South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District commissioners may select from one of four consulting firms at a meeting today to develop a design plan for a campground on recently acquired district land.
Seattle-based J.A. Brennan Associates Landscape Architects & Planners, La Connor-based RV Park Consulting Inc., and Robert W. Droll Landscape Architect PS and SCJ Alliance, both Lacey-based firms, submitted their qualifications, experience, and references to the district in the hopes of winning a contract to develop design plans for a campground facility on a 30-acre parcel adjacent to Community Park purchased last month.
The deadline was 2 p.m. on Dec. 10. Parks officials opened the bid packages on Nov. 20.
Only one firm, RV Park Consulting Inc., provided an estimate for design costs — $28,500. The other three stated that cost estimates would be calculated further into the hiring process.
District commissioners had until Wednesday, Dec. 16 to review the proposals. The board will score the contracts on a percentage score based on three sections: qualifications, experience, and reference checks.
The board may select a winning firm at its regular monthly meeting at 6 p.m. tonight at the district’s headquarters on Maxwelton Road, but is not required to make a decision. If a firm is selected, negotiations will begin as early as Thursday. If a firm is not selected at the meeting, district Director Doug Coutts said the board will narrow the field and conduct interviews with representatives of the firms. Coutts did not have an estimate for when a decision would be made if the latter were to occur, due to holiday schedules of both the board and representatives of the firms. The winning firm would be announced in either a special meeting or at the regular monthly meeting in January.
“My gut is saying they’re going to narrow the field and do interviews,” Coutts said.
Coutts began making calls this past Friday to references listed in the proposals with prepared questions. The commissioners will factor the references’ answers into their scoring of the bids.
The winning consultant will develop a 30 percent design of a campground, followed by community input through public meetings.
The decision is ultimately up to the commissioners, Coutts said.
“It would be nice if one singled themselves out above the rest,” Coutts said. “But sometimes it’s a nice close race, which I guess is a good thing as well.”
Desirable qualifications listed in the request for proposals included past experience in campground design, public design processes, and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certifications.
Responding firms also had to meet certain qualification requirements such as having a landscape architectural and engineer’s license in the state of Washington, though Coutts said the consulting firms can subcontract engineers if they don’t have one on staff.
J.A. Brennan listed experience working on nearby Deception Pass State Park and Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. J.A. Brennan has also worked with the district in the past. Davido Consulting Group, an engineering partner of the firm, provided oversight services for the Trustland Trails project and the clearing, grading and roadway construction of the district’s maintenance facility building.
RV Park Consulting Inc. has assisted with over 650 projects, which included an award from the Washington State Association of Campgrounds of “Best Park in the State” for its work on Fidalgo Bay Resort in Anacortes.
Robert W. Droll Landscape Architect PS stated that it has planned, programmed and designed over $30 million of campgrounds for the U.S. Forest Service, National Wildlife Service, state parks, county parks and private companies. SCJ Alliance has provided planning and design services for campground projects in the past, including Sand Hollow Tent Camp in Grant County, Rocky Coulee Tent Camp in Kittitas County, Bridgeport RV Campground in Bridgeport, Wash., and Wahweap Campground in Arizona.
After a contract is awarded, Coutts said he hopes to start the public process meetings in January.
“We’re going to take the time to make the correct decision,” Coutts said. “The sooner we get them on board, the sooner we can involve the community and get a design going.”
