Charter

1.9 B. Contracting. The City Council by ordinance shall provide for a contracting system and may adopt prevailing wage, geographic boundaries and other guidelines and restrictions, including local bidding preference, governing public works and other City contracts.

Municipal Code

2568 – Adoption of plans and bidding—Public projects.

(a)   The City Council shall approve all formal bidding activity for public projects of more than seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) prior to the mailing of notices inviting bids.

(b)  The City shall have authority to require a performance bond before entering a contract in such amount as it shall find reasonable and necessary to protect the best interests of the City. If the City requires a performance bond, the amount of the bond shall be described in the notice inviting bids, and its form shall be as determined by the City Attorney.

(Ord. 649 § 1, 2003; Ord. 627 § 3 (part), 1999)

2571 – Purchasing procedures—Public projects.  

Public projects of forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000.00) or less may be performed by employees of the City by force account, by negotiated contract, or by purchase order.

(Ord. 627 § 3 (part), 1999)

(Ord. No. 723, § 14, 2-16-16)

2572 – Informal bid procedures—Public projects.

Public projects of less than seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) or less may be let to contract by the informal procedures set forth herein.

(a)   The Purchasing Officer shall mail notices inviting informal bids. The notices shall be mailed to all qualified contractors on a list maintained by the City, if any, as well as to all construction trade journals on the list referred to in Section 2569, unless the product or service is proprietary.

(b)  The notices shall be mailed not less than ten (10) calendar days before the opening date of the bids. The notices shall describe the project in general terms, how to obtain more detailed information about the project, and state the time and place for the submission of bids.

(c)   The Purchasing Officer and Director of Public Works are authorized to award informal contracts and orders pursuant to this Chapter. Orders shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.

(d)  Bids shall be submitted to the Purchasing Officer who shall keep a record of all informal orders and bids for a period of six (6) months after placement of the order. This record, while so kept, shall be open to public inspection.

(e)   If all bids received are in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00), the City Council may by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, award the contract at eighty-thousand dollars ($80,000.00) or less, to the lowest responsible bidder, if it determines the cost estimate of the public agency was reasonable.

(f)    If no bids are received, the project may be performed by employees of the City by force account, or negotiated contract without further complying with this section.

(g)   In its discretion, the City Council may reject any bids presented.

(Ord. 627 § 3 (part), 1999)

2573 – Formal bid procedures—Public projects.

Public projects of greater than seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) must, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, be let to contract by the formal procedures set forth herein.

(a)   The City Clerk shall mail notices inviting formal bids. The notices shall be mailed to all qualified contractors on the list maintained as well as to all construction trade journals on the list referred to in Section 2569, unless the project or service is proprietary.

(b)  The notices shall be mailed at least thirty (30) calendar days before the date of opening the bids. The notices shall distinctly describe the project and state the time and place for submission and opening of bids.

(c)   The notice inviting bids shall be published at least fourteen (14) days before the opening date of the bids. Notice shall be published at least twice, not less than five (5) days apart, in a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published in the City, or, if there is none, in a newspaper of general circulation which is circulated within the City. The notice shall be posted in at least three (3) public places in the City that have been designated by ordinance as places for placing public notices.

(d)  The City Clerk shall also post a notice of pending public work projects on a public bulletin board in the City Hall.

(e)   Sealed bids shall be submitted to the City Clerk and shall be identified as bids on the envelope. Bids shall be opened in public by the City Clerk or designee at the time and place stated in the public notices. A tabulation of all bids shall be open for public inspection during regular business hours for a period of not less than thirty (30) calendar days after the bid opening.

(f)    Bidders on public construction projects shall be required to provide bidder’s security. The bidder’s security shall be an amount equal to ten (10) percent of the amount of the bid or as prescribed in the public notice inviting bids. The bidder’s security shall be in one of the following forms:

(1)  Cash;

(2)   Cashier’s check made payable to the City;

(3)  Certified check made payable to the City; or,

(4)  Bidder’s bond executed by an authorized surety insurer, made payable to the City.

Bidders shall be entitled to return of bid security; provided that a successful bidder shall forfeit his/her bid’s security upon refusal or failure to execute the contract within ten (10) days after the notice of award of contract has been mailed, unless the City is responsible for the delay. The City Council may, on refusal or failure of a successful bidder to execute the contract, award the contract to the next lowest bidder. If the City Council awards the contract to the next lowest bidder, the amount of the lowest bidder’s security shall be applied by the City to the difference between the low bid and the second lowest bid and the surplus, if any, shall be returned to the lowest bidder.

(g)   Contracts shall be awarded by the City Council to the lowest responsible bidder except as otherwise provided in this Chapter. The decision of the City Council shall be final.

(h)  In its discretion, the City Council may reject any bids presented. If after the first invitation of bids all bids are rejected, after reevaluating its cost estimates of the project, the City shall have the option of either of the following:

(1)  Abandoning the project, or readvertising for bids in the manner described herein;

(2)  By adoption of a Resolution by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the City Council declaring that the project can be performed more economically by employees of the City, and may have the project done by force account without further complying with this section.

(i)    If two (2) or more bids received are the same and lowest, the City Council may accept the one it chooses.

(j)    If no bids are received, the project may be performed by employees of the City by force account, or by negotiated contract without further complying with this section.

(k)  The City Council shall have the right to waive any defect or informality in the bidding or in the procedures set forth in this section. No defect or informality shall void any contract entered into.

(l)    The City Council shall adopt plans, specifications, and working details for all public projects subject to this section or shall delegate such adoption as it deems appropriate to the City Manager. Any person may examine the plans, specifications, and/or working details adopted by the City Council or its designee for any project.

(Ord. 627 § 3 (part), 1999)