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Council approves revision to Papillion Creek CMAR contract after tense debate over bidding and fees, 4–3
Summary
The Omaha City Council voted 4–3 to approve a set of amendments to the construction-manager-at-risk agreement with McCarthy Building Companies for the Papillion Creek WRRF expansion, after hours of questioning about competitive bidding, self-perform work and contractor markups; the Attorney General’s office said it found no statutory violation but raised policy concerns.
The Omaha City Council on April 21 narrowly approved amendments to the city’s construction-manager-at-risk (CMAR) agreement for the Papillion Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility secondary expansion project, approving a process that includes open-book, third-party-reviewed self-perform scopes and a guaranteed maximum price (GMP).
Council debate centered on whether city staff and the CMAR followed the procurement and self-performance procedures that the 2024 ordinance described, and whether the city had effectively changed the contract’s approach without earlier council approval. Council Member Harding said the practice of moving forward without prior council approval risked eroding public trust: “We're violating the public's trust by doing so, in my opinion,” he said during the discussion.
City attorneys pointed to Nebraska statute (13-29-12), which…
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