Opportunities

RFPs/RFQs
2020-11 Northwest Illinois Workforce Housing Study RFP – posted November 9, 2020; Q&A updated December 7, 2020

  • Question 1: Can you provide any information about the anticipated budget for the project? We expect to spend no more than $40,000 per county.
  • Question 2: Do all of the counties and municipalities named in the RFP intend to participate? This depends on each county’s ability to provide matching funds. At present, we anticipate participation from at least two counties.
  • Question 3: Is one proposal acceptable, with budgetary estimate breakdowns by county and for each of the two cities, or do the two cities require separate proposals?
    We request separate proposals for each municipality (above and beyond the work for the entire county). These proposals may assume somewhat more in-depth and granular research is needed; or, you may indicate that sufficient analysis is contained in the county-level study to not require municipal analysis.
  • Question 4: Who is involved in the selection process? Various stakeholders from the region, including those representing chief elected officials, zoning administrators, economic development and main street organizations, workforce and social service agencies, and real estate.
  • Question 5: What are the funding sources for this work? If the counties or cities are sharing in the cost, have they already budgeted that cost? BHRC and participating counties and municipalities represent the funding sources for this work.
  • Question 6: Related to the preceding question, is there a chance that the various counties and cities decide to proceed at different times, and will this delay all work or would you want to proceed with each as they are ready? It is possible – likely, even – that the counties and municipalities will decide to proceed at different times; we expect to move forward individually as each entity indicates readiness to do so. Some may elect to not participate.
  • Question 7: Would this be one contract with BHRC? Yes.
  • Question 8: Who do you anticipate are the “participating stakeholders” mentioned in Section 2? Please describe who you think needs to be included in meetings to present findings and recommendations, and how many separate meetings that may require. Principal stakeholders include: county and municipal officials, zoning administrators, economic development and main street organizations, workforce and social service agencies, real estate and housing developers, and state/federal agencies represented in the region. The quantity of meetings is less important than representation of these various interest areas.
  • Question 9: Are you seeking policy and ordinance reviews for each city/village in each county? What about implementation strategies specific to each municipality? We expect at least a review of county-level ordinances for participating counties and a review of municipal-level ordinances for participating municipalities. Furthermore, we expect implementation strategies for participating municipalities (as well as for participating counties).
  • Question 10: Regarding the Cost Information spreadsheet, is it acceptable to submit one locked spreadsheet with 9 tabs (one for each of the 6 counties, 2 municipalities, and for the region as a whole) or do you prefer that we submit 9 separate locked spreadsheets/files? Multiple tabs are fine.
  • Question 11: Can you describe what GIS layers BHRC has readily available? GIS data concerning parcels and land use are generally decentralized, although BHRC has access to county and some local-level data.
  • Question 12: Similarly, does BHRC have access to or maintain any inventory of proposed or planned development in the region – including residential and non-residential uses? BHRC has access to but does not regularly maintain records that addresses these data points.
  • Question 13: Does BHRC already have a somewhat recent employment projection (by industry sector) for the individual counties or region in the aggregate? BHRC does not have a projection specific to employment; however, it does anticipate declining population overall in the workshed and region.
  • Question 14: Regarding the emphasis on workforce housing, can you clarify how much (or if any) of the anticipated housing assessment and strategic plan may need to also dive into below-market rate housing needs? We do not know to what extent housing affordability and the lack of mixed-income housing impacts our region, although we suspect that access to quality, affordable housing (multi-family or otherwise) impacts seniors and young families the most.
  • Question 15: Are there any workforce development goals the outcomes of this study will be used to support? Please refer to our 2019-2024 CEDS. In general, workforce is one of the region’s greatest issues (plenitude of jobs vs. dearth of workers).
  • Question 16: Are there any priority metrics for analysis related to COVID-19 and housing? Is COVID-19 impacting housing demand and supply, as well as cost, in our region?
  • Question 17: In submitting separate proposals for each county and city, does BHRC prefer one document containing sections for each distinct area or are separate PDF documents required for each proposal? Separate documents for each proposal are not required.

Public Comment
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Jobs
• Regional Planner (December 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022) – posted November 24, 2020

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