Article V — Public Works Projects

(a)

The city council hereby elects to become subject to the Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Act set forth in Public Contract Code Section 22010, et seq.

(b)

Public works projects of thirty thousand dollars or less may be performed by employees of the city, by negotiated contract, or by purchase order.

(c)

When the expenditure required for a public works project exceeds thirty thousand dollars but is one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars or less, it shall be contracted for pursuant to the informal procedures set forth in Section 13-25 of this chapter.

(d)

Public works projects of more than one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars shall be contracted for pursuant to the procedural requirements of Public Contract Code Sections 20160 through 20174 and let to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder after notice. The procedures set forth in Section 13-14(a) shall apply to the extent that such procedures are not addressed in or inconsistent with the procedures in Public Contract Code Sections 20160 through 20174.

(e)

The dollar limits set forth above in this section shall automatically be changed to conform to the limit established by the California Public Contract Code Section 22032, as it may be amended from time to time.

(f)

Contracts for public works projects shall also be governed by the current edition of the city standard specifications for public works construction and the latest supplement thereto, except as otherwise provided by the city council or the city manager if the contract is within his/her authority.

(g)

It is unlawful to split or separate a public project into smaller work orders to evade the Public Contract Code requirements.

(h)

Every request for a bid shall include the statement that the city reserves the right to cancel an invitation for bids, or to reject any and all bids or waive any irregularities in any bid or the bidding process, when it is for good cause and in the best interests of the city.

(Ord. No. 424, § 1.)

(a)

Emergency public works projects resulting from a natural or civil disaster, such as an extraordinary fire, flood, storm or epidemic is exempt from the bidding requirements of this chapter. The city shall follow the procedures and requirements of Public Contract Code Sections 20168 and 22050, and as such sections may be amended from time to time.

(b)

If no sealed bids or proposals are received, the city council may authorize the project to be completed by city employees by force account or through negotiation without complying with the requirements of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 424, § 1.)

(a)

This section is enacted pursuant to California Public Contract Code Section 20101, which authorizes the city to establish a system for prequalification of prospective bidders on public works construction projects.

(b)

The city hereby establishes a system for prequalification of prospective bidders for public works projects. The city may use the prequalification system identified in this section for any public works project. The city engineer is authorized to adopt and apply a uniform system of rating bidders for each project based upon: (1) the requirements of California Public Contract Code Section 20101, and (2) the model guidelines and standardized questionnaire created by the State of California Department of Industrial Relations, as modified at the city engineer's discretion to address the needs of the particular project, or projects, to which they are to be applied.

(c)

(1)

Prequalification of prospective bidders shall be conducted for public works projects that involve the construction, retrofitting, remodeling, renovation or expansion of public buildings, water or wastewater treatment facilities, water works, or require significant specialized experience or expertise, unless the city engineer determines that it is in the best interests of the city to forgo prequalification of prospective bidders on a particular project. In making his or her determination whether it is in the best interests of the city to forgo prequalification of prospective bidders on a particular project, the city engineer's decision shall be supported by one or more of the following reasons: (A) prequalification of prospective bidders is likely to unreasonably adversely affect the cost of the project, (B) the complexity, scale or cost of the project do not warrant use of this prequalification process, (C) there is an urgent need, based upon concerns for the health and safety of the public, to pursue the project on an expedited basis, (D) the particular project is of such a specialized nature that there is a very limited pool of qualified potential bidders, and for this reason the

purposes of the prequalification process may be accomplished by use of a bid questionnaire, or (E) the project will not be competitively bid.

(2)

Notwithstanding subsection (c)(1) of this section, the city engineer is authorized to require prequalification of prospective bidders on any public works project or to engage in a program of prequalification of prospective bidders, on public works projects on a recurring basis as provided in California Public Contract Code Section 20101.

(3)

If prequalification of prospective bidders is required for a particular project, the city engineer shall determine which bidders are qualified to bid that project based upon the uniform system of rating bidders. If the city engineer determines any bidder is not qualified to bid a project, the city engineer shall provide to the bidder written notice that includes the basis for the determination and an identification of any supporting evidence therefor, and an opportunity for the bidder to appeal the determination pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.

(d)

Appeals.

(1)

Any person aggrieved by a determination made by the city engineer pursuant to this section may appeal the determination only by complying with the requirements set forth in this subsection. Such an aggrieved person shall be referred to herein as "appellant." Without a timely appeal, the appellant waives any and all rights to challenge the decision of the city engineer, whether by administrative process, judicial process or any other legal process or proceeding.

(2)

The appellant shall submit a written notice of appeal to the city clerk, along with a complete written description of all factual and legal bases for the appeal and a deposit in the amount of one thousand dollars, no later than ten calendar days after the city has mailed written notice of the determination made by the city engineer. Should the appellant prevail in its appeal, the deposit shall be returned to the appellant and the city shall bear the costs of the appeal. If the appellant does not prevail, the deposit shall be used to pay all costs associated with the appeal. If the deposit is insufficient to pay the entirety of the costs of the appeal, the appellant shall pay the remaining costs within thirty calendar days after the decision. Any failure by the appellant to timely pay any outstanding appeal costs, as required herein, shall be considered by the city in future prequalification proceedings.

