Purchases of supplies and equipment of an estimated value greater than $50,000 shall be by written contract with the lowest responsible bidder pursuant to the procedure hereinafter prescribed.
(A) Notice inviting bids. Notices inviting bids shall be advertised by the City Clerk, and shall include a general description of the articles to be purchased, state where bid forms and specifications may be secured, and the time and place for opening bids.
(1) Published notice. The City Clerk shall cause notices inviting bids to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation five days before the date of opening of the bids, or posted for five days in three public places in the city designated by the City Council.
(2) Bidders’ list. The Director of Finance, or his or her designee, shall also solicit sealed bids from all responsible prospective suppliers whose names are on the bidders’ list, or who have made written request that their names be added thereto.
(B) Bidder’s security.
(1) Unless otherwise provided by the City Manager prior to the letting of public notice inviting bids, each bid shall be accompanied by bidder’s security.
(2) Bidders shall be entitled to return of bid security; provided, however, that a successful bidder shall forfeit his or her bid security upon his or her refusal or failure to execute the contract within ten days after the preparation and mailing of the contract, unless in the latter event the city is solely responsible for the delay in executing the contract. On refusal or failure of the successful bidder to execute the contract, the City Council may award it to the next lowest responsible bidder. In such event, if the City Council awards the contract to the next lowest bidder, the amount of the lowest bidder’s security shall be applied by the city to the contract price differential between the lowest bid and the second lowest bid, and the surplus, if any, shall be returned to the lowest bidder.
(C) Bid opening procedure. Sealed bids shall be submitted to the city and shall be identified as “BID” on the envelope. Bids shall be opened in public at the time and place stated in the public notices. A tabulation of all bids received shall be available for public inspection during regular business hours for a period of not less than 30 calendar days after the bid opening. Once opened, the bids shall be public records. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any bid deemed non-responsive at the time of bid opening shall not be kept by the city, and once deemed non-responsive, shall be returned to the bidder. Grounds for determining a bid is non-responsive include, but are not limited to, failure to provide the required bid bond and failure to attend any mandatory walk through or pre-bid meeting.
(D) Rejection of bids. At its discretion, the City Council may reject any and all bids presented and readvertise for bids pursuant to the procedure hereinabove prescribed.
(E) Award of contracts. Except as otherwise provided herein, contracts shall be awarded by the City Council to the lowest responsible bidder.
(F) Tie bids. If two or more bids received are for the same total amount or unit price, quality and service being equal, and if the public interest will not permit the delay or readvertising for bids, the City Council, at its discretion, may accept the one it chooses.
(G) Performance bonds. The City Manager shall have the authority to require a performance bond or materials and labor bond or bonds before entering a contract in such amounts as he or she shall find reasonably necessary to protect the best interests of the city. If the City Manager requires such bond or bonds, the form and amount of same shall be described in the notice inviting bids.
(‘86 Code, § 3.36.110) (Ord. 3507, passed - - ; Am. Ord. 3723, passed - - ; Am. Ord. 4014, passed - - ; Am. Ord. 4517, passed 2-25-08; Am. Ord. 4745, passed 10-22-18)