Feel free to forward this solicitation to any interested parties.  This is an exciting project for our community and we are looking for a knowledgeable, capable team with a focus on sustainability.

Responses are due by 3:00 p.m. on January 4, 2010, and applicants must be available for interviews on January 8th.  This will be the first step in a two-step selection process.

 Please let me know if you have any questions.

 Dara MacDonald

Salida Natural Resource Center Development Corporation

124 E Street
P.O. Box 417
Salida, CO 81201
(719) 539-4555

Six separate federal and state natural resource management agencies currently operate twelve different facilities throughout Chaffee County. According to the city, each of these has expressed interest in a partnership to consolidate existing and proposed facilities into a single, multi-agency campus.

A feasibility study completed in July 2006 included a review of four potential locations as well as an economic impact analysis. The economic study found that the construction of the center would result in $26.6 million in (mostly) local spending and $3.9 million in new annual spending.

The campus will likely be located on Vandaveer Ranch, adjacent to Highway 50. The MOU, which will guide the cooperative effort by Salida and Chaffee County, was signed earlier Tuesday by commissioner Frank Holman.

City Administrator Lewis described the resource center as “a true economic development project that the city has gotten behind for all the right reasons.”