Cottonwood council approves $210,000 contract for Old Town master plan

Cottonwood's City Council voted unanimously on April 7 to approve a professional services agreement with Norris Design for Old Town Master Planning Services in an amount not to exceed $210,000, with $60,000 authorized from the council’s undesignated general‑fund reserve.

Sammy R, the city’s Community Development Director, told the council that the city published an RFQ that drew nine proposals and that initial consultant proposals totaled roughly $316,000. Staff negotiated the scope to about $206,000 and recommended a not‑to‑exceed contract of $210,000 to cover the agreed tasks without requiring further council approval for the baseline scope. “With those revisions, we were able to bring the budget down from the 316 to a little over $206,000,” Sammy R said.

The scope approved includes community engagement, circulation and pedestrian‑realm recommendations, parking management strategies, EV parking options, gathering‑space concepts, phasing and financing strategies and redevelopment options for city‑owned parcels. The director said some tasks originally proposed by the consultant—such as a code and policy alignment analysis and an operational plan for an entertainment district—were removed or deferred to staff to keep costs down.

Council members pressed staff on how multimodal needs would be addressed. Vice Mayor Coates said, “When I go through Old Town, I'm seeing an increasing number of bicyclists and it's a little scary,” and asked whether the consultant would monitor transit and cyclist activity. Sammy R replied that multimodal considerations are embedded in the scope and that the consultant will document pedestrian movement, ADA access, parking turnover and other elements during two on‑site visits. “So it is in,” Sammy R said.

Council also asked about a proposed Willard Street extension and whether the master plan would identify practical, fundable options. Ryan Bigelow, Director of Strategic Initiatives, described the Willard issue as primarily a left‑turn conflict into Main Street and said master‑plan work will surface preliminary concepts—such as a smaller roundabout—and hand them off to public works for detailed engineering.

Timing was discussed: staff said they expect the master‑plan process to take about 10 to 11 months and that consultants will produce a detailed task schedule when the project reaches that stage. Sammy R said consultants will provide cost estimates for design options so staff can evaluate which concepts fit available funding.

Council Member Wilden moved to approve the agreement and funding authorization; the motion passed on a roll‑call vote with all members voting yes.

The contract authorizes the city manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the city. The council did not adopt additional policy changes as part of the vote; staff said more detailed scope changes would return to council as needed.