6. Will you accept an electronic proposal by 2/4/ at 9 am or are paper copies required? If so, how many?

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1 Questions regarding the Discover Denver Master Survey Consultant RFP 1. Does the proposal require the master consultant to have a member on their team who can perform database and GIS action items to support Discover Denver or will Discover Denver do that all of that work in-house? Discover Denver will employ a GIS Systems and Database Analyst whose role will be to provide for the project s technology needs including GIS mapping, querying, database design and development, and other IT troubleshooting. While it may benefit the Master Survey Consultant team to have some familiarity with GIS systems and Microsoft Access, it is not a requirement. 2. Will the master consultant purchase hand held technology for surveying or will Discover Denver have those? What type of software and equipment will be required of the consultant to complete the project and are the costs of those to be included in the budget? Specifically, does Discover Denver currently have, or plan to obtain, licenses and software for the FiGSS survey database and ArcView GIS or will the master consultant have to obtain those and include the costs within the $60,000 budget? Please confirm that HD will provide HP 2760 Elitebooks for use in the field survey and that the MSC need not include the costs of such hardware in its response to the RFP. Discover Denver includes a separate budget for hardware, software and a salary for a GIS Systems and Database Analyst. Two military grade HP EliteBook 2760 tablet pcs with Intel Core7 processors loaded with FiGSS and ArcView will be available to the consultant team. The Master Survey Consultant will not have to purchase hardware or software nor cover costs related to licensing or maintenance of the hardware of software, unless the consultant chooses to install the programs on machines other than those provided. The Master Survey Consultant will not have to pay for costs associated with tasks performed by the GIS Systems and Database Analyst. Please use the following link to learn more about the HP EliteBook 2760p tablet pc: eet.pdf 3. What about scanner requirements for digitization of materials? Is that the responsibility of the master consultant, or Discover Denver? If the master consultant will be scanning materials, is there a specific scanner with technical specifications that is required? What about use fees, copying or scanning fees from libraries and special collections? HDI and the City and County of Denver will be responsible for and absorb the costs of copying and scanning. However, we anticipate using volunteers and interns to conduct copying and scanning activities whenever possible. 4. Does Discover Denver anticipate that all surveyors will be volunteers or paid by Discover Denver in addition to the Master Consultant Team, or will the master consultant plan on hiring additional surveyors to complete field work? Any paid surveyors will need to be paid from within the $60,000 maximum contract award, and the number of such paid surveyors is the discretion of the Master Survey Consultant. The Master Survey Consultant should anticipate methods to employ unpaid volunteers, which Historic Denver will help recruit and train, as this is a key strategy identified in the Discover Denver Strategy in order to keep the costs of the project manageable and engage the community., will

2 be unpaid volunteers. Since this is a pilot project, the City and Historic Denver are interested in feedback about the reality of staffing a project of this nature and encourages respondents to include such feedback in their proposals. 5. For the 5-10 percent of properties that will be intensively surveyed, is it the intent of Discover Denver to utilize existing survey forms (Architectural Inventory Form 1403) provided by the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation? Or will there be a unique form to the project that might include the same types of data required by the 1403 form? Discover Denver will customize FiGSS to collect the data needed to electronically populate key fields on forms such as the State s Architectural Inventory Form The Master Survey Consultant will then be responsible for the necessary data collection or entry within FiGGs. Historic Denver and the City of Denver will be responsible for querying this data to generate necessary forms, negotiating the key fields with the state, and submitting the forms. Input from the Master Survey Consultant on these steps is certainly welcome. 6. Will you accept an electronic proposal by 2/4/ at 9 am or are paper copies required? If so, how many? Discover Denver encourages respondents to submit proposals electronically in portable document format (.pdf). Submissions should be made to Katherine Cornwell via kcornwell@historicdenver.org. To adhere to our commitment to sustainability and efficiency, paper copies are discouraged. 7. The three pilot themes/areas have now been identified in which the roughly 4,000 resources will be located. As the Architects Small House Service Bureau (ASHSB) appears to cover a wide geographic area and the streetcar theme at least two widely separated geographic areas, can HD provide ballpark estimates of the number of resources in each pilot? This is important for estimating costs. It is the goal of the pilot to survey approximately 4,000 resources. However, it is not a hard and fast number and it should only be used as a guide. Please use your response as an opportunity to provide feedback about a reasonable number of resources to survey within the maximum contract award of $60,000. The primary purpose of the pilot survey is to test the methodology, approach and tools in order to identify and resolve any obstacles prior to the launch of the citywide survey. The pilot study areas are as follows: a. Architects Small House Service Bureau. We are currently trying to determine the best way to limit the number of properties to survey within this theme. We will define more limited geographic boundaries to survey for this resource, as well as use building permit records to create a predictive model of likely ASHSB pockets. Proposals should anticipate that we will survey approximately 3-4 geographically defined pockets of residential areas in NW Denver, Park Hill and Washington Park. Proposals may recommend precise survey areas or criteria to identify the pockets within the available budget. Approximately 2400 resources (800/pocket; approximately 160 block faces) b. Streetcar Commercial Districts. This study area will include a select group of the streetcar districts, most likely 2-3 of the districts embedded in different neighborhoods across the city, such as Tennyson St or South Pearl Street. The survey will be limited to commercially-zoned properties within the districts, which may include a variety of

