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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPre-Legislation1 Cit of Miami Y City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive u ui Legislation Miami, FL 33133 l www.miamigov.com .-' Ordinance: 13629 File Number: 16-00827 Final Action Date: 9/8/2016 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 18/ARTICLE III/SECTION 18-104(B) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), ENTITLED "FINANCE/CITY OF MIAMI PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE/RESOLUTION OF PROTESTED SOLICITATIONS AND AWARDS/AUTHORITY TO RESOLVE PROTESTS", TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS FOR THE ADJUDICATION OF BID PROTESTS BYA HEARING OFFICER; SETTING FORTH HEARING OFFICER APPOINTMENTS AND DUTIES, HEARING DATE SCHEDULING, AND HEARING PROCEDURES; FURTHER AMENDING CHAPTER 18/ARTICLE V/SECTION 18-176.3 OF THE CITY CODE, ENTITLED "FINANCE/SALE OR LEASE OF CITY'S REAL PROPERTY/PROCEDURES FOR RESOLUTION OF PROTESTED UDP'S AND AWARDS", TO PROVIDE THAT PROTESTED SOLICITATIONS AND AWARDS BE ADJUDICATED PURSUANT TO THE PROCESS CREATED IN SECTION 18-104(B) OF THE CITY CODE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City of Miami ("City") currently vests the authority to resolve protested solicitations and awards in its Chief Procurement Officer; and WHEREAS, it would be beneficial to the City and parties who perceive themselves aggrieved to place the authority to adjudicate bid protests and awards in an uninterested hearing official ; and WHEREAS, it may be in the best interest of the City that protests be heard by an uninterested hearing officer who is familiar with procurement, municipal, and commercial law and procedures, which will provide an impartial review of such decisions and recommendations for award; and WHEREAS, the principles, rules, practices, and procedures of procurement law are a specialized area of expertise; and WHEREAS, the City Commission desires to provide for the adjudication of protested solicitations and awards arising under Chapter 18, Article III, Section 18-104(b), entitled "Finance/City of Miami Procurement Ordinance/Resolution of Protested Solicitations and Awards/Authority to Resolve Protests", and Chapter 18, Article V, Section 18-176.3, entitled "Finance/Sale or Lease of City's Real Property/Procedures for Resolution of Protested UDP's and Awards", of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as amended ("City Code"); and WHEREAS, the Professional Service Agreement ("PSA") to be signed by each hearing officer selected will include a section affirming that the hearing officer shall not have a conflict of interest under applicable Conflict of Interest Laws or Florida Bar Rules; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA: City of Miami Page 1 of 4 File Id. 16-00827 (version: 2) Printed On: 1/17/2017 File Number: 16-00827 EnacmrentNn»rber: 13629 Section 1. The recitals and findings contained in the Preamble of this Ordinance are adopted by reference and incorporated as if fully set forth in this Section. Section 2. Chapter 18 of the City Code is amended in the following particulars: {1} "CHAPTER 18 FINANCE ARTICLE III. CITY OF MIAMI PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE Sec. 18-104. Resolution of protested solicitations and awards. (b) Authority to resolve protests; hearing officer(s). Hearing officers appointed by the City shall have authoritv to resolve protests filed under this Chapter of the Citv Code. The Citv Manaaer shall aDDoint a hearinq officer, from a separate list of potential hearinq officers pre -approved by the City Commission, to resolve protests filed in accordance with this Section, no later than five (5) working days following the filinq of a bid protest. The hearing officer shall have the authority, 661bj@^f tG the apppeyal Gf fho ^,f" maRagep and fho ^,f" attePRo", to settle and resolve any written protest. The hearing officer shall submit said decision to the protesting party and to the other persons specified shall „h.,,t ^^;d- d-o^,^,^n f^ fho ^,f" ^ within ten (1038) days after he/she Tholds a hearinq under the protest. '^ ^ ^� �� m e th^n Qts 900 nn the do^;^;^n Af the ^h of (1) Hearing officer. The hearinq officer may be a Special Master as defined in Chapter 2, Article X, Sec. 2-811 of the City Code, or a lawyer in good standinq with the Florida Bar for a minimum of ten (10) years with a preference given to a lawyer who has served as an appellate or trial court fudge. The hearinq officer may be appointed from alternative sources (e.q. expert consultinq agreements, piggyback contracts, etc.) where the City Commission adopts a recommendation of the City Attorney that such action is necessary to achieve fairness in the proceedings. The engagement of hearinq officers is excluded from the Procurement Ordinance as legal services. The hearinq officers appointed in the Pre -qualified group should be scheduled to hear protests on a rotational basis. (2) Right of protest. Any actual bidder or proposer who has standing under Florida law dissatisfied and aggrieved with the decision of the City regarding the protest of a solicitation or the protest of an award as set forth above in this Section may request a protest hearinq. Such a written request for a protest hearinq must be initiated with a notice of intent to protest followed by an actual protest as provided in Section 18-104(a). The notice of intent to protest and the actual protest must each be timely received by the Chief Procurement Officer and must comDly with all reauirements set forth in Section 18-104(a). Failure to submit the required notice of intent to protest and the actual protest within the specified timeframes will result in an administrative dismissal of the protest. City of Miami Page 2 of 4 File Id: 16-00827 (version: 2) Printed On: 1/17/2017 File Number: 16-00827 EnactmentNnmber: 13629 (3) Hearing date. