Columbus, Georgia

AN ORDINANCE

NO._________



AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE NO. 99-18, ARTICLE 3 ?SOURCE

SELECTION AND CONTRACT FORMATION,? SECTION 3-107 (B), ?QUOTATION SOLICITATION,?

3-107(C), ?NOTICE,? AND 3-108(D) ?PUBLIC NOTICE? IN ORDER TO CHANGE

SOLICITATION ADVERTISING REQUIREMENTS AND SOLICITATION NOTIFICATION

REQUIREMENTS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Section 1.



Section 3-107(B), ?Quotation Solicitation,? and 3-107 (C) ?Notice,? of

Ordinance No. 99-18 (Procurement Ordinance) are hereby deleted in their

entirety and substituted in lieu thereof new Sections 3-107(B) and (C) to read

as follows:



B. Quotation Solicitation

The Purchasing Division shall administer the quotation solicitation. No

formal advertising is required.



C. Notice

Vendors will be given at least fifteen (15) business days to respond to a

competitive sealed quotation solicitation; however, the City may seek

competitive quotations in a shorter period, if necessary, as determined by the

Purchasing Division Manager.



Section 2.



Section 3-108(D) ?Public Notice,? of Ordinance No. 99-18 (Procurement

Ordinance) is hereby deleted in its entirety and substituted in lieu thereof a

new Section 3-108(D), to read as follows:



D. Public Notice

i) The public will be given adequate notice of the Invitation for Bids,

provided that, adequate notice shall mean at least fifteen (15) business days

before the bid opening date, which is stated in the Invitation. Notice shall

be published in a reasonable time before bid opening, contain a description of

the procurement in general terms as well as the place, date, and time of bid

opening, and appear in a newspaper(s) of general circulation. In addition to

publication in a newspaper, notice shall also be made by electronic means,

including the posting on the Internet and on the City?s government access

television channel.



ii) Public Works Construction projects shall be advertised in accordance with

Georgia State Law.



iii) The City reserves the right to mail invitations to vendors under

the following circumstances:



A. Solicitations for Specialized Equipment/Supplies

B. Solicitations for Specialized Services

C. Re-bid of Solicitations where normal advertising procedures netted no

responses.

D. Whenever deemed necessary by the Purchasing Division Manager.



Section 3.



All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance

are hereby repealed.





Introduced at a regular meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia,

held the ___ day of ________, 2005 and adopted at said meeting by the

affirmative vote of ____ members of said Council, introduced a second time at a

regular meeting of said Council held on the _____ day of _____, 2005, and

adopted at said meeting by the affirmative vote of ____ members of said Council.



Councilor Allen voting __________.

Councilor Anthony voting __________.

Councilor Davis voting __________.

Councilor Henderson voting __________.

Councilor Hunter voting __________.

Councilor McDaniel voting __________.

Councilor Pugh voting __________.

Councilor Rodgers voting __________.

Councilor Suber voting __________.

Councilor Woodson voting __________.



__________________________________ _____________________________

Tiny B. Washington, Clerk of Council Robert S. Poydasheff, Mayor





Agenda Item # ______



Columbus Consolidated Government

Council Meeting



June 07, 2005



Agenda Report # ______





TO: Mayor and Councilors



SUBJECT: Amend the Procurement Ordinance, Ordinance No 99-18



INITIATED BY: Finance Department







Recommendation: Approve amendments to the Procurement Ordnance for the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia, for the following: Section

3-107(B), ?Quotation Solicitation,? Section 3-107(C), ?Notice ?, and Section

3-108(D) ?Public Notice. The amendments are needed to change the advertisement

and notification requirements for procurement solicitations. The recommended

Ordinance amendment is attached.





Background: The City of Columbus, Georgia has had to make drastic budget cuts

for the upcoming FY06 budget year (July 1 2005 - June 30, 2006). One budget

cut includes reducing the amount of postage used to mail bid invitations.

Therefore, beginning July 1, 2005, the Purchasing Division will no longer mail

bid invitations to vendors, except for specialized equipment or services.



See attachment for the change comparisons.





Analysis: To accommodate the recent budget cuts, the Purchasing Division

proposed a drastic reduction in mailing invitations to vendors for each

Bid/RFP/PQ solicitation. Purchasing will continue to mail invitations for

solicitation for specialized equipment or specialized services.



