RFQ City Park Master Plan -Final.pdf

REQUEST FOR

QUALIFICATIONS

Site-Specific Master Plan for Burlington City Park

Date Issued: August 6, 2024

Date Due: August 30, 2024, 5:00PM EST

Submit To: Rachel Kelly, Assistant City Manager:

425 South Lexington Avenue, Burlington, NC 27215, P.O. Box 1358, Burlington, NC, 27216 rkelly@burlingtonnc.gov

Purchasing Manager: Sonjia Cross

Contact Information: scross@burlingtonnc.gov

Contents

INTRODUCTION

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

Anticipated Timeline

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF WORK DESIRED:

INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

SELECTION CRITERIA

FORMAT FOR SUBMISSION OF A LETTER OF INTEREST

Section I - Cover/Introductory Letter

Section II - Evaluation Factors

Section III - Supporting Information

Submittal Process

INTRODUCTION

The City of Burlington, NC is seeking letters of interest and statements of qualification from experienced firms capable of providing professional services for a site-specific master plan for Burlington City Park, a 90-acre recreation complex located at 1388 South Main Street, Burlington.

The City Park campus consists of an amusement area, youth center, senior center, aquatics center, splash park, tennis center, pickleball complex, softball fields, bocce courts, playgrounds, dog park, rental shelters and buildings, fitness court, walking track, greenway, open space, NC Softball Hall of Fame, administration building, outdoor restrooms, and two maintenance shops. The Park is bisected by the Little Alamance Creek, is adjacent to two main thoroughfares, and is located less than one mile from downtown Burlington.

The City adopted a new Recreation & Parks Master Plan in February 2024 and now seeks to identify and prioritize needs for the renovation, redevelopment, enhancement, and future programming opportunities of the City’s flagship park. The selected firm will use data and findings from the Recreation & Parks Master Plan as well as the 2019 Carousel House planning process, input from the public, and guidance from an identified steering committee to inform their recommendations.

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

The following timeline represents the City’s schedule as of the release of the RFQ. All times indicated are Eastern

Standard Daylight Time. The City reserves the right to adjust the schedule as it deems necessary.

Anticipated Timeline

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF WORK DESIRED:

Scope of Work

The City is seeking a firm to create a plan to guide the future renovation, redevelopment, and enhancement of City Park. The plan should be developed using existing applicable plans and data, stakeholder input, and industry best practices. The plan should pay special attention to entrance gateways, connectivity and walkability, as well as landscape and open space maintenance and enhancements.

RFQ Issued Date August 9, 2024

RFQ Due Date August 30, 2024, 5:00PM EST

Interviews with Designers Week of September 16, 2024

Designer Selection September 20, 2024

Anticipated Award Date October 15, 2024

Project Delivery Spring 2025 https://www.burlingtonnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25598/Recreation--Parks-Master-Plan---Adopted-Feb-2024?bidId=

The firm shall provide the City with the following services. This list is not comprehensive but describes the general scope of services:

1. Preliminary

a. Collect input from City-identified stakeholders and project team members.

b. Review applicable plans and data.

c. Review and document existing conditions (excluding interior of stand-alone facilities)

2. Design Considerations

a. Design standards development

b. Interior connectivity

c. Gateways

d. Access between the park and major thoroughfares and destinations

e. Landscape enhancements

f. ADA accessibility

g. Economic impact

h. Partnership potential

3. Deliverables

a. Site plan with detailed recommendations for renovation, redevelopment, enhancements, and future elements

b. Design standards

c. Cost estimates

d. Phased implementation strategy

e. Raw data collected during plan development

f. Presentation of completed plan to stakeholders and City Council

INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

Insurance Requirements

Certificates for Workers Compensation, General Liability and Vehicle/Equipment Insurance will be required and submitted as part of the contract. The Contractor, at its own expense, shall keep in force and at all times maintain during the Agreement:

Insurance Type Each Occurrence Aggregate

General Liability

Bodily Injury & Property Damage $1,000,000 $3,000,000 Combined Single Limit

Automobile Liability

Bodily Injury & Property Damage $1,000,000

Owners Protective Liability or

Project Specific Aggregate

Bodily Injury & Property Damage $1,000,000 $3,000,000

Excess Liability $5,000,000 $10,000,000

The City of Burlington must be named as an additional named insured on the Contractor’s insurance policy.

The following statement must be on the certificate of insurance: a blanket waiver of subrogation shall apply in favor of the City of Burlington and all additional insureds as required by contract.

Workers’ Compensation Coverage

Full and complete Worker’s Compensation Coverage, as required by the State of North Carolina, shall be required.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

The considerations below will be utilized for selection of the firm. Selection will be made after thorough review conducted by a City panel. Interviews with short-listed firms will be scheduled during the week of September 16, 2024. The selected firms should be prepared to bring all key members of their team to the interview.

1. The firm’s recent experience, knowledge, and success in the creative and constructable design of similar projects.

2. The successful experience of the staff assigned to this project to perform the type of work required.

3. The firm’s ability to meet the time schedule established for the work.

4.The firm’s ethical and professional standing and satisfactory performance on previous contracts including a positive client and community relationship.

