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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunity Affordable housing needs assessment RFP - questions and responsesAside from workforce housing, are there any other programs that depend on market trigger points? Price point triggers for workforce housing are one focus of the Phase 2 deliverables, however; the City currently receives requests for financial assistance from developers of other types of affordable housing (including LIHTC), and the City would like to develop a system for evaluating those requests in light of subsidy received, populations served, and community needs met. Have any community surveys been conducted in the last year or two from which data relevant to the proposed housing needs assessment could be extracted? Does CAHAB anticipate the need for a community/household survey? No community surveys regarding housing have been conducted in the previous 2-year period. The CAHAB is interested in working with the consultant to determine the need for a survey. How firm is your timeline? Our concern is about completing phase 1 and starting on phase 2, which requires a presentation, in December. Because of the holidays, would you consider the presentation of the needs assessment and start of the strategic planning process in January if the May targets could still be reached? Flexibility in the schedule can be considered as long as May targets can be reached. Is the City a member of the Gallatin Association of Realtors or is there a member of the CAHAB who could provide access to the MLS database? The Gallatin Association of Realtors (GAR) has expressed interest in participating in the needs assessment process. Have any rent and rental vacancy surveys been conducted in recent years? No, however; the HRDC does conduct periodic market rent surveys for the Montana Department of Commerce. Is the housing needs study from 2002 available for review? Yes, the survey is available at the City of Bozeman’s Website at: http://www.bozeman.net/Departments-(1)/Planning/Reports-and-Documents Is workforce housing the focus of the study? Do the housing needs of special populations, like seniors and students, need to be analyzed? Workforce housing is but one potential focus, much of the focus of Phase 2 depends on the information garnered in Phase 1. The selected consultant should be prepared to assess housing needs across the housing continuum as part of Phase 1. The RFP refers to a qualification proposal – May we assume that this refers to a written submission that includes the scope of work, budget, schedule, prior project experience, resumes, and references? Yes, that is correct. The RFP specifies that four copies of the qualification proposal and one original Attachment D are to be submitted. Is this correct? Yes, that is correct. If we decide to include a writing sample, can we submit one copy (and not four)? (Some of the samples are lengthy.) Writing samples may be submitted digitally. Can you provide us with some budget guidance for Phase I? What about for Phase II? The total budget (for Phases 1 and 2) approved by the City Commission is not to exceed $30,000. The 2003 Housing Needs Assessment and Strategy utilized a survey that was administered by the Marketing Club of Montana State University. Will CAHAB again work with MSU on a survey, and if so, can the selected Consultant provide questions for this survey? There are no plans at this time to do so. If the consultant proposes a survey for collection of data, we would be happy to explore the use of MSU or other partners to do so, and the consultant would be expected to provide input on questions. Will the selected Consultant analyze survey results? If yes, will the Consultant be provided with an electronic file containing responses to the survey? See above regarding survey. If a survey is conducted the Consultant would analyze electronic responses. If it is not possible to use the Marketing Club again to administer this survey, does CAHAB still desire a survey to find out about lower-income housing problems directly from households, or can other methods be used, such as telephone interviews with key informants? We are open to the proposed methods of the consultant. What about the time frame for the housing needs assessment? (The 2003 report used a 20 year time frame, consistent with the 2020 Community time framework. However, the RFP specifies a five year strategy.) We would like a 5-year housing strategy. The 2020 plan is one of many documents that the consultant would review in creation of an affordable housing plan. As you may know, California Housing Elements are detailed studies of housing needs and strategies that now encompass additional considerations that go beyond housing needs assessments per se and include other policy considerations, such as energy conservation and smart growth. Would the CAHAB be interested in an expanded needs assessment (that goes beyond the basic housing needs covered in the 2003 assessment)? This is not a Housing element for the City's Community Plan. As necessary, the Needs Assessment should reference the existing Housing Chapter of the Community Plan and recommend potential revisions to accomplish prioritized strategic goals. However, the Needs Assessment may focus on other implementation strategies to accomplish goals. Should applicable case studies be included? Yes (they may be sent electronically, as well) Is there a preferred outline for how you would like the proposal structured? There is not a preferred outline, as long as the consultant addresses all the requirements of the RFP. Has an addendum been issued? No addendum has been issued. The submission package is to include a ‘set of completed required forms’. I have only found one form that needs to be filled out, which is the Statement of Non-discrimination (Attachment D). Are there any others? Attachment D is the only form to be submitted, other references to forms are simply the documents required to be submitted in response to the RFP. Have any consultants conducted this type of work in the area recently? If so, who? The most recent housing needs assessment was conducted in 2003 by Bay Area Economics. Was the RFP sent to any specific consultants? If so, who? The RFP was sent to Werwath and Associates, RRC Associates and Bay Area Economics. How important is it to have a local (Montana / Midwest) consultant conduct the assignment? It is important that the consultant have experience working with communities similar to Bozeman, and familiarity with Montana land use regulations is helpful, as well, however; we are interested in hiring the most qualified consultant, regardless of their location. What other consultants have expressed interest in this assignment? Can a list be provided? We have had inquiries from firms of a broad range of sizes and locations. For purposes of this study, can your assessor’s office provide a download into a spreadsheet of various characteristics of homes of all types that were sold in the past 5 years – with or without identifying information such as the address? Could we also get exported data from the assessor on all assessed residential properties? If data is not available from the assessor’s office, could the City ask a cooperative MLS member to provide it? MT is a non-disclosure state, so there is no publicly maintained database of property sales. Data is only gathered from those buyers who volunteer sales data. The Gallatin Association of Realtors (GAR) has expressed interest in participating in the needs assessment process. GAR should be engaged by the selected consultant early. At this time, GAR provides sales data for analysis by the City, with two important points of consideration: 1. It is aggregated data only. Individual sales data has not been provided to date. 2. It is only the volunteered data. Property assessments are conducted by the state every six years, with the most recent assessments done in 2008. The Department of Revenue and County Treasurer can provide assessment information. Does any organization in Bozeman or at the state level conduct periodic rental housing surveys for Bozeman – which could be available to the selected contractor? The HRDC does periodic market studies for the Montana Department of Commerce. Is a fixed price bid, with separate prices for the two major phases of work, acceptable? Yes, this is acceptable. The CAHAB is interested in receiving as much detail the consultant can provide relative to pricing and availability in Bozeman.