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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8D Park Master Plan Report Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: JULY 16, 2018 AGENDA #: 8D PREPARED BY: FRANK BOYLES, CITY MANAGER PRESENTED BY: FRANK BOYLES, CITY MANAGER AGENDA ITEM: CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PREPARATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE PARKS MASTER PLAN AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE CITY’S STANDARDIZED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT DISCUSSION: Introduction The purpose of this agenda item is to request that the city council approve a resolution authorizing WSB to complete a park master plan document as provided in their June 28, 2018 proposal, allocate park dedication funding for the work, direct staff to finalize a standard professional services agreement and authorize the mayor and city manager to execute the agreement. History For decades the City of Prior Lake has placed a high priority developing parks, trails and sidewalks for the enjoyment of citizens and residents. As a result, 54 neighborhood parks, five community parks and in excess of 100 miles of trails and sidewalks have been developed and maintained for use of our over 25,000 residents. Prior Lake is generally recognized to have one of the best park systems in the Twin City area. Anyone who has attended a baseball, softball, soccer, football, or rugby tournament hosted in our community will attest to that. Our present park, trail and sidewalk system was developed in accordance with a park master plan completed over a decade ago as a requirement of the City’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan which mandated by Minnesota Statute. We are once again approaching a deadline for completion of a comprehensive plan. This plan will be the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The city council has already reviewed some of draft “Chapters” of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan including: Land Use, Water, Sewer and Storm Water. Transportation is in the process of completion. The chapter of the comprehensive plan which has not been started is the Parks and Trails. A Park and Trail Master Plan is therefore required. Current Circumstances Just as with each of the other Comprehensive Plan Chapters the city staff is unable to complete the prerequisite work. Like most cities the staff does not have the time required to complete the study (800+/- hours). Nor do we possess the various types of expertise required to accomplish the work as we do not have architects, ecologists and other specialists required to accomplish the work on staff. Every bit as important, this city staff has never prepared a parks master plan. In addition to affecting the quality of the deliverables, the timeline for a staff-initiated project would prevent the collection of user input during the summer peak period. After studying RFP’s completed by other cities and factoring council input from work sessions on the topic, Assistant City Manager, Lori Olson prepared a draft RFP which was reviewed by the staff and city attorney. Once the RFP was finalized, it was sent to four consultant planning firms. Two firms, SRF and WSB submitted proposals. Copies of the RFP Document and proposals submitted are available for city council review in my office. Those initial proposals were evaluated by a committee including CEC and city council liaison representation in addition to city staff. WSB was recommended to the city council. The city council sensed that the two firms may not of clearly understood the project and directed the staff to meet with each to see if the proposals and therefore the costs might be adjusted to more accurately reflect the intent of the RFP. The staff therefore rejected all bids, revised the RFP, and conducted a clarification meeting with the proposers. The RFP was sent to four firms, and the city received revised proposals from the same two firms on June 29, 2018. On July 3, a committee of staff, council liaison, and CEC Chair met to review the proposals and developed follow-up questions. On July 10, 2018 a committee of Council Member Thompson, CEC Chair Sarah Watters, Staff Liaison Lori Olson, Angie Barstad, Greg Skluzacek and myself heard presentations from both firms and asked detailed questions of each. If city council members would like a copy of the complete proposals (either original or revised) a copy is available in my office of it can be e-mailed by calling Ann. Also available is a copy of the staff report prepared for the June 18, 2018 meeting. SRF PROPOSAL The original SRF Proposal provided for 535 hours of consultant time for completion of the project over the period April 2018 to January 2019. The revised proposal anticipates 810 hours from July 2018 to April 2019. The employees they propose for the project have experience in parks master planning. Three SRF employees would be primarily responsible for the work including a firm principal, specialist in park master planning and a trail planner. The SRF Study is contemplated to be divided into three sections including: affirm the issues (solicit stakeholder input); create the vision (synthesize stakeholder comments and feedback) and approve the plan (including draft and final document). Ten tasks are identified within these sections including: reviewing the documents, evaluating community demographic trends, updating park inventory, level of service evaluation, park and recreation goals and strategies, identification of facility improvements, identification of trail gaps, implementation, final document and stakeholder engagement. Hours devoted to the project were increased in numerous areas to facilitate complete accomplishment of the project. Deliverables include: attending kickoff meeting, existing conditions text narrative, on-line site tour of facilities relevant to plan, demographic chart, tables and maps of current and forecasted demographic conditions and potential