Respondents must submit 5 copies of their proposal by 2:00 PM CDT, June 30, 2010. Any proposal received after this time and date will not be considered. The full address for proposal delivery is as follows:

Mailing Address:
City of Galveston
Purchasing Department
Attn: Kevin Scott
P.O. Box 779
Galveston, Texas 77553

Hand or overnight delivery:
City of Galveston
Purchasing Department
Attn: Kevin Scott
823 Rosenberg Street
Galveston, Texas 77553

Questions must be submitted via email to Kevin Scott, City of Galveston at [email protected], no later than June 23, 2010 @ 5:00pm. Any potential proposer may make a written request to receive answers to all submitted questions by that same deadline by providing an email address for response. Answers to questions should be provided via email to all persons having provided contact information pertaining to this RFQ.
The City reserves the right to consider modifications to responses prior to the award of the contract, and to reject any and all responses received as a result of the RFQ. The City is not liable for costs incurred by respondents prior to contract award.

COMMUNITY PROFILE AND PROJECT BACKGROUND
The City of Galveston is located on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately one-hour southeast of Houston, TX, and abounds with unique historical, environmental and valuable assets. The City was incorporated in 1839, covers approximately 32 square miles and has a population of 57,247 (2000 Census). Galveston has a unique topography and ecosystem that is more complex than typical jurisdictions in Texas.

In September 2008, the City received direct impact from Hurricane Ike causing widespread damage and destruction. The City is receiving supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding through the Texas Department of Rural Affairs (TDRA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for assistance with infrastructure recovery, economic revitalization and housing projects due to assist in the recovery process.

The current zoning code was created in 1967 with amendments through 2009. The subdivision regulations were created in the late 1950s with minor revisions in the 1980s. Updated city ordinances and practices are essential to proper reconstruction and redevelopment of the City in order to better withstand a future storm event. This project provides the ability to more accurately and effectively address the appropriate sustainable development code for a barrier island and provide mitigation measures during planning and improvement of the built environment for the City.

SCOPE OF WORK
The City requests assistance with the development of a comprehensive zoning, land use and subdivision code revision. The code will serve the entire population and jurisdiction of the City. The consultant must be able to begin work immediately with City staff and stakeholders to provide planning and development services in connection with a Comprehensive Zoning, Land Use and Subdivision Code Revision for the recovery of the community. All bidding contractors must be familiar with CDBG rules and regulations pertaining to proposed project work. Additionally, the project leader should be proficient with Texas law pertaining to municipal authority, land use, zoning, current Urban Planning trends and theories, and the Texas Local Government Code.
As noted previously, the existing zoning and subdivision regulations for the City were created in the 1950s and 1960s. Prior to Hurricane Ike, the City had substantially completed a draft five year update to the 2001 Comprehensive Plan. Following Hurricane Ike, the City also completed the Galveston Community Recovery Plan in April 2009; a tool that identified 42 community projects to assist with the recovery of the Galveston. Currently, the City is proceeding with the update to the 2001 Comprehensive Plan to incorporate as needed, the goals and projects identified through the Galveston Community Recovery Plan. The completion of the Comprehensive Plan update is critical prior to revising the Subdivision Regulations and Zoning Standards for the City. Other Gulf coast communities that have been affected by major tropical events have experienced a significant paradigm shift in the community to focus on smart growth and best practices for sustainable planning and development.
Goals
This project will provide a method to incorporate all previous relevant planning activities and documents, and to assess and correct deficiencies within these planning codes, into a coordinated land use management system for the recovery of the City from Hurricane Ike. All planning activities will acknowledge the unique circumstances of the City and the deliverables shall be customized to the specific goals and needs of the community. The goal of the Comprehensive Zoning, Land Use and Subdivision Code Revision is to provide the following:
1. Creation of a comprehensive planning document, including associated digital materials, plans, maps and exhibits, utilizing existing planning documents, public participation activities, stakeholder meetings and input from local officials and City staff.
2. Creation of specialized plans, including associated digital materials, plans, maps and exhibits, described in the comprehensive planning document that are necessary for the development of the comprehensive implementation program.
3. Creation of a comprehensive implementation program, including but not limited to associated digital materials, studies and legal documents such as: planning and development procedures, subdivision regulations, GIS layers, and zoning code.
The contracted services shall be structured in multiple phases. The City of Galveston Planning Division staff will be thoroughly involved in all phases of the project. In order to proceed expeditiously and utilize skill sets appropriate to the given specialized areas, multiple secondary consultants may be included in the project team to perform specific activities. This includes, but is not limited to, expertise in environmental, historic and legal issues as related to the project task. The City of Galveston Planning Staff reserves the right to review and determine all secondary consultants chosen for the project tasks. The primary consultant team will be responsible for the coordination of the various planning projects and ensure the secondary consultants are working within the required project timeline and scope.
Phases shall run concurrently as determined feasible by the consultant team and City staff. Five (5) phases have been preliminarily identified for development of the ordinance revisions.

Please email [email protected] for a full version of the RFQ.