3 building types such as residential structures, churches, theaters and retail-commercial structures. Proposals may recommend precise survey boundaries or criteria to identify the survey pockets within the available budget. Approximately resources in 2-3 pockets (250 resources/pocket; approximately 45 block faces total) c. Harvey Park. This study area will be limited to the 177 Cliff May designed homes, as well as those homes developed by Holiday Homes and Century Homes. HDI and City staff will identify the precise resources to be studied for this area using building permit records approximately 604 resources (approximately 45 block faces). 8. The RFP notes that one of the tasks performed by the MSC is the development of historic contexts. How many historic contexts should one budget for? What is the anticipated level of effort for each context? Can HD identify specific contexts to be created? Are these contexts anticipated to be citywide, sub-area specific, or theme specific? Can you provide an example of a historic context comparable to what you are seeking? a. Draft Discover Denver Historic Contexts an Ad-Hoc Committee comprised of subject matter experts from the Discover Denver Partners team identified the following draft historic contexts that will be developed for Discover Denver. Please also see attached draft template and guidance for the development of historic contexts to be used for this type of survey. i. The Instant City - The Gold Rush & Early Settlement: 1858 to 1880 s ii. The Connected City Denver Grows Up & Out: 1870 to 1893 iii. The Fall & Rise of the Queen City of the Plains: 1893 to 1904 (Streetcar commercial districts pilot study area would fit primarily with this context) iv. The City Beautiful & Civic Pride: 1904 to 1932 (Architects Small House Service Bureau pilot study area would be associated with this context) v. Tops Down & Bottoms Up Intervention: The Great Depression, Federal Relief Programs, and World War II: 1929 to 1945 vi. Retooling Denver for the Modern Age (Harvey Park pilot study area would fit within this context) vii. The World Class City City Planning and Reinvestment: 1983 to Present b. We will develop three (3) historic contexts for the pilot project. The Master Consultant with assistance from HDI staff, City staff and subject matter experts from the Discover Denver Partners team will use and modify existing historic context statements and create new historic context statements for the survey effort. We will use and modify the existing Mid-Century Modern historic context developed for the Denver metro area for the Harvey Park survey. We will create a City Beautiful historic context statement for the Architects Small House Service Bureau and will use existing information on the City s Streetcar lines to create a context statement for the embedded commercial districts. c. Regarding level of effort, the historic context statements should be streamlined, userfriendly and concise to support ease of preparation and use. Please see guidance provided in the attached document entitled, Components of a Historic Context (National Register White Paper). Please also see the attached template example of the kind of historic context statement that will be used to support the multiple property documentation approach to this survey. More elaborate context statements will be prepared and augmented as the Discover Denver survey unfolds in the pilot, as well as the official citywide survey.

