HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-16-1999 - 8eORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: February 16. 1999
Agenda Abstract
Item # g- e
SUBJECT: Request for Proposals -Archeological Survey of the St. Mary's Road Corridor
1
DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource Conservation PUBLIC HEARING: Yes X No
BUDGET AMENDMENT REQUIRED: Yes X No
ATTACHMENTS:
Request for Proposals
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Donald R. Belk
Preservation Planner/X2594
PHONE NUMBERS:
Hillsborough 732-8181
Mebane 227-2031
Durham 688-7331
Chapel Hill .967-9251
PURPOSE: To approve a Request for Proposals for an archeological survey of the St. Mary's Road Corridor.
BACKGROUND: On May 6, 1998, the BOCC accepted a grant of $4,000 from the NC Division of Archives and History
through the Certified Local Governments Program. The grant funds, which will be matched by $6,000
in County funds and $2,000 in-kind services, are to be used to begin a preservation planning study of
the St. Mary's Road Corridor. From $12,000 total costs for this grant project, $10,000 is earmarked
for consultant fees. The first phase of the planning study will consist of a historic architectural survey
($3,500 consultant fee) and an archeological survey of the Corridor ($6,500 consultant fee). The
$6,000 cash match is in the FY1998-99 Planning Department budget.
The attached Request for Proposals pertains to the archeological survey. This RFP will be used to select
an archeologist to conduct a survey of the archeological resources along the corridor. This survey will
be part of an eventual Preservation Plan for the St. Mary's Road Corridor.
The Historic Preservation Commission and staff will distribute the RFP to a list of qualified consultants
certified by the State Historic Preservation Office. HPC will consider proposals and provide a
recommendation to the BOCC, along with a proposed project contract.
In previous BOCC action regarding the St. Mary's Road Corridor preservation planning study, a
Request for Proposals for the historic architectural survey was approved on December 15, 1998. The
RFP has been mailed to a list of qualified consultants. A recommendation on consultant selection for
the architectural survey is forthcoming.
RECONIlVIENDATION:
Administration Recommendation
The Administration recommends approval of the Request for Proposals.
Orange County Environment and Resource Conservation Department
P.O. Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278
Phone: 919-732-8181 or 919-967-9251 x2597
Fax: 919-644-3002
Email: erca@co.oranQe.nc.us ._
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
For: Archeological Survey of St. Mary's Road Corridor
Submission Deadline: March 15, 1999
Contact: Donald R. Belk, AICP, Preservation Planner
Orange County Department of Environment and Resource
Conservation
306F Revere Road
Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278
919/732-8181 Extension 2594
e-mail: dbelk@co.orange.nc.us
Orange County is seeking a qualified and experienced archeologist to conduct a survey of
archeological resources in the St. Mary's Road Corridor (Orange County; SR 1002). This survey
will be part of a Preservation Plan for the St. Mary's Road Corridor.
Project Background
The St. Mary's Road Corridor Preservation Plan will identify the important azchitectural,
azcheological, and cultural features that distinguish the corridor as a historically significant
landscape in Orange County. The Plan will identify: potential National Register sites and
districts; scenic viewsheds; natural resource azeas, such as forests, floodplains, and wetlands; and
farmland resources, including land in present agricultural use as well prime farmland soils.
After the surveys and resource inventories are completed, a public education effort will
commence. This initiative will engage residents and landowners within the Corridor in
establishing preservation goals for the azea.
Scope of Work
This azcheological survey comprises three principal components: (1) background reseazch, (2)
field reconnaissance, and (3) the development of a reseazch design for further azchaeological
work. These components aze described as follows:
3
Background Research
Background research shall constitute the bulk of this study, conducted with the aim of achieving
four primary goals.
• Determine the extent to which the current road location deviates from its historic location(s)
and provide an explanation of any deviations noted.
• Provide detailed maps of former locations of the road, historic structures, and landscape
alterations associated with those historic locations and indicate the potential each holds for
the recovery of significant archaeological information.
• Reconstruct the prehistoric (Palen-Indian -post-contact) and historic (17~' - 20~' century)
landscapes along the corridor and explain the differences within the context of a regional
history.
• Develop a proposal for additional archaeological research that specifies the nature and extent
of archival research and field work designed to gather more information about the prehistoric
and historic sites that are, or may be, within the St. Mary's Road Corridor.
A variety of resources will be reviewed in the process of gathering background information,
including archival records, historic deeds and maps, architectural surveys, primary and secondary
documentary evidence of environmental conditions such as soils, topographic, geologic and
hydrologic maps, and published archaeological data (see the attached bibliography for a partial
list of sources). This information will be used to create a model of settlement and land use in the
corridor throughout the prehistoric and historic periods. The central theme of this study focuses
on the changing relationship between environment and land use throughout the time that people
have occupied the rural Hillsborough landscape. The primary purpose for gathering this
background information is to provide the context within which all subsequent archaeological
research in the corridor may be interpreted.
Field Reconnaissance
The limited archaeological field testing to be conducted for this project consists of three
components, (1) those concerned with identifying any historically documented locations of the
St. Mary's Road not in its current location or historic structures no longer standing, (2) the
preliminary evaluation of the archaeological significance of such historic structures, landscapes,
or associated deposits within the corridor and, (3) an assessment of the potential for the recovery
of archaeological information concerning historic and prehistoric sites within the corridor.
