Sears lane "Clean up contractors"
| Submitted | April 30, 2021 |
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Communications
From: Brian Waters
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Vermont Public Records Act, I hereby request records relating to a tweet sent by Ike Bendavid, a reporter for WCAX/Channel 3 News, on the afternoon of April 30: https://twitter.com/IkeBendavid/status/1388233248770232321. The tweet read, "This morning city officials and clean up contractors toured the homeless encampment on Sears Lane . I’ll have an update tonight at 6 on @wcax" and included a video of a group of people walking through the Sears Lane encampment.
Specifically, I am requesting documents sufficient to show the scope of activities planned or undertaken at the encampment. This should include RFP's, proposals, contracts, etc. with relevant contractors, emails between city officials and contractors coordinating the business, and any emails between city officials concerning the business. Please search city emails for messages containing the terms "Sears Lane" or "Sears Ln" in either the subject or the message body, sent or received within the last 30 days. For any emails identified, please include the entire email thread. (Feel free to disregard any emails about Sears Lane the road itself, that do not concern the nearby encampment.)
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 3 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Brian Waters
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Vermont Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 30, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Brian Waters
Hello,
On Friday 4/30, I emailed a public records request to Joy Hovestadt, but haven't heard back. The three-day acknowledgement deadline has now passed, and your office is usually pretty good about meeting those, so I wanted to follow up. I am really not sure the best place to send requests, but yours and Joy's are emails I have used in the past. Let me know if the city has a publicrecords@ or similar email address that would be better.
The original request should be reproduced below.
Thanks,
Brian Waters
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Good morning, Brian Waters.
Joy Hovestadt is no longer employed by the City of Burlington. A search of our email records shows an automatic reply was sent in response to your original request on 4/30. I’m sorry that it wasn’t received on your end.
I am now confirming receipt of your request below. The City Attorney’s Office will begin processing your request for email records and will contact you with any questions regarding this part of your request.
Please note that the Attorney’s Office is not the custodian of the other records you are seeking (RFPs, proposals, contracts, etc.). I am reaching out within the City to determine which department is the custodian and will provide that information to you as soon as I receive it so that you can submit a request for those specific records directly to the department that manages them.
For future requests to the City Attorney’s Office please use publicrecordsrequest@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:publicrecordsrequest@burlingtonvt.gov>.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hello, Brian Waters.
As I mentioned in my previous email. The City Attorney’s Office will search for all email records in response to your request below.
To expedite the processing of this and future requests, please submit individual requests directly to each department responsible for the records you are seeking. For this request case, please submit the part of your request “for RFP's, proposals, contracts, etc. with relevant contractors” directly to the Department of Public Works including the three individuals below. You do not need to request emails from the department as our office will collect those in our searches.
Chapin Spencer, Director of Public Works cspencer@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:cspencer@burlingtonvt.gov>
Robert Goulding, DPW Public Information Manager rgoulding@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:rgoulding@burlingtonvt.gov>
Lee Perry, Street Maintenance lperry@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:lperry@burlingtonvt.gov>
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hello, Brian Waters.
I am requesting clarification of your request for email records using the date and subject parameters provided.
Are you seeking:
1. Internal emails between City employees
2. Emails between City employees and the contracting companies related to the Sears Lane walkthrough/clean-up?
We will await your reply to continue processing this request.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
Sara,
Apologies for the delay in responding here. I am interested in both 1) and 2); that is, both internal city emails, and emails between city employees and contractors. I understand that 1) is a bit more vague and may return a larger number of emails for review. Do you think you could run a query and give an idea of how many pages would be returned in each case?
Thanks,
Brian Waters
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hello, Brian Waters.
Our office has completed a search for email records based on the search parameters your provided. This search resulted in a large number emails and attachments which may or not all be of interest to you.
Because of the large number of responsive pages our office has created and attached a spreadsheet with an index of basic information about each record, sort of like a menu. Duplicate emails and attachments have already been removed from this list. Please review this spreadsheet and indicate which documents you would like to receive copies of (there is a specific column in the spreadsheet to mark with an “x”). Please place an “x” in rows for requested attachments as well as for requested emails. Once we have a list of requested emails/attachments, our office will provide a cost estimate if appropriate, and we can proceed from there. If you would like to request all records on the list, you can simply reply as such and do not need to mark every box on the spreadsheet.
