3-Urban Ecology Field Station Request for Qualifications and Scope.pdf

1996 South Kirk Road, Suite 320, Geneva, Illinois 60134

Bill Lenert, President Benjamin Haberthur, Executive Director

(630) 232-5980 Fax: (630) 232-5924 www.kaneforest.com

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

URBAN ECOLOGY FIELD STATION

RFQ-FP-02-2526 SEPTEMBER 4, 2025

The Forest Preserve District of Kane County is seeking qualified firms for the professional design of an Urban Ecology Field Station at Arlene Shoemaker Forest Preserve. Design services will be in two

(2) phases, and a maximum of (3) firms will be interviewed. Selection will be determined based on initial and post-interview evaluation scores.

HOW TO SUBMIT: www.kaneforest.bonfirehub.com QUESTIONS: Via Bonfire by September 19, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. CST ADDENDUM WITH ANSWERS: September 22, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. CST (if needed) SUBMISSION DEADLINE: September 25, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. CST (must submit online) INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED: October 8-9, 2025 NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN: October 10, 2025 CONTRACT AWARD DATE: November 10, 2025 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS: 15 pages maximum in PDF format via Bonfire

(no paper submissions accepted)

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS: Contact & Affidavit/Certification of Corporation Formatted Proposal (per Section III of RFQ) Addendum Acknowledgement (if issued)

INITIAL EVALUATION CRITERIA: Completeness of Submission (10%) Qualifications/Experience of Firm & Staff (50%) Project Approach (40%)

POST-INTERVIEW CRITERIA: Qualifications/Experience of Firm & Staff (50%) Project Approach (50%)

PROJECT MANAGER: Jennifer Rooks-Lopez, Director of Planning & Land Protection

RFQ-FP-02-2526

http://www.kaneforest.com/

SCOPE OF SERVICES – RFQ URBAN ECOLOGY FIELD STATION

Project Description

Kane County encompasses large urban centers in Aurora and Elgin that lie more than 13 miles and greater than a 30-minute drive from the District’s existing Creek Bend Nature Center. Patron data suggests that school groups, community groups and the general public in Kane County’s urban centers, especially Aurora, need a nearby nature center that has programs, educational exhibits and outdoor infrastructure relevant to their unique urban ecology.

To fill this need, we are planning an Urban Ecology Field Station (UEFS) based at the Arlene Shoemaker Forest Preserve in Aurora. This preserve is situated within the heart of Aurora, with connectivity to surrounding neighborhoods and walking trails to a nearby elementary school. In addition, the Illinois Prairie Path Aurora Spur runs along the northern boundary of the preserve. An urban nature center here will allow us to better reach under-served communities, at-risk youth, and low-income families that reside and attend school in Aurora.

In addition, the urban ecology focus will fully support the District’s mission.

The overall mission of the UEFS is to connect city residents to nature in their own backyard.

Arlene Shoemaker Forest Preserve encompasses large tracts of woodland ecosystem, as well as significant wetland pockets and smaller areas of grassland. This mix would enable us to celebrate diversity in urban human and ecological communities.

The UEFS will offer self-guided nature and nature play experiences (indoors and outdoors) as well as naturalist-led programs, field trips and events (classroom/lab-style and in the field.)

Educational themes on which UEFS exhibits and programs will focus include urban wildlife, urban plant communities, food cultivation, healthy cooking/eating, mitigating climate change in urban areas, cycles in urban nature and career paths in ecology/conservation.

Outdoor engagement opportunities will include land restoration, gardening, community science and nature play.

The selected design professional will assist the District in designing and seeking grant funds for an appropriately sized UEFS to meet District needs.

1. Support visitor groups of up to approximately 150 students or community group patrons and 5 staff members

2. Serve as an example and teaching center on sustainable design

3. Space needs analysis to determine the appropriate size and space requirements based on District needs

4. Indoor Facility should include, at a minimum:

• Multi-purpose class room/science lab

• Demonstration kitchen

RFQ-FP-02-2526

• Interactive stations/exhibits

• Community gathering space

• Transition to outdoor space

• Welcome desk area

• Wildlife viewing area

• Storage space

• Office/work space

5. Outdoor Amenities

• Parking for (3) school busses

• General parking (cars and bicycles)

• Water access

• Interpretive trails and boardwalk

• Interpretive shelter

• Amphitheater with seating for 50

• Fireplace or firepit

• Outdoor bathrooms

• Signage (welcome, directional, and interpretive)

6. Site analysis: The intent is to locate the proposed facility within Arlene Shoemaker Forest Preserve in Aurora. Selected design professional will perform a site analysis of the Preserve to determine if it can accommodate the proposed facility. If not, a new site will need to be assessed.

