The City of Glendale is seeking consulting firms to provide environmental consulting services and assistance in developing and initially managing the Office of Sustainability for the City of Glendale. It is the intent of the City of Glendale to assimilate and coordinate centrally the program development and specifically the outreach and education components of the myriad environmental programs in our various operations. We envision an operation that works to develop, promote and implement sustainable practices through education, community partnerships and performance management. The primary goal is to establish and maintain the highest quality environmental stewardship for our community. The selected firm will also initially participate on an interim basis in carrying out the basic functions of the office and will consult with the City and make recommendations on the ideal long term management of the Office.

Click here to view the Environmental Consulting Services Request For Qualifications

Click here to view Addendum 1 for the Environmental Consulting Services Request for Qualifications. Acknowledge receipt of this Addendum by signing it on and returning it with the Proposal.

Click here to view Addendum 2 for the Environmental Consulting Services Request for Qualifications. Acknowledge receipt of this Addendum by signing it on and returning it with the Proposal.

Timeline

RFQ Released: Jan 21, 2019

Project Inquiry Deadline: February 25, 2019

RFQ Response Deadline: March 8, 2019

Helpful Links

Proposed Grayson Repowering Project

Proposed Biogas Renewable Generation Project

Greener Glendale

Water Conservation Information

Zero Waste Glendale

Zero Waste Action Plan
State Regulations
Recycling
Composting
Collection Services
Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling Ordinance

Proposer Questions

In the preliminary task to review all of the environmental programs across the city, will the consultant be given a summary from the city, or the consultant be expected to survey stakeholders independently?

An overview will be provided, however it is the consultant’s responsibility to survey different departments to get their program information. Contacts will be provided by the City. 

Does the City expect the consultant to develop benchmarked salary estimates for suggested positions in the Office of Sustainability?

 Yes in comparison to neighboring Cities (Burbank, Pasadena and Anaheim) or Cities with similar positions.

Does the City expect the consultant to work with Human Resources (or the equivalent) on job classification types and budget for said positions?

Yes, Human Resources will need to be involved in reviewing job specifications and classifications. 

In terms of the interim management of the Office, can you please elaborate on expected duties as well as any expectations of the consultant working onsite at the City of Glendale?

Will the interim management of the Office have a hard stop in July, or is the selected consultant expected to continue work until all positions have been filled?  The expected duties is to develop an organization structure for the Office including the mission, services to be provided, staffing requirements, and details of the specific personnel including job descriptions. The consultant may work onsite at the City of Glendale from time to time to provide assistance in developing the Office structure. The July 2019 deadline has been changed to TBD as stated in Addendum 2.

Is the Office of Sustainability solely focused on communications and reporting, or will the Office be responsible for standalone policy and program development?

It may include policy and program development and consulting on programs developed by the City and of course focus on communications, outreach and reporting.

What is the time horizon of the expected staffing plan? The staffing plan should be proposed to be in place on or before July 1, 2019 so that a plan is in place and opportunities can be posted and filled.

Has the City set a maximum allocation for the scope of services set forth in Exhibit A?

No.

The schedule set forth in Exhibit B is labeled "proposed."  Has the City determined a final date by which the work (scope of work) must be completed?

This is our proposed project schedule and the timeline we would like to maintain.  We included some flexibility in the event the scope turns out to be more involved than we anticipated.

How does the City manage its social media: permanent City staff (how many, working in which departments, and their titles), or contractors, or combination thereof?

Each department and sections within a department manage their social media platforms. The City has the MyGlendale Social Media platforms that include Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and that is managed by the City Manager’s office. The staff that manages these sites are hourly employees or permanent City employees depending on the department. Staff that manage the sites could be Hourly City Employees, Community Outreach Associates, Community Outreach Specialists, or Program Supervisors. All have been trained on the City’s social media policies and procedures. Each City department account is managed at the respective department level.

Do you envision adding the new Sustainability Office’s social media requirements to the current City social media team’s responsibilities, or hiring social media staff specifically for the Sustainability Office?

The staff that is hired for the Office will also be responsible to take on the task of managing the Social Media platforms related to this office. Unless the office is managed or overseen by someone from the City Manager’s office or Glendale Water & Power then the current staff that manages their platforms can take on the Office’s platform or post on behalf of the office.

Page 27, Item III, states: "Each Proposer shall submit a brief narrative of its proposed Project organization." Item 2 in the same section requests: "Proposer's proposed Organization Breakdown Structure showing responsibilities and resources required to perform the Work defined in the Work Breakdown Structure." Is this (Item 2) referring to the Proposer’s own organizational capabilities to perform the work, or is it asking for the Proposer’s plan for integrating responsibilities into the new Office of Sustainability?

The plan for the new Office.

Page 27, Item 2 refers to the “Work Breakdown Structure.” The second bullet point in Exhibit A - Proposed Scope of Services, references an "ORGANIZATIONAL structure." Are the "Work Breakdown Structure" and the "Organizational Structure" the same?

No. The work breakdown is the actual work to be accomplished according to the scope and the organizational structure is a detail of the consultants proposed staffing structure that will be undertaking and completing the actual work.

The "Scope of Services" on page 5 states that the short-listed firm will be required to submit more detailed proposals on the two main aspects of the project. The "Cost Proposal" section (found on Page 7, Section IV, item 9) asks for a "total estimated cost for this Project."
Does the above-cited language page 7 refer to the costs associated with the Proposer's RFQ submittal?

For the RFQ response we are looking for the firms hourly rate schedule for the staff included in the organizational structure and who will be dedicated to this project.

Is it expected that the total estimated cost will most likely be modified by the subsequent and "more detailed proposal" (referenced in the first paragraph on Page 5 (Section 11, Scope of Services)?

Yes.

The Scope of Services (page 5 of the RFQ) states that short listed firms will be required to submit more detailed proposals on the analysis and eventual development of the Office of Sustainability. Exhibit B – Proposed Project Schedule, however, states an expected contract award date of April 9. Given that this SOQ is due on March 8, is the April 9 contract award date seems early. Can you elaborate on the selection timeline?

We are trying to keep an aggressive schedule and these are our goals.  If some of the timelines slip due to additional work that is needed than that will be the case.

Could you please confirm the project timeline in Exhibit B – Proposed Project Schedule, with a contract termination in July 2019? This is a confusing statement and some awkward language we have used.  Bottom line is the contract termination will depend on how the overall project progresses.  A better reference would be TBD.

Section VIII Evaluation, Selection Criterial, and Section Process ranks Methodology as an important (25%) component of the evaluation criteria. Is it expected that responders include a methodology in the SOQ, or would this be required as part of the follow up proposal?

It will be part of the follow-up process.

The SOQ requests a total estimated cost for this Project. Exhibit C – Fee Proposal Form includes a fee schedule for hourly rates, but not include anticipated hours per staff member. Is it expected that we include total hours per staff member and a total estimated cost?

Yes.

Is there a preferred number of hours or range of hours for consultant staff to be on-site for stakeholder engagement and Office of Sustainability staffing?

We had not determined a specified amount of time to be spent on-site and we were going to work through that and see what was best. It could be fluid depending on what’s is going on at the time.  At a minimum I would say 1-2 days a week.

Is there a local (Glendale-based) preference for this contract? We do not have a local preference for this project. Does the Close Contract task in July 2019 represent the completion of the project?

Please see the addendum posted with regards to the completion date.