HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.3 Parks & Comm Svcs Needs Assessment
CITY CLERK
File # 600-30
AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: November 7, 2006
SUBJECT:
Request for Proposals for Parks and Community Services Needs
Assessment
Report by Paul McCreary, Parks and Community Services Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
Request for Proposal
RECOMMENDATION: ',L' Hy'Receive report and authorize Staff to distribute Request for Proposal
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FINANCIAL STATEMENT:
Funds have been allocated for this project in the 2006-2011 Capital
Improvement Program
DESCRIPTION: The Fiscal Year 2006-2007 City Council Goals includes a high
priority objective to conduct an in-depth community needs assessment and opinion survey of Parks and
Community Services Department programs, services and facilities, and develop a Strategic Plan for
Department programs and services. Since July a cross-departmental team has been meeting to discuss the
project outcomes and maximizing citizen participation in the process so that Staff can develop a Strategic
Plan that is responsive to community needs. As a result of those meetings Staff has developed the
attached Request for Proposal (RFP) for a consultant to conduct the needs assessment portion of the
project.
The primary purpose of the project is to provide a community-based assessment of the recreation
programs currently offered and recommendations for future programs that should be designed and
implemented. By engaging residents in focus groups and conducting a statistically valid survey, the City
would gain a comprehensive community-based description of recreation program issues, needs and
recommendations. The expected outcomes of the assessment would be to:
· Assess satisfaction levels with the quality, quantity, and management of existing programs,
services, parks and facilities.
· Determine current resident usage levels of programs and facilities and appropriateness of when
and where these services are offered.
· Identify the community's interest in the addition of future facilities.
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G:\COUNCIL\Agenda Statements\2006\11-7 Needs Assessment RFP.doc
· Identify future interests regarding the implementation of new programs and services that meet
the needs of the community and respond to new trends in the leisure services industry.
· Determine how effective the City of Dublin is at communicating its products and services and
disseminating relevant information to current and potential customers.
· Obtain general demographic characteristics of both users and non-users, and identify perceptions
of the various market segments and cultural/ethnic groups of Dublin's programs, parks and
facilities.
· Identify what prohibits non-users from taking advantage of the City of Dublin's services, and if
they participate in other similar activities not sponsored by the City of Dublin.
· Investigate how citizens wish to use their discretionary time and how the City may provide
recreational opportunities that takes into account the economic and time constraints of the
community.
· Provide residents the opportunity to offer suggestions, comments, and concerns about the
opportunities provided to them by the City of Dublin.
In order to accomplish these outcomes Staff proposes contracting with a firm to conduct qualitative and
quantitative data collection, analyze the data and prepare a report of the findings and recommendations.
For the qualitative portion, Staff envisions the consultant conducting numerous focus groups that would
engage up to 300 residents. This face-to-face approach is apt to gamer more in-depth information. It
would allow Staff and the consultant to delve deeper into issues that are brought up than would be feasible
with a survey. The focus groups could also be tailored to encourage participation by a cross section of
residents that is reflective of the community's diversity, which would help develop a plan that ensures
programs and services are accessible for all residents.
For the quantitative component, Staff is requesting the consultant to collect data based on a statistically
reliable sample of the community using a valid and reliable survey that is distributed in a manner that
yields the highest response rate that closely matches the community's demographics. The RFP' asks the
consultants to propose the method used to accomplish this portion of the project. After the data collection
component, the consultant would analyze and interpret the data in a final report to include an executive
summary and recommendations.
Following the needs assessment, Staff would utilize the consultant's data and recommendations to
develop a Strategic Plan that would provide a systematic approach towards the development,
management, evaluation and provision of recreation programs and community services. The goal is to
create comprehensive and excellent service delivery for recreation and community services that would
support the community over the next five to ten years. As a part of implementation, specific outcome and
output measures would be developed to measure the indicators of success. Staff would use those
evaluation tools to update the Strategic Plan every three to five years.
