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CCMtg09-21-11Min(SM) ILONGWOOD (CITY COMMISSION Longwood City (Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, ]Florida SPECIAL L MIEPtJ'>rING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 � ���/ / / Present: Mayor Joe Durso ][Deputy Mayor Bob Cortes Commissioner John C. Maingot Commissioner H.O. "Butch" Bundy Commissioner Brian Sackett Dan Langley, City Attorney Jon Williams, Acting City Administrator Sarah M. Mirus, City Clerk Marilyn )[Douglas, Purchasing Manager Troy Hickson, ]Police Chief Patrice Murphy, Assistant to City Administrator Sheryl Lower, )(Director of Community )(Development Services Chris Kintner, Planner /Stormwater John Hambley, Planner Michelle Longo, Executive Assistant to City Administrator John Peters, Director of Public Works /City Engineer 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Durso called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. 2. BRIEF OVERVIEW FROM CITY STAFF. Ms. Douglas explained they were here regarding the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) No. 04-11, the Heritage Village /Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Redevelopment Strategy. She said each of the short- listed firms would be making a twenty (20) minute presentation, followed by a twenty (20) minute question and answer session. She stated the results of tonight's presentations and question and answer session, would determine the most qualified firm to provide services necessary to ensure a successful project. She said the RFQ was issued with the intent to engage a firm most qualified to provide the services as identified in other related services to the City of Longwood. She said the RFQ document outlined the services and qualifications that were expected by the City. She noted the RFQ had been evaluated and the proposals were ranked by a select City staff to determine the short- listed firms. She said the selection CC 09 -21- 11/255 committee originally short- listed three. (3) finm, but one of those firms, IBI Group Inc., made contact. yesterday afternoon with her and they respectfully declined further participation in the RFQ process. She stated there were only two (2) firms to be presented to the Commission tonight. She said at the conclusion of the presentation and the question and answer, they anticipate that discussion would ensue and ultimately there were three (3) options available for consideration. She said those options were to accept selection committee recommendations regarding the firm ranks, adjust the selection committee ranking based on tonight's presentations and question and answer session, or reject all the proposals. She then introduced Ms. Bower. Ms. Bower reviewed the timeline for the RFQ No. 04 -11 and the reason for today's meeting. She stated back in December of last year, she approached the Commission to let them know there was a need to beef up some of their efforts in regards to TOD and to attract new development. She said that based on their analysis, they found they needed to beef up the processes, procedures, regulations and infrastructure currently in place. She said if they did this, they would be able to attract development in the station area and be more prepared when it actually came. She said the documents needed to fill that gap for the Heritage Village /Redevelopment Strategy included, a redevelopment master plan that provided a street level plan for the entire Heritage Village because that provided the basis for code development and determination for construction needs, street sections, sidewalks, water, sewer, stormwater, location of parking, and fulfilling the City's requirement for Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) or determine projects that would fall under other funding strategies including Special Districts. She said there was an identified need to make the Longwood Code Book and the Historic District Guidebook internally consistent and to clear up the inconsistencies between all the Books. She said in addition, the TOD requires more attention be paid to how two (2) properties relate to themselves and they won't have a great TOD if they look at each site individually. She said the TOD was about the entire area, not about any individual project. She stated they all have to connect and relate. She said if you look at our current Codes, they didn't do that, and our Codes don't go far enough to provide a predictable set of standards that would result in faster approval times and to provide flexibility to allow for the approval of creative approaches to quality development. She said the other thing they needed was an economically sustainable development program for the Heritage Village study area. She said this was to include a review of the retail and residential study prepared a few years back in 2006 and noted the economy was a bit different than it was then. She said it was basically done for just the transit village and they expanded the study area to include the Historic District, the Hospital core, so they could take in all of State Road 434 from Rangeline Road. She said they looked around the Hospital and feel the Hospital was a big key, in addition to SunRail, the CC 09- 21- 11/256 other anchor to help in the development. She said they thought there was a need to look at what kind of office and retail growth they could anticipate from the proposed growth of the Hospital. She stated what they could reasonably expect from the development as a result