The full PDF announcement is available after 12:01 a.m. 10/18/23 at https://barrington.ri.gov/Bids.aspx

SCOPE OF SERVICES

The final scope of work and fee will be negotiated between the Town of Barrington and the Consultant and included in the contract. The following tasks provide a general overview of tasks involved in this project. This is provided only as guidance. Proposals shall specify a scope of work that would establish clear objectives and an achievable roadmap for implementation, accountability, and evaluation, while allowing for ample input from stakeholders and the public.

Consultants are encouraged to revise or expand upon the scope described below to incorporate best practices and mechanisms to adapt to complex, evolving challenges over time.

The Plan and process for developing the plan should include the following elements:

• Community engagement designed to receive feedback on analysis, alternatives and/or decisions, and assess Barrington's capacity for greater collective action.
• A concise evaluation of the top climate actions/initiatives that includes an analysis of:
  • The greenhouse gas emissions reduction
  • Increased resilience to climate change stressors

This evaluation should include:

• cost of implementation
• feasibility of implementation, including staff capacity and/or consultants required
• impacts, benefits and/or key considerations necessary to address equity/climate justice
• impacts, benefits and/or key considerations related to public health
• ability to have multiplier effects across political boundaries (e.g., regional and state partnerships)

Climate action goals and measurable objectives (targets) for both the Barrington community and Town and School operations (goals and targets should have a clear connection to the top actions/initiatives) that can be embedded in the 2024-2025 update of the Town's Comprehensive Community Plan (to be completed under a separate bid process).

Greenhouse Gas/Carbon Reduction:

• Creation of a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory for the Barrington community and municipal and school operations. GHG projections for both the Barrington community and the Town and School operations (projections should include the impacts of the top climate actions/initiatives as well as a "business as usual" scenario). As part of this task, the emissions inventory shall include fleet-related emissions (see Municipal Fleet Study, 2022), and all maintenance-related equipment used by Town departments (e.g. landscape maintenance equipment, generators, etc.)
• Clearly articulate Barrington's challenges and opportunities in meeting climate mitigation (such as a GHG reduction target) goals.

• A recommended process and report format for annual updates measuring progress on achieving GHG reduction goals, incorporated in the annual municipal and school budget process.
• Identify opportunities to leverage relationships, including funding, with potential outside partners including the State, Federal government, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Universities.

Climate Adaptation & Risk Reduction

• Using available maps and modeling completed by Town partners and the State of RI, identify climate stressors relevant to Barrington. No additional modeling is required within this Scope of Work.
• Complete an assessment of potential impacts, including physical and financial, of projected sea-level rise and coastal flooding risk on publicly owned buildings and sites, roads, stormwater systems, and other utilities. Include an assessment of the cost of inaction.
• Using data and information from the RIDEM Community Forestry Program and the RI Green Infrastructure Coalition, include green infrastructure strategies that result in reduced risk to property due to winds, flooding, heavy snow/ice or other natural hazard impacts, to include: (1) green infrastructure solutions and best practices that will be most resilient to climate change for use in public projects; and (2) resilient plant/tree species in new subdivision and land development projects that contribute to carbon sequestration and stormwater uptake.
• Identify and prioritize strategies for risk reduction and adaptation to changing climate conditions across sectors of the municipality including each element of the Comprehensive Community Plan: housing, economic development, circulation, community services and facilities, natural and cultural resources, outdoor recreation, energy, natural hazards, and land use.
• Identify opportunities to leverage relationships, including funding, with potential outside partners including the State, Federal government, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Universities.

Implementation

Given the need for swift and meaningful action in Barrington and across the globe, the Plan should identify the most impactful things we can do in Barrington within 10 years to mitigate our emissions and adapt to our changing climate, as well as prioritize long-term actions for the Town and Schools to implement over the next 10 to 25 years.

As adaptive capacity is critical to any implementation program, the Plan should include a "gap analysis" of the implementable actions outlined in the plan, and the staffing/contractor level of effort required to implement the programs/projects including: technical scoping and development of project specifications, permitting, grant writing, procurement, project administration, construction administration, maintenance, management, evaluation and monitoring.

Include funding mechanisms (capital budgets, bonds, outside funding sources), estimated costs in today's dollars (capital and operating), and identification of responsible parties for proposed implementation actions.

Deliverables

Consultants shall propose deliverables that best achieve the goals and objectives of this RFQ. The Climate Action Plan shall be data-driven, with ample and effective public input, but also user-friendly. The Town's encourages Consultants to deliver a graphics-rich implementation plan that helps with community education and outreach, pursuit of grant funds, and provides good information for decision makers as part of the Town's budgeting process.

Budget and Deadline

Proposals should be based on a budget of approximately $150,000 to complete the Plan, with a completion date of no later than Monday, September 30, 2024.

PLAN DETAILS AND PREFERENCES

• Use ICLEI's ClearPath emissions accounting software or the equivalent.
• Include coordinated climate adaptation and mitigation strategies and actions for maximum impact.
• Provide a method for prioritizing the strategies and methodology for evaluating and updating the plan on a recurring basis, linked to the annual operating and capital budget processes.
• Evaluate alignment of our action with state-level climate action goals (for more, see State of Rhode Island's website on Climate Change and Resilience)

Links to the following documents and webpages are provided to provide guidance as to the Town's expectations for the Barrington Climate Action Plan:

• 2030 Tacoma Climate Action Plan
  • Tacoma Greenhouse Gas Inventory
• City of Shoreline Climate Action Plan
• Whatcom Greenhouse Gas Inventory
• UNC-Chapel Hill Climate Action Plan
• Chapel Hill Climate Action Plan
• Whitby, Ontario, Climate Emergency Response Plan
• Climate Resilient Edmonton

