Walnut Municipal Code Ch. 1.20 Purchasing System

A. Purchasing System Adopted. In order to establish efficient procedures for the purchase of supplies, services, and equipment, to secure for the City supplies, services, and equipment at the lowest possible cost commensurate with quality needed, to exercise positive financial control over purchases, to clearly define authority for the purchasing function and to assure the quality of purchases, a purchasing system is hereby adopted.

B. Scope. The purchase of supplies, services and equipment shall be by bid procedures pursuant to Sections 1.20.030 through 1.20.100 and Section 1.20.130. Professional services which require a special skill or expertise, and due to the nature of the services to be provided, do not readily fall within the competitive bidding process shall follow procedures pursuant to Section 1.20.140 through 1.20.160. Public projects as defined in Section 20161 of the California Public Contract Code shall be bid in accordance with Section 1.20.170 and applicable State and Federal laws.

C. Federal Awards. To the extent there may be Federal requirements in the selection, award, or administration of a purchase or a contract supported by an award of Federal funds, the purchasing officer and all City departments shall comply with the City’s adopted policy regarding Federal award programs.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

The City Manager or designee is hereby designated the purchasing officer, and as such shall have authority to:

A. Purchase or contract for supplies, services, and equipment required by any City department in accordance with purchasing procedures prescribed by this chapter, such administrative regulations as the purchasing officer shall adopt and such other rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the City Council;

B. Negotiate and recommend execution of contracts for the purchase of supplies, services, and equipment;

C. Act to procure for the City the needed quality in supplies, services, and equipment at least expense to the City;

D. Endeavor to obtain as full and open competition as possible on all purchases;

E. Adopt operational procedures relating to the purchase of supplies, services, and equipment for the City;

F. Keep informed of current developments in the field of purchasing, prices, market conditions and new products;

G. Prescribe and maintain such forms as are reasonably necessary to the operation of this chapter and other rules and regulations;

H. Supervise the inspection of all supplies and equipment purchased to insure conformance with specifications;

I. Recommend the transfer of supplies or unused supplies and equipment between departments as needed and the sale of all supplies and equipment which cannot be used by any department or which have become unsuitable for City use;

J. Maintain a bidders’ list, vendors’ catalog file and records needed for the efficient operation of the Purchasing Department.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

The purchasing officer, with approval of the City Council, may authorize, in writing, any City department to purchase or contract for specified supplies, services, and equipment independently of the purchasing officer, but he or she shall require that such purchases or contracts shall be made in conformity with the procedures established by this chapter, and shall further require all documents supporting the formal or informal bidding procedures be attached to the City’s copy of the purchase order.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

City departments shall submit requests for supplies, services, and equipment to the purchasing officer by standard requisition forms, or such other procedures established by the purchasing officer.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Notwithstanding the purchase procedures set forth in this chapter, bidding procedures for supplies, services and equipment shall be dispensed with in the following situations:

A. An emergency requires that an order be placed with the nearest available sources of supply;

B. The commodities or services can be obtained from only one vendor;

C. The purchasing officer finds that the public interest and convenience would be best served by utilizing another agency’s agreement, the purchasing officer is authorized to purchase supplies, services, and equipment by contract or arrangement under the competitive purchasing programs of the Federal, State, County, or any other municipal or public corporation when that administering agency has made such purchases in a manner that is reasonably consistent with Sections 1.20.080 and 1.20.090, or when the amount involved is less than $5,000.00;

D. Professional services which require a special skill or expertise, and due to the nature of the services to be provided, do not readily fall within the competitive bidding process shall follow procedures pursuant to Section 1.20.140;

E. The commodity or service can be obtained through a cooperative purchasing program devoted to local government procurement so long as the underlying procurement was made using bid procedures at least as restrictive as provided in this chapter;

F. When in the best interest of the City, the City Manager may authorize purchases of surplus property from another governmental entity to bypass the formal bid process;

G. When in the best interest of the City, the City Manager may authorize for purchases of $30,000.00 or less to bypass the bid process required under this chapter;

H. When in the best interest of the City, the City Council may authorize the purchasing officer to bypass the bid process required under this chapter for purchases greater than $30,000.00.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Purchases of supplies, services, and equipment shall be made by purchase order, or such other procedures established by the purchasing officer.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Except in cases of emergency, the purchasing officer shall not issue any purchase order for supplies, services, or equipment unless there exists an unencumbered appropriation in the fund account against which such purchase is to be charged.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Except as otherwise provided herein, purchases and contracts for supplies, services, and equipment of estimated value greater than $30,000.00 shall be by written contract with the lowest responsible bidder pursuant to the procedure prescribed herein.

