1 City of Hammond Purchasing Department RFP 17‐24 "Zemurray Park Master Plan" Proposals shall be received by Purchasing Department City of Hammond 310 E Charles St Hammond, LA 70401 until 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 19, 2017 at which time Proposals shall be opened and read aloud. Advertisement in the City's Official Journal of Record, The Daily Star, to be published: April 25, May 3, and May 10, 2017. Copies of this RFP may be downloaded from the City's website: www.hammond.org. For additional information or to submit questions or concerns, contact Purchasing Manager Jana Thurman 985‐277‐5633 or MTRwZHFuaV1qW2ZhPGRdaWlramAqa25j 2 This is the Proposal of: Date: Company: Section 3 Business/WBE/SBE/MBE/DBE: Address: City: State: ZIP Code: Person to Contact: Phone: Fax: Email: Your Proposal is important to us. However, should you choose NOT to submit a Proposal for this project, the City would still ask you to complete this sheet and indicate "No Proposal". This shall NOT affect your participation in future RFPs, but only serve as a means of verifying you received notification of this RFP. Section 3 Business/WBE/SBE/MBE/DBE The City encourages Proposals from Section 3 businesses, Woman Business Enterprises, Minority Business Enterprises, Small Business Enterprises, and other potentially Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. If your company is one of these types of businesses, please indicate "Section 3," "WBE," "SBE," "MBE," or "DBE" in the space provided above. Nondiscrimination Requirements By submitting and signing this Proposal, the Proposer agrees to comply with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended; the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Section 202 of Executive Order 11246 as amended; and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The Proposer also agrees to keep informed of and comply with all federal, State, and local laws, ordinances, and regulations which affect the Proposer's employees or prospective employees. 3 Request for Proposals: Zemurray Park Master Plan The City of Hammond is soliciting proposals from qualified consultants to work in conjunction with City staff and Hammond residents to provide planning and design services for the future development of Zemurray Park. Zemurray serves as the crown jewel of the Hammond park system as the largest, oldest, and most‐used municipal park. Spanning 33.7 acres, Zemurray includes a 3‐acre fishing pond that cuts diagonally through the park. It also has the only public pool within 30 miles of Hammond. The City has issued a RFQ, separate from this RFP, for architectural services for a new swimming pool to replace this existing one, built in the 1970s. The City is seeking a new master plan for the redevelopment of Zemurray's athletic fields, as well as other spaces not currently in use. This redevelopment may include, but should not be limited to, additional aquatic facilities, tennis courts, basketball courts, and an outdoor amphitheater. The master plan must consider the entire park, including the pool, which is not part of this RFP; while the final design of the new pool is to be determine, the pool will remain in its current location. The selected consultant will facilitate public outreach efforts, develop conceptual designs based on input received from these efforts, and prepare recommendations for new and/or improved recreational features in the park. SUBMISSION INFORMATION Proposals will be accepted until 10:00am, Friday, May 19, 2017 at: Purchasing Department City of Hammond 310 East Charles Street PO Box 2788 Hammond, LA 70404. CITY OF HAMMOND PROFILE The City of Hammond is a vibrant, main street community of 20,272 people. Located on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans and east of Baton Rouge, Hammond has been called the “Crossroads of the South,” situated at the intersection of two major interstates (I‐55 and I‐12). Within its 14 square miles, Hammond has two higher education facilities: Southeastern Louisiana University (14,500 students) and Northshore Technical Community College (600 students). The growing Hammond Northshore Regional Airport serves as the primary base for 160 aircraft, the Louisiana National Guard, and the New Orleans Marine & Air Branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Even with these larger entities, Hammond holds to its hometown feel with an historic, mixed‐use downtown, an active arts and cultural district, a weekly farmers market, and community music and food festivals that take place along the railroad tracks, in the very place that spurred its initial growth. ZEMURRAY PARK DESCRIPTION Zemurray Park is comprised of land donated to the City in 1945, 1954, and 1957 by the Zemurray, McKinney, and Reimers families and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Immigration. As part of these deeds, the land is to “be used exclusively for recreational purposes, including… a swimming pool, an athletic field or fields, a baseball park, a football stadium, a community house, a band stand, and other playground and recreational purposes.” 