Please do not submit fee information with your submittal. The City selects firms to provide professional services based on demonstrated competence and qualification. Once a firm is selected, the City will enter into contract negotiations with that firm; and, as part of that negotiation, will determine a fair and reasonable fee for the services to be provided. The City reserves the right to terminate negotiations with the selected firm(s) and proceed to negotiate with other firm(s) should contract/fee negotiations fail. Once a firm is selected, a detailed scope of services (broken down by specific milestone events/deliverables), and associated fee proposal, and implementation schedule will be refined, agreed to and once signed, will be identified and attached to the City’s standard professional services agreement form.

Any firm wishing to be considered must be properly registered with the Office of the Secretary of State. The Architects and Engineers performing the work and in responsible charge of the work must be registered in the State of North Carolina and must have a good ethical and professional standing. It will be the responsibility of the selected private firm to verify the registration of any corporate subsidiary or subcontractor prior to submitting a Letter of Interest. The firm must have the financial ability to undertake the work and assume the liability. The selected firm(s) will be required to furnish proof of Professional Liability insurance coverage in the amounts listed herein. The firm(s) must have an adequate accounting system to identify costs chargeable to the project.

All qualified firms who submit responsive Letters of Interest will be considered. The evaluation of these firms will be based on the firm’s overall experience, past performance, knowledge, and familiarity with the type of work required, the experience of proposed staff to perform specific work required, including any sub consultants, and the firm’s distance from the project site.

All proposals received by the deadline will be opened and evaluated by the selection committee. The selection committee will identify qualified firms based on the above criteria and will reserve the right to hold in-person presentations by the firm(s) at the City of Burlington in the event it is necessary.

The City reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted and request additional information from one or more applicants. Failure to provide additional information, if requested within a reasonable amount of time, shall be reason for the firm’s offer to be considered non-responsive.

The City may cancel or reject proposals at any time prior to an award and is not required to furnish a statement of reason as to why a particular firm was not deemed to be qualified.

The right is reserved, as the interest of the City, may require to revise or amend the specifications prior to the date set for acceptance of statements of qualification and the acceptance date may be postponed if deemed necessary by the City. Such revisions and amendments, if any, will be announced by an addendum to the specifications.

The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive any technicalities in statements received, to negotiate, and to accept the proposal that shall be in the City’s best interest.

FORMAT FOR SUBMISSION OF A LETTER OF INTEREST

Firms must tailor their submittals to highlight similar projects. The City is seeking to engage a firm who has relevant public sector experience, with the most recent projects being the most desirable. Example projects should not be more than 10 years in the past.

Interested firms should provide three (3) hard copies and one (1) electronic copy of a package containing the following:

Section I - Cover/Introductory Letter The introductory letter should contain the following information:

• Expression of firm’s interest in executing the work;

• Justification as to what makes the firm/team uniquely qualified to provide these services

• Statement of any possible conflicts of interest; and

• Summation of information contained within the letter of interest, including an email address and telephone number for the firm’s contact person along with the business street address.

Section II - Evaluation Factors This section should contain information regarding evaluation and other factors listed in the selection criteria such as:

• A detailed project approach, specifically outlining the procedures each firm or team envisions taking to provide these services. This should be no more than two pages.

• Anticipated Project Schedule: This schedule should begin with designer kick-off meeting and identify milestone dates and time spans, including start and completion dates.

• Hourly Rate Fee Schedule: In conformance with the Mini-Brooks Act (NC GS 143-64-31), NO FEE

PROPOSALS SHALL BE SUBMITTED NOR CONSIDERED AT THE SELECTION STAGE. A standard hourly fee rate schedule for each employee classification proposed on the project team shall be submitted. These hourly rates shall include, but not be limited to:

o Principal in Charge (AIA)* o Project Manager (AIA)* o Project Architect (AIA)* o CAD Technician o Clerical & Administrative

• *These roles may be filled by one or more individuals.

Section III - Supporting Information

This section should contain the following information:

• A project team and organizational chart including project manager, project architect, designers, technicians, as well as any subcontracting firms, including their key personnel. This should be a single page organization chart.

• Office Location of Project Manager who will be main point of contact. Location of office(s) where work would be performed. If work is shared between offices, please estimate and describe the split of this workload.

• Resumes for project team members. These should be concise resumes with bullet points for specific project descriptions. Please specifically highlight the following:

o Project experience specifically related to master planning and design of recreation & parks facilities similar to our scope above. These should be listed beginning with the most recent projects and should include reference contact information for the most recent projects.

o Listing of previous projects performed for public entities including references and contact information for same. Limit projects to no more than 10 years previous.

• Other relevant information

Submittal Process

Submittals are due on or before 5:00 P.M. on August 30, 2024. The submittal package should be clearly marked “Statement of Qualifications - City of Burlington 2024, City Park Master Plan” and clearly identify the designer submitting the proposal. Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be considered. The proposal shall be addressed to the attention of Rachel Kelly, Assistant City Manager at one of the following addresses:

Mail Address:

City of Burlington Attention: Rachel Kelly

PO Box 1358 Burlington, NC 27216

Physical Address:

425 S. Lexington Ave.

Burlington, NC 27215

All questions regarding this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) must be emailed to Rachel Kelly at rkelly@burlingtonnc.gov no later than 5:00 P.M. on August 19, 2024. Questions along with appropriate responses will be distributed via email to all responding firms.

Submittal Process