All contracts and purchases by any city officer, department or agency shall be void unless made in conformity with all applicable provisions of general law, this charter, and with all rules and regulations fixed by ordinance, from time to time, concerning a dollar amount for which competitive bids shall be required for contracts for improvements or purchases of materials, supplies and equipment.
In the case of contracts for the construction of any improvements in which competitive bids shall be required, sealed competitive bids shall be obtained by notice published at least once each week for two successive weeks in two newspapers of opposite politics published in the city. The notice shall refer to necessary specifications and plans, shall invite the submission of bids, and shall specify the date on which the bids will be opened. In the case of contracts or purchases of supplies, materials and equipment or personal services, sealed competitive bids shall be obtained either (a) by published notice inviting bids as in the case of contracts for the construction of improvements, or (b) by mailed notice stating the necessary specifications, inviting the submission of bids, and stating the date on which the bids will be opened. The first of these methods shall be used unless the council or water board, as the case may be, shall enter an order of record authorizing the use of the second method and stating the reasons why such method was authorized. Whether or not it is so stated in the published mailed notice, all bids may be rejected. No city officer, department or agency shall subdivide any contract or purchase for the purpose of evading the requirements of this section with respect to competitive bidding.
The water board with respect to any improvements, extensions or additions to the water system, and the council with respect to city improvements under its jurisdiction, shall cause to be prepared accurate and complete maps, plans and specifications therefor and shall have the authority to cause such work to be done either by the employment of labor and the furnishings of material, or by entering into a contract for the performance of the labor and for the material. If a contract is let for any improvement, the water board or the council, as the case may be, shall require the contractor to give a sufficient bond with corporate surety to guarantee the faithful performance of the contract and the payment for all labor performed and all materials furnished in the performance of the contract, as provided in section thirty-nine, article two, chapter thirty eight of the official code of West Virginia, as amended. Any change or alteration in the contract after it is entered into shall be made only upon resolution passed by the water board or the council, as the case may be, and shall not be effective until the price to be paid for the work and material, or both, under the altered or modified contract, shall have been agreed upon in writing and such agreement signed by the contractor and the general manager with the approval of the water board, or the city manager with the approval of the council, as the case may be.
The water board with respect to contracts and purchases of the water department, and the City council, with respect to contracts and purchases of other city offices, departments and agencies, may by resolution prescribe additional rules and regulations governing the making of contracts and purchases, not inconsistent with general law or with the provisions of this charter.
In the case of an emergency the city council or water board, as the case may be, may by special resolution setting forth the facts constituting the emergency dispense with the requirement of competitive bidding and with the requirements of its rules and regulations governing contracts and purchases.
Any officer or employee of the city who shall be directly or indirectly interested in any contract with the city, or in the profits to be derived therefrom, shall forthwith forfeit his office or employment, and in addition thereto any such contract shall be void and unenforceable against the city. The acceptance by any officer or employee of any interest in such contract or of any gift or gratuity from any person, firm or corporation dealing with the city which might influence the officer or employee and in the discharge of his duties shall forever disqualify such officer or employee from holding any office or employment in the city government, and in addition he shall be subject to criminal prosecution as provided by general law or by City ordinance. (Amended February 18, 1982)