4 Centrally located in historic downtown Hammond, Zemurray has diverse recreational areas that are shaded by beautiful live oaks—more than 95 in all. It is home to a fishing pond, 3 baseball fields, 2 playgrounds, a splash park, 6 tennis courts, the State’s first concrete public skate park, 8 picnic pavilions, a swimming pool, a half‐court basketball court, a dog park, and even a miniature‐size train for children (operated during special events). A one‐way road circles the pond as it winds through the center of the park and serves both vehicular and pedestrian traffic (it is a popular walking/jogging path). Vehicular access is restricted to the park’s main gate, which fronts South Oak Street. A recent addition to the park’s entrance is a Blue Star memorial plaque recognizing the service of veterans. Pedestrian access is facilitated by entrances along the park's perimeter. With 31.5% of Hammond residents living below the poverty level and 20.5% living with a disability, recreational opportunities that are affordable and easily accessible are vitally important. Before the City was forced to close the aged pool last year, people of all ages enjoyed swimming Mondays through Saturdays in the summer. Kids took swimming lessons, swim teams used the pool for practice, adults swam laps and exercised, and many families visited the pool together throughout the summer months. Families and friends visit Zemurray year‐round often reserving the picnic pavilions or splash park for birthdays, reunions, and other gatherings. Zemurray is the site of Hammond's Light up the Sky on the Fourth of July fireworks celebration, Christmas lights display, fishing rodeos, and the starting point for the local Martin Luther King Day Parade. The Recreation Department uses the pond to teach kids how to canoe and fish, and churches and schools bring kids to the park for fieldtrips. PAST PLANS AND RECENT INVESTMENTS In 2006, the City conducted a recreation needs assessment out of which came recommendations to develop a master plan for Zemurray Park, modernize and upgrade the park’s existing playground equipment, centralize playground areas, screen areas that may conflict with one another, and add a practice field. Many of these recommendations have since been implemented. Need for a practice fields is now questionable after the opening of the area’s regional park, Chappapeela Sports Park, in January 2013. The Hammond Comprehensive Master Plan, adopted in June 2011, similarly discussed how to make Zemurray more inviting and welcoming and how to encourage movement throughout the various areas of the park. One recommendation was to redevelop the park with a fishing pond, playgrounds, splash park, and other attractions. Several landscape architecture students proposed new layouts of the park, many of which included a splash park, ball fields, trails, replacement of the surrounding wall with a wrought‐iron fence, and a playground on the south side of the pond. These ideas and public feedback were integrated into a phased‐development plan: Phase 1 included mucking out the pond and installing a bulkhead—permitting fishing and canoeing almost year‐round (accomplished in 2012 – 2013); Phase 2 included new playgrounds, a splash park, and pavilions (accomplished in 2015 – 2016); Phase 3 includes a new swimming pool (and is slated to begin later this year/early next). The wall on the south side of the park was removed in 2015 allowing greater pedestrian access. The City is now seeking input on the next phase(s) of development in Zemurray to meet future growth and recreational needs. Because federal Land Water Conservation Funds have made possible so many of the new and upgraded facilities in Zemurray in the past, careful attention will be needed to ensure the master plan aligns with not only the original deeds donating the land for the park but also the uses approved by LWCF. 5 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Public participation is a key element in this process. Workshops, community meetings, interviews, and design charettes should be used to gain face‐to‐face, first‐hand input and feedback. Outreach should include various stakeholders—property and business owners, residents, recreational users, and the general population of the City. Outreach efforts might also include stakeholder interviews, stakeholder group meetings, online surveys, face‐to‐face surveys, and other methods as needed to gauge public interest and feedback. Critical stakeholders include City of Hammond staff (e.g. from the Recreation, Parks & Grounds, Grants, and Planning Departments and the Administration), the Hammond Downtown Development District, the Hammond City Council, nearby residents, the Tangipahoa Tourism Commission, and current and past users of the park. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION The Proposed Project will have three important components: 1. A community participation process that includes meetings, workshops, interviews, surveys, and other public outreach elements. City staff will assist the selected consultant in the development and use of these elements, which must include social media. To ensure these elements are developed and implemented in an efficient and timely manner, meetings with City staff must be conducted at the outset of the project to refine schedules, assign responsibilities, and ensure accountability is built into the process. At least two (2) public meetings shall be held in addition to any public hearings in order to adopt the plan. 2. Public participation conceptual elements developed by the selected consultant. These are various conceptual elements to be presented to the community to measure the receptivity to designs under consideration. These conceptual elements will be modified as necessary, based on feedback from stakeholders. In addition, data will be gathered and presented as needed to supplement the conceptual elements by meeting with stakeholders and others. 3. A final master plan for Zemurray Park developed by the selected consultant with input from City staff at the conclusion of the public participation process. Cost estimates for new or renovated amenities, associated operational costs and revenue projections, and potential redevelopment funding sources should all be articulated in the plan. This plan will be presented to the Planning & Zoning Commission and Hammond City Council for adoption; the consultant's presence at one or more of these meetings may be requested. The timing for this final report will be determined (preliminarily) during meetings with the selected consultant at the outset of the project and may be adjusted during the course of the project. The master plan will increase knowledge of existing recreational facilities while also providing a vehicle for eliciting further public input and support for recreational improvements in Zemurray. Ultimately, the purpose of the project is to gain public support and make it more likely that implementation of master plan elements will occur. