Creek Rehabilitation Plan for Apple Valley Questions and Answers from the Pre-Bid Meeting and Site Visit 06/23/2016

Transcription

1 Questions and Answers from the Pre-Bid Meeting and Site Visit 06/23/2016 Q: What are the threatened and endangered species concerns in the area? A: This is potential habitat for Prebles Meadow Jumping Mouse and Ute Ladies Tress. There may be other threatened and endangered species here, which will need to be researched. Q: What are the public access concerns on the buyout properties in the project area? A: The buyout properties will eventually be owned by Boulder County Parks and Open Space, and so many landowners and stakeholders are wondering what will happen to those properties once the buyout transactions are complete. There are some who would like the properties to be open for public access and some who would not, so those views will need to be assessed through the planning process. Q: Can you provide more information on the two phases of the project? What is the work to be done in those areas and what types of recommendations should be provided? A: The SVCC received $285,000 for planning in Apple Valley, which covers the area from Rainbow Bridge downstream to the southern bridge where Apple Valley Road meets with US 36. The entire area needs to be included in the design. In the RFP, it is mentioned that along with a design for the entirety of Apple Valley as one project area, a design for a phased approach would also be necessary. The reason for that is because construction funding for the southern portion of the property is not currently secured. Additionally, plans for the water delivery pipelines in the southern portion needs to be better understood. We need recommendations based on the listed Tasks and Deliverables in the RFP for design plans, permitting, and construction, should we have to phase the implementation project. Depending on future discussions with grant funders, some re-vegetation activities may be able to occur in the southern portions during implementation. Q: Can you expand on the sediment transport analysis? A: The sediment transport analysis needs to be a part of the design. There has already been some sediment transport analysis completed along the North Saint Vrain, and that data will be available to the selected consultant. Q: Has any work completed by private landowners affected the Environmental Assessment of the Project Area? A: Environmental review for this particular project area is being handled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). According to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) regulations, during the environmental review, landowners are not to be conducting any work in the project area that could be considered ground disturbance or choice-

2 limiting activities. Some landowners have completed some work on their property, and some have done so without the proper permits. Those landowners are working with Boulder County now to remedy the situation. The SVCC does not have all the details about those situations, other than that they may affect the NRCS environmental review for construction. Work that is considered ground disturbance or choice-limiting activities completed by individuals during the environmental review process could jeopardize construction funding through DOLA and HUD CDBG-DR, as they generally prohibit such activities from taking place during environmental review. Currently, we have not been informed of any problems in the northern portion of the project, where CDBG-DR construction funds have been awarded to SVCC. Q: Did the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) develop a Damage Survey Report (DSR) of the project area and is that available to us? A: Yes, the NRCS did complete a DSR of Apple Valley, and it is the basis of the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program funding. The DSRs are available on the Saint Vrain Creek Coalition website at: Q: Can you speak to what you mean by a 30% design and how you plan to further the design for implementation? A: 30% designs, per HUD and DOLA criteria, is a more robust design, and we have heard that it is closer to the typical 60-70% designs by industry standards. The SVCC has the option to implement the project as a design-build project or design-bid-build to take the 30% design to a final construction plan. We want a good indication of the locations and specifications of proposed features and structures in the 30% design deliverable for this project. Q: If a consultant were to work on the 30% design, would they be precluded from potentially working on the construction portion of the project? A: No, the construction portion of the project will have a separate RFP released as we get closer to that phase. Q: Does the SVCC have any preference on the lead for the project - a planning versus an engineering firm? A: No, the SVCC does not have a preference on the type of firm leading the project, but would simply like to see consultants submit their best bid possible with a description of your proposed approach to the project. Q: What topographic mapping is available for use on this project? What has changed since that mapping was originally made available? A: We know there is LiDAR survey data from 2014, after the EWP exigent work in Apple Valley was completed. Since then, there has been some work on private property and there have been some minor shifts in the creek. CDOT has some data on their bridge which is downstream of Apple Valley. Some landowners may have more information, but we do not know what they have or if it would be of use for this project.

3 Q: Can you expand upon the property ownership and the mapping of the properties along the river of the project. A: The SVCC uses property maps available through the Boulder County Assessor s website. Landowners will need to sign a Permission to Enter form for this design process so that the SVCC and our consultants can access their property. Landowners will need to sign another Permission to Enter form for the implementation portion. The SVCC will be obtaining signed Permission to Enter forms for this planning project from landowners so that survey work for the design can be completed on private property. Q: What is the status of the State/AECOM s hazard mitigation mapping for this area? A: We understand that we will be seeing maps from the Colorado Hazard Mapping Program later this summer/fall, and those maps will include the project area. After receiving the maps, they will go through a public process, and will be ready to go to final mapping approval sometime next year. It is our understanding that they have completed mapping on structures, but we do not know if they have done other surveys in between, or if they are relying on LiDAR. AECOM has also offered to provide some of their assessment data to the selected consultants for their analysis. More information can be found on coloradohazardmapping.com Q: Is it possible to get a list of the attendees for this pre-bid meeting and site visit? A: No, we cannot provide that information.