4 9. For the ASHSB pilot GIS analysis has been performed identifying roughly 14,000 properties based on year built and square footage that might be ASHSB designs. Has HD developed any strategy for identifying ASHSB designs within this larger universe? Will it be the MSC s responsibility for identifying such designs? HDI and the City will, with input from the MSC, develop more precise/limited geographic boundaries within which to survey for ASHSB resources, as well as a predictive model using building permit records to identify likely ASHSB resources within the more narrow geographic boundaries. 10. The timeframe/schedule included in the RFP only goes through the start of the project. What are the other anticipated deadlines/milestones for accomplishing other items? What is the total amount of time available to complete the project? The draft schedule for the project is as follows: a. Spring 2013 i. Historic Context Statement development (Master Survey Consultant) ii. Technology preparation: FiGSS customization; database design & build (including source table and output database); design report templates; develop Context, Theme, Property Loader (HDI/City staff, GIS Systems and Database Analyst with input from MSC) iii. Volunteer corps cultivation and training, plus scheduling system (HDI/City staff) iv. Discover Denver web-based user interface development will carry on through duration of the project (HDI/City staff and GIS Systems and Database Analyst with input from the MSC and Discover Denver Partners) v. Conduct first pilot area survey (MSC with assist from HDI/City staff, volunteer corps and GIS Systems and Database Analyst) vi. Outreach(HDI/City staff with input from the MSC) b. Summer/Fall 2013 i. Deliver pilot area 1 survey findings and data to HDI, City and State (MSC with assistance from HDI/City staff, Volunteer corps, GIS Systems and Database Analyst) ii. Conduct second pilot area survey (MSC with assist from HDI/City staff, volunteer corps and GIS Systems and Database Analyst) iii. Outreach (HDI/City staff with input from the MSC) c. Fall/Winter 2013 i. Deliver pilot area 2 survey findings and data to HDI, City and State (MSC with assistance from HDI/City staff, Volunteer corps, GIS Systems and Database Analyst) ii. Conduct third pilot area survey (MSC with assist from HDI/City staff, volunteer corps and GIS Systems and Database Analyst) iii. Outreach (HDI/City staff with input from the MSC) d. Spring/Summer 2014 i. Prepare Discover Denver Pilot Summary Report and Executive Summary (MSC with assistance from HDI/City staff, Volunteer corps, GIS Systems and Database Analyst) ii. Present findings to Discover Denver Partners. iii. Outreach (HDI/City staff with input from the MSC)

5 NOTES: Outreach and technology will be handled primarily by HDI/City staff and the GIS Systems and Database Analyst, MSC participation in these activities will be optional and advisory 11. The RFP notes that the MSC will play a role in beta testing data collection tools and methodology. Can you expand/clarify what these tasks might entail? By beta-testing we mean that the Master Survey Consultant in partnership with our team will be the first users to employ the Discover Denver software, a combination of FiGSS and GIS. The tasks involve activities such as working with a source data table (that will be created by the Discover Denver team and uploaded to FiGSS), using the FiGSS software, operating the tablet pc s to collect data in the field, downloading data, using the collected data to generate reports, troubleshooting the methodology/technology and developing recommendations to improve the methodology/technology. 12. Can you explain how a predictive model might relate to the pilot project? The predictive model uses weighted variables to predict the most likely location of particular historic resources. For example, we know that most Architects Small House Service Bureau homes were constructed between , we also know that square footage of these homes was between SF, and finally we know that the firm Jamieson and Stiffler was involved with ASHSB construction. Using age of construction, square footage and building permit data, we can identify likely concentrations of ASHSB resources in various neighborhoods. More information about the predictive model may be found on page 17 of the attached Citywide Survey Strategy document, which may be found here: This document should also be consulted for more complete understanding of the Discover Denver strategy goals and objectives. 13. For the four levels of review, please provide more details about the MSC s involvement and responsibilities for each level. How much field work do you see the MSC performing at each level? Can you clarify if the consultant will be responsible for conducting property reviews listed as part of the pilot program, or only assisting, training and guiding in the collection of this data? We are trying to determine the level of effort the consultant is expected to participate in the field studies, as referenced on page 10 in the first line of the paragraph under Field Work, Training & Oversight. Will the consultant be expected to conduct a) the foundation level surveys of the 4,000 properties and /or b) the properties at the enhanced level of review or will these be conducted by Historic Denver at a later time? The MSC will be primarily engaged in the survey work during the Initial Historic and Enhanced levels of review. Please see below for a more detailed explanation of who will be involved in the various levels of the survey and the extent of property to be surveyed at each level of review: a. Foundation level this level includes 100% of properties. Most of the survey work conducted in the phase will be done by HDI/City staff, interns and volunteers collected inhouse using publically available data and sources of information. The MSC may provide some very limited guidance to the team in this phase. This phase examines all properties with primary structures in the city at a basic level using existing information resources.

