REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR A CORRIDOR STUDY FOR THE SOUTH RIVER STREET GATEWAY DISTRICT IN THE CITY OF BATAVIA

About the City of Batavia

Batavia was founded by Christopher Payne in 1833. It is considered the oldest city in Kane County.

Nicknamed 'The Windmill City', the title was justly earned by our industrial role at the turn of the century as the windmill manufacturing capital of the world. The stone mined from today's Harold Hall Quarry Beach Park Swimming area and the South River Street corridor provided limestone to help rebuild Chicago after the famous fire of 1871. Newton Wagons and Appleton Farm Machinery, two products which played a vital role in the settling of the American frontier, also had their origins in Batavia. The former Appleton building, which today is Batavia's City government center at 100 North Island Avenue, was previously used in the 1960's as an industrial complex where rocket components were manufactured and used for the first mission that took U.S. astronauts to the moon.

Today, Batavia remains the home of over 200 varied manufacturing, research and warehousing firms as well as proudly serving as the hometown for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a world-renowned center for high energy physics research, and Mooseheart, the international 'child-city' of the Moose Lodge.

Above all else, our town is a haven for talented and friendly people with a lot of heritage to be drawn upon. Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, who lived across the street from West Batavia Cemetery in the 1850's, was a friend of Abraham Lincoln. In 1875, at Bellevue Place Sanitarium on South Jefferson Street, Mary Todd Lincoln, then the widow of the late President, was a patient for a brief period of time. Dr. Bernard Cigrand, the originator of the American Flag Day observance on June 14 of each year, also called Batavia his home, as did the Reverend Faye Arnold Moon, grandfather of Colonel Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, one of the first American astronauts to land on the Moon in 1969. Batavia has been the hometown of such recognized faces as professional basketball great Dan Issel, Super Bowl quarterback Ken Anderson, pro-golfer Sharron Moran and musical singing star Jackie De Shannon.

Specific information about community demographics are available at the following link: https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/documents/10180/102881/Batavia.pdf

SCOPE OF WORK

The City is requesting proposals (RFP) for a study of the South River Street Gateway District area of the community. This corridor is one of the main entries into the City and is an important access route to downtown Batavia. The project area includes the southern portion of Illinois State Route 25 through the City limits. The area includes many different uses, ranging from public facilities and parks, industrial and office uses, entertainment venues and riverfront properties. The City is seeking to revitalize and reinvigorate the South River Street area by developing a plan to study land uses, zoning, streetscape as well as developing changes to the regulatory scope of this corridor. The boundaries of the corridor are identified on the map attached to this RFP. As part of the project, the City would seek an analysis of potential financing methods to fund improvements in this area on public and private property. Possible options and analysis should include, but not be limited to, Tax Increment Financing District, Business Development District and Special Service Areas.

Specific elements that would be included in the plan are as follows:

1. Analysis of the current land uses, and Comprehensive Plan designations. Review of the market to determine the highest and best uses for the corridor and make recommendations on any changes that should be considered.
2. Review of the current zoning districts within the corridor as well as the South River Street Gateway Overlay District. Make recommendations for changes to these districts based on land use analysis, including, if applicable or warranted, amortization of uses no longer considered appropriate for this corridor.
3. Review and make recommendations for streetscape improvements for the corridor. Said recommendations would be within the public rights-of-way and on public property. Improvements would including potential reduction and consolidation of access points, addition of curbing and lane management improvements, addition of sidewalks and other active transportation improvements, street beautification improvements such as parkway trees and other landscape and hardscape improvements.
4. Develop guidelines or regulations to cause private property enhancements in the corridor. Said recommendations would include regulatory elements such as building code, zoning code or design review improvements, which could also require a time period to require enhancements to be made. Said recommendation would also be made to include certain financial incentives to promote facade and landscape, parking lot and site improvements.
5. Review and analyze the ability for the City to create ways to assist in financing public and private improvements contemplated in the Plan. The Plan should have an initial "high level" analysis done on the qualification and ability to develop a variety of financial incentive methods to help promote and assist property owners in making voluntary improvements. These would include:
   • Development of a Tax Increment Financing District (TIF). While the very northern part of the Corridor is in a TIF, the time remaining on that is limited and that District only extends to a few properties in the corridor. We would seek to determine if the corridor merits further consideration of a TIF to help financing both public and private improvements within the study area.
   • Development of a Business Development District (BDD). While similar to a TIF, the BDD would allow the City to consider additional sales taxes for a BDD as well as implementing a service tax within the BDD. These would help finance public and private improvements within the BDD, with fewer restrictions than a TIF District.
   • Study of the possible creation of a Special Service Area (SSA) for the corridor. This could fund long term aspects of the corridor including stormwater improvements, streetscape improvements, and funding for other promotional activities such as is being done with the Batavia MainStreet organization. These could be short term, but also could be indefinitely funded since both TIF and BDD are time limited funding mechanisms.

