(a) Except as otherwise provided for in the Charter, the Administrative Assistant shall award and execute all contracts on behalf of the city.
(b) When any contract for the construction of a public improvement or the purchase of equipment, supplies, or materials is estimated to be in excess of $50,000, the contract shall be awarded through an open competitive bidding process unless an exception or alternative is otherwise provided by Council. The Administrative Assistant may, without competitive bidding, enter into contracts for expenditures of less than $50,000 for which funds have already been appropriated. The City shall award a contract to the lowest and/or best bidder, provided that the City may reject any and all bids in whole or by items. The City shall give preference to businesses located within Grove City provided they can provide comparable quality and price. No contract shall be divided to avoid the requirements of competitive bidding. (Ord. C36-12. Passed 8-6-12; Ord. C21-19. Passed 6-3-19.)
(c) Provided that the current operating budget provides sufficient funds and in accordance with the procedure set forth below, where applicable, the following contracts shall not be subject to competitive bidding nor shall they require further legislative authorization.
(1) Professional Services. Contracts for professional services shall not be subject to the competitive bidding requirements of this section. When professional services of a like kind are estimated to be above $100,000 annually, the Administrative Assistant shall seek requests for proposals at least once every four years, beginning in 2020. Request for Proposals shall be advertised in the same manner as the City has, or may establish, for advertising competitive bids. The Administrative Assistant shall present the findings to Council by November 15 of the required year. Final selection of professional service providers shall not require authorization of Council. (Ord. C21-19. Passed 6-3-19.)
(2) Cooperative Purchasing Programs. The Administrative Assistant shall have the authority to obtain goods and/or services through cooperative purchasing programs.
(3) Used Equipment. The Administrative Assistant shall have the authority to enter into contracts for the purchase of used equipment.
(4) Software. The Administrative Assistant shall have the authority to enter into contracts for the purchase of specific application software.
(5) Gas/Utilities. The Administrative Assistant shall have the authority to enter into contracts for the purchase of gas (fuel) and the following utilities: gas, water, electricity and/or telephone service.
(6) Insurance. The Administrative Assistant shall have the authority to enter into contracts for insurance.
(d) Council, by a majority vote, may waive the competitive bidding requirements if determined that it is in the best interest of the City.
(e) The Purchasing Agent or his/her designees shall authorize all purchases and contracts for the purchase of supplies, materials and equipment required by the Municipality and every department thereof. All shall be made in the following manner:
(1) Requested purchases for services or supplies shall be made by the department heads through a requisition form stating explicitly the items or services desired. Where a requisition exceeds $10,000, it shall be accompanied by a minimum of two independent vendor quotations, which may include a quote from a purchasing group and/or consortium. This requirement may be waived at the discretion of the Purchasing Agent. The requisition form will be submitted to the Finance Director who will determine if unencumbered appropriations are available and sign a purchase order. The Administrative Assistant’s signature on the purchase order shall constitute prima-facie approval of such procedure.
(2) Purchase order shall be on printed forms as determined by the Administrative Assistant. They shall bear consecutive numbers as to date of issue. After approval of requisitions, and after the certificate of the Finance Director stating that money is available for such purchase from the proper fund and account, the purchase order, with the price or quotation affixed, shall be issued to the vendor, supplier or person rendering service. Every purchase order shall be immediately posted to the encumbrance ledger and the sum shall be subtracted from the respective appropriation account.
(3) The notice of receipt of goods or the provision of services along with approval to pay for the goods shall bear the signature or other approval of the department head or his/her designee. The signature or other approval shall be affixed to invoice or saved in some other manner in the permanent requisition/purchasing order file.
(4) All vouchers and warrants for the disbursement of City funds, with the exception of expenditures for City personal services, shall bear the purchase order number authorizing such expenditure.
(5) When an emergency purchase by an authorized City employee is necessary outside of the normal operating hours of City Hall, the authorization for the expenditure must be obtained from the Purchasing Agent or his/her designee within two normal working days of City Hall. If the expenditure involves funds which have not been appropriated by Council, an appropriation ordinance must be passed.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision hereunder, when City Council, by Resolution, determines that a Design-Build project delivery system shall be employed on a public improvement and the estimated cost of the project exceeds thirty thousand dollars ($30,000), the Design-Build contract shall be let as follows:
(1) In addition to the project specific qualifications that the Design-Builder shall meet as set forth in the contract documents for a particular project, every Design-Builder, before entering a contract with the City, must demonstrate the following:
A. The architectural services provided under the Design-Build contract shall be provided and performed by an architect registered under Ohio R.C. Chapter 4703 or by a firm holding a certificate of authorization granted pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 4703.
B. The Design-Builder shall meet the requirements of Ohio R.C. 153.70 when design-build services are provided to the City.
C. The Design Builder shall disclose to the City, in writing, the identity of the architect or architectural firm engaged by and contractually responsible to the Design-builder for project services.
D. The Design-Builder and architect shall agree that the architect will have direct supervision of the architectural work and that the architect's services will not be terminated on the project, without the immediate replacement by another architect.
(2) When the City Administrator determines the need to engage professionals to create Bridging Documents, such engagements shall be Professional Services Contracts not subject to competitive bidding.
(3) Once the Bridging Documents are complete and incorporated into a Request for Proposals for Design-Build Services, that Request for Proposals shall be advertised in the same manner as the City has, or may establish, for advertising competitive bids.
(4) The Request for Proposals shall require a project price to be submitted with the Design-Builders’ proposals.
(5) The City Administrator shall evaluate and rank proposers according to the requirements set forth in the Request for Proposals.
(6) Once ranked, the City Administrator shall negotiate with the first-ranked proposer to ensure that the Design-Build contract meets the best interests of the City.
(7) Should Grove City fail to reach an agreement with the first-ranked proposer after ranking, it shall end negotiations with that proposer and begin negotiations with the proposer next in the order of rank. Grove City shall continue to negotiate with the proposers in their order of rank until a contract is approved by Council.
(8) The Bridging Designer shall be eligible to submit a proposal for the Design Build project for which it developed the Bridging Documents. (Ord. C14-11. Passed 4-18-11.)
(Ord. C30-60; Am. Ord. C6-83. Passed 2-21-83; Am. Ord. C56-08. Passed 6-2-08.)