Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Clairton & Harrison Community Greening Assessment Projects Request for Proposals July 2018 Proposal Information The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) is seeking proposals from qualified firms to undertake professional services for two community greening assessment projects--one for the City of Clairton and one for Harrison Township, both in Allegheny County. The scope of work for this RFP includes: Hydrological analysis to identify high-impact locations for green infrastructure (GI) facilities in both municipalities, including developing runoff captures goals. Review municipal codes on stormwater management, shade trees, and riparian buffers and provide recommendations where needed. Field data collection, with guidance provided by WPC and municipal stakeholders. This will likely include one to two meetings within the municipalities with primary municipal stakeholders (not public meetings). Landscape design for the GI facilities, including construction drawings for two modest-sized facilities (one in each municipality). One additional concept design for a substantial green infrastructure project for each municipality that could be pursued in the future. Coordination and facilitation of community meetings to inform municipal staff, officials, and residents on the project details and results and seek input on GI location and features. There will be four meetings total two in each municipality over the course of the project. Construction of two GI facilities one in each of the municipalities. Developing and implementing monitoring protocols for the GI facilities to demonstrate their effectiveness. Developing a simple operations and maintenance plan, outlining basic function and maintenance activities. A report detailing the approach and results of the analyses, fieldwork, design, outreach, construction, and monitoring. Page 1 of 6
Background WPC continues to be a leader in large-scale community forestry and community-based green infrastructure projects in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and throughout Western Pennsylvania. There is an ongoing and growing need for communities to address critical environmental issues, particularly water quality problems. Communities must address stormwater management issues such as non-point source pollution, sewage overflows, and riparian buffer protection as required by local, state, and federal regulations. WPC has developed a successful model for implementing effective and affordable communitybased forestry and green infrastructure (GI) projects. Through a combination of community engagement and education, staff expertise, professional consultation from designers and engineers, maintenance efforts, and monitoring protocols, these greening projects succeed and have measurable benefits to the communities they serve. The success and sustainability of these projects comes in large part from the community engagement component, wherein residents and municipal staff and officials understand the value of this work and develop the capacity to plan, implement, and maintain these types of projects themselves over the long term. WPC helps communities build capacity to pursue further community GI and forestry projects on their own through connecting people to resources such as funding and training opportunities. WPC s regional community forestry and green infrastructure work has largely stemmed from WPC s role as the managing partner of the TreeVitalize Pittsburgh project. Launched in 2008, TreeVitalize Pittsburgh is a partnership among the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County Parks, Tree Pittsburgh and WPC. From the outset, the trees were framed as accessible public green infrastructure. Accessible because of the natural opportunity for community engagement through tree plantings and tree care, and as infrastructure because of the many services they provide to the community as a whole. Healthy trees provide measurable environmental, economic, health, social and aesthetic benefits including cleaner air, stormwater runoff control, opportunities for community engagement, increased business in shopping districts, and higher residential property values. WPC has led the planting of over 30,000 trees in Allegheny County to help achieve these benefits and has involved more than 12,000 volunteers in the process. Relatedly, WPC has led several substantial and successful engineered green infrastructure projects in Allegheny County including large bioswales in the Borough of Millvale and in Point State Park, green parking lots in Carnegie Borough, and a stormwater tree trench in Homestead Borough. WPC s Approach and Methodology for Community Greening Projects Like the community forestry tree planting model, WPC s community green infrastructure model closely engages the community and municipal staff and officials in the work. The collaborative Page 2 of 6
process focuses on prioritizing the types and locations for green infrastructure projects based on community needs and interests. WPC will then lead fundraising efforts based on the outcomes of the Community Greening Assessments, which has been very successful to date. With funding secured, WPC works with the community to develop Requests for Proposals for design and engineering and manages the contracting and design processes for project implementation. WPC then manages the initial maintenance and monitoring of the facilities and trains local municipal staff and volunteers to maintain the facilities over the long-term to ensure their success. It is important to note that WPC has leveraged significant public funding for project implementation in all of the communities where Community Greening Assessments have been completed to date. WPC has established these innovative and scalable community forestry and community green infrastructure models that focus primarily on low-income communities with low tree canopy cover and in need of support for meeting stormwater management requirements from local, state, and federal agencies. In terms of innovation, these models developed by WPC and our partners utilize the latest and best management practices in design, engineering, green infrastructure, and community forestry. An underlying goal to these Community Greening approaches and the resulting projects is helping communities become more resilient to a changing world. The services and benefits derived from community green infrastructure will help communities navigate more unstable weather patterns and a changing climate and improve the quality of life in the near and long-term. The success and sustainability of these projects comes in large part from the community engagement component, wherein residents and municipal staff and officials understand the value of this work and develop the capacity to plan, implement, and maintain these types of projects themselves over the long term. Budget The total budget for this work is $123,000, including the following cost estimates: $35,000 for code review, data collection, landscape design, conceptual designs, community meetings, report writing, construction drawings, construction oversight $18,000 for hydrological analyses, report writing, construction drawings, construction oversight $10,000 to develop and implement a monitoring protocol, including cost of equipment $60,000 total for construction of two comparative GI facilities, one in each municipality. This amount needs to include all materials, equipment, and labor. Budget amounts for these categories may shift based on a firm s proposal. However, proposals that exceed the total budget amount of $123,000 will not be considered. Page 3 of 6
