FOIA Request: OPW 54338 Omaha Streetcar Vehicle Procurement
| Tracking # |
R003472-010925 |
| Submitted | Jan. 8, 2025 |
| Due | Feb. 19, 2025 |
| Est. Completion | Feb. 5, 2025 |
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Communications
From: Margaret Wardell
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nebraska Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request access to the following records related to the most recent streetcar procurement by the Omaha Streetcar Authority:
Complete Submissions from Competitors: This includes all proposals, bids, and submissions from competing firms, detailing pricing, technical specifications, project timelines, and any other relevant information provided during the procurement process.
Evaluation Documents: Any documents related to the evaluation of the submissions, including scoring sheets, evaluation criteria, and notes from evaluators.
Communications: All communications between the Omaha Streetcar Authority and the competing firms, including emails, letters, meeting minutes, and any other forms of correspondence.
Contracts and Agreements: Copies of any contracts, agreements, or memorandums of understanding signed with the selected firm.
Meeting Minutes and Reports: Minutes from meetings where the procurement was discussed, as well as any reports or presentations related to the procurement process.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 4 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Margaret Wardell
From: Omaha City Clerk
Dear Margaret Wardell:
Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of Omaha. Your request has been received and is being processed. Your request was received in this office on 1/9/2025 and given the reference number R003472-010925 for tracking purposes. Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nebraska Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request access to the following records related to the most recent streetcar procurement by the Omaha Streetcar Authority:
Complete Submissions from Competitors: This includes all proposals, bids, and submissions from competing firms, detailing pricing, technical specifications, project timelines, and any other relevant information provided during the procurement process.
Evaluation Documents: Any documents related to the evaluation of the submissions, including scoring sheets, evaluation criteria, and notes from evaluators.
Communications: All communications between the Omaha Streetcar Authority and the competing firms, including emails, letters, meeting minutes, and any other forms of correspondence.
Contracts and Agreements: Copies of any contracts, agreements, or memorandums of understanding signed with the selected firm.
Meeting Minutes and Reports: Minutes from meetings where the procurement was discussed, as well as any reports or presentations related to the procurement process.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 4 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Margaret Wardell
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City of Omaha
From: Omaha City Clerk
--- Please respond above this line ---
Good Afternoon M. Wardell;
The Omaha Public Works Department was recently delegated authority to manage the construction of the Omaha Streetcar Project by the board of the Omaha Streetcar Authority. As such, the project documentation is bound by the rules of the City of Omaha, and recordkeeping processes of the City.
The most recent project that was awarded by the OSA board was the contract for the construction of the Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF). That was awarded at last Monday's Streetcar Authority meeting, and the relevant submissions and review exhibits are available by logging on to your GovQA request and clicking on the "attachments" tab. There are a number of documents; some of which are in either compressed formats or nested folders, but all documents should have permissions set for you to access them. If you have any issues accessing these documents, please let me know.
As for correspondence with the competing firms, our bid went through the Trimble Unity Construct (formerly e-Builder) platform, which sends automated messages when actions are taken during the bidding process. A list of plan holders and a sample of the automated messages sent are included for your review.
Additionally, your request referenced emails. The Public Works Department is coordinating with our Law Department for a search for any email records regarding this project. The City uses Google Business for its email system. As a result, emails are not maintained on the City servers. In order to allow us to capture emails, the City has Google Vault accounts for employees in certain offices and for its management employees. In order to do a search of email, we have to identify individual email accounts and do searches based on keywords. We cannot do an across-the-board City search.
For your request, our Records Attorney can ask the City's technology partner, DOTCOmm, to search the email accounts of the City personnel with vaulted accounts and direct responsibility for the facilitation of the VMF bid. This search will be made on the keywords "Vehicle Maintenance Facility" and will be reviewed for references to the Omaha Streetcar Authority project. This search and review is scheduled to be completed and results provided on or before February 5, 2025.
Regards,
Heather L. Tippey Pierce
General Services Division Manager
Omaha Public Works Department
Procurement Manager
Omaha Streetcar Authority
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From: Omaha City Clerk
--- Please respond above this line ---
Good Afternoon M. Wardell;
We received the information that we would be receiving the emails from our 3rd party provider tomorrow. We were advised there are over 350 messages; as such, we estimate it will take between 3-8 hours for our records secretary to review these emails and provide the messages in conformance to your request. Her billable rate is $34.70/hr, rounding to the nearest 1/4 hour, and we would provide her timecard and an invoice prior to full release of the emails. A deposit will not be required.
Please advise as to whether or not you would wish us to proceed with the review. As mentioned in my previous email, a sample of the typical system-generated responses sent to all vendors has already been provided.
Regards,
Heather L. Tippey Pierce
General Services Division Manager
Omaha Public Works Department
From: Margaret Wardell
Hi Heather,
After catching up with these messages I have realized that I was not clear enough in my request. I am requesting information on the Streetcar Vehicle procurement, not the Maintenance Faiclity. I apologize for this miscommunication. Thank you for being thorough. I will await your message to confirm how this will adjust your search so I can contact the appropriate parties on my end as well.
Best,
Margaret Wardell
From: Omaha City Clerk
--- Please respond above this line ---
Hi Margaret;
I want to be 100% clear on this, you want all the same information, but for the Vehicle Procurement and subsequent award to CAF USA. This had a different level of effort in the evaluation and board presentation, so I will have to re-evaluate the labor and access costs, and we will have to submit an entirely new email request through our Law Department. I should have a scope and labor estimate prepared by mid-next week.
Regards,
Heather
From: Margaret Wardell
Hi Heather,
Yes that is correct. This FOIA request is focused on the Vehicle Procurement and subsequent award to CAF USA. I will standby for your evaluation and instruction.
Thanks,
Meggie
From: Omaha City Clerk
--- Please respond above this line ---
Good Morning Meggie;
OK, I've talked with my team and we are pretty sure we've got our heads wrapped around the correct scope of your request. The vetting for the vehicle procurement had 3 layers, so compiling the records and emails is going to be more intensive than it was for the VMF. Our detailed time and materials estimate is included in the attachments section of your GovQA request for your review. We estimate it will take just under 20 hours to compile and review all documentation involved. This does not include our attorney's time in keeping with the NE Public Records Act, but it will not be continuous, as we would have to remit a new email search request.
The estimated labor cost would be $1,243.09; a 10% deposit, made payable to the City of Omaha, would be needed before we could begin the response, and again, due to the particularities of obtaining emails, we anticipate it would take about 14 days to complete the request, once the check was received. Your deposit will be applied against the final cost of the response.
If you would like us to continue with our response, please remit your payment to:
Heather L. Tippey Pierce
RE: Records Request R003472-010925
Omaha Public Works Department
1819 Farnam St, Ste 600
Omaha NE 68116
Regards,
Heather
From: Margaret Wardell
Hi Heather,
Thanks for getting back to me. I am trying to find the materials estimate and may be misunderstanding where it is. Is it on MuckRock? If so, I cannot find the 'attachments' tab. Can you please direct me?
Thanks,
Meggie
