Authorizing a contract amendment in the amount of $64,519.20 with RDG Planning and Design for design services for Phase II of the Zumbro Riverfront Trailhead Plaza Project.

In 2025, the City received a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Implementation Grant for Community Resilience to construct the Zumbro Riverfront Trailhead Plaza Project which is included as component of the adopted Riverfront Small Area Plan. The project, known as Phase I, involves constructing a bike node/trailhead, benches and shaded seating, bike-fixit station, and greenspace and a bio-filter area to help improve stormwater run-off quality. The Plaza will act as a community focal point along the Zumbro River, enhance opportunities for connections through community spaces near the downtown, promote active transportation habits, and improve community and climate resilience. RDG Planning & Design (RDG) was hired in August 2025 to design the project.

Starting in Fall 2025, the City and DMC staff requested RDG provide some exploratory concepts that elevate the design of the trailhead plaza area if additional construction funding were to become available. At the same time, the City initiated stakeholder engagement meetings with the public as required by the grant to determine what interests and outcomes the public desired to see in the design. Based on conversations with the public, it became clear there was a desire to create a space that was memorable and that contained an aspect of elevated design. Therefore, RDG was asked to continue to refine the concept of an elevated design experience beyond the original scope of work that the MPCA grant required.

As a result, a Phase II high-level concept was developed that creates an enhanced public gathering space, an artful and lively connection along 3rd St SE to draw people between the riverfront and Broadway Ave, and a connection that transforms 3rd St SE and the trailhead into a nighttime focused destination gathering space that promotes lingering in the downtown.

The MPCA grant requires the trailhead plaza work to be completed by June 2027. Since public engagement results supported an expanded project scope, it is recommended RDG be authorized through a $64,519.20 contract amendment to (A) complete the final design of the MPCA grant-required Phase I design along with the elevated Phase II design, and (B) prepare the final design documents in a way that Phases I and II can be constructed at two different time periods, while ensuring the Phase II construction work minimizes the disturbances to the previously completed Phase I construction work. City staff intend to submit a request for funding the Phase II construction work at the DMC Board meeting in December. If that request is granted with Council concurrence, Phase I and Phase II will bid together in January 2027. If Phase II is not funded, only Phase I - the required MPCA grant work - will be bid in January 2027.

The stated goal of the MPCA grant agreement is to increase equitable community resilience through the construction of sustainable community spaces that engage and gather residents (particularly from underserved neighborhoods), improve shared experience and connection, and reduce environmental impacts caused by warming temperatures and extreme precipitation. As such, the Zumbro Riverfront Trailhead Plaza will be located in a strategic community location surrounded by other amenities, including the Mayo Civic Center, Rochester Art Center, Rochester Public Library, the Olmsted County Government Center, as well as Census Tract 1, which was identified by the MPCA as an environmental justice area. The plaza will connect people to the broader downtown ecosystem. Students, families, and elderly residents will be encouraged to spend time in the greenspace, use active transportation options, and benefit from increased connectivity. A portion of the shade structure at Zumbro Plaza will be constructed with benches and seating arranged to support social mixing. The Zumbro Plaza will act as an important community connection to 3rd St, downtown Rochester, and Broadway Historic District.

July 7, 2022: Publication of the City of Rochester's Riverfront Small Area Plan.

August 11, 2025: City Council approved the Grant Agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for funding for the Project and authorized the contract with RDG Planning and Design for design services and bid documents.

The 2025 MPCA grant supports the project for $499,114 with an additional $50,000 of matching funds from the DMC EDA Riverfront CIP and $18,000 of in-kind match (City staff allocation). The additional $64,519.20 of design fees would be funded through the 2023 Riverfront Redevelopment CIP line item.

In addition, City staff intend to submit a request for funding the Phase II construction work at the DMC Board meeting in December. If all requests are approved, the total project budget with Phases I and II combined, including all design and construction costs, is estimated at $1,041,346.48.

No alternative actions are proposed at this time.