(A) Generally.
(1) Definition and scope of procurement. Procurement activity, as herein used, shall mean any action taken by the city acting as buyer for obtaining materials, supplies, services and public improvements (hereafter goods and services) from a vendor acting as seller, whether by purchase, rent, lease, lease-purchase or other similar methods of acquisition as may be used by the city.
(2) Rule against subdivision. No purchase shall be subdivided to circumvent the dollar value limitations imposed by this subchapter, policy or any guidelines established by the City Manager.
(3) Purchases or contracts less than $100.
(a) Purchases under $100 shall be made from vendors appearing on an approved vendor list for copy services, office supplies, maintenance supplies, small parts, and the like, which are not normally purchased in large enough quantities to achieve low prices.
(b) Factors including, but not limited to, product quality, serviceability, delivery, emergencies, vendor history, vendor performance, existing contracts and other considerations of a similar kind normally relevant to the exercise of good business judgment shall constitute sufficient and good cause on which to base the decisions.
(4) Purchases or contracts of $100 or more, but less than $5,000.
(a) Purchases of $100 or more, but less than $5,000 shall be based upon the solicitation of no less than three verbal, telephonic or internet price quotations when practical and feasible to do so, and shall be made from the lowest priced vendor unless good cause exists not to do so.
(b) Factors including, but not limited to, product quality, serviceability, delivery, emergencies, vendor history, vendor performance, existing contracts and other considerations of a similar kind normally relevant to the exercise of good business judgment shall constitute sufficient and good cause on which to base the decisions.
(5) Purchasing or contracts of $5,000 or more, but less than $10,000. Any expenditure for goods and services, the cost of which is $5,000 or more, but less than $10,000 shall be, based whenever practical or feasible, upon the solicitation of no less than three written price quotations.
(6) Purchases or contracts of $10,000 or more. Any expenditure for goods and services, the cost of which is $10,000 or more shall be made only after the approval of the City Council has first been secured.
(B) Formal bids. Formal bids shall be required subject to the following regulations.
(1) Definition. For the purpose of this section, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
FORMAL BID. The submission of a written, sealed price quotation by a vendor to the city pursuant to the issue of public notice thereof by the city, and based on written specifications and standard conditions stipulated by the city for procuring goods and/or services for the city. Bids received by facsimile and/or over the internet shall be deemed written, sealed price quotations provided they are forthwith transferred to the City Clerk and kept confidential until the public bid opening.
(2) Scope.
(a) The $10,000 bid requirement shall apply to all goods and services that can be procured through this process.
(b) This limit shall apply to one-time purchases.
(3) Invitation to bid.
(a) An invitation to bid shall be issued and shall include a purchase description and/or specifications and all material contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement.
(b) The invitation to bid shall be mailed or otherwise distributed by the purchasing manager to a sufficient number of known reliable vendors to ensure and maintain the integrity and competitiveness of the bid process.
(4) Public notice and advertising. Adequate public notice of the invitation to bid shall be given a reasonable time before the date set forth therein for the opening of the bids. A minimum of ten days’ notice must be given before bid opening with the advertisement for bids having been published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or within an appropriate trade publication.
(5) Addendums/clarifications. Bid addendums and clarifications may be issued by the purchasing manager.
(6) Bid opening. Bids shall be opened publicly in the presence of one or more witnesses at the time and place designated in the invitation to bid. The amount of each bid and other relevant information with the name of each bidder shall be recorded by the City Clerk’s office. Bid tabulations shall be open to public inspection. A bid opening may be postponed if fewer than three bids are received.
(7) Bid acceptance and evaluation. Bids shall be accepted (except late bids, which shall not be accepted) without alteration or correction, except as otherwise authorized by the purchasing procedures adopted by the City Manager, or the factors stipulated in the invitation to bid. Bids shall be evaluated based on the requirement set forth in the invitation to bid, which may include criteria to determine acceptability such as, quality, references, recommendations by city consultants, workmanship, delivery, inspection, testing and suitability for a particular purpose.
(8) Correction or withdrawal of bids. Correction or withdrawal of inadvertently erroneous bids before or after award, or cancellation of awards or contracts based on bid mistakes, shall be permitted according to the purchasing procedures established by the City Manager. After bid opening, no changes in bid prices or other provisions of bids prejudicial to the interests of the city or fair competition shall be permitted. Except as otherwise provided by regulation, all decisions to permit the correction or withdrawal of bids, or to cancel awards or contracts based on bid mistakes, shall be supported by a written determination made by the department head and approved by the City Manager.