RESOURCES

• Barrington Community Forests Program (2023)
• Barrington Hazard Mitigation and Flood Management Plan (2022)
• Municipal Fleet Study (2022)
• Town of Barrington Resilient Future Resolution (2021)
• Bay Spring Neighborhood Resilience Plan (2020)
• Municipal Resilience Program Summary Report (2019)
• Barrington Comprehensive Plan (2015)
• Barrington Strategic Energy Plan (2011)

PROPOSAL BACKGROUND

With an extensive coastline and significant sections of town within low-lying areas near the shore, Barrington is one of Rhode Island's most vulnerable communities to natural hazards. The community's vulnerability will increase in the coming decades with sea level rise; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts as much as 10 feet of sea level rise for Rhode Island by 2100.

Climate change presents Barrington with a host of significant challenges in the coming decades, as pointed out in the major findings of the Town's 2017 Hazard Mitigation Plan:

• Barrington's infrastructure – roads, bridges, sewer pump stations – will be at risk from rising sea levels, including Wampanoag Trail (Route 114), a major evacuation route for the town and the East Bay.
• The Town has vulnerable populations located in areas at risk from flooding and storm surge, specifically residents of two elderly housing complexes in West Barrington.
• Major hurricanes pose a significant threat to impact large sections of Town. For a Category 4 hurricane, five of six public schools, three private schools, and the Public Safety Building on Federal Road are at risk from storm surge impacts.
• Buildings valued at approximately $275 million (principal structures) are located within the 100-year and the velocity flood zones. Another $250 million in principal structure building value is within the 500-year flood zone, as mapped by FEMA.
• Over time, higher sea levels could significantly increase the amount of property at risk from flooding and storm surge.
• The Town has opportunities to mitigate impacts from natural hazards and sea level rise through measures that protect the built environment and preserve and restore natural areas that serve as a buffer against coastal flooding.

Recognizing the threat of climate change, the Town has taken steps to create a more resilient community. Examples of climate mitigation and adaptation projects are below.

• Established a Resilience and Energy Committee, which studies climate issues and advocates for actions related to climate resilience, renewable energy, and other related topics.
• Created a Climate Mitigation Capital Reserve Account to build up funding for climate mitigation and adaptation projects.
• Expanded staff capacity by hiring a Resilience Planning consultant focusing on grants and project implementation.
• Formed a Hazard Mitigation Committee to oversee the 5-year update of the Hazard Mitigation and Flood Management Plan (FEMA approved, 2023).
• Added a separate Natural Hazards element to the Comprehensive Plan (in 2015).
• Adopted a Strategic Energy Plan (2011), including establishment of an energy reduction target for the Town and Schools (reducing 2009 energy usage by 20 percent by 2020).
• Implemented energy efficiency measures at public facilities and converted more than 1,800 streetlights to LED, resulting in a reduction of almost 21 percent in energy usage from municipal operations compared to 2009 levels. (The Schools reduced energy usage by about 10.5 percent during this timeframe)
• Participated in a 20-year virtual net metering power purchase agreement that resulted in the installation of a 5-megawatt photovoltaic array at an East Greenwich industrial site. Approximately 70 percent of the Town's electricity load was allocated toward this project.
• Signed up to participate in the State's first Community Electricity Aggregation program, joining Providence and several other communities to purchase power for residential and commercial customers at a lower rate, along with more renewable energy in the mix of energy sources compared to what's available from the local utility.
• Became the first municipality in Rhode Island to purchase an electric vehicle for use in the police fleet and is among the first to install Level 3 "fast chargers" at a municipal property (Town Hall). The Town completed a fleet study in 2022 to inform how Barrington proceeds with the conversion of its fleet to electric vehicles (where practical).
• Completed resilience improvements at Barrington Town Beach – including removal of pavement in areas that were susceptible to high tide flooding, and replacement of a flood-prone beach restroom building with a new one built above flood elevation.
• The Town completed an adaptation project at Walker Farm in 2023, including raising the access road to reduce flooding impacts, restoration of an eroded shoreline, and providing an area within the site for coastal marsh migration.

In addition, in February 2021 the Town Council unanimously adopted a "Resilient Future" resolution that "states its intention to prioritize alternatives that utilize green power and clean fuels and to explore other strategies." It concludes:

This is just a partial list. But it reflects the Town's commitment to sustainability and resilience.

A challenge, however, is the lack of an overall assessment and roadmap for identifying and prioritizing public investment in climate mitigation and adaptation projects.

Climate mitigation strategies (defined here as reducing the carbon footprint) requires the development of a baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory of not just municipal and school facilities and operations, but also the community as a whole. This GHG baseline will allow for the creation of a reduction target, and a series of strategies and actions to achieve that target.

The Town has a list of climate adaptation strategies (defined in this context as measures that improve resilience, such as floodproofing structures, elevating roads, planting trees...), but it is only a partial list focusing on specific areas of town. The need cuts across all aspects of Barrington – roads, bridges, sewer pump stations, schools, municipal buildings, neighborhoods, businesses, institutions. The Town can't go at this alone. The Schools, the State, the region, and federal government all play a crucial role in making Barrington more resilient in the face of climate change.

The Town Council has made climate resilience a top priority for the short and long term. We are a small town, confronting the biggest issue of our time – climate change. A climate action plan may require significant investment to be effective. We can't go at this alone, given the cost and scope. Strategies need to be effective. Dollars spent must be directed to the most urgent projects. An effective plan must bring in partners – neighboring towns in the East Bay, State and federal agencies, the local Land Trust, etc.