implications, updated matrix identifying existing amenities and facilities, existing condition air photography of individual park properties, goals and strategies guiding development of master plan recommendations, text narrative map depicting existing and proposed trail plan, narrative text tables that summarize time frames, costs and revenue sources, 20 year capital improvement plan, one color printed and bound copy of draft and final master plan documents. The total proposed cost of the first proposal was $55,960 and the second is $94,694. WSB PROPOSAL The first WSB Proposal provided for 1,145 hours of consultant time for completion of the project from June 2018 to April 2019. This proposal contemplates 792 hours of work over the period August 2018 through August 2019. This is a collaborative effort between WSB and Hagen Christiansen and McILwain Associates. The management team includes five persons including a senior associate, landscape architect, a long tenured park and recreation director, a capital improvement plan expert, and a building architect. The project plan includes three task areas including planning, community engagement and master plan preparation. More specifically the detailed project steps are: start up, data collection, community engagement and planning assessments, draft plan and final plan. Hours were reduced proportionately to accomplish the project in accordance with the RFP. Deliverables include: project schedule, community engagement plan, notes/minutes of all meetings, monthly progress reports, draft findings of data collection and park and trail evaluations, findings from engagement, presentations, draft plans and graphics, draft system plan, final system plan including recommendations for prioritizing new parks, trails open space and recreation facilities, recommended action steps prioritizing park and trail infrastructure repair and replacement schedule considering potential changes in existing infrastructure (phasing plan), 20 year capital investment plan for park and trail improvements identifying potential grant and funding opportunities, identification of priority projects for the upcoming budget, The total proposed cost of the first proposal was $129,000 and the current proposal is $89,509. ISSUES: The committee concurred that both firms: O Could complete the work as contemplated. O Had the necessary expertise on their team to accomplish the project. O Would prepare deliverables meeting the city’s needs. O Were equivalent in their community engagement piece. However, the majority of the team (four members) felt that the WSB Proposal was the best. Two team members thought that either firm would be satisfactory. WSB is recommended for the following reasons: O The WSB Proposal is most attentive to both community and neighborhood park issues and deliverables. O The WSB proposal confirmed that they would actually visit every park. O The WSB Proposal is based upon personal interaction rather than telephone or electronic. O The WSB Proposal while reducing community engagement costs continues to reflect a strong proposal. O The WSB Proposal reflects a more integrated approach to parks and trails. O The WSB Proposal is the least costly. Council member Thompson is the Liaison to the Citizen Engagement Committee and is prepared to comment about the recommendations of the committee. FINANCIAL IMPACT: This is a cost not to exceed proposal. Therefore, if there are overestimates of time the funds will not be spent. The staff will be monitoring the progress of this study for this and other management reasons. The cost of the Master Plan Study is proposed to be paid from the Park Dedication Account. These are funds collected from commercial and residential developers to provide land and capital for city parks. The master plan is the primary tool to direct these funds for park related capital improvements. The park dedication fund balance is $1.507 million as of 3/31/2018. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Motion and second to adopt a resolution authorizing the preparation of a Comprehensive Parks Master Plan by WSB and Associates in accordance with their June 28, 2018 proposal, authorizing the staff to complete a standardized Professional Service Agreement and authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to execute the Agreement. 2. Take no action and direct the staff to prepare additional information as may be desired. RECOMMENDED MOTION: Alternative #1 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 RESOLUTION 18-___ A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PREPARATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE PARKS MASTER PLAN AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE CITY’S STANDARDIZED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT Motion By: Second By: WHEREAS, Minnesota Statute requires that the City of Prior Lake must periodically submit a comprehensive plan to the Metropolitan Council for approval, and; WHEREAS, One element of the comprehensive plan is the master park plan, and; WHEREAS, The city staff has neither the knowledge nor the time to complete such a plan, and; WHEREAS, An RFP was prepared and distributed to four consulting engineers for this work, and; WHEREAS, WSB and SRF submitted a proposal and the staff recommends WSB as set forth in the staff report dated July 16, 2018. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA as follows: 1. The recitals set forth above are incorporated herein. 2. WSB is designated to complete the park master planning work at a cost not to exceed $89,509. 3. The staff is directed to meet with WSB to prepare the city’s standard Professional Services Agreement. 4. The mayor and city manager are hereby authorized to execute the agreement on behalf of the city. Passed and adopted by the Prior Lake City Council this 16th day of July 2018. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Braid Burkart Aye ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ______________________________ Frank Boyles, City Manager