Please forward the completed spreadsheet back to me at sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov> and copy Tim Devlin. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
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BWatersSearsLaneEmailsListResponsive
From: Brian Waters
Sara,
Apologies again for the long delay. I have filled out the spreadsheet and marked all of the emails I found interesting. However, the sheet also listed a number of (presumably non-email) documents, along with their page numbers, but it didn't list the title or any other information about the documents.
For now, I'd be happy to view the emails that I marked. Would it also be possible to give some context (maybe filenames or titles) on some of the unnamed documents that your search turned up?
Thanks,
Brian
PS, The software I'm using, MuckRock, apparently doesn't allow me to send Excel files (not sure why), so I've just renamed to file to BWatersSearsLaneEmailsListResponsive.xlsx.docx. It's actually an Excel file, though, so just rename it back to BWatersSearsLaneEmailsListResponsive.xlsx and it should work. Let me know if there's any problems. Sorry about the glitch.
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hi, Brian.
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, I am unable to open the attachment you sent. Our software is reading your attachment as corrupt. My suggestion would be to type a list of the records you are interested in using the document numbers in the column labeled “Begin doc num from REC”.
Can you please clarify if you are requesting digital or paper copies of these records, or are requesting to inspect the records you requested?
To address your question about the attachment names. I will use “Begin doc num from” REC #16 and #18 as an example.
#16 provides you with metadata about the email, #18 is the attachment to that email. In the very last column of #16 is the name of the attachment identified in #18. For this example, the image attached to the email is “encampment notice.jpg”. When there are multiple attachments to the same email, they will be listed sequentially in the attachment name column. I’m seeing that did not happen in the list we provided you. I will look into the additional attachments and get back to you.
I will await your reply regarding your requested list of records.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
Thanks Sara, that makes sense; it looks like there was a problem when there were multiple attachments. I'll wait to see if you can find a fix to that, and then send you the REC numbers.
Brian
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hello, Brian Waters.
Please use the attached edited spreadsheet with the corrections to the errors you brought to our attention. Each attachment should now have the attachment name listed sequentially in the row of the email to which the records were attached.
If you are unable to upload a spreadsheet, please send back a list using the number listed in the “Begin doc num from REC” column to identify each email and any attachments you would like to request.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
-
BWatersSearsLaneEmailsListResponsive_SD edits
From: Brian Waters
Hi Sara, thanks for clarifying the attachments.
The documents I'm most interested in have REC numbers 1, 18, 19, 36, 54, 67, 87, 88, 98, 101, 103, 105, 107, 108, 109, 659, 735, 2684, 2686, 2689, 2690, 2691, and 2692.
Thanks,
Brian Waters
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hi, Brian.
Thank you for your quick reply. Please find the attached cost estimate for the records you requested.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
Sara,
Would it be possible to come in to do an "inspection," instead of making copies?
Thanks,
Brian
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hello, Brian.
The City is able to offer you the opportunity to inspect the records you requested.
Due to the ongoing presence of Covid-19 in Vermont, we have two options for inspection at this time. We can send you a read-only link to review the records online or we can schedule a time for you to come to City Hall and review the records on a computer.
We will plan to create the same experience whether you choose to review online or at City Hall. We will schedule an appointment time during regular City business hours; non-holiday weekdays between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm.
If you choose to review the records online, a link will be emailed to you on the date/time of your appointment with instructions for access. You will have access to the records for the remainder of the business day (until 4:30 pm). If additional time is needed, we can schedule a second appointment.
If you choose to review the records at City Hall, please be aware that the City of Burlington no longer requires masks for individuals who have been fully vaccinated when entering City buildings. Otherwise the City’s practices align with state and federal guidance that masks are required in public for partially or non-vaccinated people.
Let me know how you would like to proceed. Our office will send a formal extension letter with the timeline for the production of these materials by the end of the day and once the records are ready, I can schedule an appointment time with you.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
Sara,
I'll try the read-only link. Is noon tomorrow (Thursday) too early? If so I can pick another day.
