The URL can be used to link to this page

RES 2012-0517 - Marsden Building Maintenance LLC appeals bid rejection for janitorial services (denied) • II II 011 MARSDEN RECEIVED April 9, 2012 12 APR `9 Pm U: 3 CITY C.I ER Buster Brown OM A i A, ii F c3 i E j S K A City of Omaha—Council Office 1819 Farnam Street,Ste LC-1 Omaha, NE 68183 RE: Appeal of Marsden Bid Rejection for City of Omaha Janitorial Services (Community Centers, Ice Arena & Nature Center) Dear Mr. Brown: Marsden Bldg Maintenance submitted'a bid for Janitorial Services for the Community Centers, Ice Arena& Nature Center that was publicly opened on Wednesday, March 28th. The bid Marsden presented of$170,604 was the low bid by over$10,000 annually. On Wednesday,April 4th our office received a rejection letter for this bid "because the bid was • not compliant with the Small& Emerging Small Business requirements." Our bid was not compliant due to inaccurate information we received by the buyer, Holly Wulff-Hurt. Before stating the inaccurate information provided, I would first like to say that I communicated with Ms.Wulff-Hurt on a number of questions during this bid and she was wonderful to work with. She responded quickly to voicemails and took the necessary time out of her day to make sure all of my questions were answered. However,when Addendum 3 was issued,which provided the Small and Emerging Small Business forms,'I called Ms.Wulff-Hurt to make sure I understood the form correctly. I was • worried that only small businesses would be allowed to submit a,bid for this janitorial opportunity. Ms. Wulff-Hurt made sure I understood that was not the case and that all bids would be accepted. I then asked her about a paragraph at the bottom of page 1 that stated: Pursuant to Omaha Municipal Code Section 10-203(d), the above-referenced category of bidders will be given preference in the selection of this bid. Submittals by non-certified bidders or the failure of a prime contractor to utilize a certified subcontractor in the above-designated portion of this contract shall be deemed non-responsive and rejected. My concern was that we had planned to self-perform this bid. I asked Ms. Wulff-Hurt if our bid would be rejected based on the last sentence of the above excerpt. Marsden Bldg Maintenance, L.L.C, 7101 Mercy Road,Suite 201 Omaha, NE 68106 1033 0 Street,Suite 205 Lincoln, NE 68508 Phone:402-597-1627 Fax:402-597-1668 .01 •■ MARSDEN Ms.Wulff-Hurt said no,and those bidders either submitting as a small or emerging small business,or subcontracting to a small or emerging small business,would be given preference, but our bid would still be compliant with the terms of the RFP. I called Ms.Wulff-Hurt this morning,April 91h,to ask if I had misinterpreted the information she provided. She was very honest and said that she misunderstood the Small and Emerging Small Business requirement and did, in fact,provide me with inaccurate information. � ail Because of this, I am asking the City of Omaha to allow Marsden to submit the Small and Emerging Small Business forms by an agreed upon date to be included with our proposal making our bid compliant. We have many small business subcontractors that we can utilize to meet this requirement. We feel a rejection of our bid due to inaccurate information that was provided by a City Buyer would be unfair and not in-standing with the ethical practices of the City. Marsden has enjoyed our relationship with the City of Omaha through the janitorial services we recently started providing to the Omaha Police Department and are excited about the opportunity to extend our relationship. Please let me know if an in-person meeting would be better suited to discuss this matter in further detail. Thank you for your consideration of this appeal. Sincerely, Adam Dubuc Sales Manager Marsden Bldg Maintenance Marsden Bldg Maintenance,L.L.G. 7101 Mercy Road,Suite 201 Omaha, NE 68106 1033 0 Street,Suite 205 Lincoln,NE 68508 Phone:402-597-1627 Fax:402-597-1668 Pursuant to Omaha Municipal Code Section 10-203(d), the above-referenced category of bidders will be given preference in the selection of this bid. Submittals by non-certified bidders or the failure of a prime contractor to utilize a certified subcontractor in the above-designated portion of this contract shall be deemed non-responsive and rejected. My concern was that we had planned to self-perform this bid. I asked Ms. Wulff-Hurt if our bid would be rejected based on the last sentence of the above excerpt. Marsden Bldg Maintenance, L.L.C, 7101 Mercy Road,Suite 201 Omaha, NE 68106 1033 0 Street,Suite 205 Lincoln, NE 68508 Phone:402-597-1627 Fax:402-597-1668 City of :a a s gVe6raskai� y �. 