168.06 BIDDER'S NONCOLLUSION AFFIDAVIT.

   Each bidder shall be required to submit with his or her proposal an affidavit stating that neither he or she nor his or her agents, nor any party for him or her has paid to or agreed to pay, directly or indirectly, any person any money or other valuable consideration for assistance in procuring or attempting to procure the contract bid upon, and further agreeing that no such money or other consideration will be paid after the opening of the proposals. Such noncollusion affidavit shall be on the form provided with the instructions to bidders.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.07 PROPOSAL GUARANTY.

   Each proposal shall be accompanied by a certified check on a solvent bank in the County, made payable only to the City, with no restrictions thereon, in an amount not less than ten percent of the total amount of the proposal, or, in lieu of such a check, a bid bond, in favor of the City, in an amount not less than ten percent of the total amount of the proposal. All sureties issuing bid bonds shall be duly authorized and qualified to do business in the State and must, upon request of the Law Director, furnish a certificate of authority and compliance from the office of the State Superintendent of Insurance. The certified check or bid bond shall be furnished as surety that, if the proposal is accepted, a contract will be entered into and the performance of such contract properly secured within ten days from the date of notice to the bidder of the award of the contract.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.08 DISPOSITION OF PROPOSAL GUARANTY; AWARD TO NEXT LOWEST BIDDER.

   The bid bond shall be forfeited and the principal amount of the bid bond shall be paid to the City, or the certified check shall be surrendered and forfeited to the City, as the agreed amount of liquidated damages, in case of failure to enter into a contract for the work bid upon. In such case, the contract may, at the discretion of the City, be re-advertised or awarded to the next lowest bidder.

   The bid bonds or certified checks of all unsuccessful bidders shall be returned within thirty days of the award and execution of a contract, or the rejection of all bids, whichever is later. The bid bond or certified check of the successful bidder shall be returned after such bidder has executed a contract and the performance bond required pursuant to Section 168.14 has been furnished to and accepted by the City.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.09 UNACCEPTABLE PROPOSALS.

   No proposal will be considered unless the bidder furnishes evidence satisfactory to the City that he or she has the necessary facilities, ability and pecuniary resources to fulfill the conditions of the contract.

   No contract will be awarded to any person who is in arrears to the City upon any debt or

contract, or who is in default, as surety or otherwise, upon any obligation to the City.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.10 EXAMINATION OF SITE OF WORK, QUANTITIES, SCOPE OF WORK.

   The bidder is required to examine carefully the site of the work, the proposal form, the

plans and specifications and all contract documents for the work contemplated. The bidder in submitting a proposal, warrants that he or she has investigated and is acquainted with the conditions to be encountered for performing the work, including the character, quality and quantities of work to be performed and materials to be furnished, the prevailing hourly wage rates

for the area as prescribed by law and all requirements of the contract documents. Submission of a proposal shall be considered prima-facie evidence that the bidder has made such examination and

is satisfied as to all conditions which will affect the work.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.11 WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS.

   A bidder may withdraw his or her proposal provided his or her written request for such withdrawal is delivered to the Clerk of Council twenty-four hours prior to the time set for the opening of the proposals. When such proposal is reached during the bid opening period, it will be returned to the bidder unopened. No proposal shall be returned to a bidder, and no bidder shall be permitted to withdraw his or her proposal, under any circumstances except as provided herein.

   After a bidder has requested withdrawal of a proposal in writing, in the manner stated above, he or she may submit a new proposal, provided it is properly identified as such and provided, further, that it is in the hands of the official who will open the proposals prior to the time and date set for such opening.

   The City expressly reserves the right to increase or diminish the quantities of work and/or omit altogether any items shown on the proposal form, as the Public Works Director and/or City Engineer may deem advisable and/or necessary.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.12 OPENING AND CONSIDERATION OF BIDS; REJECTION OF BIDS.

   Proposals will be received until the hour and date set for the opening thereof and must be in the hands of the Clerk of Council who will open the same prior to that time. After the proposals are opened and read, the totals will be compared and the results of such comparison will be made public. Until the award of a contract, the City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, or any part of any proposal, and to waive any technical errors or informalities in the bidding as such waiver may be deemed to be in the best interests of the City.

(Ord. 1998-22. Passed 1-1-98.)

168.13 AWARD OF CONTRACT.

   The award of the contract, if it is awarded, will be to the lowest and best bidder whose proposal complies with all the requirements prescribed. The City reserves the right to consider all elements entering into the question of determining the qualifications and responsibility of any bidder. The City may accept a proposal and award a contract which is greater or less in any amount than the Public Works Director's or City Engineer's estimate pursuant to Section 168.03. Where bids are taken in the form of separate proposals in portions of one project, the work will ordinarily be awarded to the contractor, otherwise qualified, whose combined bid is the lowest. However, the City reserves the right to award separate proposals for separate portions of the work, or to award a single contract for the entire project. No bidder bidding on all such proposals shall be required to enter into a contract covering less than the entire project without his or her consent.

   The award, if made, will be made within sixty days after opening the proposals, unless the time for awarding and executing the contract is extended by mutual consent of the City and the bidder whose proposal the City accepts. No increase shall be made in the contract price for any damages, costs or expenses incurred by the bidder as a result of such extension unless such increase is specifically approved in writing by the City as a change order to the contract. In no case will a contract award be made until the certification of funds by the Finance Director and all necessary investigations are made as to the responsibility of the bidder to whom it is proposed to award the contract.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.14 PERFORMANCE BOND.

   Within five days after receiving notice of an award and before entering into a contract the successful bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond to the City in the full amount of the contract, which binds the surety whether or not it receives notice of the award of the contract, the condition of which bond shall be the full and complete execution and performance of all of the terms contained in the contract documents.

   The bond shall be subject to the approval of the City as to sufficiency and form, and the company issuing the performance bond and the sureties thereof must be duly authorized and qualified to do business in the State and must, upon request of the Law Director, furnish a certificate of authority and compliance from the office of the State Superintendent of Insurance.

Such bond shall not be released until all provisions of the contract have been fulfilled.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)

168.15 EXECUTION OF CONTRACT; FAILURE TO EXECUTE CONTRACT.

   The contract shall be properly executed by the successful bidder and returned, together with the performance bond. If the contract is awarded to an out-of-State corporation, a certificate must be issued by the Secretary of State that such corporation is authorized to do business in Ohio. The contract, the performance bond and, in the case of out-of-State corporations, the certificate, must be returned to the City within ten days after the bidder has received notice that the contract has been awarded. No award shall be considered binding upon the City until the execution of the contract. A contract shall be deemed executed when it is signed by the bidder, and on behalf of the City, by the Mayor, when it is certified by the Finance Director as required by law, when it is secured by the required performance bond and when it is approved as to legal form by the Law Director. The successful bidder, upon his or her request, shall be entitled to a notice to proceed as soon as the contract is executed and shall be ready to proceed as soon as instructed to do so by the City.

   Failure to execute a contract and file an acceptable performance bond and affidavit within the time and as provided in this chapter shall be cause for annulment of the award and the forfeiture of the proposal guaranty to the City, not as a penalty but as liquidated damages. The contract may then be awarded to the next lowest bidder or the work may be re-advertised, at the discretion of the City.

(Ord. 1996-119. Passed 6-17-96.)