The budget for this project is estimated to be $4,000,000.00 including design and construction.

Design Services Required

Professional Design services required for this Project will be in two phases. Phase I will include the following: Project Kick-off, space needs analysis, site analysis, schematic design, concepts (minimum of 3) and the preparation of documents to the level that the District can submit for a future Park and Recreational Facility Construction Grant (PARC). Phase II will begin after a successful grant award and will include the following: Design Development, Construction Documents, Construction Observation and Administrative Services including project close out with digital as-built drawings.

Collaboration

The Consultant shall work in collaboration and cooperation with District Staff, District Commissioners, and other professional consultants required to achieve a high-quality Project.

Scope of Services and Contract

It is the intent of the District to select a Design Professional Team for the Project and to enter into an Agreement, (see sample contract file) for professional services which will address essential elements, including, but not limited to the following:

PHASE I: Project Kick-off, Site Selection & Orientation; Schematic Design and Grant Application Assistance

Project Kick-off, space needs analysis and site analysis

During the project kick-off, space needs analysis, and site analysis the Design Professional/Architect shall work closely with the District to bring best value to the Project.

• Consult with the District, other parties designated by the District or determined necessary by the Design Professional to ascertain and understand the District’s needs, goal and objectives of the project.

• Work with district staff to determine appropriate space needs and flow to meet the desired programmatic plans for the center.

• Thoroughly review the available site information for Arlene Shoemaker Forest Preserve provided by the District, and any other information which the Design Professional deems necessary or advisable, to determine the appropriate site location.

• Create a time line for submittals and approvals to the District for discussion.

Schematic Design and Grant Assistance

Design Professional shall provide a minimum of three (3) Schematic Design Plans with detailed cost estimates of the proposed facility and a tentative construction schedule in accordance with Design Professional's proposal.

• The Design Professional shall prepare a preliminary evaluation of the District’s program, schedule and budget. The Design Professional shall notify the District of any inconsistencies discovered and other information or consulting services that may be reasonably needed for the Project.

• The Design Professional shall present its preliminary evaluation to the District.

The Design Professional shall reach an understanding with the District regarding the requirements of the Project.

• Based on the District’s approval of the Preliminary evaluation, the Design Professional shall prepare Schematic Design documents for the District’s approval. The Schematic Design Documents shall consist of drawings and other documents including a site plan, preliminary building plans, sections and elevations; and may include some combination of study models, perspective sketches or digital modeling

• Consider environmentally responsible design alternatives.

• Concepts should stay within the parameters of the District’s schedule and budget.

• Construction cost estimate

• District will select the schematic design that best meets its needs to submit for a future PARC grant (or similar). Design professional will provide appropriate design documents for the grant submittal.

PHASE II: Design Development, Construction Documents, Construction Observation and Administrative Services

Design Development

Based on a successful grant award and available funding, the District will seek a contract for Phase 2 design services of the approved Schematic Design. The Design Professional shall prepare Design Development Documents for the District’s approval. The Design Development Documents shall illustrate and describe the development of the approved Schematic Design and shall consist of drawings and other documents including plans, sections, elevations, typical construction details, and diagrammatic layouts, structural, and other such elements as may be appropriate. The Design Development Documents shall outline specifications that identify major materials and systems and establish, in general, their quality levels. Design professional shall provide for anticipated permitting for elements included in the design and begin the approval process at appropriate intervals.

Construction Cost Estimates

The Design Professional shall provide full and complete estimates at:

• 100% Design Development

• 50% and 95% Construction Documents

Authorization to proceed with the next step in the design process is contingent on the acceptance of the design and cost estimates by the District.

Project Construction Budget

The Design Professional is directed to provide a base design that will establish a Project Construction Budget at 50% Construction Documentation. This budget, once approved by the District, will become the established budget for the project.