of TOD and the Hospital. She said right now, they have densities and intensities set in the City's Comp Plan at fifty (50) DU's an acre, and 3.5 SAR's, and they don't think, they'll ever achieve that or if they want to achieve that. She said that you want to spread out the density and intensity, so it creates a synergy and have the activity that's going to work for that area. She said if they decide to go with a CRA, the infrastructure improvement plan would identify what they needed to do first in order to deal with the development that has been conceptually proposed, and also identify what projects were going to give the City the most bang for the buck. She said it would provide cost estimates for those projects and supply recommendations on who should be responsible for the improvements, thereby providing predictability for the developers. She said a problem they anticipate seeing was if you have developers come in, who was responsible for putting in the sidewalks and for creating on- street parking. She stated they haven't had that discussion and they need to know up front so every single development was not another negotiation, and there needed to be a basic standard on which they base their development agreement process with each of these developers. She said they went out for an RFQ and got firms that were interested and staff had reviewed them. She said the criteria they used to review them were experience with TOD in similar projects.- She said they felt if they've done this before and it was successful, it was likely that they had learned a lot from their mistakes and they would benefit from other people's projects and not the City's. She said the qualifications of key personnel, the team characteristics on the ability to perform the scope of services, and completion and clarity of the information submitted, were the basis of their ranking. She said based on that, they ranked Dover, Kohl & Partners number one (1) and their team evaluation score was 459. She said second was AECOM Technical Services, Inc. and their team evaluation score was 437. She noted they were pretty closely ranked. She stated the tlurd group was IBI Group Inc., and their team evaluation score was 377. She noted there was a bit of a spread there. She said the number one and two teams were impressive with their presentation proposals and qualifications. She noted they both had extensive project lists and support of their experience and planning and redevelopment on transit. She said they both provided great examples of high profile work within Florida and areas of the Country known for their success with TOD's and have prepared numerous codes. She stated the coding language was a science and an art, and the more you do it, the more you know how to do it, so it was concise. She said form base was a little different than regular zoning and said it's more about how the building looks on the street and the use of the building. She said TOD was creating areas where people walk and shop and creating a place where people want to go to and live. She noted both the first and CC 09 -21- 11/257 second ranked teams have a lot of experience in TOD's, and establishing and expansion of existing CRA's, along with the expansion of CRA redevelopment plans. She noted the selection committee was particularly impressed with Dover, Kohl & Partners because they chose to partner with the economic portion of the study, Strategic Economics. She then outlined Strategic Economics experience in TOD's. She said she feels that because these folks were well known and know what they were doing, they would be bringing someone to Longwood that would actually put the City on the map because all of their projects have been very successful. She said she did ask them if they were hired, would they be using Longwood as a case study. She stated they hoped that was something that would happen and Longwood could be brought nationally to the forefront of TOD planning. She continued to outline the experience of Strategic Economics. She briefly reviewed the differences of AECOM Technical Services, Inc. versus Dover, Kohl & Partners and why the selection committee selected Dover, Kohl & Partners followed by AECOM Technical Services, Inc. She said the result of this project would provide a structure necessary to make the City ready for the development to further the City's vision through the edification of a real estate development program, the establishment of predictable codes, identification and implementation of infrastructure needs, along with an equitable plan to share the expense of the development community. Mayor Durso confirmed staff's ranking of the firms with Dover, Kohl & Partners first and AECOM Technical Services, Inc. second. 3. