title
PROPOSED CONTRACT AMENDMENT
Department(s): Department of Resource Management
Vendor: Friends of the Forest Preserves, Chicago, Illinois
Request: Authorization for the Forest Preserves of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”) to extend and increase contract
Good(s) or Service(s): Calumet Conservation Corps Crew
Original Contract Period: 11/17/2020 - 12/31/2022
Proposed Contract Period Extension: 1/1/2023 - 12/31/2023
Total Current Contract Amount Authority: $275,000.00
Original Approval: 11/17/2020, $150,000.00
Previous Increase(s): 4/5/2022, $125,000.00
This Increase Requested: Not to exceed $200,000.00
Estimated Fiscal Impact: FY 2023, $200,000.00
Accounts: Professional Services 51031.520840; Grant and Mitigation 51010.521444 and 51010.520840; and all future Professional Services accounts
Contract Number(s): #74000010459
Concurrences:
The Chief Financial Officer has approved this item. Final amendment is subject to legal review and approval.
District(s): 4, 5, 6
Summary: The Forest Preserves is requesting to add $200,000.00 in authority and extend the Calumet Conservation Corps program through the end of 2023. The proposed extension will allow for continuity of existing professional development programs funded directly by the Forest Preserves and avoid conflict with the simultaneous bidding and deployment of new Conservation Corps programs funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). A Request for Proposals (RFP) for ARPA-funded programs is presently being let through the Forest Preserves’ public solicitation process and proposed ARPA-funded programs are expected to be presented to the Forest Preserves Board of Commissioners in the near future. The Forest Preserves then intends to issue a separate RFP seeking proposals for new, longer term Conservation Corps program opportunities which would be funded in-part through the Forest Preserves’ annual budget starting in 2024.
Conservation Corps programs are part of the Next Century Conservation Plan and the Expansion Strategy for the Conservation Corps, which defines conservation corps as paid employment that mobilizes people who reflect the diversity of Cook County to maintain and restore the land to ecological health. The Calumet Conservation Corps Crew engages a Crew Manager, an Assistant Crew Manager, and up to four (4) adult participants in hands-on ecological restoration activities centered on invasive species control and restoration of native plants. Participants receive training in herbicide application, prescribed fire, and chainsaw operation, in addition to experience leading various community engagement and volunteer workday events promoting forest preserve awareness. The Calumet Conservation Corps is administered by Friends of the Forest Preserves through an agreement that was originally approved by the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners on 11/17/2020 (Board Item No. 20-0411), and subsequently amended on 4/5/2022 (Board Item No. 22-0207) to add funding authority. Conservation Corps programs provide youth and adult participants with paid environmental education and job skills training within the conservation field, with a focus on ecological restoration in the Forest Preserves.
end