[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Wethersfield as Secs. 1-6-1 through 1-6-7 of the Code of 1972. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Sale of Town property — See Ch. 37.
Town Council rules of procedures — See Ch. A180.
The provisions of Charter Sections 712, 713, 714 and 715 shall control the purchasing procedure of the Town. The procedures and personnel involved in the purchasing process shall be subject to the supervision of and within the jurisdiction of the Manager.
The inclusion of any item or project within the approved budget shall be deemed to be authorization for the Purchasing Agent to advertise for bids or negotiate for the acquisition of supplies, materials, equipment, goods, services, commodities or for the construction of streets, sewers, buildings and other public works.
It shall not be necessary to call for sealed bids for the following supplies, materials, equipment, goods, services, commodities or construction:
A. 
That furnished by a monopoly utility.
B. 
That providing an output more creative than quantitative or requiring special skill and knowledge or a profession, such as the following services:
(1) 
Legal.
(2) 
Accounting.
(3) 
Auditing.
(4) 
Medical.
(5) 
Architectural.
(6) 
Engineering.
(7) 
Design.
(8) 
Systems analysis.
(9) 
Computer programming.
(10) 
Planning.
(11) 
Technical advice.
(12) 
Management assistance.
C. 
That having a single source of supply.
D. 
That needed to cope with an emergency situation reported as such to the Council or declared as such by a competent authority. However, awards for items in Subsections B and C above shall be made by the Council if the amount of the contract exceeds $5,000.
[Amended 6-18-1990]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
SAME COMMODITY OVER A PERIOD OF TIME
In Charter Section 713, shall be interpreted to mean an item or items that can be exactly described in its essential form or performance by the same specification and that the Purchasing Agent should have known from the approved budget would be acquired within the same fiscal year. A class of items used for the same function shall not be considered to be the "same commodity."
TRANSACTION ESSENTIALLY A UNIT
In Charter Section 713, shall be interpreted to mean the effort involved in performing a class of work which is often performed by one contractor alone. Such effort may be involved in a specific project or on a miscellaneous basis in any construction season. If the same contractor performs more than one class of work on a specific project, then all the work he performs on the project shall be considered a "unit."
Changes in the proposed scope of the bid may be made after opening bids, provided that the basic bid is still in its essential form and provided further that all bidders have the same opportunity to submit new prices, in writing, at the same time, for the changes being considered.
Should a contractor who is operating under a contract awarded by Council fail to perform an essential act at the time needed, the Purchasing Agent may immediately turn to other bidders in the order of their bids to find a substitute. The Manager shall report this action to the Council at their next meeting.
Wherever it would appear to be to the advantage of the Town, in the judgment of the Purchasing Agent, the Town may use bids called for by another governmental agency in exactly the same way as bids called for by the Town, provided that the processing of the bids has met the requirements of Charter Section 713 or 715.
[Added 1-17-1995]
The term "Town-based business" shall mean a business with a principal business located within the Town of Wethersfield. A business shall not be considered to be a Town-based business, unless evidence to establish that said business has a bona fide principal place of business in Wethersfield is submitted with each bid submitted by said business. Such evidence may include evidence of ownership of or a long-term lease of the real estate from which the principal place of business is operated or payment of property taxes on the personal property of the business to be used in performance of the bid.
[Added 1-17-1995]
On any item or project advertised for bid pursuant to § 27-2 the lowest responsible bidder shall be determined in the following order:
A. 
Provided that such Town-based resident bidder shall have met all other requirements set forth in §§ 27-8 through 27-11, any Town-based resident bidder which has submitted a bid not more than 10% higher than the lowest most responsible bid may be awarded the bid provided such Town-based bidder agrees to accept the award of the bid at the amount of the lowest most responsible bid.
B. 
If more than one Town-based resident bidder has submitted a bid not more than 10% higher than the lowest responsible bid, the lowest responsible bidder shall be that one of the Town-based resident bidders which had submitted the lowest bid.
[Added 1-17-1995]
Any local vendor meeting the requirements of a Town-based resident bidder, as defined above, responding to the solicitation shall be required to submit a signed Local Bidder Affidavit Form with the bid submittal. Failure to submit an affidavit form approved by the Town of Wethersfield may, at the option of the Town, result in disqualification as a local vendor and ineligibility for contract award.
[Added 1-17-1995]
Sections 27-8, 27-9 and 27-10 shall not apply in those instances where the bid requested involves a cooperative purchasing arrangement between the Town and other municipalities or the State of Connecticut.