° Community Development 589-3095
City of Nashua Planning and Zoning 589-3090
. soe Building Safety 589-3080
Community Development Division Code Enforcement 589-3100
City Hall, 229 Main Street, PO Box 2019 Cae rograrns mission eoecatoe
Nashua, New Hampshire 03061-2019 Transportation 880-0100
www.nashuanh.gov FAX 589-3119
Date: March 24, 2021
To: Jim Donchess, Mayor
From: Julie Chizmas, Transportation and Long Range Planner and
Staff to the Animal and Dog Park Advisory Committee
Re: Finance Committee — Millyard Dog Park Feasibility Study
In 2019, the City established the Animal and Dog Park Advisory Committee (ADPAC) and charged it
with advising the City regarding the establishment of a downtown dog park. The Committee has
reviewed several parcels in the downtown area and identified Lot 77-5 in The Millyard as the preferred
location due to its proximity to the downtown, dense residential neighborhoods, Mine Falls Park and
the Heritage Rail Trail. In addition to being easily accessible by foot, the property also has public
parking nearby. To determine if the proposed location is suitable for use as a dog park, with respect to
general recommendations and guidelines for an urban dog park, the area served, accessibility,
environmental conditions, and operations and maintenance, the City issued RFP 1301-011321 for a
Millyard Dog Park Feasibility Study.
A pre-submittal meeting held on January 21%‘ was attended by representatives of three consulting firms
and the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. The City received one response from Ironwood -
Hoyle, Tanner & Associates (Ironwood - HTA). Attendees of the pre-submittal meeting who chose not
to submit a proposal were contacted and asked why. The NRPC stated they had neither the in-house
staff nor a partnership with an engineering firm to design the required concept plans. One of the
consulting firms said their development team determined it was too small a project to commit proposal
development resources to, given the other six or seven RFPs they were considering.
The remaining two firms that attended the pre-submittal meeting were Ironwood and Hoyle, Tanner &
Associates, who partnered together on a proposal. The proposal was reviewed by an interview team
subcommittee of the ADPAC who thought it had a solid project approach, met the criteria outlined in
the RFP, and had a proposed fee of $44,383, which fit the project budget. Additionally, the City has had
positive experiences working with both firms. The full ADPAC committee was polled for their input
via email and it was decided to move forward with an interview. Following a strong presentation, the
ADPAC subcommittee recommended entering into a contract with the Ironwood — HTA consultant
team and the full committee voted unanimously to do so at their regularly scheduled March meeting.
Based on their proposal, experience and qualifications, the City entered into negotiations with
Ironwood-HTA for the Millyard Dog Park Feasibility Study. Based on discussions during the interview
and confirmed with the ADPAC, the City requested that the cost of a private utility locator be added to
the proposed scope and fee for the purpose of identifying the depth and extent of the radio tower
infrastructure located on the property. The Community Development Division recommends awarding
the Millyard Dog Park Feasibility Study to for a final contract price of $49,683, which includes the cost
of a private utility locator.