A. Notice Inviting Bids. Notices inviting bids shall include a general description of the articles to be purchased, shall state where bid blanks and specifications may be secured, and the time and place for opening bids.

1. Published Notice. Notice inviting bids shall be posted at least 10 days before the date of opening of bids on the City’s website and either: (a) posted on a website devoted to procurement services, bid and vendor management such as Planetbids.com; or (b) published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City.

2. Bidder’s List. The purchasing officer may also solicit sealed bids from all responsible prospective suppliers whose names are on the bidder’s list or who have requested their names to be added thereto.

B. Reserved.

C. Bid Opening Procedure. Sealed bids shall be submitted to the purchasing officer and shall be identified as bids on the envelope. Bids shall be opened in public at the time and place stated in the public notices. A tabulation of all bids received shall be open for public inspection during regular business hours for a period of not less than 30 calendar days after the bid opening.

D. Rejection of Bids. In its discretion, the City Council may reject any and all bids presented and re-advertise for bids.

E. Award of Contracts. Contracts shall be awarded by the City Council to the lowest responsible bidder except as otherwise provided herein.

F. Tie Bids. If two or more bids received are for the same total amount or unit price, quality and service being equal and if the public interest will not permit the delay of re-advertising for bids, the City Council may accept the one it chooses or accept the lowest bid made by negotiation with the tie bidders at the time of the bid opening.

G. Performance Bonds. The City Council shall have authority to require a performance bond before entering a contract in such amount as it shall find reasonably necessary to protect the best interest of the City. If the City Council requires a performance bond, the form and amount of the bond shall be described in the notice inviting bids.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Purchases of supplies, services, and equipment of an estimated value in the amount of $30,000.00 or less, and in the case of public works projects in the amount of $5,000.00 or less, may be made by the purchasing officer in the open market observing the procedure prescribed herein.

A. Minimum Number of Bids. Open market purchases shall, wherever possible, be based on at least three bids and shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.

B. Notice Inviting Bids. The purchasing officer shall solicit informal bids by written requests to prospective vendors, by telephone, by public notice posted City’s website, or by posting on a website devoted to procurement services, bid and vendor management such as Planetbids.com.

C. Written Bids. For purchases greater than $10,000.00 but not greater than $30,000.00 written informal bids shall be submitted to the purchasing officer who shall keep a record of all open market orders and bids for a period of one year after the submission of bids or the placing of orders. This record, while so kept, shall be open to public inspection.

D. For purchases of less than $30,000.00 and more than $10,000.00 at least three written informal bids shall be required.

E. For purchase of $10,000.00 or less, but more than $1,000.00, the informal bid may be verbal or written and shall, whenever possible, be based on at least three bids.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

The purchasing officer shall inspect supplies and equipment delivered to determine their conformance with the specifications set forth in the order or contract. The purchasing officer shall have authority to require chemical and physical tests of samples submitted with bids and samples of deliveries which are necessary to determine their quality and conformance, with specifications.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

All departments shall submit to the Administrative Services Director, at such times and in such form as he or she shall prescribe, reports showing all supplies and equipment which are no longer used or which have become obsolete or worn out. The Administrative Services Director shall have authority to sell all supplies and equipment which cannot be used by any department or which have become unsuitable for City use, or to exchange the same for, or trade in the same on, new supplies and equipment. Such sales shall be made pursuant to rules prescribed by the Administrative Services Director and only after authorization from the City Council as to any items of an estimated value of $1,500.00 or more.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Surplus supplies and equipment may be sold to the public in accordance with procedures approved by the Administrative Services Director. City employees, however, are ineligible to bid on and to purchase such surplus items.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Each City department shall purchase and use recycled products and recycled materials to meet their needs whenever practicable, feasible, and cost-efficient in support of resource conservation and recycling in compliance with the Waste Management Reduction Act.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Professional services are defined as those services which require a special skill or expertise, including, but not limited to, the services of accounting, appraisers, attorneys, architects, auditing, City planning, construction managers, economic analysis, engineers, environmental consultants, financial services, information technology, and other services which require in addition to the use of special or specific equipment, special performance criteria, specific experience, training, personnel judgment including services contracted for a particular project, such as negotiations for the acquisition of land, insurance, bonds, or any other service of similar nature. This also provides for those services which are of a professional nature, and due to the nature of services to be provided, do not readily fall within the competitive bidding process.

