‘Town of Webster Community Planning and Development
Q 1000 Ridge Road, Webster, NY 14580-2917 @ (585) 872-7032 @ WebsterNY.gov
Town Board Members From: Josh Artuso, Director of Community Development Date: March 12, 2026
Supplemental Contract and Additional Funding - Comprehensive Plan Update
Background
As you are aware, the Town is currently working with its consultant team, Colliers Engineering and Design, on the Comprehensive Plan Update. Throughout the project, the Town Board has emphasized the importance of broad public engagement and transparency to ensure the Comprehensive Plan reflects the priorities and perspectives of the community.
In response to this direction, the planning process has incorporated expanded outreach opportunities and additional avenues for public input beyond those originally anticipated in the consultant’s initial scope of work. These enhancements have helped strengthen the planning process by encouraging broader community participation and allowing for more direct dialogue between residents, the Comprehensive Plan Committee, Town staff, and the consultant team.
Expanded Public Engagement Efforts
At the Town’s direction, several adjustments were made to the project approach to increase opportunities for public participation and engagement. These adjustments have included additional coordination, expanded public- facing meetings, and enhanced survey tools to gather more detailed community feedback.
While some of these efforts were not originally included in the consultant’s contract scope, they reflect the Town Board’s policy priority to ensure the Comprehensive Plan update is inclusive, transparent, and responsive to community input. For example, we instructed the consultant team to analyze an additional 236 open-ended responses from the Open Space Committee’s survey and incorporate that information into the Town issued survey results. Expanding these engagement opportunities also helps build stronger community understanding and support for the final plan, which can reduce conflict and improve implementation of future policies and initiatives.
Out-of-Scope Work Completed
To support these expanded engagement efforts, the consultant team has completed several additional tasks,
including:
e Extra Outreach Coordination (~$5,000) Additional meetings and coordination with Town staff to support expanded public outreach efforts requested by the Town. This included responding to direct public communication and information requests related to the Comprehensive Plan process.
e Public Engagement at Committee Meetings (~$3,500) Additional preparation and review of meeting agendas, presentation materials, and facilitation to support a more public-facing meeting format. Meetings were also extended to provide additional time for public comment and discussion.
585-872-7032 @ 585-872-1352 (fax) Planning-Zoning@ci.webster.ny.us # www.websterny.gov/106/Community-Planning-Development
e Additional Survey Development, Review, and Promotion (~$6,500) Development of an expanded community survey tool in two formats, rather than the single survey originally scoped, along with additional coordination, review, and promotion to support broader public participation.
These efforts have enhanced the quality and quantity of community feedback received and have helped ensure that the Comprehensive Plan update reflects a wider range of community perspectives.
Need for a Supplemental Agreement
Although the consultant team has worked to offset some of these additional efforts by leveraging efficiencies in other project tasks, the expanded level of outreach and engagement has required additional time and resources beyond what was originally estimated. Based on the adjustments made to the planning process and the anticipated effort needed to complete the remaining project tasks, the consultant has identified the need for a supplemental agreement to the original contract.
Proposed Funding The proposed supplemental agreement would authorize a not-to-exceed amount of $30,000 to support completion
of the remaining Comprehensive Plan tasks and continued assistance with the Town’s enhanced public engagement efforts.
Work under this supplemental agreement will be billed on a time-and-materials basis, meaning that if the level of effort required is less than anticipated, the final cost would be reduced accordingly.
Recommendation
Authorizing the supplementa! agreement will allow the consultant team to complete the Comprehensive Plan Update while continuing to support the Town Board’s goal of maintaining a robust and inclusive public planning process.
It is strongly recommended that the Town Board authorize a supplemental agreement in an amount not to exceed $30,000 to allow the project to move forward and ensure the Comprehensive Plan reflects the community input gathered through these expanded outreach efforts.
It is important to note that the original budget for the project was $110,000. That fee is comprised of a $100,000 grant from NYS and $10,000 worth of in-kind staff time/effort (myself and Erika) to fulfill the local match requirement- meaning that to date- no actual town funds have been expended for this important effort. Even so, I had anticipated that we may need additional resources to complete this, so had budgeted an additional $50,000 for additional expenses relating to the project. The request to allow the Supervisor to sign a supplemental agreement in the amount not to exceed $30,000 will ensure that we can complete the remaining scope of work and maintain the same or greater level of public engagement through project completion, while remaining under my original estimate of $150,000.
Should you have any questions, or wish to discuss this further, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincegely,
Josh Artuso Director of Community Development.