Carbondale Parks & Rec seeks small committee to run master plan RFP for new 10‑year plan

The commission discussed a proposed Request for Proposals (RFP) and timeline to hire a consultant to produce a new 10‑year parks and recreation master plan. Staff emphasized that the working committee’s role is to prepare the procurement documents and evaluation criteria and to vet consultant proposals, not to write the master plan itself.

"This committee is working on is finding somebody...It's not digging into the elements of the master plan," the chair said as commissioners volunteered to serve. Commissioners raised evaluation criteria, the geographic reach of applicants and lessons learned from the prior RFP, and staff said most applicants in the previous process were regionally based Colorado firms.

Timing and scope: Staff provided a flexible schedule and suggested RFP dates based on sample timelines from consultants; the commission discussed backing the schedule up to expand applicant windows and noted the plan would produce a 10‑year guidance document. Commissioners volunteered for a small committee and flagged potential conflicts of interest where commissioner-owned firms might submit proposals.

What's next: Staff will circulate the draft timeline and a list of volunteers; the small committee will finalize the RFP and evaluation criteria before public release. The commission also discussed how trustee appointment timelines interact with recruitment and the boards-and-commissions open house in March.

Provenance: Topic introduced Jan. 14 (topic start SEG 2044; topic finish SEG 2423).