Consulting Services for Comprehensive Plan Update for the Town of Zionsville

Issue Date: August 29, 2022

Inquiries:

Owen Young, Economic Development Manager
Community & Economic Development Department
1100 W Oak Street
Zionsville, IN 46077
oyoung@zionsville-in.gov

CC:

Julie Johns-Cole, Deputy Mayor
jjohns-cole@zionsville-in.gov

Proposals Due: September 26, 2022 at 11:59p EST

All proposals are due by 11:59pm EST (local time) on September 26, 2022. Late submissions will not be considered. Only electronic submissions (submitted via parcel delivery, email, or drop off at Town Hall Utility Billing Payment Box) will be accepted. Please submit all proposals to the following mailing address, drop off location at Town Hall (proposal installed on media device of your choice), and/or email address:

Questions should be sent in writing by email to: Owen Young, oyoung@zionsville-in.gov (cc: jjohns-cole@zionsville-in.gov)

An Addendum containing submitted Questions received on/by September 9, 2022 will be provided via email to parties that have submitted Questions on or prior to September 9, 2022. The Addendum will be emailed to parties submitting Questions approximately 10 days prior to the deadline date for submittal of any responses to this Request for Proposals.

Questions posed after September 9, 2022, due to workflow, may not be answered by the Town in time for use and incorporation into a respondent's submittal.

PURPOSE

The Town of Zionsville (the "Town") is requesting proposals from interested consulting firms to update our existing comprehensive plan. While there have been additions and modifications throughout the years to the Towns Comprehensive Plan (last updated in totality in 2010). The Town would like an update to this document that keeps it forward thinking and knits both sides of Zionsville into one holistic jurisdiction under one vision. It would enhance what is working, address current and future needs and incorporate additional planning goals.

BACKGROUND

The Town was established in 1852 and is located 20 minutes north from the major metropolitan amenities of Indianapolis, Indiana. The Town covers approximately 67 square miles with an estimated population of 30,603 (April 2020). The Town consolidated the townships of Union & Eagle (2010) and the unincorporated portion of Perry (2016) into its jurisdiction. In so doing this, it has a unique footprint and is bifurcated by an adjoining jurisdiction and Interstate 65

The subarea incorporated in 2016 (Perry Township) was originally a part of Boone County and their Comprehensive plan LINK. This plan was absorbed into the Town's when Perry was incorporated into the Town's jurisdiction LINK. The Town's Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2010 and has been amended several times since LINK. We are currently in the process of transitioning our zoning ordinance to a form-based code. The Town seeks professional planning & zoning assistance to update our existing comprehensive plan regulations.

The Comp Plan update project goals are as follows:

1. Update plan content to reflect recent Town-wide strategic initiatives including Climate Action Planning, Transportation, Economic Development, Land Use, Resource and Rural Area Planning and other comprehensive plan amendments.
2. Ensure that equity is integrated into the engagement process and the updated plan content
3. Improve Plan usability by articulating clearly prioritized goals, incorporating metrics for tracking progress, and applying a modern, streamlined document design.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The Town will review the responses and interview one or more Respondents. The Town will have the Respondents provide a more detailed scope of work following the interview. After the proposal issue date, all communications between the Town and Respondents regarding this RFP shall be in writing. Any inquiries, requests for interpretation, technical questions, clarification, or additional information ("Questions") shall be directed to Owen Young, Economic Development Manager by emailing oyoung@zionsville-in.gov See top of this page for further details.

Information submitted in response to this Request for Proposals (RFP) shall include the following:

1. Contact information: Name, address, email address, and phone number of the consulting firm;
2. Type of organization: Partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship; primary location of firm; names and experience of principles or directors;
3. Firm Staffing: Names, titles, experience, and length of service of key personnel;
4. Statement of qualifications: Narrative or other statement by the firm of its qualifications to assist with the process to create the Town's new Comprehensive Plan.
5. Availability: Statement of the availability of key personnel of the firm to undertake this project;
6. Fees and Costs: Provide a listing of fees or hourly rates for members of the consulting team that will be involved in this project, including support personnel (do not include information on personnel who will not be regularly involved in the project);
7. Project List: List of similar projects completed or currently underway by the firm and/or key personnel referenced under Availability; and
8. References: Names and telephone numbers of at least three references including name of project, brief description of project, and primary contact information whom the Town can call regarding past performance, preferably on similar projects.

Respondents shall submit their qualifications on or before September 26, 2022at 11:59p EST as described on pages one and two of this document.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

The intent of the Scope of Services described herein is to serve as a framework of major tasks as currently envisioned by the Town for the consultant's information. This is not a comprehensive list.

