8.a1 Staff Report Park Planning RFPPage 1 of 2
City of Scandia
14727 209 th St. N., Scandia, Minnesota 55073
Phone (651) 433 -2274 Fax (651) 433 -5112 http://www.cityofscand ia.com
DATE: November 11, 2021
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator
RE: Implementing a Park Planning Process and Issuing a Request for Proposals
(RFP)
The Park and Recreation Committee recently recommended at its last meeting that the city
should opt to implement a park planning process. The goal of developing a park plan comes
down to developing a clear action plan and guidance for future improvements to community
parks, trails, recreation facilities, and green spaces. Plans can even incorporate new
recreational programming.
Although comprehensive, this process is also dynamic. It should be viewed as firm enough
to guide and shape park improvements, yet flexible enough to change based on increased
knowledge, experience and changing public needs as the plan is implemented. A
comprehensive park plan also offers a framework for inclusion of key community
stakeholders as one of the most important elements of its successful implementation.
Stakeholder involvement can come with a variety of community engagement options as well.
If the City Council also sees value in pursuing a comprehensive park planning process, it will
be important to consider refinement of the project scope within the draft RFP or choose to
later refine based on proposals received. The recommended RFP proposal included in this
draft reflects building on our original community park plan and leaving proposers the
opportunity to suggest approaches to community engagement.
Leaving some elements undefined allows interested contractors to come up with their own
potentially innovative proposals. I find that this is most helpful when communities have
difficulty deciding what direction they wish to take a planning process. The only downside
to this approach is that comparability of proposals can be diminished. Often, however, this
process often yields at least one desirable proposal that appeals to our project goals.
The RFP in your packet serves as a starting point for you to refine a project scope that most
reflects your goals. I estimate a project scope similar to what is in this draft may be in the
$13,000-18,000 range. If price is a mitigating factor, or your goals are to focus efforts in
select parks, we may want to reduce the scope.
On a related note, Washington County has included $100,000 in their Capital Improvement
Plan for 2023, of which, the City would be expected to provide $50,000 towards. This
planning effort, if approved, would focus on existing and future pedestrian, bicycle, and
vehicular needs. So the interconnectivity of trails and sidewalks may have some carryover
into our potential planning efforts. These elements can be incorporated in the park plan as
part of a later update or can occur concurrently to such efforts.
Page 2 of 2
City of Scandia
14727 209 th St. N., Scandia, Minnesota 55073
Phone (651) 433 -2274 Fax (651) 433 -5112 http://www.cityofscand ia.com
The Council may proceed with the following options:
1. Recommendation – proceeds with the solicitation of the recommended RFP.
2. Refine the recommended RFP to scale the scope of the project and refine the
community engagement expectations.
3. Table the request for no action or for further information.
Please let me know if you have any questions.