(3)

If the appellant gives the required notice of appeal, provides the necessary deposit and requests a hearing, the hearing shall be conducted so that it is concluded no later than five business days prior to the last date for the receipt of bids on the project or twenty calendar days following city's receipt of the notice of appeal,

whichever is sooner. The hearing shall be an informal process conducted by an arbitrator, who shall be an attorney experienced in public works and construction matters. The arbitrator may be selected by the mutual consent of the appellant and the city. If an agreement cannot be reached regarding the selection of the arbitrator, the appellant and the city shall each exchange a list of three arbitrators they would be willing to accept. In turn, beginning with the appellant, each party shall strike one name from the other party's list until only one name remains and that remaining person shall be the arbitrator. If the arbitrator selected is unavailable, the parties shall repeat the process until they succeed in selecting an available arbitrator.

(4)

At the hearing, the appellant and the city shall each be provided an opportunity to be represented by legal counsel and to present or rebut any evidence bearing upon the issues presented in the appeal.

(5)

The arbitrator shall consider relevant evidence presented during the hearing and provide a written decision on the appeal to the city and the appellant within one business day after the close of the hearing. The time identified in this section for providing the arbitrator's decision may be extended only by consent of the city and the appellant and such an extension shall not affect or require a delay in a scheduled time for opening of bids for any public works project. Failure by the arbitrator to render a timely decision shall be deemed a denial of the appeal.

(6)

The arbitrator's decision shall be final.

(Ord. No. 424, § 1.)

(a)

A contingency appropriation shall be included in the total project appropriation for all public works contracts awarded by either the city council or city manager. The contingency appropriation shall be ten percent of the contract amount and shall be administered by the city manager. The contingency appropriation shall be used to fund only contract change orders and shall be funded in the same manner as the appropriation for the contract.

(b)

Except as otherwise provided herein, all public works contract change orders shall comply with the city standard construction specifications and shall be approved in writing by the city manager prior to the work being performed. If a contract change order exceeds ten thousand dollars the city manager shall obtain the written consent of the mayor or his/her designee, or, at the mayor or his/her designee's discretion, the city council, prior to approving the work. All contract change orders approved by the city manager shall be reported to the city council by the city manager at least quarterly.

(Ord. No. 424, § 1.)

Public works projects which exceed thirty thousand dollars but are one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars shall be governed by the informal bid procedures set forth below.

(a)

A list of contractors shall be developed and maintained in accordance with the provisions of Section 22034 of the Public Contract Code and criteria promulgated from time to time by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission.

(b)

Where a public project is to be performed, a notice inviting informal bids shall be mailed to all contractors for the category of work to be bid, as shown on the list developed in accordance with this section, and to all construction trade journals as specified by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission in accordance with Section 22036 of the Public Contract Code. Additional contractors and/or construction trade journals may be notified; provided however:

(1)

If there is no list of qualified contractors maintained by the city for the particular category of work to be performed, the notice inviting bids shall be sent only to the construction trade journals specified by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission.

(2)

If the product or service is proprietary in nature such that it can be obtained only from a certain contractor or contractors, the notice inviting informal bids may be sent exclusively to such contractor or contractors.

(3)

All mailing of notices to contractors and construction journals pursuant to this section shall be completed not less than ten calendar days before bids are due.

(4)

The notice inviting informal bids shall describe the project in general terms, how to obtain more detailed information about the project, and shall state the time and place for the submission of bids.

(5)

If all bids received are in excess of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, the city council may, by passage of a resolution by a four-fifths vote, award the contract at one hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, or less, to the lowest responsible bidder, if it determines the cost estimate of the city was reasonable.

(6)

The procedures set forth in Section 13-14(a)(4) through (a)(12) shall apply to the extent that such procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures set forth in this section.

(Ord. No. 424, § 1.)

All contracts for the construction of a public works project in an estimated amount of twenty-five thousand dollars or greater shall require the contracting party to furnish security for the completion of the project and the payment of labor, materials and equipment. The provisions of the California Government Code Sections 66499 through 66499.10, as the same now reads or is hereafter amended, shall govern the kind of security (Section 66499), the form of bonds (Sections 66499.1 and 66499.2), the amount of the security (Section 66499.3), the costs, expenses and fees included in the amount of the security (Section 66499.4), the provision for reduction of improvement security (Section 66499.5), exemption of security from enforcement of money judgment (Section 66499.6), release of security (Section 66499.7), restriction on release of security (Section 66499.8), limitation on security liability (Section 66499.9) and party against whom suit on security maintained (Section 66499.10).

(Ord. No. 424, § 1.)