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Trail advisory committee shortlists two firms, schedules June presentations for Marjorie Trail design
Summary
The Marjorie Trail Advisory Committee reviewed two design proposals, adopted an evaluation form and agreed to invite both firms to present at a June 25 meeting; staff said technical details and environmental protections will be addressed during design and public presentations.
The Marjorie Trail Advisory Committee on Tuesday shortlisted two firms that responded to a publicly advertised request for proposals and set a June 25 presentation date at the New Fairfield community center for final interviews.
Chair Holly Robinson said the committee will rely on a quantitative evaluation form to rank proposals and that the selection will be forwarded through the purchasing agent to the first selectman. "All those in favor," Robinson said after a motion to adopt the evaluation form passed without recorded opposition.
Antonio Adarola, the committee's project presenter and a public works director and engineer, said the committee received two proposals and circulated a draft grading sheet that checks licensing, completeness and experience with multi-use trail projects. "We did a competitive, publicly advertised solicitation for design services," he said, and described a scoring structure covering minimum qualifications, experience with similar multi-trail design and firms' capacity for public outreach.
The presenter told members the surveyor has completed preliminary base maps and a wetlands specialist is on-site; final wetlands flags and inventory will be incorporated into design documents when they are ready in June. He said the committee had deliberately asked for a detailed 1:20 map scale to increase clarity in drawings and that one firm’s bid was about $23,000 lower than the other.
Committee members agreed to keep the scoring process strictly quantitative and unbiased: members who had not reviewed all materials will submit evaluation forms electronically by a Friday deadline and staff will consolidate scores to produce a shortlist. The committee asked staff to prepare a short script of questions for bidders to address missing items, including emergency access, potential utility relocations, tree removal, wildlife considerations and privacy measures. Patty, the purchasing agent, will be the official channel for communications to avoid conflicts, the committee said.
The committee set a 6:00 p.m. June 25 meeting at the New Fairfield community center for presentations and Q&A; members expect 45–90 minutes total per firm, including questions. After the presentations the committee will combine presentation scores with their written evaluations and forward a recommendation to the first selectman for final action.
Next steps: the two bidders will be asked to clarify items left unresolved in their proposals at the June presentations; the committee will use consolidated, quantitative scoring and interview evaluations to recommend one firm for the design contract.
