Pensacola set to select international urban planning firm to write city strategic plan
Next year, Pensacola will embark on creating a strategic plan for the city government.
The Pensacola City Council is set to approve the hiring of urban planning firm GEHL Studio Inc. out of Copenhagen, Denmark, to develop a strategic plan for the city for $125,000 that is focused on the development of the city's waterfront, creating a city-wide economic model and improving the quality of life over the next five to 10 years.
Creating a strategic plan that can be used to guide everyday decisions in the city was one of Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves' top priorities when entering office in 2022.
"Obviously, it's something we talked about since the beginning, and you would hear me say during the campaign, 'when you have no plan, everything fits it,' " Reeves said on Tuesday. "So I think us getting aligned and honed in on a on a strategic plan will be very valuable for us."
The selection of GEHL Studio is on the consent agenda for the City Council meeting Thursday. Consent agenda items are passed in a single vote, and items are placed on the consent agenda if no council member opposes the item or believes the council needs to discuss it before voting.
The selection of GEHL Studio is out of the ordinary as it was technically the second-ranked choice of the city review committee among the four firms that were shortlisted. The firms tied in scoring, but the city's tie-breaker is to revert to the scores based solely on the written presentation. City documents say Reeves can personally make the decision to choose GEHL because he judges its proposal better fits his priorities for the strategic plan.
All of the firms that responded to the city's request for proposals were notified of the decision and given time to submit an objection. No firm objected, according to city documents.
"It's two great firms that tied through this process, but at the end of the day, GEHL, who obviously has a worldwide reputation, had more alignment with what I see is what the strategic plan should be for the city," Reeves said.
Under former Mayor Grover Robinson, the city paid a consultant $24,000 to develop a strategic plan with City Council input. The resulting plan that was adopted was a single-page document that has not been mentioned again publicly by a city official since the council approved it in July 2019.
Reeves said this plan will seek the input of the entire community and not just gather dust on a shelf when it's complete.
"A visionary plan should help us factor in every decision and priority we have," Reeves said. "That's the way I see a strategic plan is that when we're done − and of course, there'll be robust community engagement, council engagement, people will be able to give that feedback − we're going to have a document that now allows us to say, here's what the community has told us is important to them, public safety, housing, whatever the case may be. It doesn't have to just be with the mayor thinks. It could be what we all think."
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola set to take on strategic plan in 2024
