R2001-138 AUTHORIZING AGREEMENT - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT MEMO #01-78 July 24, 2001 TO: Honorable Mayor Howley and City Council FROM: Steve G , ity Manager A. J. Krieg , conomic and Urban Development Departme Steven J. Va Steenhuyse, Planning Manag�� SUBJECT: Decatur Urban Corridors Plan: Consultant Selection SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the HOK Planning Group of St. Louis be retained to complete the Decatur Urban Corridors Plan, and approval of the resolution authorizing the City Manager to negotiate a contract for the same, the terms of which will generally conform to the work program attached. BACKGROUND: In October of 2000, the Planning Division applied for a grant from the new Illinois Tomorrow program. This program is funded from State and Federal transportation funds and is intended to help communities plan for future transportation needs and impacts. The City received a grant from the program in the amount of$90,000, to be matched with$10,000 from the City, for a total of$100,000. These funds will be used to hire a consultant to study the U.S. 36 and Business U.S. 51 corridors through Decatur. The consultant will study existing land uses and traffic patterns along the corridors and make recommendations to the City regarding zoning, li the use of overlay districts, and other tools to make the corridors more traffic-efficient and more aesthetically pleasing. The consultant will also create a streetscape plan for the section of West I Main Street between downtown and Fairview Avenue. This project was anticipated in the Olde i Towne Redevelopment Tax Increment Financing Plan. The streetscape plan is anticipated to i include such elements as historic lighting and landscaping to better tie the downtown area to the I historic west side neighborhood and Millikin University. A Request for Proposals was mailed to 31 planning consulting firms throughout the Midwest in June. The Planning Division received 11 proposals. A Review Committee consisting of Assistant City Manager A. J. Krieger, Planning Manager Steven J. Van Steenhuyse, Director of Engineering and Infrastructure Steve Swanson and planners Kathy Miller, Dane Bragg, Hala Ahmed and Joselyn Stewart reviewed each proposal. After much discussion, the committee narrowed the field down to four firms (Smith Group/JJR from Chicago; Pflum, Klausmeier and Gehrum from Indianapolis, and Parsons/Harland Bartholomew Associates and Helmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK),both from St. Louis). Each of the four firms presented their qualifications to the committee on July 10. The committee was particularly impressed with the proposal and presentation of the HOK Planning Group. The work program proposed by HOK, the quality of