Invitation

The City of Elkhart is seeking proposals from qualified consulting firms to provide services to develop a five-year Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The Elkhart Parks & Recreation Department operates as a municipal department of the City of Elkhart and is committed to providing exceptional experiences through people, parks and programs.

The plan should create a roadmap for ensuring just and fair quantity, proximity and connections to quality parks, green space, recreation facilities and programs throughout the community now and into the future. This document will function as the agency's strategic comprehensive plan. The City of Elkhart is seeking a system-wide approach in order to develop goals, policies and guidelines and to prioritize strategies based on current and future funding scenarios.

This plan will be a foundational document in the agency's efforts to achieve national accreditation through the Commission for the Accreditation of Parks & Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) in 2026. The Master Plan should be designed to meet the necessary accreditation standards for strategic planning, systemic comprehensive planning, community input and engagement, trends analysis, needs assessment, level of service analysis and cooperative planning efforts with other state, regional and local agencies.

The Parks and Recreation Master Plan that will be created from this work will be a guiding document for future development and redevelopment of the community's system of parks and green space, recreation and programs over the next five years.

Background

The City of Elkhart is located in the north central portion of Indiana just south of the Michigan State line. The City is approximately 15 miles east of South Bend, 140 miles north of Indianapolis and 115 miles east of Chicago. It is situated within Elkhart County and is in the St. Joseph River Valley. Elkhart has the larger population of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area, in a region commonly known as Michiana.

Elkhart is within the Northern Lakes Natural Region and is part of the Indiana region known as the Upper Great Lakes Plain. The city is under the climatic influence of Lake Michigan, which has a moderating effect on the region's temperature, with its nearest shore 35 miles to the northwest. Elkhart is considered to be in a humid continental climate. The City sits on the St. Joseph and Elkhart Rivers. The Elkhart River drains into the St. Joseph at Island Park just north of downtown. There are also numerous small lakes around the city.

Elkhart is a multi-modal community offering numerous transportation options, including the Elkhart Municipal Airport, location in the northwest corner of the City; the Elkhart passenger rail station currently served by Amtrak's Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington D.C, and Lake Shore Limited between Chicago and New York City/Boston; the approximately five-mile long Norfolk Southern Corporation rail switching yard; connections to interstate I-80/90 Tollway for vehicular travel; and nine bikeways totaling over 17 miles highlighting our two rivers' banks and connected park system.

Elkhart is best known for two industries: recreational vehicles and musical instruments. For decades, it has been referenced as the "RV Capital of the World" and the "Band Instrument Capital of the World". Other notable industries in Elkhart include; pharmaceuticals, electronic components, manufactured housing and mobile homes.

The City of Elkhart is approximately 27.5 square miles and has a population of 53,923 as of the 2020 census.

Demographic Data

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Park & Recreation Context

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Project Description

The City of Elkhart is seeking proposals from qualified consulting firms to provide services to the community to develop a Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The Elkhart Park and Recreation Department has a strong commitment to provide fair and just access to high-quality parks, green space, recreation facilities and programs for all members of the community and this master plan will help us achieve our commitment.

Specifically, the consultant will collect and analyze data to develop a clear set of goals, policies and standards for the community's park system, green space, trails, recreation facilities and program development for the next 5 years. The consultant will work closely with the Elkhart Parks & Recreation Department staff, the Elkhart Board of Parks and Recreation, and several key stakeholders in preparing the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The City of Elkhart will assign a Project Manager to act as a liaison with consultant for this project. The consultant will create a product for distribution through print and on-line hosting.

The final plan needs to meet the standards of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and to comply with their submission requirements and submission dates. The final plan needs to receive IDNR approval for 2025.

Scope of Work

Internal Assessment and Project Administration

• Provide the Parks Superintendent with a presentation of your approach to the planning process and provide monthly progress reports.
• Co-present approach to Master Plan along with community staff to Elected Officials and provide monthly progress reports.
• Participate in progress meetings with the City of Elkhart's Project Manager as often as necessary, but not less than once per month until the final plan is approved.
• Supply the Project Manager with at least one (1) copy of all completed or partially completed products as deemed necessary by the Project Manager at least three (3) working days before each progress meeting. The Project Manager shall schedule the meetings, as necessary, at key times during the development of the Master Plan.

Community Engagement

• Identify, describe and implement a comprehensive strategy and methodology for community involvement in this Master Plan development process.
• Review existing engagement documents conducted by the park and recreation department or other departments to compile available information about community needs. Summarize and identify gaps in data.
• Provide well-organized and directed activities, techniques and formats that will ensure an equitable, inclusive, open and proactive public participation process is achieved. These methods should solicit quality input from as many people as possible, including under-resourced populations and users and non-users of the services and facilities.
• Act as professional facilitators to gather specific information about services, use, preferences and any agency strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• Provide written records and summaries of the results of all public process and communications strategies that can be shared with the public.
• Help to build consensus and agreement on the plan and if consensus is not possible, provide information for informed and equitable decision making.

