Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 10:30 a.m. (Denver time), City and County Building, room 391
The Parks, Art and Culture Committee heard presentations from Denver Parks and Recreation on two items: 19 on-call landscape architecture, planning and design contracts (an action item, including 14 MWBE-pool and 5 SBE-pool consultants), and 10 restoration/ecological services on-call contracts (presented for information only, about a week behind). Members asked about timelines, capacity, subcontractors, drought considerations, and oversight of on-call work over $500,000. The committee also took up a lease/use agreement (Council Resolution 26-0476) between the City and the Denver Dream Center for $90,000 over three years to operate the former Globeville Recreation Center in District 9, which drew extensive discussion about the RFP process, community engagement absent from the 2025 re-bid, and commitments to a robust community process going forward. Both items were moved forward, with the Dream Center item passing a committee roll call vote.
0:06 Welcome back to this monthly
0:09 meeting of the Parks, Arts and
0:09 Culture Committee of Denver
0:14 City Council. Join us and the
0:17 Parks Arts and Culture
0:23 Committee starting good
0:23 morning. Thank you for joining
0:27 us this morning. Parks Art and
0:33 Culture Committee. The best
0:35 morning and love my name is
0:36 even as I'm the chair of
0:37 Parks, Arts and Culture
0:37 Committee and we can start
0:38 today by introducing the
0:39 council members will serve my
0:43 co-chair tiring. Place vice
0:45 chair Denver and criticized
0:47 Evers Protect Center of this
0:49 debate. You know, Watson, Fine
0:50 district time. I remember
0:54 Campbell per district 4.
0:56 Really excited to hear from
0:57 parks today. It's this you
0:58 want to take it away and
0:59 introduce your team for sure.
1:01 his sister of the comedian
1:01 Good Morning. Council members,
1:03 specialists with Parks and
1:05 recreation. We have several
1:05 items that we will presenting
1:10 to you today. We will
1:11 certainly 19 uncle contracts
1:14 for defying Lansky work. My
1:15 introduced themselves and we
1:15 colleagues here all have been
1:16 will get right into the
1:21 presentation. Thank you. And
1:22 Jessica Anderson and Urban
1:22 Ecology supervisor with Denver
1:27 Parks, Recreation. Morning,
1:27 everyone. Perseverance and
1:28 construction supervisor. The
1:32 parks and recreation. So as I
1:34 mentioned, we thought we have
1:35 19 on call contracts that will
1:37 be presented as an action
1:39 item. In addition, we will be
1:42 present can tend to call
1:42 contracts to all those are
1:43 running about a week behind.
1:44 And so we want to make sure to
1:47 be able to present Those are
1:48 not actions of those. He will
1:50 not be voting on today. Today
1:51 for the agenda we will be
1:53 talking about on calls. How we
1:57 the reason that debt they're
1:58 getting and we will provide
1:58 some background on these
2:01 contracts and how they work.
2:08 I will be kicking the purpose
2:09 and the use of bronco
2:13 contracts been relate in
2:14 relation to design and
2:17 construction or the landscape
2:18 architecture and related
2:20 design You know, some of the
2:22 benefits on our on call
2:23 contracts that provides a list
2:24 of consultants that are
2:25 preapproved with experience
2:25 and knowledge of the deep air
2:28 standards. Park folks focussed
2:32 design teams. It condenses
2:33 timelines and provides more
2:36 efficient process. Project
2:38 starts it produces.
2:39 Procurement reduces
2:40 procurement timelines and
2:41 supportive of all small
2:42 business and reduces proposal
2:46 generation. We cumber funds
2:52 ongoing and as needed basis.
2:54 Also, our selection process is
2:56 very competitive follows the
2:57 formal rp process and its
2:59 puppet public publicly issue
3:04 through did not. We also have
3:04 selection committees
3:05 consisting of at least 5
3:06 internal subject matter.
