[Ord. No. 422-00 §1, 4-3-2000]
The purchasing agent shall be appointed by the Mayor with the
approval of the Board of Aldermen. The purchasing agent, when authorized,
shall procure for the City the bids for all supplies and contractual
services needed by the City in accordance with the procedures prescribed
by this Chapter or required by law.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §2, 4-3-2000]
A.
In addition
to the purchasing authority conferred in the preceding Section and
in addition to any other powers and duties conferred by this or other
ordinance, the purchasing agent shall:
1.
Act
to procure for the City the highest quality in supplies and contractual
services at the least expense to the City.
2.
Prepare
and adopt written specifications for all supplies and services.
3.
Discourage
uniform bidding and endeavor to obtain as full and open competition
as possible on all purchases and sales.
4.
Keep
informed of current developments in the field of purchasing, prices,
market conditions and new products and secure for the City the benefits
of research done in the field of purchasing by other governmental
jurisdictions, national technical societies, trade associations and
by private businesses and organizations.
5.
Prescribe
and maintain such forms necessary for the operation of the purchasing
function.
6.
Prepare,
adopt and maintain a vendor's catalog file. Said catalog shall be
filed according to materials and shall contain descriptions of vendor's
commodities, prices and discounts.
7.
Exploit
the possibilities of buying "in bulk" so as to take full advantage
of discounts.
8.
Act
so as to procure for the City all Federal and State tax exemptions
to which it is entitled.
9.
Have
the authority to declare vendors who default on their quotations irresponsible
bidders and to disqualify them from receiving any business from the
municipality for a stated period of time.
10.
Inspect
or supervise the inspection of all deliveries with regard to quantity
and conformance to specifications.
11.
Pursue
all appropriate claims against the supplier, shipper or carrier.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §3, 4-3-2000]
A.
Each
City department or agency shall file with the purchasing agent detailed
requisitions or estimates of their requirements in supplies and contractual
services in such manner, at such times and for such future periods
as the purchasing agent shall prescribe.
1.
City
department or agency shall not be prevented from filing in the same
manner with the purchasing agent at any time a requisition or estimate
for any supplies and contractual services, the need for which was
not foreseen when the detailed estimates were filed.
2.
The
purchasing agent shall examine each requisition or estimate and shall
have the authority to revise it as to quantity, quality or estimated
cost.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §4, 4-3-2000]
No officer or employee of the City shall transact any business
in his/her official capacity with any business entity of which he/she
is an officer, agent or member or in which he/she owns a substantial
interest; nor shall he/she make any personal investments in any enterprise
that will create a substantial conflict of private interest and the
public interest; nor shall he/she or any firm or business entity of
which he/she is and officer, agent or member or the owner of substantial
interest sell any goods or services to any business entity that is
licensed by or regulated in any manner by the agency in which the
officer or employee serves.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §5, 4-3-2000]
No officer or employee of this City shall enter into any private
business transaction with any person or entity that has matter pending
or to be pending upon which the officer or employee is or will be
called upon to render a decision or pass judgment. If any officer
or employee already is engaged in the business transaction at the
time a matter arises, he/she shall be disqualified from rendering
any decision or passing any judgment upon the same.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §6, 4-3-2000]
[Ord. No. 422-00 §7, 4-3-2000]
The purchasing agent and every other officer and employee of
the City are expressly prohibited from accepting, directly or indirectly,
from any person, company, firm or corporation to which any purchase
or contract is or might be awarded any rebate, gift, money or anything
of value whatsoever, except where given for the use and benefit of
the City. Violation of the provisions of this Section shall upon conviction
thereof be punished by a fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00).
[Ord. No. 422-00 §8, 4-3-2000]
A.
When
the City negotiates any purchase, sale or other contract, there shall
be provided ample opportunity for a competitive bidding in the following
manner:
1.
If the
consideration is not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000.00),
bids shall be solicited in the most expedient manner with due regard
for competitive prices and quality.
2.
If the
consideration is for more than three thousand dollars ($3,000.00)
but less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00), at least
three (3) bids shall be solicited by mail or telephone request for
three (3) prospective vendors, from which the lowest bid with proper
qualifications shall be accepted. A record of the quotations shall
be maintained. The purchase shall be approved by the City Administrator.
3.
If the
consideration is for more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00)
but less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), three (3)
written bids shall be solicited from which the lowest bid with proper
qualifications shall be accepted. The purchase shall be approved by
the City Administrator.
4.
All
supplies and contractual services estimated to cost in excess of one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) shall be purchased by formal,
written contract from the lowest responsible bidder, after due notice
inviting proposals. Whenever possible, at least three (3) bids should
be obtained from prospective, qualified vendors. The Board of Aldermen
shall award the contract or purchase.
5.
Individual
contracts, purchases or sales, be they for goods, supplies, commodities
or services, shall not be excluded from the requirement of competitive
bidding hereinabove described.
6.
