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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 NS Contract - Process and Facilitation Consultant Contract for Comprehensive PlanORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 14, 2006 Agenda Item No. Q - SUBJECT: Process and Facilitation Consultant Contract for Comprehensive Plan DEPARTMENT: Planning & Inspections/ PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No County Manager ATTACHMENT(S): 1) Comprehensive Plan Update Timetable 2) Proposed Contract INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning Supervisor, (919) 245 -2579 Rod Visser, Interim County Manager, 245 -2308 PURPOSE: To approve a contract between the Orange County Dispute Settlement Center (DSC) and Orange County for the provision of process and facilitation services related to the Comprehensive Plan update. BACKGROUND: At its October 3, 2006 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved, with minor revisions, the Planning Board's proposed process for updating the Comprehensive Plan as well as the various roles of County staff, advisory boards, and elected officials during the update. Furthermore, County Administration and the Planning Board were asked to compress the proposed timetable for completion of the update and to consider the use of a consultant, if necessary to complete the project. On October 23, 2006, County Administration met with the Chairs of the Planning Board and BOCC to discuss an accelerated schedule and the use of consulting services to complete the Plan update. In summary, the major outcomes of this meeting were twofold. First, the Comprehensive Plan would be completed by August 2008. This timeline (see Attachment 1) would take approximately 2 years, concluding 6 months earlier than the October 3`d proposal. Second, the idea is to use a combination of two different "types" of consultants to complete the Comprehensive Plan: 1. A consultant to provide process and meeting facilitation services (proposed Contract attached); and 2. A consultant to "synthesize" the existing reports and studies that have been completed by various county departments, advisory boards, and in some cases consultants; identify any missing components; and repackage into a Draft Comprehensive Plan. The recommended approach will permit an additional joint meeting of advisory , boards involved in the Comprehensive Plan, to occur in January 2007, as outlined in the accelerated process timetable. The underlying premise of the proposed approach is that to a great extent the 2 updated Comprehensive Plan already exists in various County documents and in a variety of formats, shouldn't require the generation of a lot of new material, and can be completed by pulling together all of the good work that has already been done by the various County departments and advisory boards. The Planning Board will be holding a special meeting on November 15, 2006 to discuss the timetable, the idea for a "synthesizing consultant ", and potential scope of services. Mr. Andy Sachs of the DSC will be attending this meeting to introduce himself, review the services he offers, and participate in discussion. RELATION TO BOCC PRIORITIES At the work session on September 14, the BOCC discussed previously identified priorities and directed staff to proceed and develop a set of written goal statements and timelines associated with its top priorities for the remainder of 2006. The six emerging issues the BOCC considered as its top priorities, in no rank order, included continuation of the process for updating the County's Comprehensive Plan. This contract constitutes a step in the act of moving forward with one priority issue before the BOCC in this calendar year. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The services of the DSC will be provided on an as needed basis as requested by Orange County throughout the course of the Comprehensive Plan update process. The DSC offers their services at the following rates: Through June 2007: (a) $85.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by Program Coordinator Andrew M. Sachs; (b) $40.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by each DSC facilitator other than Mr. Sachs (e.g., small group facilitators, co- facilitator, temporary substitution for Sachs where that is necessary). July 2007 through May 2008: (a) $90.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by Program Coordinator Andrew M. Sachs; (b) $45.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by each DSC facilitator other than Mr. Sachs (e.g., small group facilitators, co- facilitator, temporary substitution for Sachs where that is necessary). Planning Staff estimates approximately 170 hours of DSC time may be required for process consultation and meeting facilitation during the course of the Comprehensive Plan Update process. Funding for DSC services will be drawn from appropriations already approved in the 2006 -07 operating budget and from funds to be included in the 2007 -08 Manager's Recommended Budget. Planning Staff will keep the BOCC apprised of DSC hours spent on the project through regular staff reports as provided by the BOCC approved process for updating the Comprehensive Plan. