Introduction

The City of Tupelo Department of Development Services and Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee is currently seeking statements of qualifications for professional services toward intent to employ consulting services for final development of project planning, area revitalization planning, data collection, and production of final materials for the City-wide Comprehensive Plan 2025-2040. Firms interested in this Project are advised to carefully review the information outlined herein and respond accordingly. All submissions must be received no later than 5:00pm November 2, 2023.

A pre-submittal conference is scheduled for October 24, 2023 at 11:00am in the Department of Development Services on the 3rd floor of City Hall, 71 East Troy Street, Tupelo, MS for prospective professional service providers.

This RFQ contains a description of the project background, scope of work, submittal requirements and content, and criteria for selection of a firm.

Background Information

The City's current Comprehensive Plan is set to expire in 2025. A collaboration of 35 individuals representing various public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic experience makes up the City's Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee and have been meeting on a monthly basis beginning March 2023. The meetings have produced conceptual goals for the comprehensive plan period, priority projects for proposal to the City, and policies and programs for implementation into the City's Development Code and Code of Ordinances.

The Steering Committee has been engaged with in depth research and analysis of the present situation and capacity of the City's resources and regulations related to quality of life, economic development, community engagement, and community development. SWOT analysis and Logic Model led short, medium, and long term goal setting for each area of concentration has been produced to develop strategic planning goals and implementable processes for the redevelopment and revitalization of the City of Tupelo for 2025-2040.

Scope of Work

Preliminary strategies constructed through Steering Committee processes have resulted in the identification of specific development goals for which the Committee will employ a firm to provide feasibility analysis of projects, policy development for implementation of planning goals, and to produce a final plan for City Council adoption.

Required deliverables include initial planning and design for priority projects, revitalization planning for residential and commercial areas that can be implemented into Development Code and Zoning Map amendments, and development of community engagement and City government strategies to promote Comprehensive Plan goals and resulting regulatory changes. The employed consultant should be able to produce these items and coalesce them into a final document for production and promotion of the Comprehensive Goals for the City of Tupelo for 2025-2040.

The Committee has set a timeline for development of and initial draft of the Comprehensive Plan 2025-2040 to propose before the Tupelo City Council in June 2024 followed but a public forum in July 2024 to receive citizen feedback prior to the development of the final Comprehensive Plan and associated Development Code, Zoning, and Ordinance amendments.

Submittal Requirements and Content

For consideration, submit, at minimum, the following items for review:

1. Information regarding the organization and structure of the firm
   1. Brief history of the firm
   2. Contact information and location of office(s)
   3. Certification of professionals employed by the firm
2. Experience
   1. Experience in commercial and residential area/community revitalization
   2. Experience in producing codified documents, ordinances, and other legal documents for planning and regulatory purposes
   3. Experience in developing project proposals for speculative commercial development and public facilities
   4. Experience in Comprehensive Plan development, proposal, and approval
   5. Experience and qualifications of key personnel of the firm for the project, including availability and estimated timeline for completing scope of work detailed in this RFQ

Selection

Qualifications of firms for employment to meet the project scope of work will be evaluated according to the following criteria, using a point system for each item:

1. The firm's qualifications, represented by previous experience, proven sustainability of prior work, references supporting previous experience, and firm access and availability to engage with City of Tupelo Administrative and Planning staff. — Up to 20 points
2. The firm's experience in diverse areas of planning, including neighborhood connectivity, tax abatement incentives, blight and abandoned property development, infrastructure improvements, future land use planning, and beautification strategies. — Up to 20 points
3. The firm's technical expertise in data analysis in areas of density, drainage, connectivity concepts, zoning, and market feasibility of commercial development — Up to 15 points
4. The firm's experience in producing data for publication in the form of maps, analytics, policies and procedures, anticipated project outcomes, and municipal comprehensive plan publications. — Up to 10 points
5. The firm's experience in producing legal documents for implementation into governing processes such as municipal Ordinances and Development Code amendments. — Up to 20 points
6. The firm's ability to conduct public forums, provide opportunities to receive and analyze public feedback, and to engage with citizen participation efforts and community engagement and education of planning processes and outcomes. — Up to 15 points

General Terms and Conditions

Proprietary or confidential information: The firm is asked for any restrictions on the use of information included in their responses, and told that proprietary information will be handled in accordance with applicable law, regulations and policy of the City of Tupelo. All proprietary or confidential information must be clearly marked as such.

Background Check: The City reserves the right to conduct a background inquiry of each firm which may include the collection of appropriate criminal history information, contractual business associates and practices, employment histories and reputation in the business community. By submitting qualifications to the City, the developer consents to such an inquiry and agrees to make available to the City such books and records as the City deems necessary to conduct the inquiry. The City reserves the right to reject any proposal if the evidence submitted by or investigation of the proposer fails to satisfy the City that the proposer is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of a development contract.

Rights Reserved by the City: The City reserves the right to amend its evaluation criteria and to utilize, as needed, an independent review team. The City reserves the right to reject any or all submittals, to evaluate the qualifications submitted, or to request additional information. The City may also, at its option, interview developers as part of this selection process. However, selection may take place without such interviews. Therefore, proposals should be complete as submitted.

Agreement Required: The selected firm will be required to enter into a contract with the City of Tupelo with a timeline for completion. Offers of employment are subject to the approval of the City of Tupelo City Council along with any conditions and subject to the Mandatory Addendum to City of Tupelo Contracts.

Project Timeline and Submittal

To be considered, one original and one digital copy of qualifications must be received by the Tupelo Department of Development Services, 71 East Troy Street, Tupelo, MS 38804 by 5:00pm November 2, 2023. Submittals must be sealed and clearly marked: "Qualifications: Tupelo Comprehensive Plan". Submittals must include all information specified in this request for qualifications. Questions may be directed to Jenny Savely, City Planner