Any expenditure for supplies, materials or equipment, construction project or contract obligating the village, where the amount of the village's obligation is in excess of $5,000, shall be governed by the provisions of this section, subject to § 34.04.
(A) The expenditure shall be made the subject of a written contract. A purchase order shall be a sufficient written contract only in cases where the expenditure is in the usual and ordinary course of the village's affairs; and in no case shall it be sufficient for the construction of public works or the contracting for supplies or services over any period of time, or where the quality of the goods or materials or the scope of the services bargained is not wholly standardized.
(B) Notice inviting sealed bids shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation or posted in three places in the village, at least five days before the final date for submitting bids thereon. The notice shall give briefly the specifications of the supplies, materials or equipment or construction project or other matter to be contracted for, and shall state the amount of bond or other security, if any is to be required, to be given with the bid and the amount of bond or other security to be given with the contract. The notice shall state the time limit, the place of filing and the time of opening bids and shall also state that the right is reserved to reject any or all bids. Any other conditions of award of the contract shall also be stated in general terms.
(C) The purchasing agent shall also solicit bids from a reasonable number of qualified prospective bidders as are known to him or her by sending each a copy of the notice requesting bids.
(D) The Council shall prescribe the amount of any security to be deposited with any bid, which deposit shall be in the form of cash, certified or cashier's check or bond written by a surety company authorized to do business in the state. The amount of the security shall be expressed in terms of percentage of the bid submitted. The Council shall also fix the amount of the performance bond, and in the case of construction contracts, the amount of the labor and material bond to be required of the successful bidders.
(E) Bids shall be opened in public at the time and place designated in the notice requesting bids in the presence of the President and either the Clerk or the Treasurer. The bids shall thereupon be carefully examined and tabulated and reported to the Council with the recommendation of the purchasing agent at the next Council meeting. After tabulation, all bids may be inspected by the competing bidders.
(F) When the bids are submitted to the Council, the contract to be executed shall also be submitted; and if the Council shall find any of the bids to be satisfactory, it shall award the contract to the lowest responsible bidders, unless the Council shall determine that the public interest will be better served by accepting a higher bid, and shall authorize execution of the contract upon execution of the contract by the successful bidder and the filing of any bonds which may have been required. The award may be by resolution or ordinance. The Council shall have the right to reject any or all bids and to waive irregularities in bidding and to accept bids which do not conform in every respect to the bidding requirements.
(G) At the time the contract is executed by him or her, the contractor shall file a bond executed by a surety company, authorized to do business in the state, to the village, conditioned upon the performance of the contract and saving the village harmless from all losses or damage caused to any person or property by reason of any carelessness or negligence by the contractor and from all expense of inspection, engineering and otherwise caused by the delay in the completion of any improvement, and further conditioned to pay all laborers, mechanics, sub-contractors and material men, as well as all just debts, dues and demands incurred in the performance of the work.
(H) All bids, deposits of cash or certified or cashier's checks may be retained until the contract is awarded and signed. If any successful bidder fails or refuses to enter into the contract awarded to him or her within five days after the same has been awarded, or file any bond required within the same time, the deposit accompanying his or her bid shall be forfeited to the village; and the Council may, in its discretion, award the contract to the next low responsible bidder, unless the Council shall determine that the public interest will be better served by accepting a higher bid, or the contract may be re-advertised.
(1988 Code, § 1.402) (Ord. passed 4-3-1978; Ord. passed 1-18-1988; Ord. passed 8-5-1991; Ord. passed 4-21-2014)