Title
Continue Review and Consideration of Revised Draft of the Community Renewal Area Request for Proposal Document and Process
Recommended Action
City Manager Recommendation:
Continue review and consideration of the revised draft of the Community Renewal Area Request for Proposal document and next steps in the process.
Report
Issue:
The Moving Forward with CRA document, approved by City Council at its November 3, 2014 meeting, included developing a request for proposals (RFP) for City Council review and approval.
Staff Contact:
Keith Stahley, Director Community Planning and Development Department 360.753.8227
Presenter(s):
Keith Stahley, Director Community Planning and Development Department
Background and Analysis:
At the Community and Economic Revitalization Committee meeting of November 24, 2014, the Committee reviewed an outline of the RFP. The Committee gave staff feedback and direction on the draft RFP at their December 15th meeting. Staff and the consultant team developed a draft for the Committee's review and consideration revisions suggested by the CERC at their December 15th meeting are included as strike out and underlines. At the January 27, 2015 City Council meeting the Council reviewed the proposed RFP and provided staff with feedback and direction. On March 23, 2015 the committee reviewed the draft again and had several suggested revisions to the RFP. Those revisions are included in the updated copy of draft RFP (Attachment 1 - revised RFP).
At the March 23, 2015 Community and Economic Revitalization Committee meeting the committee continued to discuss possible sites to consider for inclusion in the RFP. At its March 5, 2015 meeting the committee had identified 8 sites for staff to consider as potential sites for inclusion in the RFP. The committee agreed to remove the Reliable Steel property and the Library property from consideration at this time and to focus on four potential redevelopment project areas. Staff and the consultant team will continue analyze these areas and the redevelopment opportunities associated with individual properties within each area and provide additional information to the committee regarding these areas. A draft of the Redevelopment Site Assessment Tool is attached. (Attachment 2)
At the March 23, 2015 meeting the committee asked that staff and the consultant team to reach out to property owners in these areas to gauge their interest in participating in the RFP process. Staff will continue this work and provide a status report to the Committee at the meeting on March 30, 2015.
One of the key decisions necessary to bring greater clarity to the RFP process is the need to identify which parcels owned by the City may be considered as redevelopment opportunity sites and which may not. This is particularly true for the Isthmus area. If the Isthmus area is to be included in the RFP process it will be necessary to clearly articulate what city property is included in the RFP and what conditions or limitations are associated with its inclusion. A copy of possible conditions is included as Attachment 3. Staff will provide information to the committee on city owned property in each of the redevelopment study areas (See Attachment 2).
The committee raised questions about how the City intends to move forward with the selection process at the March 23, 2015 committee meeting. They suggested that the committee should give the issue further consideration including whether a citizens committee should be used to review responses to the solicitation and how the community should be involved in the RFP process. The RFP addresses these issues on pages 18 and 19 (Attachment 1).
Options:
1. Receive a status report on continuing staff and consultant team work and review the draft RFP and provide feedback and direction to staff and the consultant team on the draft RFP and next steps in the CRA process.
Financial Impact:
The work proposed herein is within the project scope and budget.