(9) Award. The City Manager, after approval by City Council, shall approve the award of public contracts. The City Manager and City Council shall retain the right to take any of the following actions:
(a) Award a contract to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder who has submitted a bid most advantageous to the city;
1. Definition of responsible bidder. A RESPONSIBLE BIDDER is herein defined as a person or firm which has the capability in all respects to perform the contract requirements fully, and which has the integrity and reliability which will assure good faith performance.
2. Definition of responsive bidder. A RESPONSIVE BIDDER is herein defined as a person or firm which has submitted a bid which conforms in all material respects to the descriptions, specifications, terms, conditions and other factors called for in the invitation to bid.
(b) Accept or reject in part or in whole any or all bids;
(c) Waive any inconsequential informality or defect in the bids;
(d) Negotiate any viable modifications in price, terms, conditions or specifications with the low bidder that would be advantageous to the city;
(e) Award a contract to other than the low bidder should the action be in the best public interest; and
(f) Award a contract by division among two or more vendors if the alternatives are duly indicated in the original invitation to bid.
(10) Waiver of bid requirement. The City Council, after review by the department head, the City Manager and the City Attorney shall retain the right to waive bid requirements subject to the following conditions:
(a) The action is found to be to the advantage and in the best interests of the city;
(b) Sole source procurement. A contract may be awarded by the City Council for a supply, service, equipment or construction item without competition when the department head has advised the City Manager in writing and certified that there is only one source vendor available;
(c) Lower prices can be obtained without soliciting competitive bids;
(d) The department head has been engaged in cooperative procurement bids of goods and/or services in conjunction with another governmental agency where joint bids have been taken and are advantageous to the city; and
(e) Annually, the department head will provide a list of negotiated purchases for City Council approval, with justification provided for each purchase and the date of the last formal bid.
(11) Change orders. Change orders to contracts authorized by City Council, including construction contract, shall be authorized without further City Council approval if there are funds budgeted to cover the change order, and provided that the change order does not alter the scope of the original contract and the amount of the change order does not exceed 10% of the original contract amount.
(C) Specifications.
(1) Definition. For the purpose of this section, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
SPECIFICATION. Any description of the physical or functional characteristics, or of the nature of a supply, service, equipment or construction items. It may include a description of any requirement for inspecting, testing or preparing a supply, service, equipment or construction item for delivery.
(2) Responsibility of department head. The department head shall prepare, issue, revise and monitor the use of specifications for supplies, services, equipment and construction as required by the city and shall maintain a standard specifications file.
(3) Maximum practicable competition. All specifications shall seek to promote overall economy for the purposes intended and encourage competition in satisfying the city’s needs and shall not be unduly restrictive.
(4) Specifications prepared by architects and engineers. The requirements of this section regarding the purposes and non-restrictiveness of specifications shall apply to all specifications, including, but not limited to, those prepared by architects, engineers and consultants.
(D) Cooperative procurement. The department head shall endeavor to participate with other governmental agencies in cooperative bids for the procurement of goods or supplies subject to City Council approval of contract and waiver of local bids. It shall be the policy of this city to engage in those joint procurement efforts whenever the activity is feasible and economically advantageous to the city.
(E) Procurement of professional services.
(1) The procurement of certain services where technical expertise or knowledge of a specialized field are critical to the performance of that service, including but not limited to, attorneys, engineers, planning consultants, architects, accountants and other similar professionals, shall not require bidding.
(2) The following regulations shall apply:
(a) Pursuant to City Charter, the City Council shall be empowered to appoint the city attorney and other professional consultants; and
(b) While competitive bids shall not be required, the following shall be applicable for non- legal services:
1. When the cost of procuring professional services is $10,000 or more, City Council shall make the appointment;
2. When the cost of procuring professional services is less than $10,000, the City Manager shall have the authority to procure the services of a professional or consultant known to be competent, reliable and capable of performing in the best interests of the city the task that he or she has been employed to do.
(3) The procurement of legal services (other than City Manager’s appointment of the City Attorney) shall be directed by the City Manager after consultation with the City Attorney.
(F) Procurement in cases of emergency.
(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this procedure, the City Manager or purchasing manager, or a designee of either, may make or authorize others to make emergency procurements when there exists a threat to public health, welfare or safety conditions as defined in regulations or procedures promulgated by the City Manager, provided the emergency procurements shall be made with the competition as is practicable under the circumstances.
(2) An after-the-fact written determination of the basis for the emergency and for the selection of the particular vendor shall be included in the purchase file and disclosed to the City Council.
(Ord. 522, passed 6-13-2006)