[Consultantservices] [Consultant Services] RFP posted Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 9:40 a.m.

[Grace Williams]

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Request for Proposals - Consultant Services

Sustainable Strategic Plan
The City and County of La Crosse, Wisconsin 
Submittal Deadline: July 6, 2007 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The La Crosse area prides itself on the natural beauty of the Mississippi, La Crosse and Black Rivers, adjoining marshes and surrounding bluffs.  These areas not only provide aesthetic and environmental benefits, they serve as recreation and tourism resources.  These resources have helped the community receive national recognition including the City being ranked as the 13th "Best Place to Live" by Country Home Magazine and more recently as a Bronze winner of Bicycle Friendly Communities by the League of American Bicyclists.

An eco-municipality is a city or town that seeks to develop an ecologically, socially, and economically healthy community using The Natural Step (TNS) framework for sustainability as a guide.  The eco-municipality model uses a systems approach to development.  The ingredients of a systems approach include community awareness and integrated municipal involvement based on TNS framework.  The Natural Step concept originated in Sweden in 1983 and was developed by Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt.  The first community to implement the model was Övertorneå, Sweden.  The success realized in this community triggered a network of more than 70 eco-municipalities across Sweden, ranging from villages of 300 residents to the capital city of Stockholm.  This framework is now being brought to North America to Canada and the United States including several communities in Wisconsin such as Ashland, Washburn, and Madison.

The Natural Step framework includes the following guiding objectives for a sustainable society:

*	Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels, extracted underground metals and minerals. 
*	Reduce dependence on chemicals and other manufactured substances that can accumulate in nature. 
*	Reduce dependence on activities that harm life-sustaining ecosystems. 
*	Meet the hierarchy of present and future human needs fairly and efficiently. 

In order to achieve these objectives, communities have focused on renewable energy options, green building programs, fuel-efficient municipal vehicles, alternative transportation options, open space preservation, climate change initiatives, smart growth, recycling and affordable housing to name a few.  In many of the communities, a strategic plan is formulated in order to guide the efforts of the community or region.

SCOPE OF WORK & DELIVERABLES
The City and County of La Crosse are potentially interested in assistance with The Natural Step model for Eco-Municipalities as it applies to our process to develop a sustainable strategic plan for the La Crosse area.  Below is a summary of the types of activities the staff will need assistance with in regard to the strategic planning process, including work with the La Crosse Area Sustainability Coalition and engaging and educating the community in TNS principles.  Please note:  these activities could possibly be modified because the City and County are currently in conversations with UW-Extension and 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin for meeting facilitation and education services on The Natural Step for this process.

Summary of possible assistance:

*	The selected consultant(s) will advise the City and County in shaping the process for developing the sustainable strategic plan based on TNS and TNS principles.  The selected consultant will assist the City and County in formulating and steering the strategic planning process. 
*	The selected consultant(s) will review and offer assistance in the development of information and materials for educating and raising awareness of TNS, TNS principles, how TNS has been and is being applied in other organizations and communities and how we can apply TNS here in La Crosse in order to help shape our strategic plan. 
*	The selected consultant(s) will attend and present TNS and TNS principles at La Crosse Area Sustainability Coalition meeting(s) in order to educate the Coalition and community and to raise awareness on TNS and other sustainable practices. 
*	The selected consultant(s) will attend and present TNS and TNS principles at a community forum (or forums) as part of the strategic planning process in order to educate the community and raise awareness on TNS and sustainable practices and also assist staff in gathering community input into how La Crosse can become more sustainable. 
*	The selected consultant(s) will attend (in-person or via conference call) an occasional staff "working" group meeting (or meetings) in order to provide direction on the strategic planning process. 

To be clear, it is envisioned that the City and County staff would be the primary staff for organizing, setting up, attending and staffing the La Crosse Area Sustainability Coalition meetings.  The selected consultant would attend one or more Coalition meetings to offer their expertise on TNS, TNS principles and how TNS can be applied in La Crosse.  Perhaps a meeting or two with staff and the selected consultant before the Coalition starts meeting to discuss the best methods and tools for educating and raising awareness of TNS would be required.  The City and County staff would be the primary staff for researching and gathering data and other information and for drafting policy papers and communications to the community about the sustainable strategic planning process.  The selected consultant may be asked to review the information and materials and offer input and advice.  And the City and County staff would be the primary staff for working with the Coalition and community in drafting the strategic plan.  Again the selected consultant may be asked to review the plan drafts and offer input and advice.

SCHEDULE

July 6, 2007 

 

All proposals due at 5:00 PM, local time, at the office of the City Planning Department.

July 9-12, 2007 

 

Interview process.

July 12, 2007 

 

Announcement of selection of firm by Review Team.

July 12-August 9, 2007 

 

Common Council approval process of consultant and contract.

August 10, 2007 

 

Project start.

April 1, 2008 

 

Project completion deadline.

INQUIRIES AND RESPONSE SUBMISSIONS
For a full copy of the RFP, or any other questions, please contact Tim Kabat, kabatt at cityoflacrosse.org <mailto:kabatt at cityoflacrosse.org> , or Erica Black, blacke at cityoflacrosse.org <mailto:blacke at cityoflacrosse.org> .

 

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