1. Healthcare

City of Sandusky, Ohio
Bicentennial Visioning Process
Request for Qualifications
Response Due Date: February 23, 2015
The City of Sandusky is at a unique point in its history, its bicentennial is approaching in 2018,
providing an opportunity to celebrate the city’s proud history while also creating a vision that
will position Sandusky for success over the next two centuries. In addition, voters recently
approved Issue 8, a modest increase in both the municipal admission and income tax. This was
made possible by an unprecedented collaboration among Sandusky’s elected officials, residents,
businesses, institutions and local media.
It is critical that the City of Sandusky builds on the momentum of Issue 8 and leverages the
opportunity presented by the impending Bicentennial. The Bicentennial Vision for the City of
Sandusky will engage the entire community in creating a five-year Strategic Implementation
Plan that will span both the city’s Bicentennial in 2018 as well as another key milestone in Cedar
Point’s Sesquicentennial in 2020. This implementation plan will provide the City Commission
and administration with a blueprint for their work over the next five years and will guide the
utilization of Issue 8 dollars specifically earmarked for infrastructure, economic development
and housing.
In addition to a five-year Strategic Implementation Plan, the Bicentennial Vision Process will
include updating the Comprehensive Plan for the City of Sandusky. The last Comprehensive
Plan and Strategic Plans were completed in 2005. The Comprehensive Plan will guide land use,
infrastructure and development priorities over several decades, and will be updated periodically
over that time. Lastly, the Bicentennial Vision Process provides an opportunity to engage the
community in creating an updated identity for the City of Sandusky that will inform how the
City of Sandusky communicates and markets itself to residents and potential investors.
The City is seeking proposals from qualified firms for professional strategic planning and design
services to undertake the Bicentennial Visioning Process.
Scope of Services
The selected consultant, working with city staff, the City Commission and a steering committee,
shall lead and facilitate the Bicentennial Visioning Process, which will capture public input and
culminate in a functional visioning document with distinct components including an updated
five-year Strategic Plan and Comprehensive Plan. The distinct components of the document
shall be created to complement one another and to be used hand in hand as a tool to guide City
decisions and development strategies.
General Process
The process, to be completed within six months of finalizing a contract with the City of
Sandusky, will include the following elements*:
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Create a steering committee which will be utilized throughout the process to review
public input and propose the values, strategies and tactics to be adopted to achieve the
city’s desired goal(s)
Review existing plans and data
Implement a campaign to engage the public in the planning process, including the
utilization of social media
Work cohesively with a videography and graphic design team provided by the city, to
market opportunities to participate in the planning process and create visual products
that represent the adopted vision and identity of the City of Sandusky
Facilitate a public engagement process, which should include at a minimum: two public
meetings, a public survey, focus groups, 15 stakeholder interviews, and facilitation of a
City Commission/Staff retreat
Recommend values, strategies and tactics to be undertaken strategically over five years,
with strategies for implementation including responsible entities and/or departments,
timeframes, and basic cost estimates and sources of funds
Provide facilitation and drafting support to the City Commission appointed Charter
Review Commission, which will recommend potential changes to the City Charter to be
voted on in November, 2015 (will require attending up to 10 meetings of a Charter
Review Commission)
Complete an updated five-year Strategic Vision & Comprehensive Plan
Develop and roll out the completed Bicentennial Vision to the public including press and
community engagement, including attending city and planning commission meetings, at
least one public meeting and a briefing of key stakeholders.
*As part of the Visioning Process, the City of Sandusky will be engaging a market
analyst to prepare a Housing Market Analysis as well as an Industrial, Commercial
and Retail Market Analysis. The selected firm(s) will be expected to utilize and
incorporate the findings of these reports in their analysis and recommendations for the
City of Sandusky.
Required Elements
The resulting documents from the Visioning Process shall include, at a minimum, analysis and
recommendations on the following elements to achieve the City’s vision:
Some examples of potential priority areas to be explored in the Bicentennial Vision process
include:
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Improving public access along the waterfront
Creating multimodal connections with clear wayfinding between community anchors,
particularly between Cedar Point and downtown Sandusky, as well as from Sandusky to
other major anchors and communities within the surrounding area
Revitalization of major corridors for infrastructure improvements, land assembly,
business support and expansion
Enhancing walkability and bike-ability of the City of Sandusky
Planning strategic investments in targeted neighborhoods that focus on housing stock,
safety, public services, infrastructure and neighborhood branding and marketing
The specific components of the Bicentennial Vision Process will provide the following outcomes:
Strategic Vision: the Strategic Vision will lead to the adoption by the City Commission of new
vision and mission statements for the City of Sandusky, as well as the adoption of a set of values
and strategies that will be refined into tactics to be implemented by the City of Sandusky over
the next five years.
