Renovation of an elderly care / assisted living facility in Boxford, Massachusetts. Conceptual plans call for the renovation of a elderly care / assisted living facility.

Q&A Session: November 9, 2022 Award Date: November 28, 2022 The Town of Boxford (the Town) is seeking proposals from professional architectural firms to facilitate a public participation process to envision various forms and designs of senior housing on a site owned by the Town of Boxford. The process should consider a variety of design options based on input and feedback from town boards, Town residents, the Historic District Committee, and the Council on Aging consistent with the objective of affordability and accessibility. This will lay the groundwork for warrant articles before a future Town Meeting to make the land available for a senior housing development and allow the Voters to make more informed decisions. The results of the process will also serve as a guide to the town in its writing of an RFP for development that will set forth town preferences in design of the development at some future time. Another purpose for the proposed work of the firm is to provide sufficient cost information so the town can determine if the contemplated development can be financially feasible within the constraints of the site and affordability. This determination will be made by a housing consultant that the Boxford Housing Partnership committee (BHP) will provide under a separate contract. The selected firm will work closely with the Boxford Housing Partnership (BHP) committee throughout the process. The selected firm is expected to draw on their experience in designing housing for senior citizens and managing public meetings so that the interaction with the community will be a meaningful one and will yield a representation of what is both feasible and desired by the community. A site plan will not be required because detail information from a previous site survey will be provided at the first meeting. Concurrent with the design process will be a financial review to ensure that the final configuration will be consistent with units that could be rented or sold at affordable rates. The design costs shall be restricted to the construction costs of the unit itself and not the site preparation, septic or water since they were addressed in a previous study. The architect will be expected to coordinate with a housing consultant that the Town will provide as the schedule indicates. A maximum budget of $32,000 has been appropriated and approved for this contract. In 2007, the Town of Boxford purchased a 75-acre lot with CPA funds for the following purposes: active recreation, passive recreation and community housing. A 13.4-acre portion of this purchase was identified for community housing. This parcel (known as use area 3) has been perked, conservation setbacks established and a buildable area identified as restricted area H. (See a more detailed discussion in Figure 1). The only option for a multi-unit development within Boxford regulations would be to rezone the parcel as an Elderly Housing District (EHD), the requirements of which are summarized in Table 1. As noted in Figure 1, this would result in a reduction of the buildable area. The only other option would be to develop this parcel with a comprehensive permit under 40B to employ the entire restricted area H. However, the total number of units would still be limited to 12 units per Boxford Board of Health regulations and 40B would impose further restrictions on the development. The engagement will be in two phases (as shown in the schedule), with the architect working closely with the Boxford Housing Partnership Committee, as well as Boxford Historic District Committee and other Town boards, to discuss and review preliminary design options and construction costs for a proof of concept. The general parameters for the housing units are shown in Table 2. This information from this study will be shared with the BHP's housing consultant to determine financial feasibility of the development. If a development is deemed feasible based on the Phase One work, the architect and the BHP will move to the second phase with community input meetings with the Council on Aging and Boxford residents. The community meetings are intended to test and refine the design options with input from the public and potential residents, as well as to educate voters in preparation for a future Town Meeting vote on development of the parcel. The Architectural Consultant shall be responsible for completing the tasks listed in the schedule of Section IV consistent with the general parameters for the housing units listed in Table 2 and providing the following services for presentation to the Town in informal meetings held by the Boxford Housing Partnership as required by the schedule below. The program is divided into two phases. Phase 1 will establish the proof of concept of the development. It is recognized that a small development such as this will have its challenges, especially considering the current cost of construction. Cost drivers will be examined, such as size of the units, number of units per building, proposed materials as required by the Historic District Committee (HDC), proposed HVAC, etc. Environmental considerations will be included. The proof of concept will include a preliminary financial review from a housing consultant the BHP shall provide. If it is determined that the project is not financially viable, the town reserves the right to terminate the contract for hours spent to date. Based upon successful completion of Phase 1 that demonstrates a financially viable concept, Phase 2 will be authorized to continue. Here, the remainder of the requested services will be presented as described in the schedule below including a final financial review. Based upon input from Town boards and the general public, it is anticipated that minor modifications may be made to the design. Those modifications will be made and the contract will be completed by June 15, 2023. Modifications to the tasks and schedules must be made in writing and agreed to by the Town. The selected Proposer will be required to sign a contract with the Town of Boxford in which he/she accepts responsibility for the performance of services as stated in this solicitation and must be prepared to commence work immediately upon execution of the signed contract. No goods or services are anticipated to be purchased in this contract. Project Review Public meetings and/or submitted reports between BHP, Historic District Committee, civil engineer, architect and housing consultant as required. 3 Meetings, as required, between 12/19/22 and 2/13/23 Proof of concept. End of Phase 1 Public meeting with BHP, housing consultant and architect. Floor plans and preliminary housing cost estimate. Estimate housing subsidy. Select the unit configuration, number of units per building, etc. Public comment will be accepted at the end of meeting Week of 2/27/23 PHASE 2 START Review design Public meeting between BHP and architect to review selected design with input from housing consultant. Public comment will be accepted at the end of meeting Week of 3/20/23 Drawings submittal to BHP Architect to submit iteration #1 with updated design reflecting any cost improvement. Initial deliverables Week of 4/3/23 Housing report Housing consultant to deliver final report and recommendations Week of 4/10/23 Community engagement: first meeting Meeting to solicit public input. Review public input with architect for Iteration #2 of design as required Week of 4/24/23 Community engagement: second meeting Meeting to solicit public input with minor corrections to design as required Week of 5/15/23 Final iteration of design Submit final design and report to BHP Week of 6/5/23 Final deliverables Final review of documents 6/15/23 Questions can be submitted by email to Brendan Sweeney at bsweeney@boxfordma.gov and a response will be sent to all applicants in advance of the Q&A meeting. A Q&A virtual public meeting will be held on November 9, 2022 at a time to be determined. At that time, all questions to date will be reviewed. Everyone is invited to attend, if they feel the need for further clarification. Proposals and bids shall be submitted in a sealed envelope at the Town Administrator's office by 4:00 PM on Monday November 14, 2022. In person interviews of a few applicants may be held between Wednesday November 16, 2022 and Tuesday November 22 at a time mutually convenient. Announcement will be made by no later than 12 noon on Monday November 28, 2022. The selection will be made on two sets of criteria (minimum and evaluation) and recorded on the Evaluation Grid of Table 3. The Minimum Proposal Submission Requirements (section VII) requires full compliance. The Proposal Evaluation Information (section VIII) is a scaling system of 4 levels from Unacceptable to Highly Advantageous. In addition, some line items are weighted differently to indicate the importance of that item. However, the applicant will be disqualified if any category is listed as Unacceptable (i.e., a "0"). The Method of Contractor Selection has not been determined at this time.