This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Aubrey, Texas. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

The City of Aubrey is seeking Statements of Qualification from highly qualified firms interested in providing updates to some of the City's Master Plans and the Aubrey Municipal Development District Economic Development Strategic Plan to develop the City's Comprehensive Plan. The City of Aubrey reserves the right to reject or accept any, and all proposals or combination of proposals and to waive informalities. The City Council's decision will be final. Responses are invited from individuals and firms with the necessary expertise and experience in comprehensive plans, public engagement, economic development strategic planning, and practical planning implementation principles. All questions concerning the RFQ should be emailed to jhuckabee@aubreytx.gov. Unauthorized contact regarding this RFQ with other City employees or officials may result in disqualification. Any oral communications will be considered unofficial and nonbinding on the city. BACKGROUND OF AUBREY: The City of Aubrey is in Northeast Denton County, on Texas Hwy. 377 approximately 6 miles north of US Hwy 380; 8 miles east of Denton via FM 428; 6 miles west of Prosper via FM 428; 12 miles west of the North Dallas Tollway access in Celina via FM 428; approximately 35 miles north of Dallas at I-635. Aubrey's city limit is 3.7 square miles with an ETJ of 40 square miles. Aubrey was founded in 1867 and the original town was located on the east side of the current railroad tracks are now, but it was destroyed by fire. The town was then moved to the west side of the current railroad tracks and was a bustling farming community in the late-19 th century and early 20 th century with numerous peanut farmers. A peanut dryer became the center of commerce downtown on the east side of the railroad track and the Golden Peanut Company was located on the west side of the tracks. The downtown area once had a hotel and a railroad depot near the peanut company, along with 4 or more city blocks of 1 to 2-story brick buildings. Businesses included a bank, dry goods stores, grocery stores, and other businesses and churches along Main Street on the west side of the tracks. In 1918 a tornado came through Aubrey destroying most of the downtown structures and businesses and several homes were lost. Aubrey is in the part of North Texas where the Cross Timbers meets the Prairie. There is a definite line of this geographical change that runs right through the middle of Denton County. Aubrey has sandy loam soil and it's just east of Green Valley, where the current Greenbelt along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River is located, and it is north of Lake Lewisville and south of Lake Ray Roberts State Park. The soil in Aubrey has been a source of opportunity and economic prosperity from peanut farming in the early 20th century to the supplying and servicing of the construction and equine industries in the mid- to late-20th century. There are two major state universities located in Denton, University of North Texas, and Texas Woman's University, as well as North Central Texas College, with campuses in Denton to the east and Corinth to the south. Aubrey ISD has one high school, one middle school and three elementaries with one middle school and one elementary school to open in the next 2 years. Denton ISD had one elementary campus in the Aubrey ETJ and students in the Winn Ridge community, which is in the Aubrey city limits, attend Denton ISD schools. The Aubrey ISD will be doubling capacity at the high school and constructing a second middle school that is scheduled to begin operation in 2025. In the early 20th century Aubrey's population was more than 150 residents and on March 11, 1924, the citizens voted to incorporate. On November 8, 2022, Aubrey voted to become a Home-Rule City. Today Aubrey's current population is 8,500 with an expected growth of 16,000 by 2030. As the Aubrey ETJ becomes more populated with residential developments, it is critical to plan for in-fill of businesses and land-uses that will provide recreational and economic opportunities for locals to build the Aubrey community. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Aubrey had a Comprehensive Plan drafted in 2014, but it was never adopted. Since then, the city has seen rapid residential growth from the east with planned developments ranging from Public Improvement Districts to Municipal Utility Districts in its ETJ. The City of Aubrey just approved a development agreement with a Municipal Utility District inside the City that is projected to bring more than 1700 homes and commercial development to the northeastern corner of Hwy. 377 and Springhill Road. In the last 3 to 4 years the city has seen exceptional residential growth inside the city limits and ETJ, with development agreements and public safety service agreements in 4 planned developments. To account for this growth trend and to ensure all future growth meets the City of Aubrey's vision for the community, a Comprehensive Plan is necessary to incorporate recently adopted plans and revise plans for future land-use, zoning, and the strategic plan for the Aubrey Municipal Development