We anticipate that all three of these would be studied at a minimum, with other options being considered as appropriate. It could be that none, one, two or all three are recommended for implementation to accomplish the goals of improving this corridor.

6. Establish goals and objectives for the corridor and time frames for implementation of recommendations.

These are the general services required with the scope being allowed to be expanded or contracted as the study determines. We anticipate the study would incorporate several on-site visits, meetings with stakeholders as well as several presentations to an established steering committee and the City Council.

PROPOSAL SUBMITTALS:

Each Proposal received is expected to include the following:

1. A cover letter including the name and title of the person(s) who are authorized to respond to questions concerning the firm's submittal. The letter should summarize the firm's experience with land use analysis and design as well as the firm's background, philosophy and methodology. Experience in development of financial incentives and analysis should also be included. Any subconsultants to be utilized for the study should be named and similar information provided about the firm(s).
2. The experience and qualifications of the individuals who would be directly involved with the study.
3. A detailed description of the proposed work program and proposed timeline including a schedule with milestones and deliverables.
4. Examples of similar projects completed for the firm within the past 5 years. It is understood that exact projects may not be available; please provide the most relevant projects for review.
5. References, including names, titles and contact information for comparable clients.
6. A detailed "not to exceed" cost for the completion of the study, including the number of man-hours by each task proposed in the scope of work, standard billing rates, and price of any sub-consultants working on the project. Said analysis should include any "extras" to be included such as mileage and meal costs.

DELIVERABLES

The consultant will be required to provide copies of draft and final documents throughout the study process. At minimum, the following will be required (both hard copy and electronic):

1. Five (5) copies of a preliminary draft study for City staff review.
2. Five (5) copies of a revised draft study incorporating staff's comments.
3. Twenty (20) copies of a final draft study for review by the City Council.
4. Upon adoption of the final study, the consultant shall provide twenty-five (25) copies of the full final document as well as the final document in electronic format.

EVALUATION PROCEDURES

City staff will evaluate the proposals received, considering the following criteria:

1. Firm qualifications and the qualifications of individuals who would be directly involved with the study.
2. Overall capabilities and experience in comparable previous projects of this kind and the specialized experience and technical competence of the firm.
3. The firm's overall approach to the project. Although the City has identified the general nature of services required, the consultant is encouraged to be creative with the approach and methodology.
4. Quality and completeness of the submittal.
5. Quality and clarity of representative project submitted with the proposal.
6. Past record of performance on projects with other governmental agencies, including such factors as control of costs, quality of work, and ability to meet schedules.
7. Commitment to service, flexibility, and responsiveness.
8. Project schedule.
9. Project cost. Cost will generally not be the determining factor for the selection of the consultant. However, we have a maximum budgeted amount, and any approved project that is above that will require additional City Council approval. Actual amounts will be determined upon final execution of a contract.

Submittals should contain sufficient information to allow the review committee to adequately assess the firm's approach, qualifications and experience.

DEADLINE

Three (3) hard copies and one (1) electronic copy of the complete proposal should be submitted in a sealed envelope identified on the outside as "Proposal for South River Street Corridor Study" and delivered to:

Drew Rackow
Planning and Zoning Officer
100 N Island Avenue
Batavia, Illinois 60510
drackow@bataviail.gov

Proposals may be submitted in person, via U.S. mail or other nationally recognized overnight courier service and be received no later than 12:01 PM on Friday October 20, 2023. Late submittals will not be considered.

It is anticipated that the proposals will be reviewed and interviews conducted in early November, with the selected proposal being presented for approval by the City Council in late November or early December 2023.

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. RFP Costs — The consultant will assume all costs of preparation of the RFP and the City will not reimburse any project costs or fees for preparation of same.
2. Confidentiality — Proposals are subject to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Contracts are subject to review by the City Attorney.
3. Reserved Rights — The City of Batavia reserves the right to change the Request for Proposals schedule or to issue amendments to the RFP at any time. In the event of a material modification, all firms expected to respond to the RFP will be notified of an amendment. If deemed necessary by the City, respondents will be given an opportunity to modify their proposals in the specific areas affected by the modification.

The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, in whole or in part, and the right in its sole discretion to accept the proposal it considers most favorable to the City's interest. The City further reserves the right to reject all proposals and seek new proposals when such procedure is deemed reasonable and in its best interest. The City may seek clarifications from a potential consultant at any time, and failure to respond promptly may be cause for rejection. The City also reserves the right to interview only those firms that the City finds, in its sole determination, offer the most advantageous services, and to negotiate specifications, terms, and conditions with one or more respondents to establish contract terms necessary or appropriate to the accomplishment of the purpose of this Request for Proposals and that are acceptable to the City.

Any questions regarding the proposal requirements can be directed to Drew Rackow at drackow@bataviail.gov.

Please see https://bataviail.gov/bids.aspx?bidID=139 for the RFP information on the City's website.