6 b. Descriptive level this level includes approximately 80% of properties. Surveyors will record field information for properties with structures that are 30 or more years old or are less than 30 years old but may have exceptional significance. This level includes the first round of in-field data collection using the handheld devices (the HP EliteBook tablet pc s) loaded with FiGSS and GIS software. This survey work will be conducted primarily by qualified volunteers, interns and HDI/City staff. The MSC will provide guidance to the field teams and should plan to conduct some limited field work in order to test the methodology and offer feedback.however, at this level the MSC will primarily help HDI/City staff train volunteers and interns to conduct the field work and review data collected by the volunteers, interns and HDI/City staff. c. Initial historic review level this level includes about 35% of properties. The research will consist of field checking some data collected during the descriptive level of review, as well as gathering more detailed field information for all properties determined to have retained physical integrity relative to their context. The MSC will be primarily responsible for this level of review with assistance from qualified volunteers, interns and HDI/City staff. d. Enhanced historic review level this level includes about 5-10% of properties. In this level the MSC records (with limited assistance from interns, qualified volunteers and HDI/City staff) complete archival information for properties determined to have potential significance. Note that the survey process will not initiate designation. 14. For the enhanced historic review, History Colorado appears to be expecting some form of an Architectural Inventory form (1403), which has multiple photographic views, narrative description, historical background, construction history, sketch maps, USGS maps, etc. Can you explain how such forms will be generated and what the MSC s role will be? Reports produced using templates will be prepared for resources that have been surveyed under the Discover Denver program. The Discover Denver database will be used to populate the report templates. HDI/City staff and the GIS Systems and Database Analyst will develop the report templates with input from the Master Survey Consultant. Geographic information required in the 1403 form including sketch maps, UTM reference zone and USGS maps will be populated using City GIS Lat/Long coordinates and substituted with City GIS street, parcel, bldg. footprint information. The required 1403 form photographs will be substituted with the initial digital images taken in the field. Discover Denver staff should be able to generate and submit the forms once the information has been entered into FiGGS. The Discover Denver team has met with History Colorado and negotiated which fields on the Form 1403 will be populated. 15. Digital photography is not mentioned in the RFP. Will the MSC be expected to take supplemental images of selected resources at some point in the pilot? Yes, during the field work, surveyors including qualified volunteers, interns, HDI/City Staff and the MSC will capture supplemental images using the cameras on the tablet pcs or hand held digital cameras. We are also looking into the feasibility of capturing images using Google Street View. 16. Please clarify the discussion of status codes (page 10). Are these something analyzed and assigned in the field? At what level of survey would they be assigned and by whom?

