Shorewood public works committee approves RFQ process to pick consultant for Atwater Bluff revegetation

The Shorewood Public Works Committee voted on March 3 to approve using a request-for-qualifications, or RFQ, process to choose a consultant for a native-vegetation restoration and slope-stability project at the Atwater Park bluff.

The vote authorizes staff to issue an RFQ and later recommend a consultant to the full Village Board for a professional services agreement. Director of Public Works Leanne Bushlick told the committee the RFQ route places selection emphasis on qualifications rather than price and mirrors how the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) selects engineering consultants: firms submit qualifications first, the village will shortlist two firms and then review cost proposals in a separate step.

The item stems from damage to the bluff in the 2010 rain events and subsequent stabilization and revegetation work done in 2011–12. Bushlick said Merrick authored the 2011 vegetative maintenance plan and recently produced an updated plan at staff request. She told the committee the village has budgeted $10,000 per year for slope maintenance since 2011 and that funding has not been increased; she said most of the proposed restoration would be grant-funded, with a small portion likely covered by the existing $10,000 operating allocation in the 2025 budget.

Bushlick said MMSD’s green solutions grants can fund multi-year work but limit project length to two years, so staff asked Merrick to create a two-year implementation schedule and preliminary cost assumptions. Because the project will rely heavily on grant funds, Bushlick said she prefers a qualifications-driven consultant selection so the village does not limit who can apply and to avoid allowing inexperienced firms to undertake work on the bluff, which she described as a community asset that has required repeated stabilization efforts.

Resident Laura Arno questioned the RFQ approach and asked whether Merrick would submit for the work given it prepared the plan. Bushlick acknowledged Merrick will likely submit but said staff will evaluate all submissions; the RFQ will be posted publicly and reviewed by staff before the public works committee makes a recommendation to the full board.

Action taken: the public works committee approved use of a request-for-qualifications process for the Atwater Bluff native vegetation restoration and management project. The RFQ will be issued publicly and the committee will shortlist candidates and recommend a firm to the Village Board for contract approval.

What happens next: staff will finalize the RFQ language and issue it on the village consultant page and Wisconsin League of Municipalities posting, accept submittals for roughly 14–15 days, rank respondents with horticulture and forestry staff, invite the top firms to provide detailed cost proposals, and return a recommendation to the public works committee and then to the Village Board for contract authorization.