[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the City of College Park 5-27-1969 by Ord. No. 69-O-6. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
It is the purpose of this chapter to provide uniform
procedures for the purchase and acquisition of materials, supplies,
equipment and services, etc., on the most equitable and beneficial
basis to the City, while at the same time ensuring, to the greatest
degree possible, fairness to those supplying the materials, supplies,
services, etc.
B.
It is the intent to provide for all purchases and
contracts which may be necessary to the operation of the City in this
chapter.
[Amended 9-12-1973 by Ord. No. 73-O-5; 6-10-1980 by Ord. No.
80-O-9; 9-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-O-22; 12-10-1991 by Ord. No.
91-O-24; 10-26-1999 by Ord. No. 99-O-11; 3-9-2004 by Ord. No.
04-O-1]
A.
Items,
services or materials of not more than $30,000 in value and authorized
in the Appropriation Ordinance for the current year may be purchased
on negotiation at the direction of the City Manager in a manner approved
by him/her. Items, materials or services obtained from utility companies
having exclusive franchises in the area or from Prince George's
County are excluded from the provisions of this chapter. Items, materials
or services supplied to the City by a contractor or developer as part
of a permit-approved improvement are not subject to the provisions
of this chapter.
[Amended 11-10-2015 by Ord. No. 15-O-06]
B.
Whenever a federal, state, county or local government,
or any agency or unit thereof, whose purchasing policies are comparable
to those of the City of College Park, has conducted a bid and awarded
a contract, the City Manager may purchase the bid item at the bid
price from the successful bidder, subject, where required, to the
approval of the Mayor and Council. Whenever the City Manager elects
to purchase an item, service or material from a successful bidder
of another jurisdiction as provided for in this section, the City
Manager shall obtain a copy of the jurisdiction's purchasing policies.
C.
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require
the City Manager to use another jurisdiction's bid process when
purchasing items, services and materials. The City Manager retains
the right to issue a request for proposals for all items, services
and materials purchased by the City. Upon deciding to award a contract
where the approval of the Mayor and Council is not required, the City
Manager shall immediately notify the Mayor and Council of the purchase
if requested to do so by the Mayor and Council. The notification shall
contain:
[Amended 11-10-2015 by Ord. No. 15-O-06]
(1)
A description of the item, service or material purchased;
(2)
The cost of the item, service or material;
(3)
Who is providing the item, service or material;
(4)
A description of the bid process used; and
(5)
A statement as to whether the successful bidder was
the lowest most responsive and responsible bidder, and if not, why
not.
[Amended 9-12-1973 by Ord. No. 73-O-5; 6-10-1980 by Ord. No.
80-O-9; 9-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-O-22; 12-10-1991 by Ord. No.
91-O-24]
It shall be the responsibility of the Finance
Director to provide for the direction of the purchasing function,
as specified in the Administrative Ordinance.[1] In that connection and under the general supervision of
the City Manager, he/she shall:
A.
Provide for the bidding of all materials, supplies, services, equipment, etc., of over $30,000 in value and not excluded in § 69-2 of this chapter.
[Amended 10-26-1999 by Ord. No. 99-O-11]
B.
Provide notice in eMaryland Marketplace a minimum
of one week prior to the date set for the opening of bids. Said notice
shall include a brief description of the item or items to be bid,
the time and location where specifications may be obtained for the
item or items to be bid, the time and date on which sealed bids are
to be received, the location to which bids are to be returned and
any special conditions to which the item or items may be subject.
The notice shall contain the time, date and location of the bid opening,
and all such openings are to be public. The notice shall also contain
the name of the authorizing officer.
[Amended 10-26-1999 by Ord. No. 99-O-11; 11-10-2015 by Ord. No. 15-O-06]
C.
Provide written specifications to all parties responding
to the notice of bid, and said specifications shall contain sufficient
information to reasonably proscribe the item or items, services, materials,
equipment, etc., being sought for purchase. The use of exclusive specifications
to the prohibition of equal items, etc., is prohibited. The specifications
shall also contain any bond and/or other special conditions attached
or made a part of the bid requirements. Bid forms may be provided.
