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Evanston council approves $900,000 contract to study use of city properties under federal grant
Summary
The City Council voted to approve a contract with ProVisor to run a community engagement and planning process for three city properties under a U.S. Department of Transportation "Putting Assets to Work" grant despite objections from several council members and public commenters who said the work should align with the comprehensive and strategic-h
The Evanston City Council voted to award a contract to ProVisor to carry out the city's Putting Assets to Work process for three municipal properties, approving the contract after debate over timing, scope and prior procurement steps.
Council member Peter Harris moved to approve the contract award to ProVisor for RFP 25-02; Council member Ailes seconded the motion. After a roll call the motion carried with five council members voting in favor and two opposed; Council members Kelly and Davis voted no.
The city said the federally funded grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will pay for a roughly three-year community-engagement and implementation-planning process focused on the Civic Center (2100 Ridge), the Noyes Cultural Arts Center and the police and fire headquarters. Paul Zalmazak, the city's economic development manager, told the council the grant is intended to produce property-specific recommendations, financial plans and, if the community supports it, market partners to implement the recommendations. Zalmazak described the project as engagement-driven, not a comprehensive master plan: "The end product is a recommendation to the city council" and, for each property, "it is a plan for each specific property." He said the grant covers the consultant work and the grant's three-year timeline is already underway.
Opponents on the dais and several public commenters urged the council to delay contract approval until the city completes concurrent planning efforts including the comprehensive plan and strategic housing plan. Council member Kelly said she was "reluctant to support this right now" and asked for more detail about how the consultant's work would align with those efforts. Council member Burns, who supported the contract, said substantial prior work on facility scenarios exists and the ProVisor engagement will continue that work.
Zalmazak and others described the properties as having significant maintenance or operational needs: he cited roughly $20 million in deferred maintenance at Noyes and said the civic center is currently vacant. He also said the grant is focused on transit-oriented opportunities and that the consultant team is prepared to begin immediately if the council approved the contract.
The council and staff noted a procurement complication earlier in the process: one proposer, Urban Resolve, had asked for the submissions to be re-evaluated after a procurement-system error initially excluded its response. The city paused work, re-evaluated submissions and held interviews before returning to the council.
Action details: Council member Harris moved to approve the contract award to ProVisor for Putting Assets to Work RFP 25-02; Council member Ailes seconded. The motion carried; five in favor (Burns, Rogers, Hedakaddis, Harris, Ailes) and two opposed (Kelly, Davis). The mayor then authorized staff to proceed under the grant terms.
