Professional Services for the Engineering and Design of the City of Traverse City Bayfront Plan: Clinch Park Phase I (due June 6, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.) - pdf
-Coverletter - pdf
-Addendum No. 1 - pdf
-Addendum No. 2 - pdf
***The following questions and answers may be useful. Questions from various prospective bidders, answers by City Planning Director, Russ Soyring.***
-Q. Please clarify how many meetings you consider to be an acceptable number for establishing preferred site design to include final site plan selection and final utility relocation.  A. I would estimate two to three meetings.
-Q. Please clarify how many site plan design options you consider to be an acceptable number for showing alternatives related to site utilization and utility relocation. A. At least one. If there are issues with general concept we show in our Bayfront Plan, then a second alternative would be needed to show how the issues could be dealt with while still keeping with the sprit of the plan.
-Q. Will the City want to see sketches or photorealistic renderings of the final preferred alternatives? A. Either would work.
-Q. What is the anticipated chain of meetings required for concept approval? A. Parks and Recreation Commission meetings. One for introduction with a second for recommendation from this body to the City Commission. The City Commission will likely need two meetings as well. City staff can present the information and get feedback. Depending on the issues, it may be valuable to have the consultant at these meetings.
-Q. Is any of this design work to include considerations for all-season use/winter interest? A. Yes. Our goal is to make this a happening place for all seasons.
-Q. What completed topo survey/mapping information already exists for this project area? The RFP discusses that the Bayfront preliminary engineering drawings will be made available to successful bidders. Is there any other information that would be made available? A. The City has survey drawings and topo for the marina, parking lot and boat launch. The City also has drawings of the existing plaza and concession stand/restroom. The Engineering Department have other old survey material as well, such as the construction drawings for the tunnel. In general, we don't have survey and topo for the project area.
-Q. Is there any existing geotechnical information for the project area? Do you have info on flow and head of existing artesian and whether it is capable of being utilized for stream flow without additional pumping? A. I don't believe we have this information. We do know the full chemistry of the water and that it can be used for immersion. There is a high iron content.
-Q. Do you have as-builts of existing utilities and their capacities for accepting future electrical, water and sewer needs for the beach improvements proposed? A. We do have drawings showing where the utilities are located. Please contact Tim Lodge, City Engineer for capacities.
-Q. Can you confirm what the project budget is? It appears that the MNRTF grant is $450,800 and our understanding is that the City/DDA match equals this, which would make the total project $901,600. Can you share the preliminary cost estimate for this project? A. We estimate the project to cost $1.6 million. We have secured funds for $1.3 million. We are hopeful to get another $ 200,000 via a foundation and grants-in-aid.
-Q. Is the crosswalk at the parkway part of the scope of design? Traffic Engineering is mentioned under "General Scope of Work", however none of the stated project elements appear to require a traffic engineer. A. The Traffic Engineer will play a very small part of the project. The crosswalks at Park Street will lead directly to the ramps and beach mobility mats.
-Q. It appears that the expectation is for the bathhouse/restroom facility to be a LEED certified building. If this is correct, is there a specific level or simply to meet the minimum level to achieve certification. A. At least bronze. If costs are too high to make it LEED certified, we hope to at least have an energy efficient building that will have lower energy costs to operate.
-Q. Can you provide guidance as to which specific boards and commissions we will need to meet or coordinate with? Planning Commission for site plan approval appears to be the only one specifically stated. A. The Parks and Recreation Commission and the City Commission will be the primary boards interacting with this project. The DDA and the Planning Commission will also have an interest, but to a lessor degree.
-Q. How should the cost of Construction Phase services be addressed? It is indicated that these are optional services. Should we provide a price and define the level of effort that we feel may be needed? Or can the City define a level of effort for consultants so that you are comparing apples to apples. A. If the consultant can at least give us a percentage cost for this phase, it will be helpful. The purpose of this information is to help the City budget for completing the project through the construction phase.
-Q. Does the City have current title work on the property that would reveal any encumbrances such as easements? If the answer is no, will you provide this to the successful bidder or allow us to be compensated for it as a reimbursable expense? A. We do have some title work. MDOT has some encumbrances. I will post the information we do have on this property. This is the information that we provided the State of Michigan when applying for grants.
-Q. It appears that the scope of work will evolve after the consultant is on board and can assist in defining what can be done within the budget. The architectural portion is a good example: how many sf of new building vs. using existing facilities (existing restroom building and/or Con Foster), and what kind of renovations may be needed to the existing facilities. Should the consultant simply base their fee on a $1,600,000 budget and should that change significantly, or should the type of work warrant a fee change that will be accommodated? A. Yes, the scope of work will likely evolve, but we do want to end up with construction documents. I don't expect the budget to change much. We may end up with $ 200,000 more funds to work with for this phase. If significant additional dollars are obtained for the project, the City and consultant will have the opportunity to discuss a fee adjustment.
-Q. The RFP suggested in "General Scope of Work " that traffic engineering should be included in our proposals. Can you better define what is expected? Is this limited to the pedestrian crossings at Park Street? A. The traffic engineer will play a small part of this project. It will be limited to pedestrian crossings at Park Street.
-Q. It is hard to anticipate what might be required by an environmental consultant in regards to possible contamination clean-up. The RFP indicates that we should consider temporary and permanent systems/plans to address site and adjacent site environmental. Putting a fee on this with an undefined contamination would be difficult and may not prove to be needed, falsely increasing the fee. Will this be handled as an extra service if encountered? A. The site is part of an old landfill. It is hard to anticipate what may turn up when soil is being moved around. When the marina was being rebuilt and utilities where being repositioned, we did run into a lot of rubble and parts of automobiles, etc. in the project area. I don't remember any serious contamination issues that came to light with that project.

***The following items were made available as requested at the pre-submittal meeting. Please note that some documents are large file sizes and may take a minute to open***
-Pre-submittal (optional) meeting sign in sheet - pdf
-Natural Resources Trust Fund application, Pages 2-3 (posted by request) - pdf
-Existing Site Plans and Documents in the Clinch Park area:
  -Aquatic Animal Exhibit Ground Floor Plan- pdf
  -Clinch Park Zoo:  Fencing- pdf, Partial Site Plan 1- pdf, Partial Site Plan 2- pdf
  -Concessions & Boathouse: Elevations- pdf, Foundation Sections- pdf, Location and Floor Plan- pdf, Interior- pdf
  -Marina Improvements: Bidding & Construction Info- pdf, Development Plan- pdf
  -Open Space Sprinkler and Lighting- pdf