The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids.
D.
Provide for the tabulation of all bids and make a
report to the City Manager and Mayor and Council of the results of
all bids.
E.
Examine the qualifications of all bidders, and in
the event that he/she shall determine that a bidder is not qualified
by prior example, insufficient experience, insufficient financial
capability or for any other reason, he/she shall so report to the
City Manager, who may declare the bid void.
[Amended 1-11-1977 by Ord. No. 76-O-9]
A.
Formal procedure.
(1)
Contracts for professional services shall require
publication of notice, in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county, of the intent of the City to secure professional services
and specifying the type of services sought and, where known, the anticipated
time of engaging the service(s) and the expected duration of the contract.
Notice may also be given to any professional associations in the area
but is not required.
(2)
In awarding a contract for professional services among
other factors to be considered, in addition to price or cost, are
past experience and qualifications, capacity to perform in a timely
manner, reputation and the principals or agents of the professional
services contractor who actually would be performing the services.
Awards shall be made by a majority vote of the Council present and
voting.
B.
Informal procedure. Under special circumstances (for example, where following the formal procedure of Subsection A does not result in the selection of a contractor or for follow-up on work or extensions of existing contracts or for services unique in nature to a limited number of persons or firms), upon the recommendations of the City Manager, who shall furnish advance justification for such action to the Council, the Council may decide by an extra-majority vote (defined as one more than a majority of those present and voting) to authorize the City Manager to enter into negotiated procurement for professional services rather than advertise. In such cases where this informal procedure is followed, approval of the contract negotiated by the City Manager may not be made by the Council any sooner than the next regularly schedule Council meeting. If the Council finds that an emergency exists, this latter requirement may be set aside by an extra-majority vote.
[Amended 12-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-O-24]
C.
The Mayor and Council may, by an extra-majority vote
(defined as one more than a majority of those present and voting),
direct the City Manager to solicit bids from a limited number of contractors.
[Amended 12-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-O-24]
D.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting
the power of the City Manager to negotiate for and purchase professional
or other services of not more than $30,000 in value.
[Amended 9-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-O-22; 12-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-O-24; 11-10-2015 by Ord. No. 15-O-06]
[Amended 1-11-1977 by Ord. No. 76-O-9; 9-10-1991 by Ord. No.
91-O-22; 12-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-O-24; 10-26-1999 by Ord. No.
99-O-11; 3-9-2004 by Ord. No. 04-O-1]
The Mayor and Council shall approve all purchases
in excess of $30,000 by formal motion requiring a simple majority
for approval. Such actions shall be taken at a regular meeting or
at a duly called special meeting for that purpose. Except as provided
in this chapter, the Mayor and Council may, by an extra-majority vote,
authorize the bypassing of any or all bid procedure steps in cases
which, in the Council's judgment, warrant such action. By the same
extra-majority vote, it may allow the City Manager to directly negotiate
with any supplier if it is in the City's best interest to do so. Nothing
herein shall be construed as limiting the City Manager to purchase
by negotiation items, services or materials of not more than $30,000
in value.
[Added 7-15-2014 by Ord. No. 14-O-05]
A.
BENEFITS
BID
CONTRACT
CONTRACTOR
COVERED CONTRACT
DOMESTIC PARTNER
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
EQUAL BENEFITS
Definitions. For purposes of this section only, the following definitions
shall apply:
All forms of insurance provided by the contractor to the
spouses of the contractor's employees and/or dependents of employee's
spouse, as well as employee's sick leave, bereavement leave,
and family medical leave which may be used to care for his/her domestic
partner, except to the extent preempted by federal or state law.
A competitive vendor selection procedure established by the
City through the issuance of an invitation to bid, request for proposals,
request for qualifications, or request for letters of interest.
All types of binding agreements between the City of College
Park and a contractor for goods and services.
Any person or persons, sole proprietorship, partnership,
joint venture, corporation, or other form of doing business, that
is awarded a bid and enters into a covered contract with the City,
and which maintains 25 or more full-time employees on the payroll
during the term of any contract with the City.
A contract between the City and a contractor awarded for
bids which are advertised/issued after the date when this section
becomes effective valued at over $30,000.
