(a) All contracts made by the Council shall be executed in the name of the Municipality and signed on its behalf by the Mayor and Clerk. Except where the contract is for equipment, services, materials or supplies to be purchased under Ohio R.C. 125.04, 713.23(D), or 5513.01, or available from a qualified nonprofit agency pursuant to Ohio R.C. 4115.31 through 4115.35, or required to be purchased from a qualified nonprofit agency under Ohio R.C. 125.60 through 125.6012, or, during the period of emergency declared by Executive Order 2020-01D, issued on March 9, 2020, when the purchase is for personal protective equipment necessary to respond to that emergency, when any expenditure, other than the compensation of persons employed in the Municipality, exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), such contracts shall be in writing and made to the lowest and best bidder after advertising once a week for not less than two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the Municipality. The Legislative Authority may also cause notice to be inserted in trade papers or other publications designated by it or to be distributed by electronic means, including posting the notice on the Legislative Authority’s internet web site. If the Legislative Authority posts the notice on its web site, it may eliminate the second notice otherwise required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the municipality, provided that the first notice published in such newspaper meets all of the following requirements:
(1) It is published at least two weeks before the opening of bids.
(2) It includes a statement that the notice is posted on the Legislative Authority’s internet web site.
(3) It includes the internet address of the Legislative Authority’s internet web site.
(4) It includes instructions describing how the notice may be accessed on the Legislative Authority’s internet web site.
(b) The bids shall be opened and shall be publicly read by the Clerk or a person designated by the Clerk at the time, date and place specified in the advertisement to bidders or specifications. The time, date and place of bid openings may be extended to a late date by the Council, provided that written or oral notice of the change shall be given to all persons who have received or requested specifications no later than 96 hours prior to the original time and date fixed for the opening. This section does not apply to the Municipality if an Administrator has been appointed pursuant to the provisions of Ohio R.C. 735.271, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.
(c) As used in this section, “personal protective equipment” means equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that cause workplace injuries and illnesses.
(R.C. § 731.14)