Construction Documents and Cost Control Management

Prior to issuing the project for bid, the Design Professional shall review the previously approved ‘Project Construction Budget’ and determine if it is sufficient to construct the ‘Project’ and recommend, if necessary, the appropriate action to avoid potential cost overruns prior to proceeding with bidding. If the bid result is fifteen percent (15%) or more above the approved ‘Project Construction Budget,’ the Design Professional shall value engineer the Project and rebid as necessary to bring the cost to within the ‘Project

Construction Budget’ at no additional cost to the District.

Bidding Services

The Design Professional shall produce the Bid Package. The Bid Package shall incorporate project-specific requirements such as site access and phasing relevant sections of the District’s bidding requirements and Contract General Conditions requirements.

Construction Observation and Administration

• The Design Professional shall conduct regular site observations of the contractor and subcontractors during the construction phase and sign-off on construction drawings to assure that scheduled payments are made, with appropriate holdbacks, when predetermined work has been completed.

• Assist, as needed, in the preparation and submittals of any governmental agencies.

• Respond in a timely manner to Requests for Information (RFI’s) submitted that are related to the Design Professional’s documents.

• Attend and participate in regular on-site meetings with the District, and contractors as needed to ensure job progress and quality.

• Correct, at no charge to the District, any errors or omissions in the Design Professional’s services.

• Prepare and authorize minor changes in the work that are consistent with the Contract Documents and do not involve a contract price adjustment for the District’s approval.

• Assist the District in the preparation of Punch Lists. Indicate items on Punch List that are in need of repair, rejected work and work yet to be completed.

• Coordinate Substantial Completion and Final Completion Inspections.

• With the assistance of the Construction contractor, prepare ‘As-Built’ drawings of the actual work performed. As-Built documents will include, at a minimum, revised Construction drawings showing all field changes in the project, updated specifications, all warranties and operating and maintenance manuals for work performed.

• Review contractor and subcontractor pay applications and certificates of payment. Verify that work invoiced has been completed and materials invoiced have been delivered to the site.

• Collect and forward to the District all affidavits, receipts, releases and Waivers of Lien or Bonds indemnifying the District against liens, certified payroll of contractor and subcontractors and any other documentation required.

• Assist the District with Project Completion and Closeout.

Tentative Timeline o September 4, 2025 o September 19, 2025 o September 22, 2025 o September 25, 2025 o October 2, 2025 o October 8 – 9, 2025 o October 10, 2025 o November 10, 2025 o November/December, 2025

RFQ released

Questions Concerning RFQ Due (Noon) Via Bonfire

Addenda issued, if applicable by 2:00p.m.

Submission due via Bonfire by 4:00pm CST

Maximum of (3) firms contacted for interviews

Interviews conducted

Begin contract negotiations with selected firm

Commission approval/Contract Award

Project Kick-off

Questions are to be submitted via the Bonfire portal and will be addressed in an addendum posted no later than 2:00p.m. on September 22, 2025.

The Forest Preserve District of Kane County (District) Reserves the right to reject any or all submissions. During the evaluation process, the District reserves the right to request additional information or clarifications from Submitters, or to allow corrections of errors or omissions. The District may choose to interview the top firms prior to making a final decision.

The District reserves the right to retain all submittals delivered and to use any ideas in the submittals regardless of whether the firm is selected. Submission of qualifications indicates acceptance by the firm of the conditions contained in this request for qualification, unless clearly and specifically noted in the submittal and confirmed in the contract between the District and the firm selected.

SECTION III - FORMAT OF PROPOSALS

Proposals shall be limited to 15 pages in length and contain the following items:

3.0 Cover Letter

3.1 Firm Profile

• Professional history of the firm, other team members, and principals including their professional resumes.

• List the Firm's current workload including the scope, size, estimated cost and current schedule of work.

• Include additional Firm information to support your qualifications.

• List and provide examples of specific projects that are similar in size and scope.

3.2 Project Approach (Maximum 2 Pages)

• Describe your Firm’s detailed plan for approaching this project, sequence of work to be performed and by whom. Include a timeline detailing the schedule for completion and a list of deliverables for each of the phases.

3.3 Staff Profile

Identify the personnel, including the principal in charge, from your firm who will be performing this project and their responsibilities. At minimum, include the following:

• Project Organization – Provide an organization chart that defines the Project management and staffing plan – key personnel -- for both the preconstruction and construction portions of the Project and include:

1. A narrative of how the staff will function during each of the respective phases and personnel change for the two phases.

2. Each position within the Project organization and the role and responsibilities of the individuals,

3. The individual team members/position within the organization that will be on the Project for the entire duration of the delivery or whether a specific position will not be required for the entire Project delivery.