Any two adults of the same or different sex, who have registered
as domestic partners pursuant to state or local law authorizing such
registration, or with an internal registry maintained by the employer
of at least one of the domestic partners, or who are:
In a relationship of mutual support, caring and commitment and
intend to remain in such a relationship for the immediate future;
Not married to, or legally separated from, someone else;
Not able to marry in the state of their residence;
Not currently registered in a domestic partnership with a different
domestic partner;
Eighteen years of age or older and competent to contract; and
Occupying the same dwelling unit as a single, nonprofit housekeeping
unit whose relationship is of a permanent and distinct domestic character.
The equality of benefits between employees with spouses and/or
dependents of spouses and employees with domestic partners and/or
dependents of domestic partners, and/or between spouses of employees
and/or dependents of spouses and domestic partners of employees and/or
dependents of domestic partners.
B.
Equal benefits requirements.
(1)
All bids for covered contracts which are advertised/issued on or
after the effective date of this section shall include the requirement
to provide equal benefits in the procurement specifications for such
bids.
(2)
As part of the bid response, the contractor shall certify that the
contractor:
(a)
Currently complies with the conditions of this section; or
(b)
Will comply with the conditions of this section at time of contract
award; or
(c)
Is not required to comply with the conditions of this section
because of allowable exemption.
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The certification shall be in writing and signed by an authorized
officer of the contractor. Failure to provide such certification shall
result in the contractor being deemed nonresponsive.
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(3)
The contractor may not set up or use its contracting entity for the
purpose of evading the requirements imposed by this section.
(4)
If after making a reasonable effort to provide an equal benefit for
a domestic partner of an employee the contractor is unable to provide
the benefit, the contractor shall provide the employee with the cash
equivalent of the benefit.
C.
Mandatory contract provisions pertaining to equal benefits. Unless
otherwise exempt, every covered contract shall contain language that
states:
(1)
Contractor must comply with the applicable provisions of this section.
The contractor shall provide the City and/or the City Manager, or
his/her designee, access to its records for the purpose of audits
and/or investigations to ascertain compliance with the provisions
of this section.
(2)
Upon request, the contractor shall provide evidence that the contractor
is in compliance with the provisions of this section upon each new
bid, contract renewal, or when the City Manager has received a complaint
or has reason to believe the contractor may not be in compliance with
the provisions of this section, and
(3)
The failure of the contractor to comply with this section will be
deemed to be a material breach of the covered contract.
D.
Exceptions and waivers. The provisions of this section shall not
apply where:
(1)
The contractor provides benefits neither to employees' spouses
nor spouse's dependents.
(2)
The contractor is a religious organization, association, society
or any nonprofit charitable or educational institution or organization
operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious
organization, association or society.
(3)
The contractor is a governmental entity.
(4)
The contract is for the sale or lease of property.
(5)
The covered contract is necessary to respond to an emergency.
(6)
The provision of this section would violate grant or other requirements,
the laws, rules or regulations of federal or state law.
(7)
The contractor is a sole source or none of the bidders can comply
with the requirements of this section.
(9)
The contract is for the purchase of goods or supplies only.
(10)
Agreements with bond underwriters and agreements with financial institutions
where the agreement relates to the City's borrowing.
E.
Enforcement. If the contractor fails to comply with the provisions
of this section:
(1)
The failure to comply may be deemed to be a material breach of the
covered contract; and
(2)
The City may terminate the covered contract or monies due or to become
due under the covered contract may be retained by the City until compliance
is achieved; and
(3)
The City may also pursue any and all other remedies at law or in
equity for any breach.
[Added 7-15-2014 by Ord. No. 14-O-05]
A.
Discrimination in employment by a City contractor based on age, race,
color, creed, pregnancy, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability,
marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical
characteristic or any other unlawful basis for discrimination is prohibited.
B.
All City contracts shall include a certification by contractors that
they do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, creed,
pregnancy, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital
status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical characteristic
or other unlawful basis of discrimination.
C.
Discriminatory acts by a contractor in employment shall constitute
a material breach of a City contract.
