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RFP No. 13-075 On -Call Right of Way Specialty Services <br />Specialty Area (A4) Acquisition, Relocation, and Property Management Services <br />certification. A right of way schedule will be utilized to monitor the completion of project milestone and the <br />progress of individual cases. <br />Preliminary Title Work. <br />Early in design (usually in an earlier phase of project development), OPC will secure preliminary title <br />information consisting of the property profiles and Assessors maps available from our subscription services. <br />Once R/W impacts are identified with certainty, OPC will procure preliminary title reports from a local title <br />company or the preferred title company of the City. OPC also carefully studies the existing use of the land <br />and the ownership of adjacent lands to ensure that we do not miss any "larger parcel" identifications <br />involving commonly -owned parcels not impacted by the project design. The title company will ultimately <br />insure the title to the property rights we secure. <br />Pre -Appraisal Activities. <br />Prior to ordering real estate appraisals on the needed interests, we will carefully study the project needs to <br />create an accurate scope of the appraisal work. We will identify variable items such as length of time for <br />TCE's, whether the interests need to be staked or not, preferred treatment of signs and improvements, what <br />assumptions the appraiser will make regarding soils conditions, larger parcel determinations, etc. We will <br />ensure that proper appraisal maps and construction drawings (likely at 65% complete) exist and that the legal <br />descriptions and plat maps are delivered to the appraiser for inclusion in the report. In this phase, OPC will <br />prepare the acquisition files and present the property owner with preliminary information contained within a <br />Notice of Decision to Appraise including the City's acquisition policies and procedures. <br />Acquisition and Negotiation <br />The Acquisition Package. OPC will receive and review the completed appraisal, have it reviewed as necessary <br />based on project funding, and secure authorization from the City identifying the amount of just <br />compensation to be offered. Using input from our Project Development Guide and Acquisition Plan, OPC will <br />craft individual offer and agreement packages for each needed ownership and have them signed by the City's <br />authorized representative prior to delivery. On projects with Federal funding requiring the use of Caltrans <br />policies and procedures pursuant to a cooperative agreement, or for rights of way that will ultimately be <br />transferred to State ownership, OPC will coordinate with Caltrans Local Assistance to ensure that our <br />proposed agreement and deed formats comply with State policies. <br />Negotiations with the Fee Owner. Before presenting the offer, a trained in-house OPC acquisition consultant <br />will prepare for the negotiation by completing a comprehensive review of all title reports and underlying <br />record documents, reviewing the appraisal and engineering plans, legal descriptions and right of way maps <br />and other information relevant to the project. Our trained negotiators will personally deliver all offers and <br />negotiate in good faith the acquisition of the interest while keeping the Project Manager and the City <br />informed of the status of the negotiation along the way. <br />Negotiations will involve an interactive, face-to-face discussion with the property owner about his/her <br />property; explanation of the project and its impacts to the property; explanation of the appraisal process <br />and how the value was concluded, as well as answering any questions or concerns the owners may have. All <br />of our agents are licensed with the DIRE and trained to utilize a non -coercive, integrative negotiation style to <br />overcome all hurdles in reaching a settlement in the most efficient manner possible. Our agents will <br />negotiate in good faith, with an open mind for creative solutions that would be mutually beneficial to all <br />parties involved. In the event a counter proposal is made, OPC will evaluate its merits and make <br />recommendations if it is felt that an administrative adjustment or settlement is warranted based on the <br />fads. Supplemental negotiations may also include addressing any objection or question concerning the <br />Page 14 <br />