1819 Farnam—Suite LC 1 f. r l n Omaha, Nebraska 68183-0112 0 " � Buster Brown (402) 444-5550 v City Clerk FAX (402) 444-5263 ® � /) EViCk �� April 9, 2012 Marsden Building Maintenance, LLC Attn: Adam Dubuc 7101 Mercy Road, Suite 201 Omaha,NE 68106 Dear Mr. Dubuc: This letter is notification that a hearing before the Omaha City Council on the appeal of Marsden Building Maintenance's bid rejection for project "Janitorial Services (Community Centers, Ice Arena and Nature Center)" has been set for April 17, 2012. The City Council Meeting begins at 2:00 P.M. in the Legislative Chamber, (LC-4), Omaha/Douglas City Center, 1819 Farnam Street, Omaha, Nebraska. We will mail you an agenda for the City Council Meeting when the agenda has been published on April 12, 2012. You may also view the agenda on April 12th on our website at www.ci.omaha.ne.us. This is your opportunity to present your case to the City Council. Sincere y yours, Buster Brown City Clerk BJB:sb cc: Heather Tippey Pierce,Public Works Brook Bench—Parks,Recreation&Public Property Acting Director Paul Kratz—City Attorney Michelle Peters—Assistant City Attorney Eric Carlson—Purchasing Division Adam Dubuc Sales Manager Marsden Bldg Maintenance Marsden Bldg Maintenance,L.L.G. 7101 Mercy Road,Suite 201 Omaha, NE 68106 1033 0 Street,Suite 205 Lincoln,NE 68508 Phone:402-597-1627 Fax:402-597-1668 Pursuant to Omaha Municipal Code Section 10-203(d), the above-referenced category of bidders will be given preference in the selection of this bid. Submittals by non-certified bidders or the failure of a prime contractor to utilize a certified subcontractor in the above-designated portion of this contract shall be deemed non-responsive and rejected. My concern was that we had planned to self-perform this bid. I asked Ms. Wulff-Hurt if our bid would be rejected based on the last sentence of the above excerpt. Marsden Bldg Maintenance, L.L.C, 7101 Mercy Road,Suite 201 Omaha, NE 68106 1033 0 Street,Suite 205 Lincoln, NE 68508 Phone:402-597-1627 Fax:402-597-1668 1 0 1 1 . ,, N,, cjij Z C4 2:: 4 > IN !..71 ,,-,,,i cn N C �. 1' iN o o d o CD I iv I ; �' CD N� cn CD v N i ` 1 %' CD 0 N N \ lkk, , ,-, ,t pz " Fr elj co - °• , '. ` P0 •— bIN \* wc., ,-,v,I k,,,, , ,_ 1 . Brown, Buster (CCIk) From: Carlson, Eric J. (Prch) Sent Monday,April 16, 2012 4:04 PM To: Brown, Buster(CCIk) Cc: Tippey Pierce, Heather(PWks); Bench, Brook K. (PMtc); Kratz, Paul (Law); Peters, Michelle (Law); Ryan, Patricia (Prch) Subject FW: Marsden Building Maintenance Appeal Attachments: Janitorial SEB form.pdf; Marsden appeal.doc Buster, Attached is the Douglas County Purchasing response to the Marsden Building Maintenance appeal of the Janitorial Services for Community Centers bid award. Also please find the Utilization of Small and Emerging Small Business form from that bid specification. Please forward as necessary Regards, Eric J. Carlson Purchasing Agent Douglas County Purchasing 902 Civic Center Omaha,NE 68183 402-444-7158 eric.carlson@douglascounty-ne.gov www.douglascountypurchasing.org 1 Douglas County Purchasing Department Memorandum To: Omaha City Council Cc Buster, Brown, Omaha City Clerk Heather Tippey Pierce, Public Works Brook Bench,Ailing Director,Pads,Rein&Public Property Paul Kral City Money Michelle Peters,Assistant City Attorney From: Eric Carlson, Douglas County Purchasing Agent Date: April 16, 2012 Re: Marsden Building Maintenance appeal On February 29, 2012, the Parks and Recreation Department requested the Purchasing Department to issue a bid for Janitorial Services for Community Centers, Ice Arena and Nature Center. As part of the bid specifications, the Parks Department included a Utilization of Small and Emerging Small Business form(see attached). The form states,in part Pursuant to Omaha Municipal Code Section 10-203(d),the above referenced category of bidders will be given preference in the selection of this bid. Submittals by non-certified bidders or the failure of a prime contractor to utilize a certified subcontractor in the above-designated portion of this contract shall be deemed non-responsive and rejected. The bid was opened on March 28,2012. On approximately March 19, 2012, Adam at Marsden Building Maintenance called Holly Hurt, Buyer. He inquired about the Small and Emerging Business(SEB)addendum that was posted on the Purchasing Department's web site concerning the Janitorial Services for Community Center. He wanted to know if his bid would be rejected because he was not SEB certified. Ms Hurt told him that his bid would not be rejected if he was not SEB certified. She also told him that preference would be given to SEB certified bidders and that the department ultimately makes the decision on the award. Ms.Hurt encouraged Adam to submit a bid. The Purchasing Department encourages all interested vendor to submit bids. SEB certified businesses are given preference, however there may be circumstances where SEB certified business are eliminated for not meeting specifications or failure to perform. , x e n q ' \ ? ir) P & n ] 7 A . it D § C • 6 m 7 CA ¢ § 2 r . 3 » U c e — 6. 01 0 . 4 7 k 9 § ? = J � � ° R " IIID . . , • o .Dli: . E rrii- ? n 5 n 0 § f ƒ ° 2 Cr po 3. r U o nn �q r Eric J. Carlson Purchasing Agent Douglas County Purchasing 902 Civic Center Omaha,NE 68183 402-444-7158 eric.carlson@douglascounty-ne.gov www.douglascountypurchasing.org 1