If approved by the City Council, the RFP would be distributed on November 10, 2006. Staff would
conduct an evaluation of the firms submitting proposals and negotiate an agreement with the most
qualified firm for Council consideration in January 2007.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the City Council receive the report and authorize Staff to
distribute the Request for Proposal.
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Request For Proposals
The City of Dublin is seeking a consultant to conduct a
PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Closing Date for Submittal of Proposals is
December 8, 2006
Contact Person
Paul McCreary
Parks and Community Services Manager
City of Dublin
100 Civic Plaza
Dublin, CA 94568
Phone: 925-833-6645
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Backaround:
The City of Dublin is experiencing rapid growth, which will significantly increase the size
and population of the City within the next 20 years. In addition to this growth, the City is
experiencing many demographic changes. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the
community is expanding. The education and income levels are also changing. The
median income of residents is increasing, while at the same time the City's affordable
housing stock is increasing as well.
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As the community changes, the City wants to be prepared to serve all residents and
determine how to better engage them in programs, services and the public input
process. Therefore funds have been approved to have a consulting firm conduct a
needs assessment. Staff will utilize the data from the study and executive summary to
write a comprehensive strategic plan for implementation.
About the Community:
The City of Dublin is located in eastern Alameda County, approximately 35 miles southeast of
San Francisco. The City was incorporated in 1982 and now has a population of 41,907 within
14.57 square miles. Dublin's strategic "crossroad" located at the intersection of Interstate 580
and 680 has made the City freeway close and conveniently accessible to the Bay Area. The
City is in a rapid growth cycle. The population is projected at build-out to reach 66,000.
About the Department:
The Department provides recreational and cultural programs and activities for groups of all
ages. Department activities include managing community facilities including the Senior
Center, Swim Center, Sports Grounds, Stager Community Gymnasium, Emerald Glen Activity
Center and the Heritage Center; providing staff support to the Parks & Community Services
Commission, Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission and various committees and task forces;
facility use scheduling of City and School District facilities; coordinating programs for
playgrounds, preschool, teens, sports, special events, leisure classes, cultural arts, public art,
senior citizens and aquatic programs.
The Parks & Community Services Staff includes the Parks & Community Services Director,
Parks & Community Services Manager, Parks & Facilities Development Manager, Parks &
Facilities Development Coordinator, two Recreation Supervisors, one Heritage and Cultural
Arts Supervisor, one Heritage Center Director, three Recreation Coordinators, three
Recreation Technicians, one Preschool Instructor, one Administrative Technician, one Senior
Office Assistant, two Office Assistants, and many part-time employees, independent
contractors and volunteers. The Department's Fiscal Year 2006-2007 operational budget is
$4.26 million, with a revenue budget of $1.54 million, resulting in a net subsidy of $2.72 million.
The Department is constructing many new parks and facilities to meet the needs of a larger
population. A new 15,500 square foot Senior Center was opened in 2005, and construction
of a new 19,760 sq. ft. Community Center will begin during spring 2007. Design of the new
Emerald Glen Recreation and Aquatic Complex is anticipated to begin during Fiscal Year
2006-2007. A number of new parks will be constructed over the next five years in order to
meet the growing demand for parks in the eastern area of the City.
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Proiect Vision:
The City will gain a community-based, statistically valid, description of recreation program
issues, needs and recommendations that will be the basis for creation of a strategic Plan.
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Proiect Outcomes:
The expected outcomes of the assessment are to:
· Assess satisfaction levels with the quality, quantity, and management of existing parks,
programs, facilities and services.
· Determine current resident usage levels of programs and facilities and appropriateness
of when and where these services are offered.
· Identify the community's interest in the addition of future facilities.
· Identify future interests regarding the implementation of new programs and services that
meet the needs of the community and respond to new trends in the leisure services
industry.
· Determine how effective the City of Dublin is at communicating its products and services
and disseminating relevant information to current and potential customers.
· Obtain general demographic characteristics of both users and non-users, and identify
perceptions of the various market segments and cultural/ethnic groups of Dublin's
programs, parks and facilities.
