Jackson council approves RFP to build public sustainability-plan dashboard

The Town Council voted Jan. 20 to release a request for proposals (RFP) for a digital dashboard to track progress on the Jackson sustainability plan and its accountability chapter. Ecosystem stewardship administrator Tanya Anderson said a dashboard would be searchable and publicly accessible on the town website and allow more frequent updates than the current annual PDF progress report.

Anderson described tradeoffs: the dashboard would have higher upfront professional services costs and potential annual maintenance fees (she cited some communities seeing up to about $10,000 per year for maintenance), but could reduce staff time required to compile annual reports. The proposed RFP includes a scoring rubric with weighted categories; Anderson said evaluators would score categories 1–10 and multiply by weightings in the RFP matrix.

Councilors asked about how the scoring weights were chosen and how the town will ensure the dashboard is usable for nontechnical residents. Anderson said the weights reflect experience from past RFPs and that the RFP prioritizes proposals that require minimal ongoing fees and that staff will check references and emphasize accessibility and communications support.

Councilor Beaman moved to release the attached RFP; Councilor Spirry seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will post the RFP, evaluate proposals using the published rubric, and return to council with a recommended vendor and contract for approval.