4 Addendum to the Contract in the RFP 06/24/2016 Please note this change which is added text (shown in red and underlined below) to Appendix B: Form Contract for Professional Consulting Services, Section XX. INSURANCE, in the RFP: C. Additional Insureds. All Insurance policies (except Workers Compensation and Professional Liability) shall include Grantee and its elected officials and employees, and landowners within the project area as additional insureds as their interests may appear. The additional insured endorsement should be at least as broad as ISO form CG2010 for General Liability coverage and similar forms for Commercial Auto and Umbrella Liability.

5 Submitted Questions and Saint Vrain Creek Coalition Responses 06/30/2016 Q: Will a list of interested Prime vendors be posted on BidNet for the subject and below RFP, so that subcontractors may contact them for partnering? A: We will not be posting a list of primary vendors because we are not asking consultants to make their intent known prior to bid submittal. Q: What is the estimated project cost? A: The Saint Vrain Creek Coalition was awarded $285,000 in a Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant for the planning project. Q: Has there been any wetland and riparian mapping of the project site? If not, what corridor width should we assume for the mapping? A: Known wetland and riparian mapping of the project site can be found in the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan and the Colorado Wetland Inventory Mapping Tool provided by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. However, these were most likely completed with pre-flood data. Post-flood wetland and riparian mapping has not been done for this area. We are open to mapping width suggestions from the selected consultant. Q: Would a preliminary wetland delineation be sufficient for planning, or do you want a US Army Corps of Engineers approved delineation? A: As part of the 30% design deliverable, wetlands within the project area will need to be identified in preparation for necessary permitting with the US Army Corps of Engineers. We will need wetland delineations after the channel alignment has been determined. Since this is a 30% design plan set to the DOLA CDBG-DR standards, we are open to hearing approaches for the best timeline to complete the delineation relative to permitting, whether it is with this phase of the project on the next design and implementation phase which needs to begin in early Q: The RPP states that you want to create wetland and riparian habitat along the stream. How much habitat do you want to create: along the entire channel length or just in some locations? Are there any locations that you specifically would like to see wetlands and/or riparian habitat? Do you have a target riparian community that you would like to see created? Shrubby? Forested? A: We are interested in creating riparian habitat along the full length of the stream corridor, but we understand that this may be cost prohibitive. Therefore, we would like prioritized recommendations provided to us with information such as and important for: stream bank stabilization, erosion control, water quality, wildlife habitat, etc. As for wetlands, we would like recommendations for the enhancement of existing locations and locations that have landowner agreement and would assist with high flow conveyance, enhanced wildlife habitat, etc. We would like to eventually see a complex riparian community that is predominantly composed of native species high in biodiversity that has a mix of

6 forests, shrubs, forbs, grass, and grass-like species. The vegetation plan should take into account the landowner s land use desires. Q: Has there been any field surveys or NEPA assessments for federally listed species for the project site? A: We are not familiar with any field surveys or NEPA assessments for federally listed species in the project site. The Boulder County Comprehensive Plan has the project area identified as a Zone 3: Suitable Contiguous Habitat for Preble s Meadow Jumping Mouse and a portion of the project area is identified as being within a Rare Plant Areas. Boulder County and/or the Colorado Natural Heritage Program will need to be contacted to obtain detailed information, especially to determine if this area includes Ute s ladies tress. We are also waiting on the Environmental Review for this project area which is being completed by the NRCS, which will also provide additional information. Q: What ecology studies, if any, exists for the project site? A: Ecological studies have not been conducted for the project site. As previously mentioned, some information exists via Boulder County, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, and possibly Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

7 Addendum to Addendum #1 Questions and Answers from the Pre-Bid Meeting and Site Visit 07/01/2016 Please note there has been a change to the answer provided for a question from Addendum #1: Questions and Answers from the Pre-Bid Meeting and Site Visit. The original question and answer are provided below in black. The revised answer is provided in red. Original question and answer: Q: If a consultant were to work on the 30% design, would they be precluded from potentially working on the construction portion of the project? A: No, the construction portion of the project will have a separate RFP released as we get closer to that phase. Revised answer: A: DOLA issued a notice on June 29, 2016 indicating that additional research is necessary to determine if the selected primary consultant working on the 30% design phase will be excluded from working on future phases of the Creek Rehabilitation Plan for Apple Valley project. More information will be provided as it becomes available from DOLA.