· Identify what prohibits non-users from taking advantage of the City of Dublin's services,
and if they participate in other similar activities not sponsored by the City of Dublin.
· Investigate how citizens wish to use their discretionary time and how the City may
provide recreational opportunities that takes into account the economic and time
constraints of the community.
· Provide residents the opportunity to offer suggestions and comments about the
opportunities provided to them by the City of Dublin.
Scope of Work:
· Qualitative component to collect in-depth narrative data through methods such as
focus groups, public workshops, open public meetings, or personal interviews. The City
would like to engage approximately 300 residents in this process.
· Quantitative component to collect data based on a statistically reliable sample of the
community (+/-5%), using a valid and reliable questionnaire that is distributed in a
manner that yields the highest response rate that closely matches the community's
demographics. Data should use standard and consistent address formats so that data
can be geo-coded by City Staff to interface with the City's GIS system.
· Data analysis component where the data is analyzed in a scientifically valid manner.
· Data interpretation component that takes the analyzed data and then provides a simple
interpretation in the form of recommendations and action plan statements.
· Data access component where the data that has been collected is returned to the City
of Dublin in a form that the City can continue to analyze the data.
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In order to complete the Scope of Work the consultant's proposal should minimally include
the following services:
. Meetings and workshops with City staff
. Moderation of focus group meetings
. Moderation of community open meetings
· Survey Questionnaire design
. Statistical sampling
. Data collection and entry
. Data analysis
· Data interpretation in the form of a final report
· Presentation of results at a Parks and Community Services Commission and City Council
meeting
If there are additional services that are necessary to complete the scope of work please
include those in the proposal.
Deliverables:
· Provision of materials for meetings/workshops and submission of written notes following
each meeting.
· An interim report following the quantitative and qualitative project components.
· A camera-ready and electronic version of the final questionnaire / survey tool.
· A final written report presented both in hard copy and in electronic format
· A final executive summary presented in hard copy as well as in a publicly distributable
format such as a Web page or .pdf file.
· The entire data set along with a computerized method for continuing data analysis.
Proposal Instructions:
Four (4) bound copies and one (1) original of the proposal should be submitted to the office
of the Parks and Community Services Department by 5:00 p.m., on December 8, 2006.
Proposals may be hand delivered or mailed to 100 Civic Plaza, Dublin, California, 94568.
Proposals must be received by the aforementioned date and time, postmarks will not be
accepted. The following information should be provided:
· A narrative describing the firm's approach to accomplishing the project. (Limit to three
pages) .
· A summary of the firm's background and capabilities, including information on the firm's
history and areas of specialization, or particular expertise as it relates to this project. (Limit
to two pages).
· Identification and background of the individual(s} who will do the actual work and who
will work with the City on a regular basis. An organization chart should be included as
well as resumes for each individual.
· Identification and background of any other consultants who are proposed to assist with
this project.
· A statement of qualifications including a list of relevant projects that the firm has
completed which are similar to the project described above. Submittals should include
reference names and current phone numbers. (Minimum of five references).
· Proposed project schedule and milestones.
· In a separate sealed enveloped, include the consultant fee proposal for project with
cost breakdown of tasks and an hourly fee schedule.
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Selection Process:
Following a review of the proposals, the City will conduct interviews with qualified firms. The
City will notify selected consultants after the proposal submittal date to arrange interviews,
which are tentatively scheduled for the week of January 2 to 5, 2007.
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The following criteria will be used in evaluating proposals:
· Understanding of project . Experience on similar projects
· Education and experience of key personnel . Ability to meet schedules
· Quality of completed work . Experience with community input process
It is anticipated an Agreement will be taken to the City Council for approval on January 16,
2007, with work to commence in early February.
THE CITY OF DUBLIN MAY REJECT ANY AND ALL PROPOSALS
If there are any questions pertaining to this proposal, please contact Paul McCreary, Parks
and Community Services Manager at (925) 833-6645 or email paul.mccreary@ci.dublin.ca.us
prior to November 28, 2006.
Attachment:
Standard City of Dublin Consultant Services Agreement
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