoning code clean up and general maintenance/improvements/clarifications

At such time when the consultant's services are required, Staff will email a request for services, including a project description and any pertinent supporting information. The consultant will evaluate the proposal and provide a brief response including the proposed scope of work, timeline, and hourly rates.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

1. Analyze projects for compliance with Watsonville's General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Map Act, Design Review Criteria, and other applicable plans and policies.
2. Prepare ordinance amendments and long range planning documents
3. Compiles and analyzes data on economic, social, environmental, and physical factors affecting land use, and consider whether long-range planning initiatives underway may impact development applications.
4. Ability to review projects and provide comments within timeframes specified by the Permit Streamlining Act.
5. Visit project sites.
6. Meet with developers/applicants, engineers, property owners, contractors and other individuals to discuss, advise, explain procedures and suggest improvements regarding projects, pre-applications, development applications, feasibility analyses, conceptual development plans and code interpretations.
7. Coordinate implementation of development applications during the construction phase to ensure compliance with approval conditions and mitigation measures.
8. Develops and maintains good working relationships with Community Development Department staff, other City departments and divisions, other jurisdictions, and the public.
9. When required, be present at City Hall to meet with staff, applicants, etc. regarding project status and updates.
10. Ability to write staff reports to the Planning Commission and City Council, including the writing of accompanying resolutions, ordinances, conditions of approval, preparing PowerPoint presentations and giving oral presentations.
11. Attend public hearings and community meetings as necessary.
12. Coordinate with on-call consultants for CEQA compliance.
13. Ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities while maintaining quality, meeting schedules and staying within budget.
14. Answer by telephone or email inquiries regarding development applications.
15. Facilitate special projects or assist staff with long-range planning initiatives.

Qualified consultants shall possess the following:

• Five or more years of professional planning work experience in the public or private sector.
• Demonstrable experience in project management in current and/or long range planning, including preparation of notices of completeness and decision letters, staff reports, and (for the long range planning consultants) documents such as General Plan Amendments, Zoning Amendments, Specific Plans, and other planning studies.
• Ability to work independently, follow directions, seek clarification prior to completion of work assignment, analyze quantitative data and qualitative information, and think creatively and critically.
• Demonstrable experience dealing with the public, architects, and applicants during the public review process of entitlement applications.
• Ability to write well-organized reports regarding complex planning issues.
• Ability to make professional presentations to the City Council and City Commissions.
• Ability to coordinate and provide assistance with plan checking and site inspections.

SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS

All proposals should include the following minimum information:

1. COVER LETTER – Indicate interest and commitment to perform on-call services for the City of Watsonville. Include contact information (physical address, telephone, and email address) for the primary person responsible for the proposal who will be the point of contact for the City on all correspondence and communications pertaining to the proposal. The cover letter should also summarize the key points of the consulting firms' interests and qualifications and pertinent areas of expertise.
2. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE – List projects completed by the Consultant relevant to the scope of services contained herein that have been completed in the last five years. Discuss the firm's uniqueness to best perform these on-call services for the City.
3. KEY TEAM MEMBER SUMMARY – Identify the individual(s) or key team members that may be available to assist the City of Watsonville in response to this RFP. Summarize each person's experience and include their resume.
4. CURRENT CLIENTS/PROJECTS – Provide a list of all clients doing business with the Consultant in the past 12 months and identify any projects within the City of Watsonville in the past 12 months.
5. BILLING STRUCTURE – Provide a list of hourly billing rates for each proposed team member. Include all direct and indirect expenses and transportation fees.
6. CITY CONSULTANT CONTRACT – Provide a statement indicating that the firm has reviewed and agrees to the City's Standard Professional Services Agreement, (Attachment A), and is able to meet the agreement's indemnity and insurance requirements.
7. REFERENCES – provide five (5) client references relevant to the scope of services listen herein. Include names, titles, current email addresses and telephone numbers.

Interested individuals or firms shall submit three (3) printed copies and electronic copy on a flash drive, by Thursday, April 12, 2018 by 4 p.m.

Hand deliver, or mail, submittals to:

Suzi Merriam
Community Development Department
City of Watsonville
250 Main Street250 Main Street
Watsonville, CA 95076

EVALUATION CRITERIA

In accordance with the Municipal Code, consultant selection shall be on the basis of demonstrated competence and on the professional qualifications necessary for the satisfactory performance of the services required and on fair and reasonable price.

Submittals will be evaluated based upon, but not limited to, the following criteria:

• Demonstrated understanding of the requested work and responsiveness to the request for proposals
• Firm expertise and competence including experience processing current development projects, including experience with CEQA and complex EIRs, and working knowledge of VMT
• Experience with advanced planning, demonstrated ability in working with the public
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal
• Professional qualifications and experience of individuals likely to be assigned to the project
• Proposed compensation rates
• Reference recommendations
• Oral interview

Oral interviews of the most responsive individuals or firms are tentatively scheduled for the week of April 23, 2018. The City reserves the right to alter the selection process and/or project scope following the issuance of this RFP.

Non-Obligation

The City retains sole discretion to evaluate submittals and may make an award to the consultant(s) the City deems to be most responsive to the request for proposals. Receipt of submittals in response to its request for proposals does not obligate the City in any way to engage any consultant and the City reserves the right to reject any or all submittals, wholly or in part, at any time, without penalty. The City shall retain the right to abandon the request for proposals and selection process at any time prior to the actual execution of a contract with a consultant, and the City shall bear no financial or other responsibility in the event of such abandonment. The City reserves the right to negotiate all final terms and conditions of any agreements entered into.

The City may issue separate Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for Planning services at its discretion for current planning projects or City-initiated advance planning initiatives.

Additional Information

The City assumes no responsibility for delays caused by delivery service. Postmarking by the due date will not substitute for actual receipt.

All costs incurred during submittal preparation or in any way associated with the Consultant's preparations, submission, presentation, or oral interview shall be the sole responsibility of the Consultant.

If awarded a contract, the consultant shall maintain insurance coverage, including worker's compensation, reflecting the minimum amounts and conditions specified by the City.

Consultants are liable for all errors or omissions contained in their proposals.

If you have any questions concerning this request for proposals, please contact Suzi Merriam at suzi.merriam@cityofwatsonville.org or (831) 768-3074.