Kittitas County Public Health Department (KCPHD) has formed a Citizen’s Advisory Committee (the Committee) to formulate a recommendation on the quantity of water to be issued with a mitigation certificate from the future Kittitas County water bank.

Summary of Project

As of June 2, 2014, all new uses of ground water in Kittitas County are required to be adequately mitigated. Mitigation may include obtaining a portion of a senior (pre-1905) water right appropriate to offset the new ground water withdrawal. The County intends to offer mitigation through a county-owned and operated water bank starting December 1, 2015.

This committee will meet approximately once a month or less from October 2014 to May 2015 to discuss issues related to water quantity for residences that choose to mitigate their water usage through a the county-operated water bank. The committee will then make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners on the gallons per day usage that will be allowed per residence.

Scope

To make the most productive use of the stakeholder’s time during these meetings and to develop recommendations in a timely manner to meet the May deadline, Kittitas County is seeking requests for qualifications (RFQ) for meeting facilitation services to work with this Citizen’s Advisory Committee during the meetings.

More specifically, Kittitas County is seeking a professional facilitator to ensure that the Committee’s meetings are productive and contribute in a positive way towards the water quantity proposal to the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners.

Facilitation skills that are desired include the following abilities:

Work with staff to plan meetings;

Follow good meeting practices, such as keeping time, producing and adhering to an agreed upon agenda, and keeping a clear record;

Build a trusting environment during the process;

Understand and negotiate a broad range of planning issues;

Manage any confusion in group settings that may result from inadequate information or conflicting participant statements;

Group management, including careful observation of group dynamics, individual participation styles and participation balancing;

Employ a variety of listening skills, such as the ability to paraphrase, stack a conversation and draw people out;

Manage incidences of conflict and/or confrontation so that everyone has the ability to make comments and contribute to the dialogue;

Facilitate flow of discussion toward the goal of the meeting; and

Help members articulate their comments, suggestions and recommendations in each meeting.

KCPHD will assist the selected facilitator by providing logistical support for these meetings. Logistical support shall entail organization of meeting space and times, assistance in contacting meeting participants, and distribution of documents. Any other requested logistical support needs to be identified in the RFQ.

Submit a statement of qualifications applicable to the scope and introduction sections.

Respondents to this RFQ shall include the following information in their submittal:

Legal name, address, email, and telephone and fax numbers of consultant or all members of a consultant team
Qualifications and experience
List of recent projects
Pertinent licenses and certifications
Estimated total cost for project completion
Other relevant information or materials for consideration and/or reference

Submit responses to Kittitas County Public Health Department, 507 N Nanum St, Suite 102, Ellensburg, WA 98926. The proposal shall be received by 5:00 p.m. on September 30, 2014. Email submittals should be sent to environmentalhealth@co.kittitas.wa.us.

Upon timely receipt of responses, the Kittitas County shall review and schedule interviews of qualified candidates.

Kittitas County complies with all ADA requirements.

For more information, contact Public Health Office

Kittitas County shall evaluate statements of qualifications and performance data submitted by firms regarding the proposed project. Following the evaluation, the county may invite one or more firms to meet with county officials to discuss the project and the relative benefits of various methods of providing the desired services. The county then selects from among those firms the one "most highly qualified" to provide the required services. County procedures and guidelines are to include a plan to ensure that women, minority, and veteran-owned firms have the maximum opportunity to compete for the contract. The level of firm participation should be consistent with their availability within the relevant professional community.

After choosing the most qualified firm, the county then negotiates with that firm for a contract at a price the county determines is fair and reasonable, considering the estimated value of the services to be rendered, as well as the scope and complexity of the project. If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated, the county formally terminates the negotiations with that firm and attempts to negotiate a contract with the next most qualified firm. The process continues until an agreement is reached or the search is terminated.

In emergency situations, the process outlined above for procuring services maybe dispensed with upon a finding by the county that an emergency requires the immediate execution of the work involved.

All submittals shall become the property of Kittitas County.

Kittitas County reserves the right to reject all submittals and re-advertise if necessary.