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board authorize staff to prepare a contract with the Dispute Settlement Center (DSC) that incorporates the scope of work outlined under the "Cost and Contracting" section of the proposal, and authorize the Chair to sign the contract. Comprehensive Plan Update Timetable ATTACHMENT 1 Revised 11/06/06 (D3 *To include BOCC and Advisory Boards 0=1 MW ,Adoption of Process Contract with Consultant ("Meeting Facilitator') �and Guidelines Public Information M Planning Board Evaluation and Appraisal of 1981 Plan Contract with Consultant 'Preparation of County Profile Element Public Information Mtg. Preparation of Goals Outreach (not defined) Approval of Legal Ad for Public Hearing 'Evaluation &Appraisal of 1981 Plan, Goals, and County Profile Element lAdvisory Board(s) Recommendation (s) BOCC Adoption Comprehensive Plan Advisory Boards Receive Outreach (not defined) Planning Board develops recommendations on any reconciliation Approvalof Legal Ad for Public Hearing Expanded Advertisement—immommmmmmmmmmmmmmmEMENEENNEEM lQtr. Public Hearing Advisory Board(s) BOCC Adoption Qtr. Public Hearing to Adopt Regulatory Policies and Programs *To include BOCC and Advisory Boards Attachment 2 (4) Proposal by the Dispute Settlement Center (DSC) to Provide Consultation and Meeting Facilitation in Support of Orange County's Comprehensive Plan Update Process November 1, 2006 This proposal is based on discussions between DSC, Craig Benedict, and Tom Altieri in which they shared the Comprehensive Plan Update Process (approved by BOCC 10/03/06) and the Draft Comprehensive Plan Update Timetable (revised 10/09/06). According to Benedict and Altieri, the material they shared with DSC was based on direction from the County Commissioners and subsequent meetings with County Administration, Planning Board Chair and Planning Staff as the Commissioners had suggested. DSC proposes to support the County's efforts at updating the Comprehensive Plan by providing consultation and facilitation services to the Project Management Team (County Manager, Planning Director, Comprehensive Planning Supervisor, and Planning Board Chair), so that the Comprehensive Plan Update Process will be well understood and acceptable to all interested or affected stakeholders. At a minimum, the stakeholders appear to be the Board of County Commissioners, the Planning Director and his staff, the Planning Board, the Directors of Contributing (County) Departments and their staff who participate in the process, the Element Lead Advisory Boards, other County advisory boards and commissions that might or should participate in the process, the Advisory Board Liaisons, the county's municipalities, neighboring counties, major institutions located within Orange County (e.g., UNC), civic associations and private sector interests that might or should participate in the process, and the public at large from within Orange County. The Project Management Team appears to be the primary steward of the process. It has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the key events within the Comprehensive Plan update process will be well planned and well managed. DSC proposes to begin its process consultation with the Project Management Team because the Team is accountable for the big picture. Andrew M. Sachs, Coordinator of DSC's Public Disputes Program, will be the lead consultant and facilitator on this project. A statement of qualifications is appended to this proposal. Other DSC personnel might be available as needed by the Project Management Team, depending upon the schedules of the other personnel and resources (see proposed budget, below). Sachs will meet with the Project Management Team for as many times as is needed to accomplish the following: • To ensure that he and all Team members are well informed and aligned on all important aspects of the Update Process, including the sequence of events, the timeframe, their own roles, the roles of others, and the internal process by which the Team itself will operate 50 (set its agenda, stay focused, make decisions, resolve conflict, and link with groups and individuals outside of the Team), To consider how well individuals and groups holding leadership roles in the Update Process other than the members of the Project Management Team (e.g., staff from County departments other than Planning and Inspections; the Board of County Commissioners; and advisory boards, members and liaisons) are informed and aligned on the important aspects of the process, and what interventions if any are needed by the Team or process consultant to explore or address any problems. • To consider what if anything will be needed from the municipalities, other jurisdictions in the region, regional organizations, and the State. To set goals for a successful Update Process, including consideration of how the process overall and key events within it (e.g., Joint Advisory Board meetings, Public Hearings, Outreach efforts, -and substantive reviews by the Planning Board and the Board of County Commissioners) will be coordinated, planned, managed and facilitated to ensure that they are: • Inclusive — Effectively involving the voices of all affected interests. • Practical - Having a concrete and important purpose. • Self- organizing - Allowing participants to set their own purposes, objectives, procedures, tasks, and topics. • Civil - Supporting discourse in which all participants are respected, listened to, have equal access to information, and learn about each other's interests. • Informative - Adapting and incorporating high - quality information. • Creative - Allowing participants to challenge assumptions. • Engaging - Keeping participants at the table, interested, and learning. • Open - Seeking closure only after discussions have fully explored the issues, interests, and opportunities for resolving differences. • The point immediately above might include consideration, as Mr. Benedict suggested, of the development of a "Compact" that communicates the Project