3:11 Experts. It does follow the
3:12 election rating criteria and
3:22 evaluations. Think that
3:22 Utilizing on calls through
3:26 many. That process is we have
3:28 a procurement committee set up
3:28 within planning design and
3:32 construction. Teams. It's a
3:34 group of internal management
3:35 level subject matter experts
3:37 that review scope details and
3:38 scale of the project to ensure
3:39 that we provide equitable
3:41 opportunities for all firms to
3:47 propose some projects. So the
3:48 activity monitors workloads
3:49 across all firms provides
3:51 oversight without slowing
3:53 delivery processes and
3:54 prevents disproportionate
3:56 allocation to one consultant.
3:58 So we want to just make sure
3:59 that we're being very
4:01 equitable as we're Dist to
4:02 distributing all the work
4:03 among all of the on call
4:08 consultant. As funding is
4:09 available, projects are
4:10 approved and presented to us
4:11 like group eta consultant
4:18 firms. You know, we do have
4:23 the formal bid process for 3
4:26 or more If anticipated budget
4:37 is $150,000 or more. Next one,
4:38 The on call contracts are that
4:42 are being presented today. 19
4:44 total contracts for the on
4:45 call landscape architecture
4:46 planning to sign a related
4:48 services contract. They'll be
4:50 utilized for citywide and
4:52 specific site. Specific vision
4:53 planning, community engagement
4:59 and parks and trails design.
5:00 And then also by Jessica will
5:01 be providing more information
5:02 on the Future Council
5:06 consideration. Yes, thank you.
5:09 So as Jesus mentioned, our
5:09 ecological contracts are about
5:10 a week or so behind. So they
5:12 are not an action item today,
5:13 but we wanted to present to
5:15 give you the full picture of
5:16 the services and the rfp one
5:19 out at about the same time. So
5:23 ecological and technical
5:23 this is for our restoration
5:24 services contract, which will
5:25 utilize. We will utilize
5:27 citywide and for site specific
5:30 ecological restoration, our
5:31 landscape transformation
5:31 program. So we're moving
5:33 bluegrass replacing with
5:35 native landscapes, our natural
5:38 resource inventory and
5:39 analysis projects monitoring
5:41 design have aquatic resource
5:41 natural resource, planning and
5:43 management, wildlife
5:45 management, and some
5:46 environmental site assessment
5:49 and remediation projects. So
5:51 first and then I'll hand it
5:51 I'll continue to present those
5:52 back to Kristin with the
5:57 action item today. So are
5:58 restoration contracts. We
5:59 received 19 proposals when we
6:01 put this out rfp through. But
6:03 that and we've selected 10
6:05 firms, 5 of those firms are
6:06 new to this on call contract
6:10 list with the city. Each
6:11 contract has a maximum
6:12 capacity of 3 million dollars
6:15 over a four-year period with
6:16 the option for one-year
6:20 extension. This is the exact
6:21 same capacity, a number of
6:22 firms as our previous
6:23 frustration on call list that
6:27 was issued in 2022. This list
6:30 does not have a specific
6:31 dispose goal due to the
6:33 specialized expertise,
6:33 unlimited firms in the region
6:34 that provide these types of
6:37 services. However, many of
6:38 these firms do need to maybe
6:40 we'd be on small business
6:42 enterprise requirements or
6:44 have some consultants that do
6:45 so while they don't have the
6:46 goal, they're still doing a
6:47 lot for small business
6:53 community. And are tense.
6:55 Elected 5 times include
6:56 restoration services,
6:59 habitats, elite industries.
7:02 Resources. Ge. I consultants
7:04 hmi land tech Contractors,
7:07 Matrix design group Mayor
7:08 Jundt and Stan Tech consultant
7:14 services. And the typical
7:17 scope and service kind of
7:18 example, projects that this on
7:18 call list of firms has
7:19 performed in the past and
7:22 likely will in the future
7:23 include maintenance district
7:26 specific weed management,
7:27 support contracts and cite
7:29 specific restoration scopes of
7:30 work. This includes our
7:33 habitat connectivity study
7:34 that we are wrapping up now.
