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Sec. 18-85. Competitive sealed bidding.
(a) Conditions for use. Competitive sealed bidding shall be used for the award of all
contracts for goods, equipment and services over $25,000.00, except as otherwise
provided for in this article, where it is both practicable and advantageous for the city to
specify all detailed plans, specifications, standards, terms and conditions so that
adequate competition will result and award may be made to the lowest responsive and
responsible bidder principally on the basis of price; provided, however, that if the amount
of a bid submitted by a bidder who maintains a local office is not more than ten percent
in excess of the lowest other responsive and responsible bidder, such local bidder may
be offered the opportunity of accepting the contract at the low bid amount.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the city manager may waive competitive sealed bidding
methods by making a written finding which shall contain reasons supporting the
conclusion that competitive sealed bidding is not practicable or is not advantageous to
the city, which finding must be ratified and the award approved by an affirmative vote of
four -fifths of the city commission after a properly advertised public hearing. When
competitive sealed bidding methods are waived, other procurement methods shall be
followed except for the cone of silence provisions, which shall not be applicable. This
section shall not apply to transfers to the United States or any department or agency
thereof, to the state or to any political subdivision or agency thereof.
(b) Invitation far bids. An invitation for bids shall be issued and shall include, but not be
limited to:
(1) Instructions and information to bidders concerning the bid submission requirements,
including the time and date set for receipt of bids, the address of the office to which bids
are to be delivered, the maximum time for bid acceptance by the city, the right of the city
manager to reject all offers or bids, and any other special information;
(2) The purchase description, qualification factors, delivery or performance schedule,
and such inspection and acceptance requirements as may not be included in the
purchase description;
(3) The contract terms and conditions, including warranty and bonding or other security
requirements, as applicable;
(4) The date, time and place at which any prebid conference may be held and whether
attendance at such conference is a condition for bidding; and
(5) The place where any documents incorporated by reference may be obtained.
(c) Bidders lists. Bidders lists may be compiled to provide the city with the names of
businesses which may be interested in competing for various types of city contracts.
Unless otherwise provided, inclusion or exclusion of the name of a business does not
indicate whether that business is responsible in respect to a particular procurement or
otherwise capable of successfully performing a particular city contract.
(d) Public notice. Notice inviting bids shall be published at least once in a newspaper
of general circulation in the city a reasonable time prior to bid opening; but in any event
at least 15 calendar days shall intervene between the last date of publication and the
final date for submitting bids. Such notice shall state the general description of the goods
or services to be purchased, the place where a copy of the invitation for bids may be
obtained, and the time and place for opening of bids. In addition, the chief procurement
officer may solicit bids from all responsible prospective suppliers listed on a current
bidders list by sending such bidders copies of the notice to acquaint them with the
proposed purchase.
(e) Prebid conferences. Prebid conferences may be conducted to explain the
requirements of the proposed procurement and shall be announced to all prospective
bidders known to have received an invitation for bids. Conferences should be held long
enough after the invitations for bids have been issued to allow prospective bidders to
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become familiar with the proposed procurement, but sufficiently before bid submission to
allow consideration of the conference results in preparing their bids. Nothing stated at a
prebid conference shallchange the invitation for bids unless a change is made by written
addendum, which shall be supplied to all those prospective bidders known to have
received an invitation for bids. All prebid conferences shall be recorded, and, if a
transcript is made, such transcript shall be a public record.
(f) Bid opening. All bids shall be submitted sealed to the city clerk and shall be opened
publicly by the city clerk or designee in the presence of one or more witnesses at the
time and place stated in the public notice and in the invitation for bids. The amount of
each bid and such other relevant information as may be deemed desirable, together with
the name of each bidder, shall be recorded; the record and each bid shall be open to
public inspection.
(g) Bid acceptance and evaluation. Bids shall be evaluated based on the requirements
set forth in the invitation for bids, which may include criteria to determine acceptability
such as inspection, quality, workmanship, delivery and suitability for a particular
purpose. Those criteria that will affect the bid price and be considered in evaluation for
award, such as discounts, transportation costs, and total or life cycle costs shall be
measured objectively. No criteria may be used in bid evaluation which were not set forth
in the invitationfor bids. The results of the evaluation and tabulation of bid prices shall be
transmitted by the chief procurement officer to the city manager.
(h) Award. The procurement shall be awarded with reasonable promptness by written
notice to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, whose bid meets the
requirements and criteria set forth in the invitation for bids except as otherwise provided
in this section. For any procurement, including contracts, a bid to be awarded which
exceeds $25,000.00 shall be awarded by the city manager only upon certification of the
results of the evaluation and the bid tabulation by the chief procurement officer as being
in compliance with competitive sealed bidding methods, except as otherwise provided in
this article. Copies of the city manager's award shall be delivered to the chief
procurement officer and all affected department directors.
All bid awards in excess of $50,000.00 must be approved by the city commission
upon recommendation by the city manager. The decision of the city commission shall be
final. Threshold amounts referenced herein shall include the values associated with
potential options of renewal. Awards made by the city manager or by the city
commission shall include authority for all subsequent options of renewal, if any. The
aforementioned options of renewal shall be exercisable at the option of the city manager
if, after review of past performance under the contract, the city manager determines, in
his/her sole discretion, that exercise of the option of renewal is in the best interest of the
city.
The city commission or the city manager shall have the authority to reject any or
all bids or portions of bids, or to negotiate with the lowest bidder for better pricing.
In the event only one bid is received, the city may award to the sole bidder,
negotiate for better pricing or may re -bid, whichever is in the best interest of the city.
The city manager shall submit to the city commission on a monthly basis a list of
procurements or contracts awarded by the city manager.
(Ord. No. 12271, § 2, 8-22-02)