A. Consultants should be individually selected for a specific project with the objective of selecting the most qualified consultant at a fair and reasonable cost. The final selection of consultant shall include consideration of the following factors:

1. Overall professional experience, reliability, and continuity of the firm as related to the tasks described in the solicitation for proposals or bids.

2. Professional experience of the firm in executing contracts for a similar nature.

3. Adequacy of personal numbers within specific disciplines required to complete the work required by the solicitation for proposals or bids.

4. Experience and training of key personnel as related to the work described in the solicitation for proposals.

5. Adequacy of number of principal(s) which are intended to be assigned to the contract.

6. Knowledge or applicable regulations and technology associated with the contract.

7. Quality and timeliness of recently completed or nearly completed projects which were similar to the work described in the solicitation for proposals or bids.

8. Specialized qualifications for the services to be performed.

9. Price.

B. Competitive bidding is not required for professional service contracts. A request for proposal (RFP) or request for qualifications (RFQ) may be completed to assist in the selection process as follows:

1. A request for proposal/qualification solicitation documents shall be issued to potential individuals or firms and shall discuss the following:

a. Scope of work or specification desired.

b. List of any required qualifications.

c. List the evaluation criteria.

d. The date of submission for the response by the vendor.

e. Only criteria disclosed in the solicitation may be used to evaluate the supplies or services proposed.

2. The solicitation document shall be made available to a minimum of three qualified firms or individuals, unless three qualified firms or individuals cannot be located, and shall be made available for no less than 14 days.

C. Evaluation of proposals received will be conducted by either an individual or a review committee. Interviews may be conducted, at the discretion of the acquiring authorized person, with one or more responsible bidders who has submitted a proposal and is determined to be reasonably susceptible for being accepted for award. These discussions may be held for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of responsiveness to the solicitation requirements.

D. Multi-Year Contracts. The total not to exceed amount for the entire term of a multi-year contract shall be the amount utilized in determining the approval authority required under this chapter.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

A. Request to renew an existing contract with a professional consultant shall include an evaluation of the work performed by the consultant, as well as determination that the fees being charged are comparable to similar services offered by other consultants.

B. If the additional cumulative fee of the renewal contract is $30,000.00 or less, the City Manager may execute the agreement without prior City Council approval.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

Contracts using Federal grant monies may not be awarded to individual or firms that is debarred or suspended from participation in Federal assistance programs under Executive Order 12549.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

A. Purpose. This section is enacted for the purpose of implementing the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (Public Contracts Section 22000 et seq.) and to provide for bidding procedures in undertaking public works projects.

B. Bid Limitations. The following bid limitations shall be in effect:

1. Public projects of $60,000.00 or less may be performed by City employees by force account, by negotiated contract, or by purchase order, as approved by the purchasing officer.

2. Public projects over $60,000.00 to $200,000.00 shall be contracted by informal bidding procedures as set forth in this section.

3. Public projects over $200,000.00 shall, except as otherwise provided by State law, be let to contract by formal bidding procedure.

C. Informal Bidding. Public works projects of an estimated value in the amount over $60,000.00 but not exceeding $200,000.00 may be made by the City Council as follows:

1. Minimum Number of Bids. The award of bid shall, whenever possible, be based on at least three bids and shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.

2. Notices Inviting Bids. After the City Council has approved plans and specifications and authorized requests for bids, the purchasing officer shall solicit bids by written request to contractors licensed and experienced for the type of public work to be performed. The purchasing officer shall maintain a list of qualified contractors, identified according to categories of work. The minimum criteria for development and maintenance of the contractors’ lists shall be determined by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission (CUCCAC). All qualified contractors on the list for the category of work to be performed and/or all construction trade journals specified by the CUCCAC shall be mailed a notice inviting informal bids unless the product or service is proprietary. All mailing of notices to such qualified contractors and construction trade journals shall be completed not less than 10 calendar days before bids are due to be opened and awarded.

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

4. Written Bids. The award of bid shall be made to the lowest responsible bidder and the City Council is authorized to execute the construction contract provided the contractor has posted the required bonds and insurance.

5. If all bids received are in excess of $200,000.00, the Council may, by passage of a resolution by a four-fifths vote, award the contract, at $212,500.00 or less to the lowest responsible bidder, if it determines that the cost estimate of the City Engineer was reasonable.

