A.
Competitive procurement required. No contract in which any officer
or employee of the Town is financially interested or through which
the officer or employee stands to profit financially shall be awarded
without competitive procurement. Any contract in violation of the
provisions of this subsection shall be voidable by the Town. For the
purpose of this subsection, a person who owns less than 5% of the
stock of any publicly held corporation listed on a national stock
exchange or an equivalent financial interest in any other business
entity shall not be deemed to be financially interested.
B.
Penalty for violation. Any person responsible for the making of a
contract in willful violation of the provisions of this section shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject
to a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than
30 days or both.
Every contract modification, change order, or price adjustment
under a contract with the Town which exceeds $3,000 and which modification,
change or adjustment is in excess of 10% of the original contract
price shall be subject to prior approval by the Commission after receiving
a report from the Town Manager.
Whenever one or more bids, proposals or offers are submitted
under the provisions of this chapter, the awarding authority, whether
it be the Commissioners, Town Manager or their designees, shall have
the right to reject any and all such bids, proposals, or offers. All
written contracts may be protected by such bonds, penalties, and conditions
as the Town may require.
A.
Submission of bid protest. Any bidder, offeror, or contractor who
is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation or award of a contract
must first seek resolution of such complaint by submitting a protest
to the Cottage City Commission in writing. A protest with respect
to an invitation for bids or request for proposals shall be submitted
prior to the opening of bids or the proposals, unless the protestor
did not know and did not have reason to know of the facts giving rise
to the protest until after such date, in which case the protest must
be submitted within 10 calendar days after the facts became known,
but in no event after the execution of a binding contract with the
successful bidder.
B.
Suspension of procurement. In the event of a timely protest under Subsection A of this section, procurement shall not proceed further until the dispute is resolved or until the Commissioners make a determination on the record that the award of a contract without delay is necessary to protect substantial interests of the Town.
C.
Submission and resolution of contract claim or protest. Claims by
a contractor against the Town relating to a contract or bid, shall
be submitted in writing to the Commissioners for a decision. Claims
include, without limitation, controversies arising under a contract,
and those based upon breach of contract, mistake, misrepresentation,
or other cause for contract modification or revision.
D.
The Commission's decision. The decision of the Cottage City Commission shall be promptly issued in writing and mailed or otherwise furnished to the contractor. This decision shall state the reasons for the decision and inform the contractor of the contractor's right of appeal under Subsection E of this section.
E.
Appeal to court. The decision by the Commissioners shall be final
except that a contract dispute, bid protest or controversy involving
the sale of surplus property exceeding $10,000, may be appealed to
the Circuit Court for Prince George's County in accordance with
Title 7, Chapter 200, "Judicial Review of Administrative Agency Decisions"
of the Maryland Rules, provided that notwithstanding the provisions
of Title 7, Chapter 200, the decision of the Circuit Court for the
county shall be final and no further appeal will be filed with the
State Court of Appeals or any other state appellate court, either
by way of mandamus, injunction, certiorari or otherwise.
