The Town of Wake Forest (further referred to as "the Town") is soliciting Statements of Qualifications from qualified firm(s) or a team offering small community planning services. The Town desires to have a well-organized small community plan update that solicits, engages and incorporates community input into a user- friendly document to help guide growth in the northeast community. The plan must be sensitive to the needs of that community including but not limited to affordable housing, senior housing, and commercial opportunities to reduce or eliminate the food desert. In addition, it should identify partnerships and opportunities that will help the community regarding transportation, education, recreation, and employment.

The Town seeks to identify qualified consultants who have robust experience engaging the community; soliciting and incorporating community input; forging innovative partnerships to facilitate common goals; preparing community plans; knowledge of Wake County, North Carolina and the rapid growth it is experiencing; North Carolina land use law; experience with developing and carrying out creative outreach methods; facilitation of public meetings; compilation and analysis of information; preparation and revisions to comprehensive plans; GIS capabilities; innovative and user-friendly documents and interactive web-based documents; quality design graphics; presentations to boards and commissions; and attainable recommendations for implementation of goals.

All respondents to this RFQ are subject to the instructions communicated in this document and are cautioned to completely review the entire RFQ and follow instructions carefully.

Purpose:

Once adopted, the Northeast Community Neighborhood Plan will provide direction and guidance to the Town of Wake Forest for future development and improvements in the Northeast Community. This plan will provide evaluations of the existing conditions found within the neighborhood and specific neighborhood goals and action items to address issues raised by the neighborhood. In addition, this plan will address the neighborhood's economic development needs and will suggest actions for expanding local services and jobs. The Plan will be developed through an inclusive process of local input. Area residents and landowners will be thoughtfully and significantly engaged throughout the planning process so that there is a sense of ownership for Plan development and implementation.

The Community Plan and Growth Strategies Map:

The Town of Wake Forest currently relies on the adopted Town of Wake Forest Community Plan and Growth Strategies Map as a policy-based comprehensive plan with an action agenda to achieve implementation. The Community Plan was adopted in 2009 and it contains the vision statements, policies, and actions that have guided growth in the Town of Wake Forest for the last 10 years. The plan is broken into the key sections: Town Areas; Town Transportation; Town Appearance; Growth Management; Quality of Life; and Growth Strategy Map. See Attachment B for a copy of the Plan.

The Town will issue an RFQ to begin updating the Comprehensive Community Plan in January 2020. The timing of the Comprehensive Community Plan and Northeast Community Neighborhood Plan updates will allow for overlap, communication and integration.

Wake Forest Planning Efforts:

The Town completed a Comprehensive Transportation Plan in October 2019. (See Attachment C). The Renaissance Plan for Downtown Wake Forest was updated and adopted in 2017. (See Attachment D). These and other planning efforts that should be appropriately reflected in the update to the Northeast Community Neighborhood Plan.

Scope of Services:

The small area plan should include the following information and analysis. Alternative services and deliverables may be proposed on evidence of the need to meet the purpose of the RFQ. RFQs that do not include all these will not be considered.

Task 1: Timeline

• Provide an estimated timeline and work schedule. The timeline must be efficient and move briskly.

Task 2: Community Engagement and Outreach

• Identify how all stakeholders will be engaged.
• Include both traditional and non-traditional outreach methods.
• Identify potential opportunities to build on or partner with Community Plan update outreach efforts.
• Identify public, non-profit, or other entities to assist in outreach.
• Identify key themes or principles from the public outreach.

Task 3: Existing Conditions Analysis

• Identify existing plans and policies, such as the recently adopted Comprehensive Transportation Plan and the existing Northeast Community Plan, to evaluate and appropriately incorporate.
• Prepare demographic analysis with comparison for the Town and Northeast Community.
• Conduct an existing land use inventory.
• Conduct field reconnaissance.
• Identify development regulations impact the Northeast Community.
• Identify potential neighborhood stabilization impediments such as neighborhood stabilization, educational and recreational opportunities, and access to all modes of transportation.

Task 4: Fiscal Analysis

• Create a fiscal impact model for the Northeast Community.

Task 5: Neighborhood Vision and Goals

• Create a unified Neighborhood vision with goals.

Task 6: Northeast Neighborhood-Specific Recommendations

• Formulate short- and long-term recommendations that are linked to the key themes or principles.
• Prepare a Future Land Use Map that is fiscally grounded and rooted in public outreach.

Each task shall be combined and form the basis for a comprehensive small area plan, titled "Northeast Community Neighborhood Plan," that clearly defines the Plan's horizon and policy implementation timelines (e.g., 5-year, 7-year, etc.). The Plan will be subjected to a two- or three-stage review process. Town staff will review the draft and advise the consultant of needed changes – this stage may consist of up to three review cycles. When the changes have been finalized, the consultant will be advised to produce a draft for presentation to the Board of Commissioners and Planning Board. This stage can be converted to a two-stage process. Following the presentation, up to two additional review cycles may be necessary to incorporate any recommended changes.

Media and file formats: Reports shall be delivered to the Town in a current version of Microsoft and Adobe PDF formats.

Text and figures shall be delivered to the Town in their native format(s). Reports distributed to stakeholders or placed on the internet for public access will be in Adobe PDF format. Presentations shall be produced and delivered in Microsoft PowerPoint and public versions will be delivered in Adobe PDF format. Images and figures used for public outreach shall be produced by the consultant.

Reports are to be dated and identified as either draft or adopted, as appropriate. Submittal of the final plan shall be accompanied by the files, in their native format, that were used to generate graphics displayed in the reports.

Content and Format of Proposal Package:

Firms submitting qualifications shall be in compliance with the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policies of the Town of Wake Forest. Noncompliance will result in immediate disqualification I consideration for this project. A selection committee will evaluate the submittals and may elect to select the most qualified firm based on the responses as submitted or elect to conduct interviews with multiple firms prior to recommending a firm.

The submission shall be a maximum 25 pages front and back or 50 pages single-sided. Only digital work samples will be accepted. Firm selection will be based on the letter of interest, firm (prime and subconsultants) and staff qualifications, project approach, anticipated schedule, and work samples related to preparing small area plans for compatible jurisdictions.

The Town of Wake Forest reserves the right to reject any responses to this RFQ that do not comply with the content and format of proposal requirements. The Town can also conduct discussions with any or all respondents. The Town accepts no financial responsibility for any costs or expenses incurred by any entity in responding to this RFQ. All submissions may be kept by the Town and may be disclosed to third parties at the Town's discretion.

Questions and Clarifications:

All questions shall be submitted to Michelle Michael, Senior Planner – Historic Preservation, via email (mmichael@wakeforestnc.gov), no later than 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Questions submitted later than this deadline will not be considered. An addendum with questions and answers, if necessary, will be published on the Town website by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 10, 2020.

Statement of Qualifications Submittal:

The deadline for firms submitting qualifications is 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 21, 2020. No submissions or supporting documents will be accepted after this deadline. Firms accept all risks for late delivery of Qualifications Packages regardless of fault. Submittal packages should be enclosed in a sealed envelope marked REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS – Northeast Community Neighborhood Plan (RFQ # 20-0001) and set to the attention of Michelle Michael.

Please see the full RFQ package for specific submittal requirements and project information https://www.wakeforestnc.gov/finance/purchasing-warehouse/bids-announcements