7 The citywide survey will use a series of status codes to indicate the current status of surveyed properties. Status codes may indicate properties that are individually eligible for local, state or national designation, contributing or potentially contributing to a local, state or national district, not currently eligible (but needs more evaluation), or not eligible for designation. The codes may be entered at any time. For example, a structure that has already been surveyed and is listed as an individually designated structure at the local, state or national level may be listed in the source data table at the foundation level of review. The status codes assist with survey prioritization, identify the potential for a property to be officially designated, help property owners and prospective buyers understand options for benefits and incentives, inform neighborhood planning and help build awareness of historic buildings and sites. Status codes may be revised as properties are evaluated at additional survey levels or are altered/rehabilitated in the future. Status codes will most typically be assigned at the Enhanced level of review and should either be assigned or reviewed by the Master Survey Consultant. 17. There are assumed percentages of historic resources for the various survey levels (page 3). Have these percentages been field tested in some manner? What if considerably larger percentages of some categories are found? These percentages were derived from the City of Denver s demolition review process. Of the total number of demolitions reviewed 80% required a descriptive level of review, 35% an initial historic review and 10% an enhanced review. It is possible that larger or smaller percentages of some categories will be found. The number of properties to be surveyed is a guide and not a hard and fast number. It is expected that the pilot will help us better gauge the human and financial resources needed to undertake a citywide survey. 18. How much archival research is anticipated per property for the highest level of review? Can you provide an example? The enhanced level of review should gather information such as: a. Confirmation of year built b. Architect c. Associated contexts/themes d. Associated buildings, features or objects e. Archival records documenting changes or alterations that may have occurred to a property over time f. Archival records indicating a property s materials or construction techniques g. Original property location and date of moves h. Original and intermediate uses i. Archival records indicating a property s historical and cultural associations j. Identification of potential eligibility for national, state or local individual designation k. Archival records providing confirmation of area(s) and period(s) of significance l. Statement of significance More information about the data to be collected at the different levels of review may be found in the Citywide Survey Strategy document which may be found here: _WebRes%209.0.pdf

8 19. What is the bonding process and coverage levels of employees mentioned on page 14? Does this have any relevance to this project? Surety bonding is not required by this RFP, but we may request a certificate of insurance to verify your insurance coverage levels. 20. We understand that it is HD s responsibility for recruiting qualified volunteers for field work. The RFP indicates that the MSC will assist HD in volunteer development and help HD develop a strategy for cultivating, training, and coordinating qualified volunteer interns and field workers. Can you provide more detail on what the MSC s level of effort will be in this regard? HDI/City staff will develop the volunteer strategy. We may ask the MSC to review documents/processes such as an overall volunteer strategy, a volunteer training manual and a volunteer scheduling system. The MSC role will be advisory with an expectation of very limited time commitment 21. When do you anticipate having a beta version of the field collection software loaded on the HP 2760s and ready for initial beta testing/use by the MSC? We will wrap up a technology assessment that is currently underway by the end of February/beginning of March. The technology assessment will provide guidance/recommendations regarding the interface between the Discover Denver technology and the City s existing systems, customization of FiGSS, development/design of the Discover Denver database, development/design of the Discover Denver web-based user interface and a job description for the GIS Systems and Database Analyst role. We are currently working on options for filling the GIS Systems and Database Analyst so that position will be filled soon after completion of the technology assessment. Once hired the GIS Systems and Database Analyst will customize FiGSS and develop the Discover Denver database within a two-month window, ideally completing these tasks so that we may initiate the field survey by the end of April/beginning of May. 22. Can you clarify to what extent the consultant will be involved with developing the software or structure of the database? Due to the current plan to use the FiGGs software for the pilot program the software is preexisting and will only be modified as needed. As a result the MSC will have limited involvement in software development and database design. HDI/City staff, the technology assessment consultants, the SurveyLA team and the GIS Systems and Database Analyst will be the primary architects of the software, database and web-based user interface. The MSC will review the recommendations to customize FiGSS for Denver s purposes and provide any insights about missing data fields or steps in the evaluation process. Additionally the MSC should plan to provide feedback on the performance of the software so that improvements can be made for future phases of the project.

9 23. Will volunteers, or any other form of assistance, be available to the consultant or just to Historic Denver for later phases of the project? Ideally the Volunteer Corps will be available to HDI, the City and the MSC for all phases of the Discover Denver pilot with the hope and expectation that volunteers continue to participate into the citywide launch of the project. RFP respondents should use the proposal as an opportunity to provide feedback about the ideal number of volunteers, volunteer tasks and volunteer hours needed to support the survey work.