The first of these tasks has as its goal the investigation of any historically recorded road
locations, structures or features of the landscape which may have been altered or superseded over
the years. This part of the field work might be considered "ground truthing" the results of the
historical research. The historically recorded location of entities on any given map or plat may
2
4
not correspond to current locations. For example, the comparison of a sequence of historic maps
may reveal the history of how the road was originally placed on the landscape and how that
placement has changed through the years. Field testing historically recorded entity locations can
verify the maps and may provide information about the presence of historic structures,
landscapes, or artifact deposits such as trash dumps. This first task can be accomplished by
visually inspecting the corridor for suspected locations of historically recorded entities, such as
old road beds or above-ground structural remains, inspection of the surfaces of any plowed fields
or non-vegetated azeas, and by limited below-ground testing consisting of soil probing and
shovel-test-pit excavating. It should be stressed that this portion of the project will be very
narrowly focused by the results of background research. This is not designed to be a general
survey of the St. Mary's Corridor aimed at locating all historic cultural sites in the project area.
The second field testing task has as its goal the preliminazy assessment of the significance of any
historic archaeological locations, such as structures or artifact deposits, as may be found during
the project. This can be accomplished by limited data recovery operations such as controlled
surface collecting, or excavating test pits on sites that have been detected by azchival research.
The object of this task is to gather information about the cultural deposit by obtaining a sample
of the artifacts, and a description of the context in which they aze found. Data recovery efforts
implemented with this task are also expected to be very limited as predicated by the narrowly
focused research objectives and preliminary nature of the project's scope of work.
The third part of the field testing program consists of determining the potential for the
preservation and further recovery of historic azchaeological information from sites within the
corridor. This will be accomplished, in part, by assessing the results of the first two tasks.
Background research will provide the means of determining the potential for the existence of
historically recorded sites within the corridor. Field checking the azchival information will
provide a means of assessing the accuracy of the historic record, and will yield information about
the nature of site disturbance and artifact preservation. These data, together with settlement
models developed as part of the background reseazch, may then be used to make a reasonable
estimate of the azchaeological resources that lie within the St. Mary's Corridor project area.
Included in this will be an appraisal of the potential accessibility of these resources for future
azchaeological field testing.
Development of a Research Design
The development of a research design for further archaeological work will be based on the results
of background research and archaeological field testing. The design should (1) specify any
further azchival research necessary to identify historic sites or landscape features within the
project azea, (2) present a comprehensive plan for surveying the project area for historic and
prehistoric azchaeological resources, (3) describe the means whereby the sites will be tested and
recorded and the archaeological material analyzed and curated, and (4) indicate how the
assessment of the NRHP eligibility of the resources will be conducted in future reseazch. The
research design should also present a preliminary plan for integrating the preservation of
3
5
archaeological resources within the St. Mary's Corridor into the lazger context of preserving
Hillsborough's vernacular landscape.
Reporting Results
The report, to be prepazed as part of this study, should provide overviews of those portions of
prehistory and history that aze relevant to the Hillsborough azea of Orange County, set within the
broader context of the Southeast. A review of the major periods of prehistory and history that aze
represented in the acchaeological and historical literature of Orange County should be presented.
From this information models of travel on the St. Mary's Road and settlement along its flanks
should be advanced. The report should be accompanied by copies of the relevant historic maps
and documents showing the historic road locations, land ownership tracts, structures, and any
related archaeological sites. The standazds and guidelines for reporting field-testing activities
should follow Orange County's RFP for this project (included in this package) and those of the
North Carolina State Office of Archaeology.
Project Budget
The total project budget is $6,500 funded from Orange County general revenues and a 1998
Certified Local Government grant. Consultants submitting a proposal must provide, insofar as
possible, an estimate of the amount of time to be expended on the project.
Tvne of Contract
The type of contract awarded will be on a cost reimbursement basis with a "not-to-exceed"
provision.
Consultant Selection/Oualifications
Consultants or consulting firms will be evaluated in part on the basis of the following criteria:
1. The person/firm must have performed satisfactorily on previous archeological surveys as
indicated by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives
and History, Office of State Archeology;
2. The person/firm must demonstrate a professional writing capability with a style of high
quality that is suitable for publication;
3. The person/fum must have adequate experience and staff to perform the work required.
Previous work in the Chapel Hill, Orange County, andlor Research Triangle azea is
preferable;
4. The person/firm must have the ability to meet the time schedule established for the work;
and
4
6
5. The person/firm must meet the qualifications of 36 CFR 61.
There will be two main considerations in the selection process: (1) familiarity with the geographic
azea, and (2) previous completion of azcheological surveys and National Register Nominations for
archeological sites or historic districts. However, these will not be the controlling criteria. Where
two or more persons/firms aze proposed to undertake the project, the proposal must specify in some
detail the working relationship envisaged in the partnership or joint venture. This latter requirement
does not apply where two or more persons are members of the same firm.
Submission of Proposals
Persons or consulting firms interested in the project aze invited to submit a proposal, including a
statement of qualifications which addresses the aforementioned criteria. References and samples of
previous work must be submitted as part of the proposal. Proposals must be submitted to Orange
County by 5:00 p.m. (DST) on March 15, 1999. Proposals may be mailed or delivered to:
Donald R. Belk, AICP, Preservation Planner
Orange County Department of Environment and Resource Conservation
306F Revere Road
Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278
Telephone 919/732-8181, extension 2594
Questions regarding the project may also be addressed to the same individual.
All proposals received will become the property of Orange County and will be evaluated to
determine which proposal most closely meets the requirements of the County. At the discretion
and option of Orange County, oral interviews may be conducted with one or more firms to assist in
the selection process.
Orange County reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to accept the proposal most
favorable to the County.
5