Submitted By
Ahmad Zayyad, Deputy Village Manager
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Motion to Approve Staff’s Recommendation to Select GRAEF to Perform the Village’s Comprehensive Sustainability, Climate Action and Resiliency Plan and Direct Staff to Develop a Scope of Work and Other Necessary Documents for Village Board Approval
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Overview
Overview
On March 22, 2021, the Village Board approved the use of $125,000 in sustainability funds to develop a comprehensive sustainability and climate action plan for the community of Oak Park. The Board directed staff to prepare a Request for Proposals for short-term consultant services to assist with the development of the plan. Following a proposal evaluation process by a cross-departmental proposal review team.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
Approve the motion.
Fiscal Impact
On April 19, 2021, the Board approved a budget amendment for this project.
External Support - Account No - 2310.41020.101.530667 - $125,000
Background
On March 22, 2021, the Village Board approved the use of $125,000 in sustainability funds to develop a comprehensive sustainability and climate action plan for the community of Oak Park. The Board directed staff to prepare a Request for Proposals for short-term consultant services to assist with the development of the plan.
On June 22, 2021, the Village of Oak Park issued an amended Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Comprehensive Sustainability and Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (S/CARP). Staff solicited and received thirteen (13) proposals in response to the RFP. Staff reviewed proposals for responsiveness to the RFP requirements, including proposed approach and deliverables, and demonstrated knowledge of community climate plan development, climate vulnerability assessment, greenhouse gas inventory (GHGI) preparation, and equitable community engagement practices. Eight (8) proposals were determined to be responsive to the RFP requirements and were scored by the proposal review team.
The staff proposal review team was comprised of staff from the Village Manager’s Office including the Sustainability staff, the Planning Division, the Public Works Department, and consultant Mark Pruitt of ICCAN. ICLEI served as an external technical advisor on the proposal process and development of a standard scoring rubric. The proposals were scored separately in two categories: Professional Qualifications and Price. Professional Qualifications were scored across three sub-categories: Professional Experience, Technical Approach, and Community Engagement, and an average score was calculated from the total score assigned by each evaluator. Prices were subsequently scored for the three firms that received the highest total scores for Professional Qualifications. A final score was derived from these two categories.
The top-scoring firms, GRAEF (and its sub-consultant ERG) and paleBLUEdot were invited for interviews. The first round of interviews was conducted via one-way video recording. The second round of interviews was conducted via a live video call with the proposal review team. Both firms provided satisfactory interview responses. Reference checks were conducted for both proposals.
Key Considerations
1.) Equity
GRAEF’s proposal materials explicitly emphasized the need for representation from “Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; parents; people aged 65 and older; and non-English speaking populations.” GRAEF’s references highlighted the firm’s demonstrated success in centering equity in the plan, throughout the community engagement and plan writing process. The references spoke of their ability to reach residents in marginalized communities, and their willingness to accept and incorporate resident’s feedback and new ideas. The resulting plans had an explicit racial equity focus which supported the equitable distribution of existing resources. Because the recommendations were clearly based on equity considerations, GRAEF’s clients were able to leverage the plans to garner new State funding for implementation. GRAEF proposes to begin the S/CARP planning writing process after extensive community engagement has been performed.
paleBLUEdot’s proposal materials uses more general language about “under-represented, vulnerable communities.” paleBLUEdot proposes to develop the plan by conducting a series of workshops with 14 to 25 invited representatives who will select strategies from a database of published municipal climate plans. These invited representatives will be drawn largely from Village staff, other public agencies, and nonprofits. paleBLUEdot will evaluate the selected strategies for greenhouse gas, economic, and equity considerations.
In comparison to paleBLUEdot, GRAEF’s materials indicate a bolder, more nuanced, and broader understanding of how to operationalize equity in planning.
2.) Community Engagement
GRAEF’s proposal materials spoke of a “broad and deep” approach to community engagement, that invites input from residents across the Village while providing focused outreach to marginalized groups. Their proposal indicated a high level of familiarity with the Village and named specific community groups and Village Board goals. GRAEF’s references spoke about the effort they put into getting to know the community and their comfort with interacting with diverse neighborhood residents. They described a sophisticated, deliberate, and ongoing community engagement process that opened up conversations between the public agency and marginalized community members.
GRAEF’s references said they also demonstrated an understanding of how arts and culture can be used to build excitement and perform creative placemaking. References said the resulting plans were well-received by residents and enabled residents to connect to ongoing community initiatives.
In comparison to paleBLUEdot, GRAEF proposes a larger number of community engagement sessions, a larger toolkit of engagement techniques, several more team members dedicated to performing community outreach and engagement work, and demonstrated success in reaching and integrating marginalized community members during the planning process.
3.) GHG Accuracy
GRAEF has partnered with ERG, an environmental consulting firm, to provide specialized expertise in greenhouse gas modeling. GRAEF’s proposal materials highlighted the need to document anomalous GHG inventory results due to the 2020 pandemic. The project team includes three greenhouse gas inventory and modeling specialists, in addition to specialists in climate adaptation, transportation, and green infrastructure. Project experience includes climate plans and studies for municipalities. GRAEF’s references appreciated the ability to call upon specialized in-house expertise for specific technical questions, across the firm.
In comparison to paleBLUEdot, GRAEF proposes several more team members dedicated to performing technical services, an understanding of the impact of the pandemic on emissions modeling, and additional support in developing the 2020 GHG inventory.
The next step is to develop a scope of work and bring the contract back for Board approval. In addition, similar to the community safety scope, the EEC can review the scope in advance.
Alternatives
• Deny the motion.
• Defer action and seek additional information from staff.
Previous Board Action
• On October 19, 2020, the Village Board received a report on the Greenhouse Gas Inventory update (ID 20-284).
• On February 8, 2021, the Village Board discussed staff recommendations for a community engagement process to develop a Climate Action Plan (CAP) and Resiliency Plan aligned with the ICLEI ClearPath platform (ID 21-74).
• On March 22, 2021, the Village Board approved a motion for the use of sustainability funds and directed staff to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for consultant services for the preparation of a sustainability and climate action plan (MOT 21-45).
• On April 19, 2021, the Village Board approved a budget amendment for this project. (ORD 21-36)
• On June 28, 2021, the Village Board received a staff report of the 2021 Sustainability Initiatives, including the RFP for Comprehensive Sustainability, Climate Action, and Resiliency Plan (S/CARP) consultant services (ID 21-171).
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
On August 24, 2021, the Environment and Energy Commission received a report from staff concerning the bid selection process for the Comprehensive Sustainability and Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (S/CARP) consultant.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
Following the selection of a consultant by the Village Board, direct staff to finalize the scope of work and services to be included in the consultant’s contract.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A