§ 1-2-186. Competitive sealed bid process.

(a)

All procurements requiring the receipt of competitive bids under this article shall be upon invitation for bids. Invitations for bids shall be issued and shall include procurement specifications, bid evaluation criteria, and all principal terms and conditions applicable to the procurement. The bid evaluation criteria that will affect the bid price and/or be considered in evaluation for the award shall generally be objectively measurable. Such evaluation may include, but is not limited to, conformance to specifications, discounts, transportation costs, and total or life-cycle costs. No criteria may be used in bid evaluation that are not set forth in the bid package document.

(b)

All electronic posting of solicitations must take place at least ten (10) days before the dates set for receipts of bids, proposals, or replies unless the purchasing division determines in writing that a shorter period of time is necessary to avoid harming the interests of the county.

(c)

Bids must be received not later than the call for bids for any such bid, at a formal bid opening, to be considered for award. Bids shall be opened publicly in the presence of the senior division manager of purchasing, or his/her designee, and other interested parties at the time and place designated in the public notice referred to in subsection (b) hereof. The amount of each bid, together with the name of each bidder, shall be read aloud and maintained in the purchasing division's bid file, which shall be open to public inspection. Receipt, opening, and award of bids, shall be in accordance with the purchasing manual, pursuant to section 1-2-185 of this article.

(d)

Information in a bid which concerns the responsibility of the bidder shall not necessarily be considered conclusive at the time of bid opening, except when the invitation for bids unequivocally states that the bid shall not be considered responsive unless the particular information is provided by a vendor in his bid proposal. When such information has not been so declared as a determinant of responsiveness of the bid, the senior division manager of purchasing may, within reason after bid opening, request additional information of the bidder concerning his responsibility to perform.

(e)

To maintain the integrity of the competitive sealed bid process, to assure fairness, and to avoid delays or poor contract performance, the following provisions shall govern the correction of information submitted in a bid when that information is a determinant of the responsiveness of the bid:

(1)

No bidder shall be permitted to correct a bid mistake after bid opening that would cause such bidder to have the low bid, except for the correction of errors in extension of unit prices in the bids (multiplication, division, addition or subtraction). In such cases, the unit price bid shall not be changed.

(2)

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the board of county commissioners reserves the right to cancel any awards or contracts based on bid mistakes, after a written determination of the mistake by the senior division manager of purchasing.

(f)

A bidder may withdraw his bid at any time prior to the bid opening date and time set forth in the public notice referred to in subsection (b) hereof. Bids may not be withdrawn after said time except when the request for withdrawal has been submitted in writing to the senior division manager of purchasing, said request clearly states the reasons for withdrawal, and the senior division manager of purchasing approves the withdrawal.

(g)

Contracts resulting from the competitive sealed bid process shall be awarded with reasonable promptness by the board of county commissioners by written notice to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder, unless the basis of award in the bid documents has explicitly established other criteria. As used in this article, the term "responsible and responsive bidder" means a bidder whose bid conforms in all material respects to the solicitation for bids, and who has demonstrated the capability to perform the contract requirements. In the award process, the board of county commissioners reserves the right to reject any or all bids for any reason including, but not limited to, nonresponsiveness of bid(s), unavailability of adequate funding, unreasonable price in bid(s), nonresponsibility of bidder(s), or a change in the requirements since the issuance of an invitation for bid, or where the board of county commissioners determines the public interest requires such rejection.

(h)

In cases of tie bids (monetary as well as all award criteria identified) of two (2) or more responsible and responsive bidders subject to such award, the award shall be made to the bidder doing business from a location within the county. If there is more than one (1) bidder so situated, the award shall be made based on a lot drawn by the senior division manager of purchasing before at least three (3) witnesses.

(i)

In the event that all bids for a project exceed the available budgeted funds, the county administrator, or his/her designee, may authorize negotiation of the bid price with the lowest responsive and responsible bidder in order to bring the bid within the amount of available funds, or reject all bids and authorize re-advertisement, as the county administrator, or his/her designee, deems appropriate.

(j)

In the event the lowest responsible and responsive bidder defaults on the contract awarded through the competitive sealed bid process, the board of county commissioners may award the contract to the next lowest responsible and responsive bidder. When awarding a contract to the next lowest bidder due to default of the lowest bidder the board of county commissioners shall reserve the right to seize the bid bond of the lowest bidder for failure to faithfully perform under the terms of the bid specifications.

(k)

When a responsive, responsible non-local business submits the lowest price bid, and the bid submitted by one (1) or more responsive, responsible local businesses located in Charlotte, DeSoto and Sarasota County, and as further defined in the purchasing manual, is within five (5) percent of the price submitted by the non-local business, then each of the aforementioned local businesses shall have the opportunity to submit a best and final bid equal to or lower than the amount of the low bid previously submitted by the non-local business within five (5) days of being notified by the senior division manager of purchasing in writing. Contract award shall be made to the responsive, responsible business submitting the lowest best and final bid. In the case of a tie in the best and final bid between a local business and a non-local business, contract award shall be made to the local business.

(Ord. No. 95-025, § 11, 6-6-95; Ord. No. 2003-017, § 3, 4-22-03; Ord. No. 2007-060, § 1, 8-28-07; Ord. No. 2009-005, § 6, 2-10-09; Ord. No. 2009-041, § 1, 10-13-09)