INTRODUCTION

The City of Olathe, Kansas ("City") is requesting proposals from qualified consulting firms to provide professional services to revitalize the City's PlanOlathe Comprehensive Plan ("Project"). The selected firm will have demonstrated experience in comprehensive planning, project management and effective public engagement. The revitalized plan will provide a vision, goals, objectives, and policies to guide the City's development and redevelopment activities and initiatives.

The Project will integrate all aspects of various demographics, diversity, equity, inclusion, land use recommendations, public facilities, transportation, the environment, growth areas, and trends. A critical component of the Project will be expanding upon the guiding framework and principles of the City's Olathe2040 Future Ready Strategic Plan. It is the City's intent that the Project be innovative, forward thinking, bold, dynamic, inclusive, and interactive.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The City is dedicated to fostering a welcoming, diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for all residents. Olathe takes a proactive approach to community planning and has a variety of long-range plans that provide the City's vision, goals, and priorities. The City's current Comprehensive Plan was completed in October 2010. In addition to the Comprehensive Plan, the following studies and programs are utilized to guide land use, mobility, sustainability and neighborhood preservation decisions:

Olathe 2040

Corridor Plans

Communities for All Ages

Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative

Olathe Historic Preservation

Envision Olathe Downtown Plan

Downtown Olathe Active Transportation Plan

Parks & Recreation Master Plan

Transportation Master Plan

Economic Development Strategic Plan (to be completed fall of 2023)

The City is expecting a unique and creative comprehensive plan that inventories existing conditions, outlines specific goals and economic development opportunities, delineates future land use maps and provides a strategy for implementing the plan. The outcome of the Comprehensive Plan shall direct decision-making and coordinate anticipated resources towards a clearly defined future vision. Elements of previous comprehensive plans have addressed quality of life, vision and goals, land use maps and corridor studies, and implementation guidelines. The plan should build upon the momentum of Olathe 2040 by expanding upon the initiatives of the five focus areas of the City — Future Ready, Economy, Exceptional Services, Infrastructure, and Quality of Life.

COMMUNITY OVERVIEW

The City of Olathe, Kansas is located approximately 20 miles southwest of downtown Kansas City. Olathe is the county seat of Johnson County and covers an area of approximately 64 square miles, with a total projected growth to approximately 92 square miles. The 2020 census identified Olathe with a population of 141,290, making Olathe the second largest city in Johnson County, the fourth largest city in the Kansas City metropolitan area, and the fourth largest city in Kansas. Olathe's projected growth is expected to reach 181,150 by the year 2040.

Olathe was founded in 1857 and is one of the oldest communities in the state of Kansas. By 1868, more than 50 buildings were erected in the city, and by 1873, three railroads traversed Olathe. The Strang Trolley Line opened in 1907, which provided a connection from Olathe to downtown Kansas City. This was the first gas-electric trolley car and one of the most profitable inter-urban railroads in the country.

Over the past fifty years, Olathe's population has grown rapidly, resulting in an increased demand on services provided by the City and substantial impacts on the infrastructure and facilities that sustain the quality of life for residents. Olathe maintains over 1,300 miles of public roads and is a full-service city providing water, recycling, waste, and sanitary sewer services throughout the community.

Approximately 28% of Olathe's housing stock was built between 2000 to 2019 with the most frequent residential structure type being single family and an average home sales price around $390,000. Olathe's proximity to the KC Metro and small-town character continue to make it desirable for residents and businesses alike. Olathe has highly ranked schools, affordable housing, and a highly educated workforce. It is a family and business friendly environment.

Olathe's major employers include Garmin International, Johnson County Municipal Government and Olathe Health. Also, southern Olathe is home to numerous large industrial developments, including Lineage, FedEx and future Heartland Coca-Cola. Olathe is adjacent to the future Panasonic EV Battery Factory in De Soto, Kansas with an anticipated 4,000 employees which will have an impact on future housing needs and development within our community.

The Comprehensive Plan will provide guidance for planning within the framework of the City's Olathe 2040 Strategic Plan, as well as other relevant plans and documents. The Comprehensive Plan will be used by the City of Olathe to prioritize land use and infrastructure needs over the next 10 to 15 years.

SCOPE OF WORK

The City seeks to contract with a consulting firm or team of consulting firms that possess extensive experience in community planning and development and redevelopment strategies. The consulting firm(s) is also expected to provide a wide range of services including, but not limited to the following:

1. Evaluation of existing PlanOlathe and existing corridor studies along with implementation successes to date.
2. Evaluation of the existing Future Land Use Map and land use categories.
3. Align the Project with the Olathe 2040 Strategic Plan, Envision Downtown Olathe, Transportation Master Plan, Capital Improvements Plan, Trails and Greenway Plan, and other plans and initiatives. This also includes alignment with regional plans such as the Johnson County Housing Study and Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) Climate Action Plan.
4. Incorporation of Economic Development Strategic Plan which is currently underway.
5. Evaluation of existing and emerging community and planning trends and opportunities such as demographics, housing, communities for all ages, diversity, equity and inclusion, sustainability, planning for mobility, construction and market trends, and infill and redevelopment strategies.
6. Extensive and inclusive public engagement efforts for community involvement to determine needs and opportunities within the community. Identify partnership opportunities with local businesses, volunteer groups, nonprofits utilizing the MARC 2020 Public Participation Plan . Public engagement efforts should be authentic, inclusive, and adaptive.
7. Maintain a project website which includes project updates, interactive opportunities for engagement, maps and project timelines that is compatible with mobile devices.
8. Analyze and provide recommendations for future growth and opportunities within the projected growth area of the City. This should include an evaluation of the size and scope of our projected growth area with cost analysis for the provision of public facilities.
9. Analyze the cost to provide services and address infrastructure needs. This should also address strategies for addressing infrastructure needs and opportunities for growth in sustainable, economic, and environmentally responsible ways. The City does have a Build Out Model which was last updated in 2020 and should be updated in coordination with this Comprehensive Plan update.
10. Include a Focus on Implementation. The plan should include a planning horizon and include implementation approaches that are actionable and measurable. A detailed implementation chapter should be included with a reporting strategy, responsible parties, methodology, and regular reporting.