Resource and Data Collection

• Conduct analysis that considers the fair and just quantity, distribution, inclusivity, condition, cultural relevancy, connections and proximity of parks, green space, programs, recreation centers and services. Evaluation criteria should be based on the expressed values of the community and focus on improved health and environmental outcomes.
• Provide an assessment and analysis of the Elkhart Park and Recreation Department's current level of programs, services and maintenance in relation to present and future goals, objectives and directives.
• Compile an inventory and assessment of the existing parks, trails, green space and facilities in Geographic Information System (GIS). Compare to national benchmarking tools.
• Provide a community-wide statistically valid community needs assessment survey on recreation and park programs and facilities. The return rate should accurately represent a sampling of the population, including vulnerable populations, so that an analysis can be segmented by race, gender, age and other demographic groups.
• Create a community inventory of recreational and leisure services available to the residents of the City of Elkhart.
• Review and interpret demographic trends and characteristics of the community, using information from national analysis, local planning documents other regional and local sources.

Implementation

• Develop an action plan that includes strategies, priorities and an analysis of budget support and funding mechanisms for the short-, mid- and long-term for the park system, green space, trails and recreation programs and services. The action plan should prioritize strategies by their level of impact on social, health and environmental outcomes.
• Prioritize recommendations for needs regarding land acquisition, and the development of parks, trails, greenspace and recreation facilities.
• Prioritize recommendations for maintenance, renovation and operations of parks, trails and recreation facilities.
• Recommend collaborative partnerships and other solutions to minimize duplications or enhance opportunities for collaborative partnerships.
• Identify areas of service shortfalls and projected impact of future trends.
• Provide useable and workable definitions and recommendations for designated park and green space with acreages and parameters defined as appropriate.
• Develop recommendations for operations, staffing, maintenance, programming and funding needs.
• Provide a clear plan for development of programming based on demand analysis.

Development of Final Plans and Supporting Materials

• The Master Plan must include written goals, objectives, policy statements, a financial and action plan that articulate a clear vision and "roadmap" and model for the Elkhart Parks & Recreation Department's future.
• A summary of existing conditions, inventories and system-wide metrics, distribution metrics, and population demographics and outcome metrics.
• Charts, graphs, maps and other data as needed to support the plan and its presentation to the appropriate audiences.
• Up to 10 meetings with city staff, park board, park partners and other key stakeholders for required adoption of the Master Plan.

All proposals should include the following information:

• A Letter of Submission that includes the name, address and telephone number of the person(s) who is representing the firm.
• Background on the firm and its experience in preparing Master Plans for public agencies, as well as engagements involving communities that have characteristics similar to the City of Elkhart
• A narrative that presents the services the firm would provide detailing the approach, methodology, deliverables and client meetings.
• Identification of the personnel to be assigned to this engagement, including a résumé of related experience and estimated number of hours per person.
• A timeline for preparation and implementation of the Master Plan and its components.
• A summary of liability, errors and omission insurance coverage the firm maintains.
• At least three (3) public agency references for projects of a similar nature. Include a description of the projects, including (at minimum) client, location, contact person, contact information (telephone/email address) and a brief summary of the project.
• Provide itemized project costs in a separate sealed envelope. The project cost for services should be a "not-to-exceed cost for services."

Proposal Response

The proposal should contain all information requested and any additional information necessary to summarize the overall benefit of the proposal to the City of Elkhart. Proposing firms should submit the proposal no later than 11:59 p.m., Wednesday May 29thth, 2024.

Submittals should be directed to:

Jamison Czarnecki
Superintendent of Elkhart Parks and Recreation
Jamison.czarnecki@coei.org phone: 574-322-4828
229 S. Second St. Elkhart, IN 46514

This solicitation does not commit the City of Elkhart to award a contract, to pay any cost incurred with the preparation of a proposal, or to procure or contract for services or supplies. The City of Elkhart reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals received in response to this request, to negotiate with any qualified source, or cancel in whole or part of this proposal process if it is in the best interest of the City of Elkhart. Following contract negotiations, prospective consultants may be required to submit revisions to their proposals. All proposers should note that any contract in accordance to this proposal is dependent upon the recommendation of the Elkhart Parks & Recreation staff and the approval of Elkhart Parks & Recreation Board.

Final details of the contract between the successful consulting agency's proposal and the final presentation for enactment to the City of Elkhart's Board of Park and Recreation may be negotiated by the Superintendent of Parks & Recreation under the guidance of the Board counsel.

Project Budget Range

A budget of no more than $75,000 has been established for this project.

Preliminary Project Schedule

The following tentative schedule is anticipated for selection, contract negotiations and contract award.

• Proposals due 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, May 29th, 2024.
• Proposal review and interviews to take place the week of June 3rd through 7th, 2024.
• Contract award expected on June 18th, 2024.

• The Master Plan associated with this proposal will commence on or about July 10th, 2025.
• The timeline that is projected for the preparation and completion of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan is nine (9) months from the Park Board award date.