District. The City of Aubrey adopted a Downtown Master Plan in 2015 and it will need review for any updates. The Thoroughfare Master Plan, Parks Master Plan, and Water and Wastewater Management Master Plan were recently adopted and will need to be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan. In 2018 the Municipal Development District developed a Strategic Plan, and it will need to be reviewed for any updates and incorporated into the Master Plan. In the Comprehensive Plan process, consideration should also be taken for the history and natural environment of Aubrey, including the downtown, the Elm Fork Greenbelt area on the western side of Aubrey, as well as Aubrey's current role servicing and supplying the equine, wedding venue, and construction industries. In addition, consideration should be given to the impact that the future planned developments and possibly expansion of the North Loop of the North Dallas Tollway through this area will have on these industries. A Comprehensive Plan is needed to assess current conditions and the trends that will impact future growth and development and devise strategies to address them. The new Comprehensive Plan should be developed with participation and support from the city's residents, its business community and from area governmental agencies. The plan should be visionary yet grounded with practical and relevant policies and strategies to guide the city's expansion through annexation and infrastructure extensions, capitalize on its location in the pathway of regional growth, preserve land for economic development, while facilitating vibrant residential neighborhoods with access to schools and parks, and continue the revitalization of downtown Aubrey. The Comprehensive Plan's scope and vision should encompass a minimum of 21 years into the future. SCOPE OF WORK: The City of Aubrey desires a comprehensive plan that would include a new vision with updated goals and actions to take the community through the next two decades. The comprehensive plan should be used as the primary planning tool to shape the community's future growth while preserving the City's rich history, traditions, and natural environment. PLAN ELEMENTS: 1. Community Profile - Inventory, review, and analysis of existing conditions to include, as a minimum, community history, existing land uses, thoroughfares, community facilities, demographics and economic profile. 2. Demographics Update - The primary data source to be used will be the 2020 U.S. Census and subsequent updates. More locally relevant estimates may be used to supplement the Census data and identify where immediate trends have shifted or accelerated. 2020 Census Data Analysis shall include the following, at a minimum: o Demographics overview and analysis o Socio economic analysis o Labor force and education analysis o Business base/business sector analysis (could include a Target Industry Analysis) o Real estate analysis (commercial nodes) o Tax Gap analysis o Downtown District/Corridor analysis o Education performance data - K-12 and Higher Ed o Infrastructure and commuting analysis o Daytime population/workers o Strategic organization inventory 3. Goals - evaluate the existing goals from current master plans for Thoroughfares, Parks, and Downtown and incorporate the goals in accordance with a future vision. The evaluation of the three plans should include: heritage preservation; downtown revitalization and redevelopment; and bicycle and pedestrian networks. 4. Public Participation - to maximize citizen involvement and inputs through creative engagement strategies to encompass the community's visions for the future of Aubrey. The citizen input would need to be from the city and the ETJ. 5. Future Land Use Plan - Review and update the future land use map to account for existing conditions and future development. Re-evaluate current future land use districts, to include the expansion or reduction of district boundaries and the elimination of current districts or the creation of new districts. In addition, present a plan to preserve land use for economic development and the development of major corridors. 6. Zoning - Review existing Zoning map and update it to align with Future Land Use Plan and expand commercial zoning for business growth and overlay districts for downtown. 7. Growth Management and Annexation Policy - Provide direction and guidance to create policies that will help Aubrey manage growth in the ETJ, as well as the impacts of regional growth. 8. Development of the comprehensive plan would be concurrent with the Aubrey Municipal Development District's Economic Development Strategic Plan. The Economic Development Strategic Plan could be an update, and addition, to the 2018 Economic Development Strategic Plan, including: o Labor force characteristics (including its spatial distribution over time) o Local economic development opportunities and resources in the City Limits and ETJ o Strategic regional partnerships o Update economic needs and goals for future growth. o Merge this information with demographics on population trends and characteristics, natural resources, community facilities, ranches, services, housing and land use in order capitalize on these resources and create economic well-being of the community