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Comp. Plan-BRW) 0 P K July 22, 1988 Planning Report COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Proposed Action. Staff recommends that the Zoning and Planning Commission recommend to the City Council the following motion: That the up- dating of the Comprehensive Plan be done by B.R.W. Approval of this motion will award the proposal to B.R.W. Overview. The Comprehensive Plan for the City of Hopkins is through the year 1990. The City Council budgeted money this year to undertake an up- date. Since 1990 is approaching, staff has requested proposals to up- date the plan. Staff has received three proposals to undertake this task. The three consultants that have submitted proposals are Northwest Associated Consultants, Inc. B.R.W. Dahlgren Shardlow & Uban Issues to Consider. ' I WIL 45 A 1,1011 Nancy ( . Anderson Comm ty Development Analyst o Summary of proposal o Summary of work to be done by B.R.W. o What is the involvement of the City in this process? Comp Plan - Page 2 DETAILED BACKGROUND The current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in February 1980. The data provided supposedly is adequate to provide it as an effective planning tool thru the year 1990. Because we are now fast approaching the "useful life" of this document, it is now necessary to consider an up- date for the following reasons: - compliance with the Metropolitan Land Planning Act - provide a document which provides a basis for the planning process within the City thru the year 2000 The original 1990 Comprehensive Plan was prepared by Midwest Planning. It is questionable as to how this document has been to Hopkins as related to its' planning effort as it did not provide much detailed information. For the up -dated Plan the staff has specifically requested the consultants submitting proposals that the plan will need to address a number of issues from a planning standpoint. SUMMARY OF PROPOSALS SUBMITTED The end product of all three consultants submitting proposals for up- dating the Comprehensive Plan is to make this a relevant planning tool for the City thru the year 2000. How they accomplish this, the cost and "end product" all have to be weighed. In this case it is the staff's job to review the proposals and decide which one will give the City the Best results within a given budget. All three consultants had at least one meeting with staff. They were all given a copy of the 1990 Comprehensive Plan, a Capital Improvements Program and a Market Study. The Northwest and B.R.W. were substantially more complete than the Dahlgren proposal. The Northwest and B.R.W. did a much better job in outlining to up -date the plan, a budget, time schedule, and their personnel and qualifications and references. The following are the items I compared with each proposal: - time period - cost personnel - work program • • Comp Plan - Page 3 TIME PERIOD Northwest has proposed an 18 month period to complete the up -date, B.R.W. has proposed a 9 month period, and Dahlgren would only commit to 90 days for their first phase. Although there is no magic number for the amount of months to complete a project of this type, I feel that a 9 month period would be adequate. This is an up -date to an existing Comprehensive Plan, not the first one done. Northwest did state if would be possible to complete the up -date sooner. COST Funding for this project will be as follows: $19,000 from Hennepin County CBDG Funds $ 5,000 from 1988 Planning & Economic Development Budget The following are the budgets proposed by the consultants: Northwest $ 17,500 - B.R.W. $ 23,960 - Dahlgren, $ 12,000 - 15,000 (1st phase only) This type of work is harder to evaluate dollar for dollar than if the city were comparing bids for a truck. Northwest does state that the budget was considered a starting point from which a final and fixed budget can be negotiated. It is conceivable that the cost of Northwest doing the up -date will be increased. I feel that B.R.W. has justified their costs in the proposal. We contacted Dahlgren about their budget. They were unwilling to put a dollar amount on the last two phases. WORK PROGRAM Both B.R.W. and Northwest describe the process they intend to follow to up -date the plan. However, B.R.W. gives a step -by -step description of what is expected of the City and what their work product will be. Every meeting and report is detailed and when it will occur in the process. Northwest details in general what they will be doing, but I feel with B.R.W. we will know what to expect from them and what they expect from the City. The Dahlgren proposal did described the three phases the would do to complete the up- date, but they were quite vague as compared to the other proposals. The staff has contacted several references for..ba`& consultants. Most of the cities that have used B.R.W. have spoke highly on the quality of their work product. -VmL �� • • Comp Plan — Page 4 PERSONNEL Both Northwest and B.R.W. have qualified personnel but it appears that B.R.W. has an edge over Northwest. All of the planners that will work on the up -date have the professional designation of AICP. Only one planner has this designation for Northwest. Northwest has identified two individuals other than the supervisors to work on the up -date. Both of these individuals have limited experience both in the planning field and with Northwest. The planners that B.R.W. has identified have to work on the plan have significantly more experience. The Dahlgren proposal did not detail the personnel to work on the up -date. RECOMMENDATION All three consulants are qualified to update the plan. However, Dahlgren was hard to evaluate adequately because of the vagueness to their proposal. Northwest has proposed a lower budget, but sometimes the lowest price may not be the best. Northwest also stated in their proposal that their budget was only a preliminary one. B.R.W. has detailed all the costs specifically so we know exactly how much every step will cost. Based on the work program, the detailed costs, staff experience and time schedule, I'recommend B.R.W. to do the up -date of the Hopkins Comprehensive Plan. SUMMARY OF WORK TO BE DONE. B.R.W. has divided the up- dating to be done in four tasks. The following is a summary of the four tasks. The first is vision and issues identification; collection and analysis of existing conditions and trends; goal definition. This task will involve meeting with the City staff and a meeting with committee comprised of Council, Planning Commission, residents and business people. During this task the following information will be analyzed: - population, household, and employment forecasts - land use economic /downtown development - housing - business and industry - transportation - parks After these items are analyzed, there will be another meeting with the committee to discuss the existing conditions and trends and define goals. • Comp Plan — Page 5 B.R.W. will then prepare a report on the information gathered and review this with the staff. The committee will receive the report for their information, review and comment. The second task as defined by B.R.W. is to develop recommendations addressing issues and goals in each of these substantive areas, including: land use, economic /downtown development, housing, business and industry, transportation, and parks. B.R.W. is proposing to committee meetings to review the draft plans, policies and implementation techniques. These meetings will be followed by B.R.W. writing two more reports. The third task is to prepare a draft of the planning document. This will involve the committee reviewing the draft report and a meeting. A public meeting is also scheduled. The fourth and last task is the plan adoption. The preliminary Comprehensive Plan up -date is submitted for approval by the City Council and the Metropolitan Council. It is assumed that the Metropolitan Council will comment on the plan. The City Council and Planning Commission will have a workshop to review the comments by the Metropolitan Council. The City Council will then hold a public hearing for plan adoption. The plan may be revised based on comments at the public hearing. The last step is to submit the plan to the Metropolitan Council for adoption. WHAT IS THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE CITY IN THIS PROCESS There will have to be both a staff and Zoning and Planning Commission /Council time commitment to this project. The staff will be required to work with the consultant on providing needed data, maps, etc on the City. The Zoning and Planning Commission /City Council involvement will consist mostly of meetings to undertake the following: - provide direction to the consultant on undertaking this project - establish goals and objectives review completed work product Comp Plan - Page 6 ALTERNATIVES 1. Recommend to the City Council that B.R.W. up -date the Comprehensive Plan. 2. Recommend to the City Council that one of the other consultants that submitted proposals up -date the Comprehensive Plan. 3. Continue for further information. If the Commission feels that they would like one or all of the consultants to make a presentation, the item should be continued until the next meeting.