Overall Project Timeline: The following is a tentative timeline for all components of the project, including WPC s and the contractor s tasks. All project components must be completed by June 30, 2019 to meet the requirements of WPC s funding source. Components related to the contractor s scope of work are in bold. July 2018: Project launch, convening project committee (committee meets bi-monthly), contracting services secured for engineering, design, and community input process. August September 2018: Street and park tree inventories completed, tree planting site assessments completed for fall 2018 plantings, initial fieldwork conducted for identifying high impact green infrastructure facilities, background research on water/stormwater issues, code review. October November 2018: Fall volunteer tree plantings, contractor identifies potential GI sites and develops conceptual plans. December 2018: First community meeting overview of project goals, update on work completed, overview of GI locations and concept plans, feedback gathered from the community. January March 2019: Tree inventory reports underway, assessments for spring tree plantings completed, develop recommendations for updating/creating codes to address stormwater, trees, and riparian buffers, GI analysis and design completed for spring construction, monitoring protocol developed. April 2019: Second community meeting to present GI facility design and project updates, preparation for GI facility construction, spring volunteer tree plantings. May June 2019: Construction of GI facility, monitoring protocol implemented, and final report completed including recommendations on codes and concept design for further GI facility construction. Page 4 of 6
Things to Consider in Developing the Proposal: Proposals must include all components listed in the beginning of this document. If a firm is unable to complete any component of the scope of work, the firm can partner with other qualifying contractors to submit a complete proposal. This project seeks to demonstrate that green infrastructure is an effective, affordable, and measurable way for municipalities to meet their needs for stormwater management and water quality protection through data collection and the adherence to improved stormwater, shade tree, and riparian buffer codes and ordinances. Emphasis should be placed on maximizing stormwater management relative to construction cost. Simple, functional, and aesthetically pleasing approaches are sought for these projects. WPC will be the primary project manager and will help the contractor coordinate and facilitate the stakeholder and community meetings (identify meeting locations, event promotion, note taking, assist with developing presentations, food and beverage, registration). Plant material will be procured and paid for by WPC, based on the landscape design provided by the contracted firm ($12,000 budgeted for plant material including trees, shrubs, and perennials plus additional funding for planting supplies). WPC engages community residents and other volunteers in all tree and GI facility plantings, instead of using contracted labor. This should be factored in to construction cost estimates. The agreement for the work described above will be between WPC and the contractor. Therefore, only WPC will direct the work undertaken by the contractor and all communication with municipal staff, officials, and residents will be coordinated through WPC. Submission Requirements Include the following in the submission: Cover Letter: The cover letter shall state the consultant name(s) and contact information and clearly identify the primary contact person for the project. Identify the attached document is for the Clairton and Harrison Community Greening Assessment Projects. List of Hourly Rates: Provide a list of hourly rates for all personal to be assigned to the project. Approach to Work: Include an approach to this project and a task list outline based on the items listed in the beginning of this document, describing tasks and deliverables for each phase of the project scope of work. Provide a cost proposal for each of the tasks defined in the scope of work. Page 5 of 6
Qualifications: Responses to the RFP must be from a firm led by a Licensed Landscape Architect and/or Registered Professional Engineer and include the full range of skills and experience necessary to perform the work that is outlined in the project scope of work. The consulting team shall have demonstrated capabilities in the following areas: Hydrological analysis to determine optimal locations for GI facilities for stormwater management. Design of all GI facility components including surface and subsurface structures Landscape architecture that emphasizes design which is environmentally sustainable and sensitive to both ecological and historic resources Landscape architecture that is accomplished in the design of GI facilities for stormwater management Developing and implementing monitoring and maintenance activities for GI facilities Public meeting coordination, facilitation, and follow-up Municipal ordinance and code review and writing To best express qualifications, the contractor shall provide: A brief (3-4 pages) narrative describing all involved consultants and explaining the team s approach to the project; The resumes of the personnel and sub-consultants, to be assigned to this project; Specific job experience and references for similar projects; Three examples of recent comparable GI design and/or related community projects At least three references with contact information regarding relevant work - consultant(s) shall specify role(s) in each of these projects and the type of work performed. Provide a list of recently completed projects similar to the work proposed by the RFP. General Submittal Information Please address the proposal to: Jeffrey Bergman, Director of Community Forestry & TreeVitalize Pittsburgh Western Pennsylvania Conservancy 800 Waterfront Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Proposals must be submitted electronically as one PDF to jbergman@paconserve.org by 4:00pm on August 15, 2018. Questions on this proposal can be emailed to the same address. Page 6 of 6