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS The proposal should be fully self‐contained and display clearly and accurately the capabilities, knowledge, experience, and capacity of the consultant to meet the requirements of the project. Respondents are encouraged to use methods they consider appropriate in communicating the required information. At a minimum, proposals should include the following sections: Firm Description 6 Experience Project Approach & Deliverables Rate Description References One (1) bound copy (marked as original) of qualifications and one copy in PDF format on an electronic media (CD, DVD, flash drive) should be submitted until 10:00am, Friday, May 19, 2017 at: Purchasing Department City of Hammond 310 East Charles Street PO Box 2788 Hammond, LA 70404. Requests for a site visit or questions about the RFP must be submitted to Jana Thurman, Purchasing Manager, at 985‐277‐5633 or MjIwQFRhXllNWks2MSxUTVlZW1pQGlteUw==. The City reserves the right to require, from any or all consultants (firms), supplemental information that clarifies submitted materials. Interviews may be requested of the most qualified firms before a final selection is made. In order to be considered, all requested information must be submitted and presented in a succinct manner in the same order as presented in this RFP. Faxed or emailed proposals are not acceptable. The City will not be responsible for proposals delivered to a person/location other than that specified. The City reserves the right to withdraw this solicitation for proposals at any time without prior notices. Further, the City makes no representations that any agreement will be awarded to any firm submitting a proposal. The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals. Proposals that are not current, accurate, and/or complete shall be considered non‐responsive and eliminated from further consideration. PROPOSAL COMPONENTS A responsive proposal will include, at a minimum, the following components. A. Firm Description 1. Consultant: Include your firm's name and a primary address, telephone number, email address, and website address (if available). 2. Primary Contacts within the Company: Include the name, title, telephone number, and email address for each. Indicate which person will be the contact during the RFP process and which will be involved during the project. If any sub‐consultants will be used, describe their roles and responsibilities. 3. Consultant Specialties: List of the type(s) of work your firm is specialized in. B. Experience 1. List of Lead Professional Personnel by Area(s) of Expertise: Provide a brief, but detailed history of the number of years each has been with your firm and/or other firms; his/her education and 7 professional registrations/certifications; and qualified work experience relevant to the services requested. Include resumes of those who will be working on the project. 2. Current/Prior Experience with Municipal Projects (with an emphasis on park or recreational master planning projects): List up to five (5) projects, starting with the most recent, that the professional personnel of your firm have worked on within the past 5 years. Provide the year the project was performed, where this work was performed (e.g. City of Hammond, Tangipahoa, Louisiana), a primary contact name, phone number, and email address, and the scope of work performed. Other related experience may be included. C. Project Approach & Deliverables 1. Provide a task‐driven narrative describing how your firm will fulfill project objectives and what special services and products your firm has to meet Hammond's needs and remain within the project budget. Discuss how your firm will analyze existing facilities, infrastructure capacity, and ADA compliance. 2. Describe how your firm will provide the desired services and quality control to assure successful project management and completion. 3. Provide a schedule of activities, timeline, or chart showing start dates and major milestones along the way. 4. Discuss the public participation tools your firm will use and how your firm will develop a site plan for park facilities that will coordinate with the desired master plan. D. Rate Description The City has budgeted $50,000 for master planning, including the process and its deliverables. Provide an itemized rate schedule that reflects the work proposed under Project Implementation. The rate schedule should include typical hourly charge rates for labor classifications anticipated. E. References Provide three (3) references (names, addresses, phone numbers, e‐mail addresses and contact persons) for comparable work for your firm and for the team members. Provide a brief description and scope of services provided for each reference. EVALUATION CRITERIA The following criteria will be used in evaluating the proposals: • Background and experience of firm and personnel • Demonstrated success on previous projects, especially of similar scope, including quality of work, meeting the project's schedule, and completing the project within budget • Firm’s quality assurance and control procedures • Effectiveness, clarity, and conciseness of your firm’s approach to the completing the project objectives • Practical experience and technical qualifications (of the staff who will actually work on the project)