7:35 We previously did a turf grass
7:38 study throughout the city and
7:39 we have our landscape tape,
7:42 technology data set this group
7:46 also perform some of our
7:46 landscape transformation
7:47 projects. Some of the current
7:48 ones include city of talking
7:50 Yam, a park in Cherry Creek
7:51 Roseman Park in South Denver
7:55 and our Quebec medians. Know
7:58 you've all heard this list has
7:59 also contributed to Arsenal's
8:00 like environmental assessment.
8:01 So working on Lake management
8:04 across the city and then
8:05 habitat specific improvements
8:06 such as the Duck Lake
8:08 Cormorant nests platforms at
8:09 City Park and Prairie Dog and
8:10 Beaver management support
8:14 throughout the city. And with
8:16 that, I'll hand it back to
8:16 Kristin to elaborate on the
8:18 landscape. Architecture,
8:23 design contracts just come. So
8:23 for the on call, landscape,
8:24 architect or designer related
8:25 Services action item we
8:29 received 28 proposals and we
8:31 have 19 consulting firms that
8:34 are wanting to be selected.
8:36 There are 14 consultants for
8:39 the mwbe pool and we also have
8:40 5 consultants for this
8:44 specific spe pool. Within
8:47 those 2 pools. We have 4 new
8:48 contractors that will be new
8:53 to dpr. Within m Wbe It is
8:55 that 2.5 million dollar
9:00 contract pass a We also have
9:01 that 1.5 million dollar
9:02 contract capacity for the s p
9:08 eople. The larger capacities
9:09 for the Mwbe group are to
9:12 deliver dpr Capital program. A
9:14 bomb projects. It really set
9:17 up to deliver higher work
9:18 order. Quarter limits due to
9:22 more impactful projects and
9:23 pools will have a four-year
9:24 contract term with one year
9:33 extension option. The selected
9:35 consulting firms for The m Wbe
9:37 is set toss dh and Design Corp
9:40 6 studios court kopplin mock
9:41 Louisville City Studios,
9:41 Matrix design group minus
9:46 Bishop. Norse design, rbi
9:48 planning landscape or not.
9:50 Architecture, Sasaki
9:53 associates stream
9:54 architecture, stream
9:55 landscape, architecture, dark,
9:57 a terror group, malaria and
10:00 wink associates for the s p
10:02 berms. Its and design floats
10:03 collaborative Goodbee and
10:04 Associates studio Compo in
10:13 studio Superbloom. In regards
10:22 to yes, the and wb go for all
10:24 contracts for the main pool.
10:25 Each contract within the
10:27 school has a mwbe
10:28 participation requirement of
10:31 at least 20% for that spe, the
10:34 small business enterprise.
10:36 They have a spe contractors
10:38 sought performance requirement
10:42 30%. So the idea behind the
10:43 spe Enterprise is to build the
10:45 next generation for parks,
10:46 design consultants to really
10:47 trying to make sure that they
10:51 have the ability to be able to
10:52 sell farm and not needing to
10:53 have to comply with the m Wbe
10:56 requirement. This really kind
11:00 of helps bring them up
11:01 understanding park standards
11:02 and being able eventually
11:10 hopefully become a m Wbe. The
11:12 scopes and services examples.
11:14 We have systemwide planning
11:15 part civic master planning
11:19 efforts. We have to sign up
11:20 new or renovating of existing
11:25 parks and dpr assets such
11:27 courts, fields, playgrounds,
11:27 picnic facilities, walkways
11:30 and associated landscapes in
11:31 irrigation systems
11:33 improvements and upgrades to
11:34 systemwide assets for regional
11:35 trails, greenway systems,
11:39 bridges and medians. It's also
11:40 going to support mountain
11:41 parks and natural areas
11:43 improvements for trailheads
11:43 and trails roadways and
11:47 parking historic structures
11:47 also will help support
11:49 deferred maintenance and other
11:49 repairs to parks and
12:00 recreation facilities. So we
12:01 are requesting for council
12:04 approval for the 14 on call
12:05 and wbe contracts for
12:06 landscape, architecture,
12:07 planning and design and
12:09 related services and also for
12:10 5 of the on call for the spe
12:14 contracts. And then
12:15 Councilmember just one quick
12:17 point of clarification. These
12:20 will be skipping next week's
12:21 mayor council. So is moved.
