COE public records?

[Goostoff]

Does anyone know of the website to find out past bids for gate attendant positions. My sister won the bid last year on the local park, and the guy that cuts the grass there told her that she bid way too low, and that it was all public records. Figured I would give it a shot in finding the info for her. She is worried she will get outbid this year and lose her seasonal camping spot for the year if she bids too high.

[SCR]

afrescop wrote:
All the bids once opened are in the public domain and must be available upon request.

Not necessarily true.

While successful bids are subject to limited FOIA unsuccessful bids are protected and exempt from disclosure. See the following pertinent part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Title 48: Federal Acquisition Regulations System
PART 24—PROTECTION OF PRIVACY AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

24.202 Prohibitions.

(a) A proposal in the possession or control of the Government, submitted in response to a competitive solicitation, shall not be made available to any person under the Freedom of Information Act. This prohibition does not apply to a proposal, or any part of a proposal, that is set forth or incorporated by reference in a contract between the Government and the contractor that submitted the proposal. (See 10 U.S.C. 2305(g) and 41 U.S.C. 4702.)

(b) No agency shall disclose any information obtained pursuant to 15.403-3(b) that is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. (See 10 U.S.C. 2306a(d)(2)(C) and 41 U.S.C. 3505(b)(3).)

(c) A dispute resolution communication that is between a neutral person and a party to alternative dispute resolution proceedings, and that may not be disclosed under 5 U.S.C. 574, is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3)).

24.203 Policy.

(a) The Act specifies, among other things, how agencies shall make their records available upon public request, imposes strict time standards for agency responses, and exempts certain records from public disclosure. Each agency's implementation of these requirements is located in its respective title of the Code of Federal Regulations and referenced in subpart 24.2 of its implementing acquisition regulations......

Read more information on the sourced site link below

Source: Subpart 24.2—Freedom of Information Act

FAR, DFAR and AFARS are included in all COE contracts by reference. More information in electronic form can be found here:
FAR Site

[Chiefcpo]

Just stayed at Foscuee COE in Demopolis. Great park, great people there, working and staying in the park.

[afrescopXx]

All the bids once opened are in the public domain and must be available upon request.

[4X4Dodger]

The past years winning bids should be a matter of public record and those are the ones that are really of interest.

Go in Person (if possible) to the office and ask to see the records for past years.

In addition this bid may show up as a line item in budget documents that are also public. Look there.

The information is out there.

[Goostoff]

nancyjerry wrote:
If the money doesn't matter, just keep the bid low. That's what we do, as we just do it for the wonderful waterfront site we get ??
And who knows, maybe the person telling her to bid high has ulterior motives?

That is exactly why she did it. I also told her that the grass cutter may want the job and was trying to mess with her. They did it last year cause their truck was going to be down for an engine overhaul most of the summer and still wanted to be able to camp. Turned out she enjoyed it and wants to keep doing it. All she wants is to make enough to pay off the trailer.

[gatorcq]

Just call and request the information from where she won the bid.

[SCR]

Ahh well to each their own.

We did it for the money and the site was the frosting. We were not restricted to a specific area or district and bid what we wanted to do the job.

If there are two of you working in a 4 on / 4 off 16 hour a day contract with the 8 hours you're trying to sleep on call. You're paying a far heftier price for that waterfront site then we would be willing to pay. Of course the less the hours the more valuable the site.

Different strokes for different folks.

[nancyjerry]

If the money doesn't matter, just keep the bid low. That's what we do, as we just do it for the wonderful waterfront site we get ??
And who knows, maybe the person telling her to bid high has ulterior motives?

[SCR]

I don't think that the COE can release information on "Sealed Bids" under FOIA beyond the current successful bid unless the awarded contract is challenged. In addition I don't think that the FOIA is relevant to unsuccessful bids due to a specific exclusion.

In other words you can't find out what I bid on a contract if I didn't win it. All COE contracts include reams of regulations by reference. You would have to do some heavy duty research of those inclusions.This can really make your head hurt and probably best done by an attorney familiar with contract law. Remember you are in fact contracting with the Department of Defense which has the funds for the COE in it's budget.

As a former Park Attendant contractor from 1999 to 2014 I think I would have been very upset if one could simply demand to know what my bids on previous and current contracts were under the FOIA in order to use that proprietary information to under bid me.

After all that's the point of "Sealed Bids."

On Edit:
Just to add. You in fact may not have had the lowest bid for the contract you win.

For example, if I bid several contracts in the same district and I am the low bidder on several of those contracts the COE will select which is the most advantageous to the government to award me.

That is to say if I bid $10.00 a day lower on one location and only $5.00 per day lower on the one you bid more then me you could win it. The government will award me the one I was $10.00 low on.

It is not something where you can bid several different positions in a District, be low bidder on several and pick the one you want. The COE will offer you one without reference to the others. If you decline that offer you have in effect declined all bids made for that District.

[USA_Traveler]

I contracted as a gate attendant and we were not allowed to discuss the bid rates with anyone. Maybe each district is different. I do that that we had to work 16 hour days (6 am - 10 pm) which makes for a very long day especially is you are not busy.

[Goostoff]

She tried that last year and they told her they couldnt give her that information while bidding was still open. I'll tell her to try that FOI thing and see what that gets her.

[TCW]

I would think that the contracting office would supply the amount of the previous contracts if not the actual bids. Bid openings are often public which the bidders can attend. If you make a written request, make sure to mention that it is a Freedom of Information(FOI) Act request. By law they have to respond in a certain amount of time which I do not recall.

[afrescopXx]

I would call the contracting officer listed in the job announcement. As a former federal government contracting officer I know this information must be made available upon request.

[Goostoff]

Well I appreciate the effort but that got me nowhere fast. LOL I found all kinds of info for TX but very very little for WI. Guess she will just have to keep her bid low. She really dont care about the money anyway. She just want to keep the job cause they went out last year and traded for a new camper and figured 3 years of doing this would pay off the trade difference.