Management Team's values for the Update Process, and invites others (Planning staff, advisory boards, other Department heads and their staff, the BOCC, the public at large) to "sign onto" working consistently with those values. Decisions regarding the Update Process that are made during Sachs's meetings with the Project Management Team will be documented by Sachs (and reviewed/corrected by the Team) and used by Sachs in the development of written plans for each event that DSC facilitates. The record of the Project Management Team might also be used by the Team itself or others to plan events that DSC does not facilitate (e.g., Planning Board meetings, Board of County Commissioner meetings). I Costs and Contracting 1. The timeframe for the services described herein will extend from the date of contract approval through May 31, 2008. The contract may be extended upon written consent of both parties. 2. In consideration for DSC's services described herein, the County will pay DSC as follows: (i) Through June 2007: (a) $85.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by Program Coordinator Andrew M. Sachs; (b) $40.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by each DSC facilitator other than Mr. Sachs (e.g., small group facilitators, co- facilitator, temporary substitution for Sachs where that is necessary). (ii) July 2007 through May 2008: (a) $90.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by Program Coordinator Andrew M. Sachs; (b) $45.00 per hour for all necessary time provided to this project by each DSC facilitator other than Mr. Sachs (e.g., small group facilitators, co- facilitator, temporary substitution for Sachs where that is necessary). 3. The County will provide for all project logistics and materials, including adequate meeting facilities, audio - visual equipment, advance and follow -up communications with meeting invitees or attendees, handouts, flip chart paper, masking tape, magic markers, maps and renderings, sticky dots, refreshments, nametags, and photocopying. 4. The County will reimburse DSC for all necessary automobile travel incurred to conduct the tasks specified herein at the IRS rate in effect at the time of travel, which is currently $ 0.405 /mile. Reasonable and necessary out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed to DSC by the County following the submission of valid receipts for those expenses. 5. DSC will invoice the County no more frequently than once per month. Each invoice will include a summary of the tasks /meetings /deliverables completed during the time period covered by the invoice. 6. The County will pay DSC's invoices within 10 days of receipt. Checks will be made payable to the order of the Dispute Settlement Center, and mailed or delivered to DSC, 302 Weaver Street, Carrboro, NC 27510. DSC federal tax identification number is F56-1216584 7. DSC agrees to designate Public Disputes Program Coordinator Andrew M. Sachs as the lead contact for this project. Planning and Inspections Department Director Craig Benedict will serve as the County's project liaison with DSC upon signing of this agreement. 8. Both DSC and the County agree that if disputes related to this contract emerge between them during or after the period of this agreement, each will first seek resolution by face -to -face problem- solving, facilitated by a mutually agreeable third party if necessary, before taking the grievance for resolution to any outside authority. 9. Any modification to this agreement must be written and signed by both parties. I PUBLIC DISPUTES PROGRAM Dispute Settlement Center of Orange County Since 1987, the Public Disputes Program has been helping communities, jurisdictions and organizations discuss difficult topics, resolve multi -parry conflict, and develop consensus - building skills by designing collaborative processes, providing mediation and facilitation, and conducting training and education programs. For more information, contact Andrew M. Sachs, Program Coordinator, 302 Weaver Street, Carrboro, NC 27510, (919) 929-8800, ext. 23, asaschs(@disputesettlement.org. Representative Project Experience Design and facilitation of a year long community consensus building process on the Town of Carrboro's Northern Transition Area Small Area Plan. The result of this intervention, the "Facilitated Small Area Plan for Carrboro's Northern Study Area" was selected in 200o by the NC Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association as the recipient of the Brian Benson Award for Small Community Comprehensive Planning. • Facilitation of public forum through which parks and recreation advocates, environmental advocates, affordable housing advocates, neighbors of the "Greene tract," and officials from Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County met to clarify options for future uses of a log acre parcel jointly owned by the three local governments. • Mediation for residents living near the Orange County regional landfill and representatives of three local governments. The parties negotiated an agreement through which the governments would acquire soil from adjoining tracts for use in landfill operations while minimizing adverse impacts on residents and the environment. Facilitation of a work group composed of people from neighborhoods near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) power plant and UNC administrators. The group evaluated UNC's plans for demolishing and reconstructing the power plant's coal silos. After a seven -month process, work group members signed an "outcome document" that recorded areas of understanding and agreement, clarified issues that