The Town of Clermont ("Town") is seeking proposals for a generalized scope of services from qualified professional planning consultants/firms ("Consultant") for the preparation of a Town Comprehensive Plan and Update of Land Use Laws (CPULUL), in accordance with the requirements of Consolidated Laws of New York State Chapter 62 Article 16.

SCOPE – GENERAL INFORMATION

1. PURPOSE

The Town of Clermont ("Town") is accepting proposals from qualified professional planning consultants/firms ("consultant") for the preparation of a Town Comprehensive Plan and Update of Land Use Laws (CPULUL), in accordance with the requirements of New York State Town Law.

Interested consultants/firms shall have extensive experience and knowledge in the fields of municipal planning and zoning including, but not limited to, land use,housing, transportation, economic development, environmental and coastal protection, sustainability and community outreach. The Town is willing to consider proposals that incorporate new, innovative and state of the art approaches to comprehensive planning and land use law.

2. OVERVIEW

The Town of Clermont (pop. 2058, 2020 US Decennial Census) is located in Columbia County. The community is known for its rural character, historic links and natural resources to both its full time and seasonal residents. It is served by three school districts, Germantown, Red Hook and Pine Plains; four post offices, Germantown, Tivoli, Elizaville and Red Hook; and two area codes for land lines, 518 and 845. Situated in Columbia County but bordering Dutchess County residents travel along US Route 9 and NYS Route 9G north to Hudson and Albany and south to Rhinebeck, Kingston and Poughkeepsie to access retail, medical and employment opportunities.

Per the 2019 ACS, the Median household Income is $89,205 yet the Poverty Level of the town still hovers just over 9%. Almost 15% of the town's workforce is employed by local, state or federal government and 56% are employed by private companies. The average commute is over 37 minutes. With 914 housing units, the 2019 ACS stated that there were 124 vacant units. Since January 2020 anecdotal data suggests this number has been greatly reduced as seasonal homes were adapted to year-round use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current Comprehensive Plan for Clermont was adopted in 2002 and is available for review on the Town of Clermont webpage at: https://clermontny.org/document-category/cpmprehensive-plan/. It has been reviewed on an annual basis by the Clermont Town Board with no updates. The current Zonig Law is available at https://clermontny.org/document-category/zoning-building-documents/ along with other land use and building permit regulatory documents.

In 2006, the Town completed the Clermont Hamlet Vision Plan to address the district surrounding the central portion of the town. It is available for review at https://www.dropbox.com/s/m4z1xpqpnbx6jdw/Clermont%20Hamlet%20Vision%20Plan%20%28Complete%29.pdf?dl=0.

In 2020, an Ad Hoc Parks Planning Committee completed the Clermont Parks Improvement Plan which is available for review at https://clermontny.org/clermont-park/park-committee-documents/. The Parks Committee has since become a permanent committee of volunteers and is working to establish a not-for-profit to further promote the parks and assist with fundraising efforts.

The Town also is participating in a Climate Smart committee task force to seek Climate Smart Certification with New York State Department of Conservation. Further information regarding the certification process is available here https://climatesmart.ny.gov/actions-certification/actions/.

For the next CPULUL, the Town would like to further build by researching new and emerging planning issues, and undertaking a collaborative visioning process to set priorities for future equitable and healthy land use and zoning improvements for the next decade and beyond.

The planning process will be guided by Clermont Comprehensive Plan and Update of Land Use Laws Committee ("CPULUL Committee"), comprised of volunteers from the Town Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and community residents and business owners responsible for its implementation.

The CPULUL Committee Chairwoman will serve as the primary liaison between the consultant and other Town contacts. The CPULUL Committee Chairwoman will be responsible for providing all necessary background materials to the consultant, facilitating meetings with Town officials/outside agencies/community at large, and reviewing and offering feedback on consultant deliverables.

SUBMISSIONS

Proposals are to be submitted in a sealed envelope and clearly marked "RFP 2022-1 - PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES" on the outside of the envelope or package, including all outer packaging, such as, DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc. All prices and notations must be printed in ink or typewritten. No erasures are permitted. Proposals are to be in the office of the Town Clerk of the Town of Clermont at the Clermont Town Hall, 1795 Route 9, Clermont, New York 12526, prior to date and time specified.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION (RFI) / ADDENDA

Direct all requests via email to: Town of Clermont, Mary Howard, AICP, Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Laws (CPULUL) Committee Chairwoman, E-mail mthdwh8000@yahoo.com

NOTE: Verbal requests for information will NOT be accepted.

All requests must be received via email prior to 12:00 PM on March 14, 2022 Response will be in the form of an addendum that will be posted approximately 12:00 PM on March 17, 2022 to the Town of Clermont website: https://clermontny.org/category/community/announcements-news-events/. It is the responsibility of each Respondent to retrieve addenda from the website. Any contact about this RFP between a Respondent and any other Town official and/or Town of Clermont employee, other than as set forth above, may be grounds for disqualification of that Respondent. No questions or clarifications shall be answered by phone, in person or in any other manner than specified above. Addenda will not be mailed, e-mailed or faxed out.