Introduction: The Development Services Department is seeking qualified consultants or firms with demonstrated experience in community engagement, public participation, facilitation, and strategic communication to prepare, manage, and implement a Community Engagement Plan.

The purpose of this RFQ is to select a consultant firm or team capable of designing and executing inclusive, equitable, and effective community engagement strategies to support the City's five-year, long-range planning program.

Background: The City of Spring Hill is located south of Nashville, Tennessee. The City comprises of approximately 37 square miles of land are and is estimated to have doubled over the past 10 years to 65,000 residents.

Between 2014 and 2018, the City initiated and completed a series of long-range planning projects, including Spring Hill Rising: 2040, the Bicycle and Greenway Plan, the Major Thoroughfare Plan, and the Unified Development Code (UDC).

Associated with significant population growth, the City has also experienced significant growth through development over the past decade, and the City's Development Services Department staff have dedicated resources to and prioritized current planning over long range planning since the adoption of its UDC in 2018.

The City has prepared a draft scope of work for a five-year long-range planning program (attached to this RFP) that will include a focused update to Spring Hill Rising: 2040, a comprehensive update to the Major Thoroughfare Plan, a Town Center Neighborhood Plan, a Major Corridors Management Plan, and associated updates to the UDC, Municipal Code, and specifications needed to ensure implementation. The City anticipates the majority of this professional planning work to be managed and prepared in-house.

Most of Spring Hill's residents work in the surrounding larger cities and major employers, and a large portion of Spring Hill's community and stakeholders are families with children. This segment of our community, combined with small business owners, would be better served by creative approaches to community engagement that is tailored to their needs, activities, and limitations. The typical charrette or town hall meeting format are expected to be insufficient in meeting stakeholder's needs and City's expectations for community engagement.

Scope: The selected consultant/firm will be responsible for the preparation, management, and implementation of a Community Engagement Plan throughout the five-year, long-range planning program. The selected consultant/firm will bring creative engagement strategies and forums to meet the needs of our stakeholders and the City's expectations for community engagement. The consultant will operate as an extension of City staff, and the Development Services Department will provide administrative oversight and supplementary staffing support during the implementation of the community engagement plan.

The proposed scope of services may include the following tasks:

1. Project Initiation & Planning
2. Community Engagement Plan Development
3. Implementation & Facilitation
4. Reporting & Evaluation

Deliverables:

1. Community Engagement Plan tailored to the specific needs of the Spring Hill community and stakeholders (draft and final versions)
2. Schedule and work plan for engagement activities
3. Engagement events and meetings
4. Engagement materials and presentations
5. Summary engagement reports after each engagement phase
6. Final Community Engagement Report (comprehensive summary of methods, participation data, findings, and recommendations)

For more information please use this link: https://www.springhilltn.org/DocumentCenter/View/16600/RFQ_Community-Engagement?bidId=362