BSC Group, Inc
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Town of Belmont Community Path Feasibility Study Proposal April 22, 2016 April 22, 2016 Mr. Jeffery A. Wheeler, Senior Planner Office of Community Development Homer Municipal Building 19 Moore Street Belmont, MA 02478 RE: Belmont Community Path Feasibility Study Dear Mr. Wheeler: BSC Group, Inc. (BSC) is pleased to submit our proposal to provide professional planning and engineering services relating to the Belmont Community Path that will provide a vital link between the future Mass Central Rail Trail segment at the Waltham City line to the existing Fitchburg Cutoff Path at Brighton Street. Our interdisciplinary team of professional engineers, planners, landscape architects, and scientists, has successfully completed feasibility studies and designs of multi-use paths in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, many of which are under construction or have been completed. BSC is currently assisting the Town of Belmont with construction administration services related to the Trapelo Road/Concord Street Improvement Project through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. We believe our established working relationship with Town staff and knowledge of the Town’s infrastructure will be an asset to the success of this project. Although this project presents many challenges with regard to right-of-way and access, we believe it will be an incredible opportunity to enhance overall aesthetics, provide safe pedestrian/bicycle connections to regional transit, the downtown area and the community, revitalize cultural growth, and drive economic development within the area. With respect to our team’s qualifications for this project, we offer the Town of Belmont the following advantages for your consideration: Experienced Project Management - To successfully meet the goals established by the Town of Belmont, we will commit to this project the appropriate level of qualified staff, including Mr. Bill Paille, PE, project manager with guidance from principal-in-charge Thomas Loughlin, PE. We believe the combination of Bill’s rails-to-trail project experience with review and approval from MassDOT, and Tom’s deep understanding of available funding programs will help position Belmont for the funding that will make this project a reality. BSC’s leadership team is complete with Charlie Kalauskas, PE and Peter Briere, PE selected to provide area knowledge on an as-needed basis, earned from past BSC-led projects in Belmont. Jeffrey A. Wheeler April 22, 2016 Page 2 Team Firms Enhance Analysis - To assure each element of the feasibility is carefully analyzed with professional staff that have in-depth experience in that specific area, we are pleased to team with Mr. Andrew Paul, Sr. Engineering Associate and Mr. Conor Semler, AICP, Senior Planner from Kittelson & Associates, Inc. for transportation engineering and planning. As leaders in the transportation field through their contributions in the development of the Urban Bikeway Design Guide for the National Association of City Transportation Officials and guidelines for providing access to public transportation stations for the Transportation Research Board, Andy and Conor bring to our team substantial planning and design experience as well as public education and outreach related to multi-use trail design. Also joining BSC’s team is Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM) to provide engineering analysis in rail and tunnels as well as to complement BSC’s own cost estimating skills. Working on behalf of MassDOT, HMM recently conducted an evaluation of all feasible tunneling alternatives for a 7-foot diameter by 330-foot long corrugated steel pipe culvert, buried beneath approximately 25 feet of fill below Interstate 90. The firm is a leader in developing creative tunneling concepts and adds value to the BSC team. BSC appreciates the opportunity to propose our services to you. We believe we’ve proposed both a creative and technically-competent team to help move this important project forward on behalf of the Town of Belmont. We look forward to your favorable review of our proposal and an opportunity to meet with you on the Community Path Feasibility Study. Please contact project manager Bill Paille at 617-896-4312 (email: [email protected] or me directly at 617-896-1432 (email: [email protected]) if you require additional information. Very truly yours, BSC Group, Inc. Thomas Loughlin, PE Principal and Vice President Table of Contents Letter of Interest Section 1: Meeting the Town of Belmont’s Selection Criteria Moving Forward to Feasibility Study 1-1 Minimum Criteria Responses (RFP Item 4.a) 1-1 Minimum Criteria Continued (RFP Item 4.a) 1-6 The BSC Group Team Stands Ready to Move Forward 1-9 Section 2: General Approach 2-1 Section 3: Team Organization, Professional