Proposal for Open Space Plan and Conservation Strategy

Start Date: June 06, 2025
End Date: June 26, 2025
Type: Requests for Proposals (RFP)
Email: [email protected]

The Town of Durham has been awarded a grant through the Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future to create an Open Space Plan and Conservation Strategy. We are seeking a consultant to manage and lead the project, including community outreach, with the support of the Durham Conservation Commission and town staff. This includes project management and internal administration provided by the consultant. The consultant will be responsible for overall management of the project, and coordination with the DCC, Town Staff, other stakeholders, and the public. The consultant will be responsible for creating a regular meeting schedule with the DCC, coordinating and leading community outreach events, conducting the data collection and analysis, managing data files, overseeing the project budget (invoicing), internal administration, quarterly reporting to grant funding providers, and drafting the final open space plan deliverable. The consultant will develop a work plan and timeline for the project, maintain communications with the DCC (quarterly check-in calls, virtual communications). Specific tasks will include mapping and inventorying lands and assessment of key drivers of vulnerability to climate change impacts specific to Durham. The consultant will facilitate collaboration with stakeholders and community members to inform how natural area vulnerabilities may impact human communities in Durham, such as impacts on transportation, food and water security, tourism, and public health. The consultant will support the Town in the assessment of how these mapped open spaces and natural resources may currently or may better provide ecological and public services such as climate change resilience for residential areas and road systems, public recreation access, economic sustainability, rural aesthetic, habitat and wildlife corridor protection, and improvement of water quality. The consultant will collaborate closely with the Town to develop a priority matrix for ranking potential conservation parcels, using the existing data gathered from a combination of analyses of online spatial data and in person site visits. This will include a workflow to describe the process of ranking parcels, identifying responsibilities, and recommendations for funding options to increase conservation lands in Durham.  The anticipated project timeline is 24 months (to be initiated in July 2025). With your response, please include a cost estimate per task, project personnel bios, and previous experience developing open space plans.  

Proposals must be sealed and clearly marked: Proposal for Open Space Plan and Conservation Strategy. Proposal due at the Durham Town Office, 630 Hallowell Road by Thursday, June 26th at 10:00 am, at which time they will be publicly opened.