Comprehensive Master Plan: update of the 2005 Comprehensive Master Plan to reflect new
goals as identified as part of the Strategic Visioning process, with updated items potentially
including but not limited to:
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Inventory of base land use and physical data and demographics
Existing Land Use Map
Proposed Land Use Map
Design and Historic Preservation
Zoning Map and Zoning Code Review
Natural Environment, Conservation and Sustainability
Recreation and Open Space
Community Facilities and Services
Transportation and Connectivity
Utilities and Infrastructure
Neighborhood Delineation and Development
Charter Review Facilitation: staff and draft charter review recommendations on behalf of the
Charter Review Commission, to be presented as recommendations for adoption to the Sandusky
City Commission.
Deliverables
The selected firm shall provide to the City of Sandusky the following deliverables as part of the
Bicentennial Vision:
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Facilitation: Facilitation of community engagement process including development of
social media platforms, survey, focus groups, community meetings, retreat and
stakeholder interviews
Documents:
o Strategic Vision Document: professionally formatted and designed
narrative outlining the five-year implementation plan of the City of
Sandusky
o Comprehensive Master Plan: professionally formatted and designed
comprehensive master plan including narrative, maps, illustrations and
other necessary items
o Charter Review: draft recommendations for Charter Review Commission
Videography: Includes up to four videos, produced by a city contracted videographer, to
market the planning process, document the planning process and to promote the new
strategic vision for the City of Sandusky. The firm chosen for the Bicentennial Visioning
process will provide assistance, as needed to the videographer, by way of providing
information and documents as necessary
Electronic Presentation: Power point presentation summarizing the Strategic Vision and
Comprehensive Master Plan
Qualifications
1. List the project manager and other key staff members of the project team who will be
responsible for the work and the project responsibility of each
2. Address the specific experience of the key staff members on similar projects, including
descriptions of relevant projects within the past ten years, project references, and the
staff members’ primary office location
3. Describe the capacity of your staff and their ability to perform the work in a timely
manner, relative to present and anticipated workload over the project timeframe
4. Include the above minimum qualifications for all firms proposed to be subcontracted if
applicable
Budget and Cost Proposal
Provide a lump sum, not to exceed cost proposal, for the Scope of Work within the Proposal.
Provide a breakdown per required element of the Proposal as well as the responsible employee
and/or subcontracted firm and hourly rate. Questions about the budget can be directed to
Angela Byington at [email protected].
Selection Procedures, Criteria and Process
The City will select a consultant based on proposals submitted. Firms interested in being
considered for selection should respond by submitting three copies of their proposal to the
address below by 4:00 PM on February 23, 2015. Please reference Comprehensive Plan and
Strategic Plan RFP on the proposal package.
City of Sandusky
Eric Wobser, City Manager
222 Meigs Street
Sandusky, Ohio 44870
The following criteria will be used in the consultant selection process:
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Strength of project manager and strength/experience of key team members and
proposed subcontracted firms’ key personnel
Past performance and experience with projects of similar scope and size, including
experience with facilitating dynamic community engagement and outreach process
Demonstrated understanding of issues facing the City and region
Innovative project approach, which includes all listed items in the Scope of Work, in
addition to ideas and elements that may not have been listed that will further the City’s
vision through both Plans
Cost effectiveness of proposal
Project schedule
Based on the proposals submitted, the City of Sandusky will conduct interviews with two to
three firms that best demonstrate an understanding of the City’s objectives and that adequately
addressed all elements of the RFP. After the top firms have been interviewed, the City shall
enter into contract negotiations with the preferred firm to determine the final scope of service
and project budget. If negotiations fail, the City shall enter into negotiations with the second
highest ranked firm. This process shall continue until a contract is successfully negotiated or
the City determines to issue a second RFP. The contract must be approved by the Sandusky City
Commission.
The City anticipates entering into contract in February with a project timetable of six months to
completion.
Contact: Angela Byington at 419.627.5873 or [email protected] with any questions
regarding this RFP.
All proposals shall be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin,
citizenship, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran/reserve/national guard or any other
similarly protected status.
Evaluation Form
City of Sandusky
Consultant Services
Comprehensive Plan and Strategic Plan
Name of Firm:
__________________________________________________________________
Name of Evaluator:
__________________________________________________________________
1
Criteria
Strength of project manager and
strength/experience of key team
members and proposed
subcontracted firms key
personnel
2
Past performance and
experience with projects of
similar scope and size
3
Demonstrated understanding of
issues facing the City and region
4
5
Innovative project approach,
which includes all listed items in
the Scope of Work, in addition
to ideas and elements that may
not have been listed that will
further the City’s vision through
both Plans
Cost effectiveness of proposal
6
Project Schedule
Rating (1-5)
Weight
Rating Scale: 1 = Poor, 2 = Fair, 3 = Good, 4 = Excellent, 5 = Superior
Score