Individual
contracts or purchases shall not be subdivided for the purpose of
evading the requirement of competitive bidding.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §9, 4-3-2000]
A.
The notice
required by the preceding Section shall consist of the following:
1.
Notice
inviting bids shall be published once in at least one (1) official
newspaper of the City at least five (5) days preceding the last day
set for the receipt of proposals. The newspaper notice required herein
shall include a general description of the articles to be purchased
or sold, shall state where bid blanks and specifications may be secured
and the time and place for opening bids.
2.
The
purchasing agent also shall solicit sealed bids from all responsible
prospective suppliers who have requested their names be added to a
"bidders' list", which the purchasing agent shall maintain, by sending
them a copy of such newspaper notice or such other notice as will
acquaint them with the proposed purchase or sale. In any case, invitations
sent to the vendors on the "bidders' list" shall be limited to commodities
that are similar in character and that are ordinarily handled by the
trade group to which the invitations are sent.
3.
The
City Clerk also shall advertise all pending purchases or sales by
a notice posted on the public bulletin board in the City Hall.
4.
The
City Clerk also shall solicit sealed bids by direct mail request to
prospective vendors and by telephone as may seem to him/her to be
in the best interest of the City.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §10, 4-3-2000]
Bids shall be submitted sealed to the purchasing agent and shall
be identified as bids on the envelope. They shall be opened in public
at the time and place stated in the public notices. A tabulation of
all bids received shall be posted for public inspection and a tabulation
report forwarded to the Board of Aldermen.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §11, 4-3-2000; Ord. No. 423-00 §1, 4-17-2000]
A.
The City
reserves the right to reject any or all bids. Contracts shall be awarded
to the lowest responsible bidder. Bids shall not be accepted from,
nor contract awarded to, a contractor who is in default on the payment
of taxes, licenses or other monies due the City. In determining "lowest
responsible bidder" in addition to price, the following shall be considered:
1.
The
ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the contract
or provide the service required;
2.
Whether
the bidder can perform the contract or provide the service promptly
or within the time specified without delay or interference;
3.
The
character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience and efficiency
of the bidder;
4.
The
quality of performance of previous contracts or services;
5.
The
previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws and ordinances
relating to the contract or service;
6.
The
sufficiency of the financial resources and ability of the bidder to
perform the contract or provide the service;
7.
The
quality, availability and adaptability of the supplies or contractual
services to the particular use required;
8.
The
ability of the bidder to provide future maintenance and service for
the use of the subject of the contract;
9.
The
number and scope of conditions attached to the bid; and
10.
Meets
written specifications as listed for all supplies and services.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §12, 4-3-2000]
When the award is not given to the lowest bidder, a full and
complete statement of the reasons for placing the order elsewhere
shall be entered upon the journal of the Board.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §13, 4-3-2000]
If all bids received or the lowest bids received are for the
same total amount or unit price, quality and service being equal,
the contract shall be awarded to a local bidder. Where there is no
local low bidder, the award shall be made on the basis of a drawing
of lots to be held in public.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §14, 4-3-2000]
A.
All purchases of supplies and contractual services and all sales of personal property that has become obsolete and unusable, for which competitive bidding is not required by Section 130.080 of this Chapter, shall be made in the open market, without newspaper advertisement and without observing the procedure prescribed by Section 130.100 for the award of formal contracts.
1.
All open market purchases shall, whenever possible, be based on at least three (3) competitive bids and shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with the standards set forth in Section 130.110.
3.
The
purchasing agent shall keep a record of all open market orders and
the bids submitted in competition thereon and such records shall be
open to public inspection.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §15, 4-3-2000]
A.
There
is hereby appropriated out of the money in the City Treasury, not
otherwise appropriated, the sum of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) which
shall be known as the Petty Expenditures Revolving Fund. From this
fund shall be paid all purchases not in excess of fifty dollars ($50.00)
each made by the heads of using agencies for incidentals with the
approval of the purchasing agent.
B.
At the
end of each month, the purchasing agent shall render to the Treasurer
a statement showing the actual expenditures for each using agency
so made out of Petty Expenditures Revolving Fund and the City Treasurer
shall reimburse said revolving fund for such expenditures in the same
manner as other expenditures of such using agencies are paid. The
purchasing agent shall promulgate rules and regulations for use of
the Petty Expenditures Revolving Fund.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §16, 4-3-2000]
In case of apparent emergency that requires immediate purchase
of supplies or contractual services, the City Administrator may authorize
the purchase, at the lowest obtainable price, of any supplies or contractual
services not in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00).
A full explanation of the circumstances of an emergency purchase shall
be recorded in the journal of the Board of Aldermen of the City of
Strafford.
[Ord. No. 422-00 §17, 4-3-2000]
The purchasing agent shall have the authority to join with other
units of government in cooperative purchasing plans when the best
interest of the City would be served and after approval of the Board
of Aldermen.
