Request for Qualifications – Consultant Services

City of Centerton, Arkansas - Comprehensive Plan

Qualifications Due: Friday, August 31, 2018 by 4:30 PM

The City of Centerton, Arkansas is seeking qualified and experienced consultants to assist with a 20-year Comprehensive Plan. The plan's purpose will be to serve as a framework for future planning documents as well as a policy guide for citizens, developers, staff, and elected officials in order to make strong decisions regarding the future of Centerton.

Qualified consultants will have experience with developing and carrying out public outreach programs, facilitating public meetings, compiling information from varying sources, conducting community workshops and surveys, drafting planning and zoning ordinances, and preparing various comprehensive plan elements. The City will select three to five qualified firms out of the responses to the RFQ. These firms will be requested to submit a formal proposal for the project.

Background

The City of Centerton, Arkansas is located in Benton County in Northwest Arkansas. Part of a fast-growing metropolitan area, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission projects that Centerton's growth will more than double by 2040 from the 2010 census, from 9,515 to 22,000 residents. The population is growing more diverse and younger with Centerton now home to Bentonville West High School, the 5th largest High School in Arkansas and a 7A School. Centerton is also home to a variety of housing options and enjoys low crime rates and great schools and jobs in the area.

A general comprehensive plan was last updated in 2009. Since its adoption, Centerton has undergone transformative change. With this rapid growth comes the need to identify the physical patterns, distinct places, and resources available within the community and to refine the City's goals and aspirations for its future. The outcome of the development of this Plan, with input from community and neighbors, is to provide a framework of policies to direct growth, update existing policies, establish targeted areas of growth opportunity, and inform decision making throughout the City organization.

Project Goals

• Facilitate a comprehensive planning process that is outcome focused.
• Produce a useful, intuitive, and accessible tool for the community.
• Employ holistic and interactive public outreach and engagement.
• Integrate with City's website and GIS mapping program.
• Align the planning and zoning regulations with the long-range plans for the City.
• Develop innovative economic development strategies and tools to leverage public investments.
• Align capital improvement planning with the plan policies and goals.

Project Description

The Comprehensive Plan will capture and analyze current trends to develop a useful, functional, and holistic plan to ensure Centerton remains a community of choice. The plan must be creative and innovative; clear, concise, and illustrative; and address issues that are unique to Centerton. The selected consultant will:

• collect relative and pertinent data;
• review and update existing planning documents;
• assess national, regional and local issues and trends;
• estimate and project population and employment;
• engage and empower citizens with traditional and innovative techniques;
• establish vision, goals, and objectives;
• prepare future land use map and other maps as directed;
• develop policy recommendations and achievable implementation strategies;
• recommend a capital improvement program with funding opportunities; and,
• determine, recommend, and draft necessary planning, zoning, and development regulatory changes.

The plan will address the following elements:

• desirable and resilient neighborhoods with housing variety, affordability, and availability;
• all modes of transportation with emphasis on walkability, bikeability, and connectivity;
• economic development that accommodates entrepreneurialism;
• health, fitness, and aging;
• parks, recreation, and leisure;
• open space, natural resources, and green infrastructure;
• place-making, cultural heritage, and public arts;
• urban form, design guidelines, districts, and focus areas;
• sustainability factors including smart land development; and
• utilities, public facilities and public safety.

Statement of Qualifications

The City requests that each respondent submit one original and one digital copy (email, flash drive or CD) of a letter of interest and statement of qualifications. Respondents may deliver this information to the address below, or mail, postmarked no later than Friday, August 31, 2018.

City of Centerton
c/o Lorene Burns, Planning Director
290 North Main Street, PO Box 208
Centerton, AR 72719
lburns@centertonar.us

The response to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) should be brief but comprehensive and shall include experiences related to the team's ability to achieve the city's project goals. The responding firm is requested to include the following information:

• Firm Information: Name, headquarter address and phone number, and firm website address.
• Contact Information: Name, address, phone number and e-mail address of primary contact person of firm.
• Form of Organization: Indicate whether the firm is a partnership, corporation, or sole proprietorship, where it is organized, and the names of principals, officers, and directors of the firm.
• Key Personnel: The names of key personnel, their respective titles, experience, and periods of service with the firm.
• Statement of Qualifications: A narrative or other statement by the firm of its qualifications for the proposed project.
• Availability: A brief statement of the availability of key personnel of the firm to undertake the project.
• Project List: Provide a list of five (5) previous clients for similar services including a description of the project and contact names with telephone numbers.

Questions regarding this RFQ may be directed to Lorene Burns, Planning Director, at (479)795-2750 or lburns@centertonar.us or Nicole Gibbs, Planner, at ngibbs@centertonar.us.

Please visit www.centertonar.us for more information.