Memorandum                    

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

 

TO:

David L. Corliss, City Manager

FROM:

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

DATE:

January 28, 2015

CC:

Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager

RE:

Cultural Plan Consultant Recommendation from Cultural Plan Steering Committee

 

Background:

In the summer of 2014, the City of Lawrence was awarded a $75,000 grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC) to complete the following three projects:  1) $25,000 toward the first year salary of a newly created Director of Arts & Culture position at the City; 2) $25,000 for a cultural plan and 3) $25,000 for marketing material production based on the cultural plan created by Callahan Creek, which is graciously donating its services to the project. The grant is a state grant, which is provided via NEA funds.  Originally, the timeline for the entire project was to be completed by June 30, 2015. 

 

In late 2014, the City Commission authorized the creation of a Cultural Plan Steering Committee.  The Steering Committee was charged with reviewing proposals on the cultural planning effort and also helping participate with the consultants throughout the project. 

 

The City originally issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a cultural plan in the early fall of 2014.  Unfortunately, no proposals were received.  Consultants visiting with the City indicated that the timeline was too brief and there were concerns about the amount of the budget.  As a result of that feedback, the RFP was revised and reissued with a bit longer timeline to complete the project and more clearly identifying the staff resources for the project.  Staff visited with KCAIC officials about adding a bit of an extension on the end of the timeline for the completion of the third phase, or the marketing material production and that first amendment to the timeline was granted.

 

The City received three proposals in response to the revised RFP.  The Cultural Plan Steering Committee met to review the proposals.  The Committee indicated a desire to interview two (2) teams and interviews were held on January 16, 2015.  As a result of these interviews, the Cultural Plan Steering Committee unanimously recommended the selection of the proposal from the team of Christine Harris Connections and Creative Community Builders to complete the cultural plan for Lawrence. The group believed that this team would be a good fit and had significant relevant experience with cultural planning.  One of the projects recently completed by the team was a ten- year master arts and culture plan for the City of Marquette, Michigan.  This document provides an example of the type of product that would come from the planning effort.   The total fee proposed by the team included $24,000 for the planning effort, with an estimated 4 site visits and related travel expenses of $5,630, for a total of approximately $30,000.  The grant will fund $25,000 of the expense via reimbursement, with the additional $5,000 coming from city resources. 

 

One of the items discussed by the Steering Committee was the timing of this cultural planning effort in relation to the hiring of a new Director of Arts & Culture. The committee preferred to have a new director hired and then commence the cultural planning. As a result of the committee discussion, staff visited with a KCAIC official regarding the possibility of again restructuring the timeframe allowed in the City grant.  KCAIC indicated that because the grant to the City of Lawrence is pass-through grant funding from the NEA, the state cannot further modify the timeline for the expenditure of funds.  Based on this, staff recommends that the cultural planning effort commence in order to maintain the grant and a new Director of Arts and Culture would be hired as soon as possible to participate in the planning.  The recruitment for the position closes February 2.  The timeline for the cultural planning is anticipated to go through June 2015. 

 

Requested Action: 

Given the timeframe on the grant, staff suggests moving forward as quickly as possible with the cultural planning activities by getting the consulting team on board so that the process can get underway. 

 

Receive recommendation from the Cultural Plan Steering Committee to utilize the team of Christine Harris Connections and Creative Community Builders to complete a cultural plan for Lawrence.  Authorize staff to finalize an agreement with Christine Harris Connections and Creative Community Builders based on the proposal submitted by the team