(a) Competitive Bidding. Contracts of the City shall be awarded by Competitive Bidding unless this Article provides that Competitive Bidding is not required.
(b) Competitive Bidding Procedure. When Competitive Bidding is required by this Article, or when it is permissible and used by the City, the procedures set forth in this section shall be followed:
(1) Issuance of Solicitation.
A. The City Council may, in the course of its lawful conduct of the City's business, consider and approve the issuance of a Solicitation requesting offers for Goods, Services, Contracts or a Solicitation requesting Proposals from Persons for the satisfaction of specific needs of the City as may be set forth from time to time; or
B. The officer authorized by this Article, under limited spending authorization, may approve the issuance of a Solicitation; or
C. The Mayor may, without advance direction from the City Council, issue a Solicitation the objects of which, in the Mayor's reasonable judgment are (i) in the normal course of the City's business, (ii) necessary for a Public Purpose, (iii) in the Best Interests of the City provided that the Mayor may issue such a Solicitation as authorized by this subsection only in the event that to do so does not obligate the City to enter into a Contract and does not require the Expenditure of any funds of the City.
(2) Contents of Solicitation.
A. The Mayor shall work with appropriate City Officials to determine the Specifications most likely to satisfy the Public Purpose underlying the Solicitation;
B. A Solicitation, including the Specifications and a Submission Deadline, shall be fmalized for issue;
(3) Issuance of Solicitation.
A. The Solicitation shall then be issued by the Clerk as set forth in this subsection (b)(3) and the issuance of a Solicitation may be accomplished by any of the following means outlined in subsection 1., 2., 3., and 4. below and may, in addition to the required issuance means, include solicitations described in subsection 5., at the discretion of the Mayor:
1. Posting the Solicitation on the Public Board at City Hall for at least ten (10) Business Days;
2. Posting the Solicitation on the City's website under a section clearly identified and available to be accessed by the public for at least ten (10) Business Days;
3. Publishing the Solicitation as a Class I Legal Advertisement according to the requirements of West Virginia Code § 59-3-1 et seq., as it may be amended from time to time, or any successor provision of the West Virginia Code, provided that the Submission Deadline is at least ten (10) business days from the date of publication;
4. Publishing the Solicitation in any public forum for similar requests so long as the forum is organized by the State of West Virginia, to solicit bids or proposals for itself, its municipalities or its political subdivisions;
5. Mailing, E-mailing or transmitting other forms of written correspondence, which for the purposes of this section shall include electronic correspondence, to Business Enterprises known to the City to trade in Goods and Services of the kind, character and quantity requested in the Solicitation;
(4) Collection of Bids.
A. Bids and Proposals Collected by Clerk. Any Persons or Business Enterprises wishing to respond to a Solicitation shall submit a sealed Bid or Proposal to the Clerk's Office before 4:30 p.m. on the Business Day of the Submission Deadline, with such time determined by the clocks at City Hall and no Bids or Proposals shall be opened by the Clerk before 4:30 p.m. on the date of the Submission Deadline;
B. Clerk to Review Bids and Proposals. The Clerk shall review each Bid or Proposal and itemize or summarize all Bids or Proposals submitted to forward to the appropriate party under this Section;
C. Clerk to Retain Copies of All Bids and Proposals. The Clerk shall retain copies of all Bids and Proposals submitted to the City response to Solicitations for not less than ninety (90) days.
(5) Forwarding of Bids.
A. Contracts to be approved by Council. The Clerk shall forward the Bids or Proposals, or prepared summaries thereof, to the Chairperson of the Finance Committee of the City Council.
B. Limited Spending Authorized Solicitation. In the event the Competitive Bidding process was used for a purchase to be conducted under the Limited Spending Authorizations of the Mayor, the Clerk or the Department Heads the Clerk shall forward the Bids or Proposals or prepared summaries thereof, to the appropriate City Official having responsibility for the Expenditure.
C. Completion of the Competitive Bidding Process for Expenditures under the Limited Spending Authorizations. When the Mayor, the Clerk or a Department Head has opted to use the Competitive Bidding procedures herein to solicit bids for purchases to be made under their Limited Spending Authority as described in this Article, the appropriate City Official may use the submitted Bids to make the Contract in the manner provided by this Article and the Competitive Bidding process is completed.
(6) Consideration of Bids by Finance Committee.
A. At the next meeting of the Finance Committee of the City Council during which the Bids or Proposals may be lawfully considered, the Finance Committee shall consider each Bid or Proposal, utilizing any available information and may call before it any City Official, or any other Person, whose knowledge the Finance Committee believes might be helpful;
B. The Finance Committee may (i) select the Bid from the Lowest Responsible Bidder, or a Proposal that it believes to be in the Best Interests of the City, to recommend to the City Council for approval, or (ii) recommend to the City Council that no Bid or Proposal be accepted or (iii) it may recommend that the City Council not accept a particular Bid or Proposal if the Finance Committee believes it was submitted by other than a Responsible Bidder.
C. The Finance Committee shall articulate with reasonable particularity the reasoning underlying its selection of the Lowest Responsible Bidder.
(7) Consideration of the Bids by the City Council.
A. At the next meeting of the City Council during which Bids or Proposals may be lawfully considered, the City Council may take up the recommendations of the Finance Committee and may, subject to requirements of law, accept the Bid from the Lowest Responsible Bidder, or a submitted Proposal, by majority vote;
B. In the event that the City Council accepts a Bid it may direct the Mayor or other City Official to execute any necessary documents, purchase orders or contracts on behalf of the City.
C. The City Council is not required to make a specific finding that a bidding party is a Responsible Bidder and any acceptance of a Bid or a Proposal by the City Council shall constitute its finding that the Bid or Proposal was submitted by a Responsible Bidder.
(c) Lowest Bid or Proposal Not Required. The City is not required to accept the Bid or Proposal with the lowest cost.
(1) In the case of a Bid the City Council may determine that the Bidder submitting the lowest cost Bid is not a Responsible Bidder and may look to other submitted Bids for Responsible Bidders;
(2) In the case of a Proposal, the City Council may make a determination that the plans, procedures or solutions offered by a Responsible Bidder are in the Best Interests of the City, even though the total Expenditure may exceed that of other submitted Proposals.
(d) Cancellation of a Solicitation. At any time during the process the Mayor, the City Clerk, the Department Head or the City Council, whichever ordered the Solicitation under this Article, may cancel the Solicitation by providing notice of the cancellation in the same manner in which the Solicitation was issued and by notifying in writing each and every Bidder that has either submitted a bid or that is known to the appropriate City Official to be preparing a Bid or Proposal.
(e) No Offer for Contract. Neither the issuance of a Solicitation nor any other step in the process of competitive bidding shall be considered an offer by the City subject to acceptance by a Bidder. A Solicitation shall be determined to be a willingness on behalf of the City to review offers or proposals to satisfy the needs of the City.
(Ord. 641. Passed 12-7-09.)