Staff, and Capacity Team Personnel Selected to Deliver Belmont a Community 3-1 Path Feasibility Study Project Manager Applies Previous Rails-to-Trail Planning and 3-2 Design Experience to Your Project Team Leadership 3-2 Team Advisors Share Historical Project Knowledge 3-3 Qualified and Responsive Project Personnel 3-3 Section 4: Team Experience and Client References Team Firms Have Strong Connections 4-1 Putting Our Experience to Work for Belmont 4-2 Municipal Experience 4-3 Planning and Design of Recreational Pathways 4-3 Responsive and Productive Public Engagement 4-6 Experience Administering Grant Funding for Municipal 4-7 Recreation Area Improvement Programs References Attest to Past Performance 4-8 Past Project Demonstrate Our Qualifications 4-9 Section 5: Submission Requirements Complete Responses for Belmont’s Review 5-1 2015 Financial Statement Certificate of Non-Collusion Statement of Tax Compliance Section 1: Meeting the Town of Belmont’s Selection Criteria Moving Forward to Feasibility Study BSC Group Project Moving forward with the proposed feasibility study is an exciting juncture Team Advantages in the Town of Belmont’s journey to make an informed decision on the “right” community path configuration and design features. BSC Group is eager to be n Experience planning and part of this phase offering the Community Path Advisory Implementation designing recreational pathways Committee a well qualified, experienced, multidisciplinary team to work n Interdisciplinary team to with the community, conduct engineering assessments, develop design provide expertise in all solutions with cost estimates for two or more path options, and assist required disciplines with funding opportunities. n Skill in maintaining municipal project budgets Demonstrating our qualifications is BSC’s response to the Town of Belmont’s n Understanding of MassDOT various qualifications criteria from the minimum components to the evaluative and AASHTO design standards criteria presented on Pages 10 through 13 of your Request for Proposal (RFP). and the project approval process n Ability to deliver a comprehen- Minimum Criteria Responses (RFP Item 4.a) sive feasibility study with added expertise from Kittelson BSC Group is pleased to respond to the Town of Belmont’s Minimum Criteria Associates (KAI) for bicycle path- in the following narrative. In some instances, we have made reference to a way planning, and Hatch Mott more complete response in a specific section of the enclosed proposal. MacDonald (HMM) in rail, tun- nels, and cost estimating. n Professional qualifications and experience of the proposed project team members, especially the project manager, in the evaluation, design, and construction of public works facilities in general and in particular construction of community paths. The BSC Team is comprised of professional staff from BSC Group and selected subconsultants Kittleson Associates (KAI) and Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM). The BSC Team presents experienced staff in all required areas, many of whom have a deep knowledge of the segment areas based on past and present work in Belmont. KAI adds value to our team with their credentials in route analysis and safe segment recommendations, as well as bicycle path facility design types. HMM is a leading North American consulting engineering firm with a century of worldwide experience. HMM’s comprehensive engineering services in all areas of transportation including rail and tunnels will contribute to the development of a realistic feasibility study that can be funded and built. The combined firms and individuals composing our team are committed to identifying the route segments with the highest level of protection while also considering each segment’s connectivity to transportation, community and education, cost effectiveness, and overall feasibility. Mr. William Paille, PE, will serve as BSC’s project manager and principal contact with the Town of Belmont. He has successfully completed sever- al multiuse trail projects for Massachusetts municipalities as well as the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. His experience includes serving as project manager for the Cochituate Rail Trail, Framingham; Southwick Rail Trail, Southwick; Somerville Community Path, Somerville; North Suburban Regional Bicycle Transportation Plan (Phase I & II); and the Driftway Trail, Phase I in Scituate. Town of Belmont, Community Path Feasibility Study n 1 - 1 Section 1: Meeting the Town of Belmont’s Selection Criteria n Adequacy of proposed project team in terms of training, experience and availability of proposed project team members for this project. Our team is experienced and ready to undertake this project. The fol- lowing chart lists all proposed staff by name, role, discipline registration if applicable, and their years of