D. Maintenance of Contractors List. During November of each year, the purchasing officer shall mail a written notice to all construction trade journals designated by the CUCCAC, inviting all licensed contractors to submit the name of their firm to the purchasing officer for inclusion on the list of qualified bidders for the following calendar year according to category. The notice shall require that the contractor provide the name and address to which a notice to contractors or proposal should be mailed, a telephone number at which the contractor may be reached, the type or category of work in which the contractor is interested and currently licensed to perform together with the number and type of contractor’s license or licenses held. The purchasing officer shall create a new contractors list starting January 1st of each year which shall include at minimum all contractors who submitted one or more valid bids to the City during the preceding calendar year and all contractors who have properly provided purchasing officer with the information required to be added to the list. A contractor may be added to the list at any time by providing the required information.

E. Public Projects Defined.

1. The following projects are public projects which shall be performed under the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act:

a. Construction, reconstruction, erection, alteration, renovation, improvement, demolition and repair work involving any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility.

b. Painting or repainting of any publicly owned, leased or operated facility.

2. "Public projects" do not include maintenance work. The following maintenance works are not public projects and may be performed without formal or informal bidding procedures required in this Section 1.20.170:

a. Routine, recurring and usual work for the preservation or protection of any publicly owned or publicly operated facility for its intended purposes.

b. Minor repainting.

c. Resurfacing of streets and highways at less than one inch, including pothole repair.

d. Landscape maintenance, including mowing, watering, trimming, pruning, planting, replacement of plants and servicing of irrigation and sprinkler systems.

F. Rejection of Informal Bids. The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids presented. If after the first invitation for informal bids are rejected, the purchasing officer shall have the option, after reevaluating the project cost estimates to do one of the following:

1. Abandon the project or re-advertise for bids in the manner described in this chapter.

2. By adoption of resolution by four-fifths majority of the City Council, declare that the project can be performed more economically by City employees and the City may then have the project constructed by force account.

3. If no bids are received, the project may be performed by City employees by force account or by contract.

G. Formal Bidding. Formal bidding of an estimated value in the amount over $200,000.00 shall be performed in accordance with California Public Contract Code Sections 22000 to 22045.

H. Pre-Qualification of Bidders. To assure the timely and economic completion of public works projects, the City Council may adopt by resolution a system of pre-qualification for bidders on public works projects. Pre-qualification of bidders is intended to determine that all bidders on public works projects are responsible bidders. The pre-qualification system shall only apply to projects in excess of $75,000.00.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)

A. Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide for the use of job order contracts that will benefit the public by providing an effective means of reducing the total lead-time and cost for recurring expenses for non-public works maintenance and minor repair services and purchase of unique or nonstandard supplies and equipment.

B. Procedures. In lieu of the formal bid and open market bid procedures set forth in Sections 1.20.080 and 1.20.090, the purchasing officer may issue a purchase order to a job order contractor pursuant to an approved contract for maintenance, minor repairs, rehabilitation, or alteration of facilities that is of a recurring nature or for such other purchases of supplies and equipment which, due to the wide variation of options and cost factors, best serves the needs of the City and provides the City with the highest quality and cost effective goods and services.

C. Notice of Request for Proposals. A notice inviting proposals shall be posted on the City’s website and either: (1) posted on a website devoted to procurement services, bid and vendor management such as Planetbids.com; or (2) posted in at least three of the public places designated In Section 1.04.100(D).

D. Request for Proposals. Notices inviting proposals shall include a general description and applicable specifications of the supplies, equipment, or contractual services to be purchased as well as instructions and deadline for submittal of proposals.

E. Proposer’s List. The purchasing officer shall also solicit proposals from any responsible prospective job order contractor.

F. Rejection of Proposals. The purchasing officer may reject all proposals and readvertise the request for proposals.

G. Recommendation. The purchasing officer shall consider the following factors when recommending the selection of a job order contractor to the City Council:

1. The extent to which the proposal meets the needs of the City for the services, equipment or supplies;

2. The quality of the equipment or supplies proposed;

3. The overall cost to the City of the proposal, including, but not limited to, pricing of the services, equipment or supplies, delivery schedule, terms of payment, warranties, maintenance requirements and required site preparation;

4. The experience and qualifications of contractor submitting a proposal to successfully meet the requirements for the services, equipment or supplies;

5. Previous performance of the contractor submitting a proposal in providing similar services, equipment or supplies;

6. Financial ability of the contractor submitting the proposal to provide the services, equipment or supplies to the City;

7. The contractor’s conformity to the specifications for the services, equipment or supplies set forth in the request for proposal; and

8. Such similar factors as may be specifically included in the request for proposal.

H. Award. Contracts for job order contractors shall be awarded by the City Council.

I. Term. Job order contracts shall be in writing and shall be approved by the City Council for an initial contract term of not to exceed three years. Such job order contracts shall be reviewed periodically by the City Council.

(Ord. 19-08, § 1)