• Personnel Experience – Each Submitter shall submit résumés demonstrating the qualifications of the key personnel defined on the organization chart for this Project. Résumés shall include but not be limited to:

1. Experience on Projects of similar size, scope, complexity and budget

2. Professional certifications and technical expertise.

• In-House Capabilities – Identify those trades and specialties within the company and describe how they may be implemented on this Project.

• Sub-Consultants - Include any sub-consultants who will be working with your firm on this project and indicate their responsibilities and include a brief firm history and qualifications.

3.4 References/Relevant Experience (Minimum 5 Projects)

Provide a project summary sheet for each project.

• Identify project scope, challenges and services provided

• Firm and team roll, identify team members rolls and whether work was completed while with the firm or previous employment.

• Project Name, Construction Dates, photographs and costs (Construction, Design and Engineering).

• Owner Contact information

3.5 General Requirements

The purpose of the proposal is to demonstrate the qualifications, competence and capacity of the firms seeking to undertake the project. As such, the substance of submittals should demonstrate the qualifications of the firm and of the particular staff assigned to this project.

SECTION IV - EVALUATION CRITERIA

It is the intention of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, the District, to select a firm who best furnishes satisfactory evidence that it has the requisite experience, ability, capital, organization, and staffing to enable it to perform the work successfully and promptly, and to perform the services required for the Project as set forth in this RFQ. Submittals will be reviewed and ranked by an Evaluation Panel of District staff. The Panel shall consider the following factors in addition to evidence submitted in Section III:

A. Completeness of Submission (10 Percent)

B. Qualifications/Experience of Firm and staff (50 Percent)

1. Firm’s requisite experience, ability, capital, organization, and staffing to enable it to perform the work successfully and promptly, and to perform the services required for the Project.

2. The character, integrity, reputation, judgment and efficiency of the consulting firm.

3. The quality of the consulting Firm’s performance on previous contracts of similar size and scope.

4. The Firm’s experience with required permitting and approvals

C. Project approach (40 Percent)

1. Firm’s detailed plan for approaching the Project, sequence of work to be performed and by whom.

2. Include a timeline detailing the schedule for completion and a list of deliverables for each of the phases within timeline.

3. Clearly demonstrate an understanding of the scope of project and provide a quality solution to the described need.

4. Demonstrate the ability to work in a collaborative team environment that supports the integration of various user groups.

Pre-Selection Meetings – If required

At its discretion, the Forest Preserve District of Kane County may schedule interviews with the top three firms based on provided submittals, to determine the most qualified design firm for the project.

The review panel shall consider the following factors during the interview process.

A. Qualifications/Experience of Firm and staff (50 Percent)

B. Project approach (50 Percent)

SECTION V - EVALUATION PROCESS

1. Firms meeting the mandatory criteria will have their submittals evaluated for both experience and technical qualifications.

2. Submittals will be reviewed by an Evaluation Panel of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.

3. The criteria that will be used for the evaluation purposes are listed above in Section IV.

4. A firm will be selected for recommendation based on which submission is judged to be the most responsive to the Forest Preserve District of Kane County’s requirements and evaluation criteria, including Pre-Selection Meeting results if required.

5. The selected firm will negotiate cost with the District.

6. The Forest Preserve District of Kane County Commission will review the recommendation for contract award for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.

7. The contract will be awarded at the November Commission Board Meeting.

8. Upon award of the contract the firm will provide the technical Final Plans outlined in the Scope of Services.

SECTION VI - TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The contract terms shall include the minimum specifications contained in SECTION III of this RFQ.

NEGOTIATIONS

The District will enter into contractual negotiations with the highest ranked firm selected by the Evaluation Committee. If a mutual contractual relationship cannot be established that will meet the District’s needs, then the District reserves the right to enter into negotiations with the second highest ranked firm and so on.

CONTRACT APPROVALS

After the contract is successfully negotiated, it will follow the typical review and approval process of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County Board of Commissioners. Staff presents the contract for approval through a series of public meetings. Each of these three committees host and provides opportunity for discussion. Each committee has regularly scheduled meetings each calendar month.

MANNER OF PAYMENT

Progress payments will be made on the basis of hours of work completed during the course of the project in accordance with the negotiated contract. Interim billings shall cover a period of not less than one calendar month.