Town of Branford, CT Purchasing

No individual holding a public office in the Town or who is employed by said Town shall be permitted to furnish trucks, equipment or supplies to the Town unless such trucks, equipment or supplies cannot be secured elsewhere in said Town.

Article II Bidding

[Adopted by the Representative Town Meeting 2-21-1975; amended in its entirety 4-7-2009]

§ 75-2 Advertising, bidding, and requests for proposals.

[Amended 6-11-2014]

All goods and services purchased by the Town, including but not limited to the Board of Education, Sewer Authority and capital project funds established for the benefit of the James Blackstone Memorial Library (collectively referred to hereinafter as the "Town"), when the amount of the purchase exceeds $12,500, shall be awarded through a sealed bid process, including public opening of such bids, to the lowest responsible bidder after posting a bid notice on the Town website and either advertising the same in a newspaper with general circulation or posting on the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services website.

In lieu of bid specifications, a request for proposal may be issued. A request for proposal may be issued when a desired outcome is sought, but the method for achieving that outcome is not defined in a detailed specification, or allows for presenting different options for achieving the desired outcome beyond proposed specifications. Services or goods purchased by request for proposal shall be awarded based on a variety of factors, including project approach, experience, price, and such other criteria as shall be defined and specifically set forth in the request for proposal. Requests for proposal shall be posted in the same manner as bid specifications, and responses shall be sealed in the same manner as bids.

The requirement of advertising and sealed bidding shall not apply to:

(1)

Purchases less than $12,500, provided the price is consistent with the price offered to the general public for the same goods and/or services and that procedures as may be defined by the First Selectman are followed.

(2)

Emergency situations, where the First Selectman or his designee authorizes the emergency purchase and the department head or his or her designee, as soon as reasonably possible, provides a report on the nature of the emergency and the reason for such emergency purchase to the Board of Selectmen, to be included in such Board's minutes.

(3)

Contracts in the amount of $75,000 or less for legal services, accounting, actuarial and auditing services, medical and dental services, architectural services, engineering services and labor negotiators.

(4)

Any purchases made through the State of Connecticut or other public sector purchasing cooperative.

(5)

Sole source purchases, such as utilities or legal notices, and including purchases where the purchase of an item or service is required to match an existing installation or equipment, and there are no competitive products available that would function equally well, or if the maintenance costs would be unduly increased by having different makes installed. Sole source purchases for reasons other than a true lack of second possible vendor shall be approved by the First Selectman.

(6)

Work on bridges, sidewalks, roads, curbing or other pavement, when the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation has obtained bids for such work and the Town is able to pay the state price for such work, or the Town solicits no fewer than three price quotations for such work from qualified contractors, businesses or persons, as such qualifications are set forth in a request for qualifications prepared by the Town and the Town awards such work to the qualified contractor, business or person submitting the lowest price quote, provided that the cost of work, material and supplies does not exceed the sum of $400,000.

§ 75-3 Waiver of requirements; acceptance or rejection of bid.

The requirement of advertising and bidding may be waived by a unanimous vote of the Board of Selectmen that such waiver is in the best interests of the Town.

The Board of Selectmen may by majority vote accept such bid or proposal as it determines to be the lowest responsible bid or the best proposal. It may, by unanimous vote, reject any or all bids or proposals, or waive any informalities in bids or proposals, if such rejection or waiver of informality is in the best interest of the Town.

§ 75-4 State and federal funds.

Purchases involving projects approved or anticipated to be eligible for federal or state grants will conform to the specific requirements associated with the type of funding or grant.

§ 75-5 Violations.

Any person violating this chapter shall be personally liable and responsible to the Town. No contract or purchase shall be subdivided to avoid the requirements of this article.