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FOLLOWING FIRMS REGARDING THE REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ #04- 11) FOR THE HERITAGE VILLAGE /TRANSIT - ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOIL) REDEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: AECOM Technical Services, Inc. (5:45 p.m. - 6:25 p.m.) The following team members were present and introduced themselves: Blake Drury, Project Manager with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. Al Raine, TOD Implementation with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. Pete Sechler, Project Director with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. Mac Nicholos,'TOD Economics with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. Tara Salmieri, Urban Code Task Leader with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. Owen Beitsch, Redevelopment Planning Task Leader with Real Estate Researcher Scott Lee, Infrastructure Task Leader with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. CC 09- 21- 11/251 Mr. Secher briefly outlined the team organization with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. and briefly outlined their TOD experience. Mr. Drury reviewed a PowerPoint presentation that outlined the Longwood Station Area Context, Longwood Station Area Planning Objectives, TOD was Mainstream, Impact on Development and the Bottom Line (AECOM Case Studies- Dallas + Chicago), Core Team's TOD Experience, Core Team's Florida Based Redevelopment Area Planning, Core Team's Florida Based Regulatory /Form Based Code Experience, AECOM Water- Statewide Utility Engineer of Record + Continuing Service Clients, Charlotte, North Carolina Station Area Land - Use Program, Lessons in the Implementation of TOD, Execution of New TOD, Charlotte Station Area Land -Use Program and Mount Joy Main Street and Station Area Plan. Mayor Durso left the meeting at 5:58 p.m. and returned at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Nicholos reviewed the PowerPoint presentation that outlined the Understanding Market Realties and Align Your Goals, Policies, and Investment Appropriately, Public /Private Partnership- Poughkeepsie, New York and the Longwood Station Area Context. Mr. Raine reviewed the PowerPoint presentation that outlined the Downtown Station located in Harrison, New York (Metro North) and the Assembly Square located in Somerville, Massachusetts and discussed the funding challenges they faced and ways of funding the project. Members from AECOM Technical Services, Inc. team answered questions from the Commission regarding their presentation. The Commission recessed at 6 :26 p.m. and reconvened at 6:30 p.m. Dover, Kohl & Partners (6:30 p.m. a 7:10 p.m.) The following team members were present and introduced themselves: Gary Dickens, Principal with Community Design Associates Joseph Kohl, Principal with Dover, Kohl & Partners Andrew Zitofsky, Project Director with Dover, Kohl & Partners Sujata Srivastava, Senior Associate with Strategic Economics Majid Kalaghchi, Civil Engineer with SK Consortium Mr. Dickens reviewed a PowerPoint presentation that outlined the Project Team and reviewed the Team's experience, sensitivity to Longwood's progress to -date, Longwood's preferred future and the Team's objective. CC 09- 21- 11/259 Mr. Kohl reviewed the PowerPoint presentation that outlined Dover, Kohl & Partners experience, coordinating public and private effort, outlined their approach, consensus through public participation, building on previous achievements, confirm previous planning studies, on -site visioning, analysis and planning, and keypad polling to confirm ideas. He then provided the City of Bradenton, Florida as an example and outlined the changes that were made. He said they created a map that provided more flexibility. Ms. Srivastava reviewed the PowerPoint presentation that outlined the Strategic Economics, defining "ideal" TOD and maximizing value of TOD. Mr. Dickens continued to review the PowerPoint presentation that outlined about Community Design. Associates and the CRA lessons learned. Mr. Zitofslcy reviewed the PowerPoint presentation that outlined the right fit for Longwood. Members from the. Dover, Kohl & Partners team then answered questions from the Commission regarding their presentation. IB>I Grroup Inc. (7 :15 p.m. — 7 :55 p.m.) Ms. Douglas announced that IBI Group Inc. was unable to attend the presentation. The Commission recessed at 6:22 p.m. and reconvened at 6:26 p.m. 4. DISCUSSION AND DECISION TO BE MADE BY THE CITY COMMISSION. Commissioner Sackett inquired what would be the outcome they would like from this evening. Mayor Durso said staff was making axecommendation that the Commission move forward with a selection. He said if they don't make a selection and reject staff's recommendation to move forward, they would fall back to the original position, which are the original providers that we're working with. Ms. Bower stated there were three (3) choices. She said the Commission can go with staff's recommendation, change the ranking or the Commission can reject, and staff will start the process all over again. Mr. Langley said when considering the rankings, it was essential to rank the firms involved and not select just one. He said the process does CC 09- 21- 11/260 involve ranking one, two, etc. and then there was a negotiation that occurs in that order after the ranking has occurred. He said some of the things, the Commission can consider would be the ability of the professionals involved, the willingness of the firms to meet, time and budget requirements, location of the firm, recent and current projected workloads of the firm, and all things specified in the RFQ that staff put together. Commissioner Bundy said he appreciated their presentations, but as he stated a couple of weeks ago, he has seen nothing. He said he had already read the responses and he doesn't see anything that can be provided that can't be provided by the engineering firms the City currently has under contract. He said we're going to be six (6), eight (8) or nine (9) months away, and the City was going to be basically with another plan. Commissioner Sackett said originally he was in the same place as Commissioner Bundy because when he was Mayor, they did