12:22 Our committee will see him on
12:23 the floor next Monday on the
12:25 13th is when they would be on
12:27 the floor. That's more do
12:29 that. Time sensitivities on
12:29 these and making sure that
12:31 we're able to transition any
12:33 projects before our contracts
12:35 are out. I will also say if we
12:36 get to questions, I forgot to
12:39 say that we do have other
12:40 members of Denver parks and
12:42 recreation here in case we are
12:43 unable to to respond. We have
12:46 our director of planning
12:46 design construction Roberts
12:50 several from his team. Again.
12:53 Thank you so much. Wonderful
12:54 level. Start with COUNCILMAN
12:57 In the queue. And I agree.
13:00 This is my favorite committee.
13:09 Really today you said there's
13:10 some time sensitivity. Can you
13:10 explain what that time?
13:12 Sensitivity is? Absolutely. I
13:19 can that question. Sorry just
13:20 interrupt for one second. We
13:21 need to apologize to council
13:22 president is online and I
13:23 forgot a military go to
13:24 council members on mine and
13:32 that just want to acknowledge
13:33 you can in just answer that
13:35 question in relation to the
13:37 sensitivity of timeliness of
13:42 are existing contracts. They
13:43 are expiring in JUNE of this
13:45 year. And so we want to make
13:46 sure that existing or the new
13:49 proposed contracts are
13:51 executed and fully able to be
13:53 used to. There's no with
13:54 producing and moving work
13:55 forward forward to support
13:58 both our c cip projects,
13:59 legacy and also the bond
14:02 projects. Thank you, Tom.
14:08 Other kind of thanks to
14:11 another agency. Have got a
14:12 newfound bit of reservation on
14:16 the on call contracts that
14:18 current on call amounts are
14:18 most 2 and a half million is
14:23 there some number 3 Million?
14:29 Size of the contracts give me
14:29 less pause then, you know, if
14:34 they were 30 million dollars.
14:34 I want thank them for than
14:35 those are a lot of that amount
14:42 money on call contracts. But
14:45 but I as I as I mentioned to
14:47 another you things that are
14:52 operational in we mowed the
14:53 lawn until you know, replace
14:58 bluegrass with vegetation. We
15:00 have to do. You know it's
15:01 repair and what not. And so
15:02 those items that are
15:05 operational in nature. I have
15:06 concern with on call
15:10 contracts, but I see slide. 5
15:12 again and one of the
15:17 landslides, there. You're also
15:18 some of these contracts are
15:18 for citywide Insights. Pacific
15:22 Division planning contracts
15:24 that are kind strategic in
15:30 nature there's one example
15:32 covers had a public process to
15:32 determine how to do some
15:35 modification. Congress park,
15:36 the public process included
15:39 some pickleball courts. And
15:40 after the process wrapped
15:44 there was a decision not to do
15:46 pickleball courts. That
15:48 wasn't, you know, part of the
15:53 public process. And With
15:53 hopefully reached a color
15:57 everything in our city because
15:58 everyone, you know, that the
15:59 table is funded by taxpayer
16:01 dollars and all the work that
16:03 we do, including on the on
16:03 call contracts are paid for
16:04 with taxpayer dollars. And so
16:07 we want to make sure that we
16:08 conclude the community.
16:09 Perhaps you could tell me a
16:11 little bit more about what
16:14 site white in specific vision
16:18 part parties on call contract.
16:22 One of the by saying yes to