DELIVERABLES

The consultant will deliver a variety of products which can include but are not limited to.

1. Quarterly project status reports
2. Digital Comprehensive Plan maps that are compatible with the City's GIS map layers.
3. Presentation of comprehensive plan draft recommendations at Planning Commission and City Council meetings.
4. Delivery of final Comprehensive Plan in digital format for online publication, archives, and press.
5. An executive summary version of the plan that is easily digestible for the public.

AGENCY PROVIDED ITEMS

The City will minimally provide the following in support of the plan development:

1. City of Olathe PlanOlathe Comprehensive Plan
2. Unified Development Ordinance
3. Olathe 2040: Future Ready Strategic Plan
4. Economic Development Strategic Plan
5. 2040 Trails and Greenways Guiding Plan
6. Parks & Recreation Master Plan
7. Base GIS maps with existing parklands
8. DirectionFinder trend sheets
9. Qualtrics survey tool
10. Capital Improvement Plan
11. Corridor and long-range plans and studies
12. Community programs and incentives
13. Zoning and land use maps
14. Stakeholder database, general meeting coordination, and required public notice (if applicable) for stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and public meetings
15. Current community demographics and five-year population projections

RFP PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND EVALUATION CRITERIA

The City will receive qualification proposals, no later than 10:00 AM (CST) November 15, 2023, online at www.negometrix.com

To simplify the review process and obtain the maximum degree of comparability, the proposal must follow the outline described below and contain the required information. Respondents are encouraged to include additional relevant information.

1. Letter of Interest
2. Qualifications/Project Portfolio
   
   1. Firm capability - company resources
   2. Areas of specialization
   3. Practice philosophy
   4. History of the firm and how many years in the business
   5. Project Team - Key project staff assigned (include resumes for each), identify any sub-consultants and their proposed roles (include resumes for each) and organizational chart
   6. Letter from Principal certifying the availability and commitment of staff
3. Relevant recent experience with comparable projects (regional experience preferred). List of clients (3-5) for whom similar work has been done in the last five years. Include a brief description of the project, budget/final cost, a contact name and phone number for each. The projects should be comparable in complexity, size, scope, and discipline and completed within the past five years.
4. Detailed description of the firm's understanding of the project outlined in the Scope of Work.
5. Description of the firm's approach to this project along with a detailed work plan showing all key tasks.
6. Proposed project schedule to meet the anticipated deadlines outlined in this RFP, including all stakeholder/public input processes and meetings. Please provide this in Gantt chart format.
7. Identify the potential challenges presented by this project and the firm's approach to meeting them.
8. Propose additional tasks that may add value to achieving the best possible project outcomes.
9. Detailed description of the firm's approach to integrating technical and quality aspects of the project, including planning, implementation, and assessment, or, more generally, how success in achieving project objectives will be measured.
10. The City of Olathe's standard Professional Services Agreement will be used for this project. Any exceptions to the standard agreement must be submitted in writing with the proposal.
11. Proposed Fee — fee may be negotiated to align with detailed scope of service refinements.

SELECTION PROCESS

1. The City of Olathe will review all responses to this RFP that meet requirements and are received prior to the designated closing date and time.
2. The proposals will be evaluated by the City of Olathe's review team using a selection criteria and format based on the following:
3. 1. Qualifications of the individuals assigned to this project (15%)
   2. Recent, relevant project experience (25%)
   3. Unique qualifications of the firm (10%)
   4. Management strategy, approach, public engagement and organization of tasks (25%)
   5. References from current and past clients (10%)
   6. Project timeline (10%)
   7. Fee (5%)
4. Upon review of qualified firms, the City of Olathe will conduct interviews with the highest-ranking respondents.
5. Following review of the proposals and interviews, the highest-ranking Respondent will be notified.
6. If a satisfactory agreement with the Respondent cannot be reached, negotiations with that Respondent will be formally terminated. The City of Olathe may then undertake negotiations with the second ranked Respondent or other Respondents or may re-issue the RFP at its discretion.
7. The City of Olathe will select the proposal which best reflects the City of Olathe's needs and requirements. The City of Olathe will have sole determination of which proposal, if any, is in the City of Olathe's best interest and may cancel this RFP and process at any time.

SCHEDULE

September 11, 2023 — RFP Released

September 19, 2023 — Pre-Proposal Conference on Zoom

October 18, 2023 — Question Period End Date

November 15, 2023 — Proposals Due

December 2023 — Evaluation, Reference Checks & Notice to Shortlisted Firms

January 9-11, 2024 — Interviews with Shortlisted Firms

January/February 2024 — Contract Negotiations with Preferred Consultant

February 2024 — City Council Approval of Contract

February/March 2024 — Notice to Proceed Issued to Selected Consultant

TBD in Proposal — Project Kick-Off Meeting with Steering Committee

Quarterly — Progress Update

TBD in Proposal — Draft Plan Due

TBD in Proposal — Presentation of Draft Plan

August 2025 — Final Plan Presentation

INQUIRIES

Question or requests for information regarding this Request for Proposals must be submitted to www.negometrix.com , no later than 4:00 pm (CST) October 18, 2023.

No communication regarding this RFP shall be directed to any City official or employee. All inquiries will be responded to in the form of written addenda and posted on www.negometrix.com .

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