REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
October 13, 2016
FROM: BRUCE RUDD, City Manager
BY: DANIELLE BERGSTROM, Special Policy Advisor, Office of the Mayor/City Manager
SUBJECT
Title
Approve a consultant services agreement with Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative for an amount not to exceed $172,757 for community engagement for parks and trails within the City of Fresno.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager’s Office recommends that City Council:
1. Approve a consultant services agreement with Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative for an amount not to exceed $172,757 for community engagement for parks and trails within the City of Fresno.
2. Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to sign the agreement on behalf of the City of Fresno.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
There are multiple efforts underway to identify strategic investments necessary to increase access to open space and parks, trails, and safe pedestrian and bicycle facilities throughout the City as called for by the 2035 General Plan: the Parks Master Plan, the Active Transportation Plan (ATP), and the various land use plans that focus in more detail on certain neighborhoods. In an effort to raise awareness of and support of Fresno’s ongoing parks and trails initiatives, the City is seeking to award a contract to Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative to develop a communications, branding, and outreach strategy that will ensure that residents from across the City have a clear understanding of that vision, an opportunity to shape the priorities within the broad range of investments identified in those plans, and a role to play in the implementation of those priorities.
BACKGROUND
On June 10, 2016, the City Manager’s Office issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking proposals from qualified organizations to provide community engagement, visioning, branding, and development of an outreach plan for the City of Fresno’s existing and planned parks, trails, and other green spaces. This outreach is designated to complement and augment the work currently underway with the Parks Master Plan and the ATP, as described below.
The City is currently underway with the preparation of an ATP, which will not only meet State ATP requirements but also will update the City’s 2010 Bicycle, Trail and Pedestrian Master Plan. The ATP will illustrate Fresno’s objective to provide alternative modes of transportation, as identified throughout the 2035 General Plan. The City contracted with Fehr & Peers who began work on the ATP in early 2016. A Stakeholder Advisory Committee has been formed which is tasked with overseeing the development of the ATP. Multiple community workshops are being held to gather resident input on the plan. It is anticipated that the ATP will be finalized by late 2016.
The City is also developing a Parks Master Plan, and has contracted with Wallace Roberts & Todd to perform that work. The Parks Master Plan will be developed as a tool geared towards improving the community’s quality of life by providing quality parks and open space facilities to meet the needs of all residents throughout the City. It is the City’s goal to complete a Vision Plan outlining the capital improvement needs by December 2016 and the complete Parks Master Plan by mid-2017.
The ATP and Parks Master Plan consultant teams each have a community engagement piece to inform the vision and development of their respective plans. In addition, the City is partnering with the Trust for Public Land to conduct a feasibility study for potential funding options that weigh various technical and public considerations for implementation. This study includes case studies and community surveys. It is the City’s intent for the Consultant to work alongside those consultants preparing the technical documents and develop a cohesive messaging strategy and outreach campaign to generate broad public input and support for these two efforts, which will culminate in a clear strategy for implementation of the goals and priorities laid out in the Parks Master Plan and ATP.
On June 24, 2016, the City received three proposals in response to the RFP as follow: Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative, Green Media Creations, and Southwest Strategies. After review and evaluation of qualifications, two firms, Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative and Southwest Strategies, were selected to be interviewed on July 15, 2016. The selection committee consisted of staff who was well versed in the ATP, Parks Master Plan and the goals of the Community Engagement RFP.
At the conclusion of the interview process, the selection committee determined that the Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative was the most qualified to conduct the community engagement effort for the City of Fresno’s existing and planned parks and trails. This team was chosen for their depth of experience working in the Fresno market to engage various constituencies on issues related to improving quality of life, in addition to the team’s existing relationships with several community organizations and leaders, which will enable them to build a broad base for outreach relatively easily. The Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative team includes Catalano Fenske & Associates and Fresno Building Healthy Communities as sub-consultants. While the Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative team brings expertise in design, branding, and visioning, the Catalano Fenske & Associates team excels in messaging, events, and media relations and the Fresno Building Healthy Communities team brings depth of experience and relationships working on matters related to parks, open space, and trails across many Fresno neighborhoods.
The Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative team scope of work will focus on gathering community input on parks and trails priorities; packaging the vision into a clear brand and web platform that resonates with community priorities; engaging and gathering support of residents, community leaders, and the media about the vision for parks and trails; and, charting a clear path forward for implementation of these priorities.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This agreement is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was implemented because Bertz-Rosa Strategy & Creative and all sub-consultants have offices located within the City of Fresno.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for the community engagement for the City’s parks and trails is appropriated in the FY2017 Budget. No additional funds are necessary.
Attachments:
RFP for Community Engagement for Parks and Trails
All Responses to RFP (3)
Consultant Services Agreement
Committee Report
PowerPoint Presentation