(a) The Mayor is granted authority to spend up to twenty-five thousand dollars, ($25,000) without Council formal approval.
(b) Definitions.
(1) “Conventional Bidding Process” shall mean and refer to advertising and publishing written bids in a newspaper of general circulation within the Village in accordance with Ohio Law and as provided for herein.
(2) “Reverse Internet Auction” shall mean an internet-based process in which:
A. Prospective bidders register on-line with a reverse internet auction vendor selected and authorized by the Village to conduct the auction process; and
B. The auction process is conducted by the Village in conjunction with the reverse internet auction vendor solely and totally by and through the internet; and
C. Bidders are given specifications for items, goods or services being sought for purchase by the Village; and
D. Bidders submit bids via the internet to a website controlled and operated by the reverse internet auction vendor in order to lower the price of the item, goods or services to the lowest possible level; and
(3) “Reverse Internet Auction Vendor” shall mean an internet-based entity that hosts a reverse internet auction.
(c)
All items, goods, supplies and contractual services including those involved in public improvement projects conducted or paid for by the Village or under the control of the Village, except as otherwise provided herein, when the estimated cost thereof exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) shall be purchased by formal, written contract from the lowest and best responsible bidder, after due notice inviting proposals. If the Village determines that the use of a reverse internet auction is advantageous to the Village, then, in accordance with the Ohio Revised Code and any rules or ordinances the Village shall adopt, the Village may make such purchases either through the conventional bidding method or the reverse internet auction method.
(d) Conventional Bidding Process. The notice inviting sealed bids using the conventional method of bidding shall:
(1) Be advertised once a week for not less than two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the Village, at least two weeks before the opening of bids.
(2) Include a general description of the items to be purchased or sold;
(3) State where bid blanks and specifications may be secured;
(4) State the date, time and place for opening bids.
(5) Require bond be posted where necessary.
(6) The sealed bids shall be opened in public at the date, time and place stated in the notice inviting bids.
(7) A tabulation of all bids received shall be posted for public inspection.
If the Village Department or administration authorized to purchase by the legislative authority posts the notice to bid on the Village web site, it may eliminate the second notice described under paragraph (1) above otherwise required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the Village, provided that the first notice published in such newspaper meets all of the following requirements:
A. It is published at least two weeks before the opening of bids.
B. It includes a statement that the notice is posted on the legislative authority's internet web site.
C. It includes the internet address of the legislative authority's internet web site.
D. It includes instructions describing how the notice may be accessed on the legislative authority's internet web site.
(e) Reverse Internet Auction Process.
(1) Bidders shall be provided instructions by the reverse internet auction vendor which shall include providing unique identifiers for anonymity and individually secured passwords for access to the internet site operated by the reverse internet auction vendor;
(2) Individually secured passwords shall be provided to the Village or its representative designated by the Mayor;
(3) The bidding process shall be timed which timing shall be explained in the reverse internet auction specifications;
(4) The Village Law Director shall review and approve the specifications or shall be permitted to draft or create specifications for specific purchases;
(5) The reverse internet auction shall be held at a specific date and time and shall end at a specific date and time as noted in the specifications.
(6) The reverse internet auction and bidding process shall be interactive with each bidder able to make multiple bids, with each successive bid replacing the previous bid, during the allotted time;
(7) During the bidding/auction process, each bidder shall be continually notified or signaled the status of his/her/its relative position in the bidding process;
(8) Bidders shall not have access to other bidders identities or bids and shall be required to maintain such confidentiality of identity under penalty of disqualification;
(9) The Village or its designated representative shall have access to real-time data including all bids and bid amounts;
(10) The Mayor is authorized to pay a reasonable fee to the reverse internet auction vendor which fee shall not exceed the Mayor’s spending authority;
(11) The fee shall be paid from funds appropriated by Council for such purposes;
(12) Alternatively, in the Mayor’s discretion, the fee may be included as part of the bids received during the reverse internet auction and paid by the winning bidder or paid as provided in paragraph (10) above;
(13) The Village shall be permitted to retain the right to refuse any or all bids made during the reverse internet auction;
(14) The Village retains the right to begin the reverse internet auction process anew if the Village determines it is in the best interest of the Village;
(f)
The purchase of supplies and contractual services, when the cost thereof exceeds five thousand dollars, ($5,000) but is less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) shall not require formal bidding but must be approved in writing by the Mayor or department head seeking such purchase. Whenever the purchase of supplies and contractual services exceeds five thousand dollars, ($5,000) the Mayor or department head seeking to purchase supplies or contractual services shall use their best efforts to solicit estimates of bids or contract with minority business enterprises or female business enterprises as more fully defined in Chapter 115 of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Highland Hills.
(g) In exercising the provisions of this section, the Mayor is authorized and directed to establish rules, regulations and/or policies not inconsistent with the procedures outlined in this chapter and the conditions of each competitive bidding pursuant to this chapter including but not limited to performance surety, time for performance, penalties or bonuses for late or early performance, specifications, experience, qualifications, disclosure of interested parties, alternatives, conditions or substitutions and form of contract.
(Ord. 2012-48. Passed 7-30-12.)