Report to: General Committee Report Date: August 09, 2010

SUBJECT: Award of Proposal 063-R-10 Environmental Land Securement Program

PREPARED BY: David Pearce, Manager of Real Property, Ext. 5988

Rosemarie Patano, Ext. 2990

RECOMMENDATION:

1) THAT the report entitled “Award of Proposal 063-R-10 Environmental Land Securement Program” be received;

2) AND THAT the contract for proposal 063-R-10 Environmental Land Securement Program be awarded to the sole bidder, Orland Conservation, in the annual amount of $62,073.60 inclusive of HST, for a period of two years totaling $124,147.20 inclusive of HST ;

3) AND THAT the term of the contract shall be for one year with a one year option to renew at the Town’s discretion;

4) AND THAT a new project budget be established in the amount of $124,147.20 for the contract, including the renewal, where appropriate, and funded from the Environmental Land Acquisition Reserve Fund (087-2800167 );

5) AND THAT staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Not Applicable

PURPOSE:

To obtain approval to award a contract for expertise and support to develop and carry out a strategic land securement program involving over 26 priority sites throughout the urban area of the Town.

BACKGROUND:

One of the Town’s key corporate initiatives is to focus on setting the standard with regard to environmental protection, preservation and enhancement. In 2001, the Town developed an “Environmental Land Acquisition Strategy” that included a staged evaluation process and establishment of a source of funds for the acquisition of key “environmentally significant” land parcels.

On March 4, 2008, Council approved 26 priority sites for future acquisition. The strategy is focused on natural heritage sites within urban areas or those required to complete important linkages (open space or pathway connections). Most of the sites are in private ownership. Staff have advanced negotiations for a number of the priority sites and concurrenty acquired other significant natural heritage properties not on the priority list (ie the Pitter property at 6418 Major Mackenzie Drive East), but available for purchase or through development applications. At the time of the approval, the need for additional staff to assist with what is considered “labour intensive, specialized work” was not considered. Given the Town’s real estate workload generally and recognizing the sensitivity, time commitment, knowledge and effort required to pursue an effective environmental land securement program, the Town issued a Request for Proposal to engage qualified individual(s) or firm(s) to develop and implement a strategic approach for the acquisition of priority sites.

Deliverables

Working independently with support from the Town’s Real Property Manager, the successful proponent will provide the Town with a strategic Land Securement Program that includes the following:

1. Compiling and refining landowner contact information

2. Research sales history of targeted properties and similar market transactions, if any

3. Identify funding partner opportunities or conservation partners (Region, TRCA, land trust) and seek approval as required

4. Meet with landowners to discuss outright purchase, conservation easement or donation options

5. Provide monthly progress reports to Manager, Real Property

6. Present recommendations to Manager, Real Property

7. Draft reports to applicable committees for approval

8. Draft applicable agreements and/or Ecogift application or assist with conveyance to conservation partner

9. Retain qualified appraiser

10. Complete Eco gifts or charitable tax applications (if applicable)

11. Secure offers/agreements and finalize documentation for closing

Bid Information:

Advertised	ETN
Bids closed on	June 23, 2010
Number picking up bid documents	16*
Number responding to bid	1

* Purchasing contacted bidders who downloaded the document and did not submit a bid. From the eight (8) follow-up calls made, Purchasing found that all eight (8) of the suppliers’ expertise is outside of the requested scope of work: they either specialize in real estate, environmental (biological) or legal consulting, but not the combination of all areas which are required for the evaluation of property for their natural heritage features and the planning and legal aspects of securing those lands. Four of the suppliers contacted indicated that they did not have previous experience in this field but would be interested in pursuing if the project were re-tendered with revised terms, which included: the removal of the mandatory requirement that suppliers had the experience to meet with landowners to discuss outright purchase, conservation easement or donation options and engages in negotiations and experience with securing funding for these types of acquisitions. The RFP indicated the successful proponent was required to have “Demonstrated experience and success in identifying and securing funding partners” and “Demonstrated experience with various incentive programs i.e. ecogifts”, which they did not have.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION

The Evaluation Team for this RFQ was comprised of staff from the Planning and Legal Departments, with Purchasing acting as the facilitator.

The proposal was evaluated based on pre-established evaluation criteria as listed in the RFP: 20% past experience of consulting firm ; 20% qualifications of the lead consultant and project team; 30% demonstrated understanding of the assignment (project methodology) and project delivery and 30% price totaling 100%. The rank results are listed in the following table:

Consultants	Total Score	Rank
Orland Conservation	97	1

The quoted price from the supplier, while a sole quotation, is considered very reasonable in the context of the market for land acquisition consultants which generally falls in the range of $100 per hour. The favourable pricing, in addition to a strong technical score, were instrumental in the decision making process to move forward with the sole bidder for this project. Environmental land acquisition is a highly specialized field. There are few, if any, other firms that undertake this type of land acquisition; most are firms that purchase lands for road widening and infrastructure projects. Staff does not recommend re-issuing the RFQ for this reason.

After evaluation scoring was completed, Purchasing staff negotiated a change in hourly rate from $67.00 per hour to $61.00 per hour, exclusive of tax: a 9% cost reduction (approximately $6,000 based on the requested 1,000 hours of work) with the supplier from their initial proposed price while still maintaining the same level of project deliverables. This revised price will remain firm for the second year, assuming that the Town elects to renew the contract.

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

Through their proposal, Orland Conservation has demonstrated direct experience in identifying and securing funding partners (i.e. Ducks Unlimited, Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Federation of Ontario Naturalists and other levels of government), and their familiarity with the various tax incentives (i.e. Conservation Land Tax Incentive and Managed Forest Tax Incentive program) and conservation easement donations. As well, the proponent has demonstrated experience in identifying and obtaining funding from external partners, including other levels of government and non-governmental environmental agencies.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE:

	Amount ($)
Budget for new project - two year contract*	124,147
Less: one year award	(62,074)
Budget Remaining**	62,073

* The new project will be funded from the Environmental Land Acquisition Reserve Fund

Acct#087-2800 167 which has a current balance of approximately $6.6 million.

** Budget remaining will be for the potential one-year contract renewal; and if the contract is not renewed, the remaining budget will be returned to the original funding source.

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS:

Undertaking and funding a strategic land securement program aligns with the Town’s strategic priority for protecting the environment by creating opportunities for forest regeneration and bringing into public ownership significant natural heritage lands..

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

The Finance has been consulted, provided input and reviewed this report.

RECOMMENDED

Final with Catherine’s changes