• Alignment with Other Plans. The consulting firm should be prepared to create conceptual land use and design scenarios for major redevelopment sites that incorporate components of the previous planning efforts and help visualize a coherent long-term vision. Specific plans to review and analyze include 2010 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Transportation, 2011 Sanitary Sewer Master Plan, 2014 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Rural Updates, 2015 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Connector Study/Pathway Priorities, current Zionsville Parks and Recreation Master Plan, 2022 Sewer Capacity Study, Climate Action Plan, 2012 Strategic Economic Development Plan, Airport Study, Wayfinding Plan, Zionsville Gateway Area Study, among others.
• Evaluate existing and emerging issues. The plan should address the impacts of land use on existing and emerging issues such as housing affordability, community inclusion, and sustainability. In addition, this planning process provides an opportunity to analyze the appropriateness of other specific plans and their recommendations to ensure that they meet the goals set forth by our community. Some examples of potential existing and emerging issues include, but are not limited to:
  1. Infill and redevelopment strategies for established neighborhoods, aging commercial centers, and major redevelopment sites
  2. Strategies for a coordinated approach to housing (both affordability and mix of housing types)
  3. Environmental sustainability and the impact of land use decisions
  4. Planning for future trends in mobility and potential mode shifts
  5. Recent trends in multi-family construction and their impact on established neighborhoods and future buildout scenarios
  6. Development pressure on rural and agricultural land use
• Include extensive public engagement efforts to determine the needs, issues, and opportunities within the community. The Town expects the consulting firm to design and implement a fun and robust public engagement program that strives to be broad and far-reaching, involving members of the public, community stakeholders, neighborhood groups, Town staff, Planning Commissioners, and the Governing Body. An emphasis on ensuring substantial participation that is representative of the community both geographically and demographically is a priority for this process. The consulting firm shall have experience conducting public engagement among a diverse population and incorporating findings within similar projects.

The public engagement efforts should be authentic, adaptive, and meet the community where they are. A public engagement plan that incorporates both small feedback opportunities across the community, as well as larger approaches (town halls, open houses, or charrettes) is preferred. Public engagement activities shall include but are not limited to marketing materials, mailings, interactive workshops, branding creation, translation services, and print/web materials. Outreach strategies for both online and in-person engagement will be expected. The public engagement scope will be closely coordinated with the Town's Communications Division to clearly define roles and responsibilities and ownership of the various tools.

• Analyze the cost to provide service. The plan shall include recommendations for how to address pending infrastructure challenges and needs through a cost of service or revenue-per-acre analysis. The plan should identify strategies on how the Town should grow more sustainably (economically and environmentally) to avoid severe infrastructure maintenance issues and impacts on service delivery. Focus on accountable implementation. The plan should include a planning horizon (e.g., 2050) to develop projections on how the community wants to grow, goals for how to get there, and performance measures that assess progress. Specifically, this will include approaches that tie these actions to defined timetables, activities, budgets, and responsible parties. A detailed strategy for regular reporting of implementation effectiveness to the public and methodology for revising the plan based on the reported findings will be expected.

A successful interpretation of this requirement will provide an implementation strategy that weaves the plan into the daily activities of the Town and ties into the capital improvement and budgeting process. The plan should outline ways that the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) can complement the comprehensive plan to ensure infrastructure can be provided to meet the goals, with a clear definition of priorities to assist in annual budget development. This should involve coordination with the Town's Public Works Department as well as exploring opportunities to combine and coordinate CIPs into other Town initiatives and long-term projects.

• The firm will be required to maintain a project website related to Comprehensive Plan update effort. The website will at a minimum provide project specific information as well an interface for the public to solicit and gain knowledge regarding the public process associated with the creation of the Comprehensive Plan update.
• The Comprehensive Plan shall be presented in a format and language that is user-friendly and easily comprehended and accessible to the general public. The consultant should make an effort to minimize the use of technical planning language. The extensive use of maps, graphics, and other devices that will enhance the readability and ease of use of the Comprehensive Plan is required. At the completion of the process, the consultant shall provide a complete Comprehensive Plan with all maps, graphs, and tables.

Deliverables

The consultant will be required to deliver a variety of Plan products at various stages of the project. Examples of final plan deliverables can include, but are not limited to:

1. Web-based version of the final plan and recommendations for review and testing;
2. Database of final plan recommendations
3. One digital file of the Comprehensive Plan draft with all the inserts for review;
4. One (1) digital file of the final Comprehensive Plan; and
5. One (1) set of Comprehensive Plan maps in digital format that is compatible with the
6. Town's GIS and map layers shall be ortho-corrected and geo-referenced to the state plane coordinate system.

METHOD OF EVALUATION

Town Staff will review the submitted qualifications using the following criteria:

1. Firm experience/reputation/workload: Experience of the firm in similar work and record of successful results of that work. Also considered will be the firm's ability to take on additional work, demonstrated understanding of the Town's goals and purposes of the project, specific management approach, how well the firm's organization structure shows sufficient depth of its present workload, and the firm's ability to offer the breadth and quality of services required for this project. Additionally, the firm's successful experience performing other services for the Town on past and current projects may be considered.
2. Qualifications of the personnel assigned to this project team: The Town will give considerable weight to the individual qualifications of the project team members who will do most of the work on the project. Consideration will include qualifications of key personnel, project team member's individual experience and other qualifications, project manager's experience, sub-consultant's (if applicable) individual experience and qualifications.
3. Schedule: Consideration will be given to the firm's availability to complete the plan updates within a reasonable timeframe.
4. Work Performed Locally: The firm's ability to perform the work locally will be considered.

SUBMITTAL REVIEW SCHEDULE

Town Staff will determine if interviews are needed in order to finalize selection among top candidates. Upon selection, the Consultant will be contacted to finalize the contract, fee structure and project timeframe. Final approval will be given by the Mayor.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Visit http://www.zionsville-in.gov/231/Planning-Economic-Development for more information on Town of Zionsville's previous/current plans & ordinances.