were not yet resolved, and set forth methods for future consultations between UNC and the neighbors. • Design and facilitation of process through which twenty seven residents of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and the unincorporated areas of Orange County appointed by their respective jurisdictions to the Shaping Orange County's Future Task Force reached consensus on a set of values and goals for guiding the community's future and on a draft set of recommendations for achieving those ideals. • Facilitation for 60 local elected officials, non -profit housing development and advocacy organizations, government staff, and advisory board members convened by a local Department of Housing and Community Development for a three -hour "strategic housing session." Participants learned about different types of public funding V available for affordable housing and generated ideas for improving how those funds are allocated and used. A task force was then formed to continue the collaboration and develop ideas further. • Facilitation of five community dialogue sessions on racism, poverty and inequality in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Center for the Study of the American South, the UNC Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center, and the Orange County Human Rights and Relations Commission. Co- facilitator with George Mason University's Conflict Clinic and the Winston - Salem /Forsyth County Neighborhood Justice Center for an innovative year -long community problem solving process convened by the Winston -Salem /Forsyth County Coalition on Drug and Alcohol Problems. Over 60 organizations in the public, private and civic sectors reached consensus on improvements to local substance abuse treatment services. Mediated among sponsors of a proposed group home for people living with AIDS and residents of four surrounding neighborhoods in opposition to the proposal. The parties jointly organized a public forum at which the proposal and neighborhood concerns were discussed. Opposition to the group home dissipated after information was shared, relationships were established, and lines of communication opened across the groups. • Co- Mediator (with Dr. David Godschalk) for multiple parties (Neighborhood Coalition for Responsible Development in Raleigh, the Oberlin Village community, First Colony Property Company, City of Raleigh) in conflict over First Colony Properties' proposal to develop 15 acres as mixed -use infill at Wade Avenue and Oberlin Roads in Raleigh, NC. Facilitation of the County /Schools "Collaboration Work Group," composed of the Chairs, Vice Chairs, and Executive staff persons from the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Boards of Education for Orange County and Chapel Hill /Carrboro. Since January 2004, the Work Group has identified, clarified, planned, and /or evaluated cross jurisdiction issues such as revisions to local school construction standards, community use of school recreation facilities, and "new paradigm" funding for school -based human services. Consultation to Dr. David Salvesen, Director, UNC -CH Program on Smart Growth and the New Economy, Center for Urban and Regional Studies, for projects in North Carolina and in the Atlanta metropolitan region relating to collaborative planning across school districts and county and municipal governments in public school siting processes, including design and facilitation of the May 2006 Summit on School Facility Siting convened by CURS for over 30 municipal, county, and schools officials from Cabarrus, Guilford, Johnston and Union counties. I Andrew M. Sachs Sachs initiated the Public Disputes Program at DSC in 1987 with a grant from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. He has served as a mediator, group facilitator, and conflict resolution trainer since 1980. He earned a Masters in City Planning from the M.I.T. (1986) and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the State University of New York at Binghamton (1979) He is a member of the National Association for Community Mediation (since 1994), the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution /Association for Conflict Resolution (since 1993), and the National Roster of Environmental Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals (since 2000). He was a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1994 — 2oo1, a position through which he co- developed and co- taught an upper -level undergraduate course, "Non- Violent Conflict Resolution" with Professor John H. Schopler. His publications in the field include: Contributions to the chapters on History and on Procedure in Alternative Dispute Resolution in North Carolina: A New Civil Procedure, Jacqueline R. Clare, editor. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Bar Foundation and the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission (2003) "Understanding Public Disputes Resolution in Community Mediation," Mediation Quarterly, v.17, no. 4, Summer 2000. "Resolving Disputes the Kinder, Gentler Way: The North Carolina Way." Planning, American Planning Association (Chicago, IL), Volume 61, Number 5, May 1995• "Local Dispute Settlement Centers: Helping Planners to Build Consensus." Carolina Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Volume 16, Number 1. Spring 199o. "The Patuxent River Clean -up Agreement" with Peter Schneider. The Environmental Forum, 2:1, May 1983• "Policy Dialogue for Environmental Dispute Resolution" with Sam Gusman. Program on Negotiation Working Paper Series, 87 -1. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Law School (1987).