the mission and vision, and he thought they did a real good job with the companies they had out there. He said he was pleased they both have taken the time to look through where the City was at and where we wanted to go. He said he sees strengths on both sides. He said the experience qualifications, scope and clarity was definitely there; so therefore, they were on the same plane. He said there were two (2) excellent teams coming in and he sees why the rankings were the way they were. He said he was a little leery of the whole community building and what do we want this place to look like. He said he did like the idea of seeing what a favorable response was that was proposed by the second team. He noted Mr. Dickens, being local, was a wonderful asset from the second team. He said he thinks what's missing was the form -based coding. He said the only team, after meeting with Ms. Bower, that he feels as though there isn't a comfort level, was with that form -based coding. He said he thinks he has an understanding with form -based coding as to where both teams stood. He said one basically was saying they were the reference within the book; and the other was form -based coding was going to line things up as previously done. He said he was leaning more toward the first interview. Deputy Mayor Cortes said the Commission asked staff to bring forward something that can, to the Commission, get us over the next level. He said although Associated Consulting International (ACi) has done great work in the past, were both firms going to rewrite or readjust or just improve on what the City already has. He said he was hearing they were both going to be working on improving what the City has, and work on establishing codes that were manageable and would work. He noted one of the biggest assets they were going to get from either team was a product that was going to be able to attract those who were looking for areas to develop. He said that was the whole goal of what they want to do with TOD. He stated Longwood has been in the forefront of TOD for several years, and we've been mentioned everywhere they go, including the Secretary of CC 09 -21- 11/261 Transportation; that we were way ahead of where we should be. He said they needed to continue pushing forward with products like this, so they can move forward. He said as far as the qualifications, he concurs with Commissioner Sackett as far as the ranking being so close, but he puts total confidence in the team and people that did the ranking, so he sees no reason to change it. Commissioner Maingot said he's between a rock and a hard place and nt. He said it was a it stated both teams. were excelle pity he can't take certain people from one team and put them into the other team. He said he liked the first presenters, and thinks they have the edge and it was extremely close. He said he wanted to be confident that after they made this investment, they would have something they can derive very tangible benefits from almost immediately in terms of being able to present it to potential developers. He said if he had a question to ask again, he would ask how can they bring in people to do evaluations, he stated no one suggested the opportunity for developers outside of the immediate City of Longwood to be able to give their input as to what we are, doing; and if this was going to be attractive for them, or not. He said that is what they have to sell and they have to sell the product, so they can put their money there for us. He said, therefore, they have to reach out a little beyond our immediate vicinity of the borders of the City. He said they have a lot of very good people here and a lot of good businessmen here dedicated to the City, but then they were limiting themselves in the overall investment pool, so that's one of the questions he had and no one answered that question. Mayor Durso stated he was comfortable with the second interview and noted they used several words that he was more interested in hearing. He said he felt the first firm needed to do more background research into Longwood. He said he thought the second firm's focus was more on implementation and final product, which was ultimately what they were looking for. He said they were tired of pretty drawings, conversations, and charrettes. He said he also concurs with Deputy Mayor Cortes, and should go with staff's analysis and go in the order presented. Commissioner Bundy said since he made his feelings known early on and stated they've .got to make a decision and he doesn't have the luxury of abstaining. He said they were two (2) good firms, the credentials were there, but he thinks the second team, Dover, Kohl & Partners, had some really good projects, but he thinks AECOM Technical Services, Inc. really focused on TOD projects they have completed, which was what they were looking for. He said it's almost a corn toss, but he was going with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. Ms. Bower expressed staff's difficulty in ranking the two (2) firms and stated they would be happy with either firm. CC 09 -21- 11/262 Commissioner Sackett moved to have AECOM Technical Services, Inc. be our first selection and Dover, Kohl & Partners be the second selection. Seconded by Commissioner Maingot and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 5. ADJOURN. Mayor Durso adjourned the meeting at 7:18 p.m. J ®s iP UPO, Mayor �� i ATT]ES Sarah M. Mirus, MMC, MBA, City Clerk CC 09- 21- 11/263 This ]Page Left Blank Intentionally. CC 09 -21- 11/264