Brian
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hi Brian,
Because you just identified the records you wanted to review on Tuesday, the attorneys have not yet had time to review for necessary redactions under the Vermont Public Records Act. Please find the attached letter indicating the City’s need to extend the deadline for this request and the anticipated timeline for the production of these records. I will contact you to set up a date/time for online inspection when the records are ready for your review.
My apologies for not getting the letter to you yesterday.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
No problem, thanks Sara.
Brian
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Good afternoon, Brian.
The records you requested are now ready for inspection. As my previous email stated, we can schedule an appointment for a virtual inspection during regular City business hours (non-holiday weekdays 8:00 am – 4:30 pm). I will be out of the office tomorrow 6/18, but I could set up an appointment as early as Monday 6/21 at 8:00 am, or any other day next week that will work in your schedule. The link will remain active until 4:30 pm on the date of the scheduled inspection.
Please let me know the date you would like to schedule this inspection.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
Sara,
Let's do Monday in the morning. Do we both need to be "present" (online) at the starting time? If so, let's just set it for noon or 1:00 PM (whatever works best for you); otherwise, could you just schedule it for 8:00 AM and then I'll have all day to look at it?
Thanks,
Brian
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Good Morning Mr. Waters,
I am writing on behalf of Sara DeGaetano, as she is out of the office today. I believe that our office should be able to open inspection of these records at 8:00AM on Monday. Although, it may take a half-hour or so to prepare the technology on Monday morning on account of Sara just then returning to the office, but the records should be available by 8:30-9:00AM at latest.
Thank you.
Best Regards, Tim Devlin
--
Tim Devlin
Assistant City Attorney
City Attorney's Office
The City of Burlington, Vermont
tdevlin@burlingtonvt.gov
IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT: This information in this e-mail and any attachments is confidential and intended solely for the use of those to whom it is addressed. This communication may contain material protected by the attorney-client privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, or someone responsible for delivering this message to an intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any disclosure, forwarding, copying, printing, or distribution is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by calling (802) 865-7121.
IF YOU ARE THE INTENDED RECIPIENT: Please note that: e-mail is not a secure method of communication; any e-mail that is sent to you or by you may be copied and held by various computers as it is transmitted; and, persons not participating in our communication may intercept our e-mail communications. If you do not wish to receive communications from us by e-mail, please notify us immediately by calling (802) 865-7121.
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
That sounds great Tim. Don't feel the need to come in early or rush if you're running late in the morning or anything; I probably won't get to them until late morning anyway.
Thanks,
Brian
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hello, Brian.
Please find the attached letter and the link below providing read-only access to responsive records to your recent public records request. This access will expire at 4:30 pm today.
1. Please click on the link below and when prompted enter the email address used to receive this communication.
2. You will see a dialog box to insert a unique code to access these records which will be sent to the email address from step 1. (Please check your spam folder for an email from no-reply@sharepointonline.com<mailto:no-reply@sharepointonline.com>)
3. The code will only work for 15 minutes. You can request a new code if time expires.
Please let me now if you have any difficulty accessing these records via the link provided.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
From: Brian Waters
Sara,
I tried to log in several times throughout the day, but never received the email with the login code. I don't know if this is a problem with our respective records systems (MuckRock and SharePoint) being incompatible, or what else. If there's not an obvious/fixable issue on your end (it doesn't seem to be be on my end), then maybe we should just schedule an in-person inspection.
Sorry for the trouble,
Brian Waters
From: City Attorney's Office - Burlington, VT
Hi, Brian.
I’m sorry you were unable to access the records via the link provided. I’m guessing it is the software program you are working through as we have not encountered this issue with other requests for remote inspection.
We are working on getting a new onsite inspection station set up at City Hall. I should be able to schedule an in person inspection for next week to ensure that our technology is working appropriately before you make the trip to City Hall.
I have availability between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday next week. Please note that the inspection will need to conclude by 4:30 pm on the date you select.
Another option would be to utilize a different email address to access remotely.
Let me know what you prefer.
Thank you.
Sara DeGaetano
Public Records and Information Coordinator
City of Burlington, VT
sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov<mailto:sdegaetano@burlingtonvt.gov>
802-557-7046
Please note that this communication and any response to it will be maintained as a public record and may be subject to disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
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