By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Details of a “Request for Proposals” bid the town has issued for the design and location of a potential downtown parking structure were reviewed Thursday by the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee.

The committee, which convened a special meeting via Zoom, also briefly discussed another RFP to hire a consultant for a “public-engagement” process on new parking options in the Jesup/Imperial areas.

Both studies are the latest initiatives in the years-long effort to solve the chronic lack of parking and traffic congestion problems downtown.

The special meeting was scheduled after committee member Matthew Mandell, a Representative Town Meeting member and director of the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce, complained last week that the bid documents had not been fully reviewed by the panel. At Thursday’s meeting Mandell said, after reviewing the bids, he was pleased with both.

The bid for conducting a study of a possible downtown parking structure lists three potential locations:

Baldwin parking lot, 35 Elm St.: The study would involve the possibility of incorporating a private Avery Place lot into a structure based at the Baldwin lot. The analysis “should include the feasibility both with or without this private property being available,” the RFP states.

Several committee members noted that town officials’ efforts over the years to acquire the Avery lot have been unsuccessful. The property, however, recently changed ownership, which they said may change prospects for town acquisition.

Gillespie/Bay Street parking lots: A second option for a parking structure location would combine the town-owned lot adjacent to the Gillespie Center at 45 Jesup Road, and parts of private lots behind 100 Post Road East, 126 Post Road East and 10 Bay St. 

Like the Baldwin lot option, the analysis would include the feasibility of building the parking structure, with or without, the availability of the privately owned lots.

Police Department headquarters lot, 20 Jesup Road: “There is currently a needs analysis and feasibility study underway for creation of a combined Public Safety Center elsewhere in town, implying that the police station may or may not be located at 20 Jesup road in the future,” according to the third option outlined in the bid document. 

The study will consider plans for a parking structure that could be built on the Jesup Road site if police facilities are moved elsewhere, as well as whether a structure could be built on the property even if police headquarters remains where it is.

Analyses of all three possible locations for a parking structure must also include researching other factors, Public Works Director Peter Ratkiewich told Thursday’s meeting.

The additional issues include assessing both the minimum and maximum size of the structure possible on each site; projected cost of building the structure at each location; the impact on neighboring properties, and how well the structure can be integrated with nearby buildings. 

Any plan for a parking structure must meet federal accessibility requirements, Ratkiewich said, adding that the study also will consider the feasibility of incorporating parking for bicycles.

The study also should consider if solar panels could be added to the structure, with the possibility of selling power back to the grid and generating income for the town, said committee member Maxxwell Crowley, president of the Westport Downtown Association. Solar power will be considered in the design phase of the project after feasibility studies are complete, Ratkiewich said. 

Plans for a parking structure, regardless of location, must be designed for possible expansion if needed in the future, he added.

The parking structure RFP, which was issued Aug. 14, requires the winning bidder to complete work and file a report by Nov. 15.

The other bid package discussed by DPIC sought a firm to prepare a process to gather public opinions on parking options for the Jesup Green/Imperial Avenue lot areas, and keeping residents, merchants and other stakeholders updated about the project’s phases, Randy Herbertson, DPIC chair, told the committee last month.

A single bid already received on the public-engagement process was pronounced satisfactory by DPIC members because of price and reputation of the firm. Committee members voted unanimously Thursday to recommend to the Board of Selectwomen that the bidder, which was not named, be hired for the job.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.