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice of protest, the Chief Procurement Officer shall schedule a hearinq before a hearinq officer, at which time the person protestinq shall be given the opportunity to demonstrate why the decision of the City relative to the solicitation or the award, which may include a recommendation for award by the City Manager to the City Commission, as applicable, should be overturned. The party recommended for award, if it is a protest of award, shall have a right to intervene and be heard. (4) Hearing procedure. The procedure for any such hearinq conducted under this Article shall be as follows: The City shall cause to be served by certified mail a notice of hearing stating the time, date, and place of the hearing. The notice of hearinq shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the mailing address of the protester. ii The party, any intervenor, and the City shall each have the right to be represented by counsel, to call and examine witnesses, to introduce evidence, to examine opposing or rebuttal witnesses on any relevant matter related to the protest even though the matter was not covered in the direct examination, and to impeach any witness regardless of which party first called him/her to testify. The hearing officer may extend the deadline for completion of the protest hearing for good cause shown, but such an extension shall not exceed an additional five (5) business days. The hearing officer shall consider the written protest and supporting documents and evidence appended thereto, supporting documents or evidence from any intervenor, and the decision or recommendation as to the solicitation or award being protested, as applicable. The protesting party, and any intervenor, must file all pertinent documents supporting his/her protest or motion to intervene at least five (5) business days before the hearing, as applicable. The hearing officer shall allow a maximum of two (2) hours for the protest presentation and a maximum of two (2) hours for the City response. When there is an intervenor, a maximum of two (2) hours will be added for the intervenor. In the event of multiple protests for the same project, the hearing officer shall allocate time as necessary to ensure that the hearing shall not exceed a total of one (1) day. The hearing officer shall consider the evidence presented at the hearing. In any hearing before the hearing officer, irrelevant, immaterial, repetitious, scandalous, or frivolous evidence shall be excluded. All other evidence of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs shall be admissible whether or not such evidence would be admissible in trial in the courts of Florida. The hearing officer may also require written summaries, proffers, affidavits, and other documents the hearing officer determines to be necessary to conclude the hearing and issue a final order within the time limits set forth by this Section. Civ) The hearing officer shall determine whether procedural due process has been afforded, whether the essential requirements of law have been observed, and whether the decision was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or unsupported by substantial evidence as a whole. Substantial evidence means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. (y) Within ten (10) days from the date of the hearing, the hearing officer shall complete and submit to the City Manager, the City Attorney, any intervenor, the Chief Procurement Officer, and the person requesting said hearing a final order City of Miami Page 3 of 4 File Id. 16-00827 (version: 2) Printed On: 1/17/2017 File Number: 16-00827 EnacmrentNn»rber: 13629 consistinq of his/her findings of fact and conclusions of law as to the denial or qrantinq of the protest, as applicable. vi The decisions of the hearing officer are final in terms of City decisions relative to the protest. Any appeal from the decision of the hearinq officer shall be in accordance with the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. ARTICLE V. SALE OR LEASE OF CITY'S REAL PROPERTY. Sec. 18-176.3. Procedures for resolution of protested UDP's and awards. Procedures for resolution of protested UDP's and solicitations, awards, or recommendations for awards, shall be as set forth in sections 18-104 of the City Code. ---.A de.r this; A—PtiGIE), meaR the d-ireA-tA—P A -f the depaPtMGRt A -f PG -Al 884A-49 -;;A d- 8G-A-.AA-.PAiA- develepmeRt. Section 3. If any section, part of a section, paragraph, clause, phrase or word of this Ordinance is declared invalid, the remaining provisions of this Ordinance shall not be affected. Section 4. This Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days after final reading and adoption thereof. {2} Footnotes: {1 } Words and/or figures stricken through shall be deleted. Underscored words and/or figures shall be added. The remaining provisions are now in effect and remain unchanged. Asterisks indicate omitted and unchanged material. {2} This Ordinance shall become effective as specified herein unless vetoed by the Mayor within ten (10) calendar days from the date it was passed and adopted. If the Mayor vetoes this Ordinance, it shall become effective immediately upon override of the veto by the City Commission or upon the effective date stated herein, whichever is later. City of Miami Page 4 of 4 File Id. 16-00827 (version: 2) Printed On: 1/17/2017