(A) An invitation for bids shall be issued and shall include a purchase description and all contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement.

(B) Adequate public notice of the invitation for bids shall be given a reasonable time before the date set forth in the invitation for the opening of bids, but not less than two weeks before bid opening. The notice should include publication one or more times in a newspaper of general circulation, including circulation within the City. The notice may also be posted at a city approved site on a public network or by electronic notification to registered vendors.

(C) Bids shall be opened publicly at the time and place designated in the invitation for bids. The amount of each bid together with the name of each bidder shall be read, recorded and published. The bid documents shall not be open for public inspection until after a contract is awarded. To the extent the bidder designates and the City concurs, trade secrets or other proprietary data contained in the bid documents shall remain confidential in accordance with rules adopted by the Procurement Manager.

(D) Bids shall be received without alteration or correction, except as authorized in this article. Bids shall be evaluated based on the requirements set forth in the invitation for bids, including criteria to determine acceptability such as inspection, testing, quality, workmanship, delivery and suitability for a particular purpose, as may be prescribed in rules adopted by the Procurement Manager. The invitation for bids shall set forth the evaluation criteria to be used, including the weighting of identified criteria. Evaluation criteria shall not be used for construction and no criteria may be used in bid evaluation that is not set forth in the invitation for bids.

(E) The correction or withdrawal of erroneous bids before or after bid opening, based on bid mistakes, may be permitted in accordance with rules adopted by the Procurement Manager. After bid opening, no corrections in bid prices or other provisions of bids prejudicial to the interest of the City or fair competition shall be permitted. Except as otherwise provided by rule, all decisions to permit the correction or withdrawal of bids, or to cancel awards or contracts based on bid mistakes, shall be supported by a written determination made by the Procurement Manager.

(F) The contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder whose bid conforms in all material respects to the requirements and criteria set forth in the invitation for bids. Except for procurement of construction, for purposes of determining the low bidder the Procurement Manager may consider the amount of applicable city business privilege tax and exclude that amount from the evaluation unless otherwise precluded by applicable law. If all bids for a construction project exceed available monies as certified by the appropriate fiscal officer, and the low responsive and responsible bid does not exceed such monies by more than 5%, the Procurement Manager may in situations in which time or economic considerations preclude re solicitation of work of a reduced scope negotiate an adjustment of the bid price, including changes in the bid requirements, with the low responsive and responsible bidder, to bring the bid within the amount of available monies.

(G) The multi step sealed bidding method may be used if the Procurement Manager determines in writing that it is not practical to initially prepare a definitive purchase description which is suitable to permit an award based on competitive sealed bidding. An invitation for bids may be issued requesting the submission of technical offers to be followed by an invitation for bids limited to those bidders whose offers are determined to be technically acceptable under the criteria set forth in the first solicitation, except that the multi step sealed bidding method may not be used for construction contracts. (Ord. 08-1137, passed 9-22-2008)