Currently, when a bid opportunity arises, the Purchasing Division mails an

invitation to all vendors registered for the requested commodity. Most

commodities for capital equipment (such as vehicles), and services (such as

construction or landscape maintenance) have a minimum of 50 ?100 vendors who

have registered with the City stating they can provide that commodity.

Usually, less than 10% of the vendors respond with either a bid or no bid

response. Based on the mandate of the Procurement Ordinance, Purchasing has

continued to mail invitations at great cost. The low response rate does not

support this continued expense. Therefore, the Purchasing Division is poised

to implement numerous, less expensive, methods of providing vendors with

alternative avenues to learn about bid opportunities. We propose the following:



In June of 2005, a letter will be forwarded to all vendors, currently on the

City?s bid list, informing them of the upcoming changes regarding notice of bid

invitations and of the alternative avenues they can utilize to learn of bid

opportunities. The proposed changes are listed below:



1. Purchasing proposes a change to the Procurement Ordinance to extend the

minimum advertisement time for solicitations, from 10 calendar days to 15

business days; with the exception of solicitations for Public Works

construction. State law requires solicitations for Public Works construction

to be advertised for at least 4 weeks



2. Purchasing proposes an amendment to the Procurement Ordinance to change the

verbiage for mailing bid invitations to the following:

?Bid invitations will only be mailed to registered vendors under the following

circumstances:

i. Solicitations for Specialized Equipment/Supplies

ii. Solicitations for Specialized Services

iii. Re-bid of Solicitations where normal advertising procedures netted no

responses.

iv. Whenever deemed necessary by the Purchasing Division Manager.?



3 An internal policy change will require solicitations for capital

equipment/supplies and services, other than Public Works Construction, to be

advertised in the newspaper (Columbus Ledger, the City?s legal organ) only on

specific days, Wednesdays and Fridays. Advertisements in The Columbus Times

will continue to appear in its weekly edition.



4. An internal policy will reactivate the BidLine (bid information telephone

line) to inform bidders of bid opportunities. The BidLine recording will be

updated on a weekly basis, usually Friday. Vendors will be able to call at any

time to find out about bid opportunities.



5. A listing of Annual Contracts due for re-bid during FY06 will be prepared

and included in the vendor letter explaining upcoming changes. The listing

will inform the vendors of the expiration date, the time frame for advertising

the new annual contract, and the buyer to whom the annual contract is assigned.



6. A listing of all capital equipment approved for FY06 will be prepared and

included in the vendor letter explaining upcoming changes. The listing will

inform vendors of the proposed time frame for advertising the equipment bid

during the fiscal year.



7. The amendment to the Procurement Ordinance will require posting bid

advertisements on CCG TV. In addition, CCGTV will be utilized to publish the

bid advertisement and notification changes.



8. We will continue to post solicitations on the City?s Website.



Additionally, City Departments will be advised of the advertising changes and

the bidding schedules. A major part of this plan is contingent upon Department

Heads and Division Managers, or their appointees, providing comprehensive

specifications to the Purchasing Division in a timely manner.



Financial Considerations: No cost, only the savings in postage and envelopes.



Legal Considerations: City Council must approve an amendment to an existing

ordinance.



Recommendations/Actions: Recommend adoption of stated Ordinance amendment.









Article Number Current Verbiage New Verbiage







3-1



07(B)

?Quotation Solicitation? The Purchasing Division shall administer the quotation

solicitation. Qualified vendors who have registered with the City to provide

the good or service will be notified and invited to submit a price quotation.

No formal advertising is required. The Purchasing Division shall administer the quotation

solicitation. No formal advertising is required.

3-107(C)

?Notice? Vendors will be given at least five (5) to ten (10) calendar days,

depending on the commodity, to respond to a competitive sealed quotation

solicitation for non-emergency solicitations. The City reserves the right to

seek competitive quotations in a shorter period of time for emergency

solicitations. Vendors will be given at least fifteen (15) business days, to respond to a

competitive sealed quotation solicitation; however, the City may seek

competitive quotations in a shorter period, if necessary, as determined by the

Purchasing Division Manager.

3-108(D)

?Public Notice? The public will be given adequate notice of the Invitation for Bids, at

least ten (10) calendar days, before the bid opening date stated therein.

Notice shall include Invitation for Bids mailed to bidders registered with the

City, publications in a newspaper(s) of general circulation a reasonable time

before bid opening with a description of the procurement in general terms and

the place, date, and time of bid opening. Notice shall also include electronic

means, such as the Internet, Radio, Television or any other means available for

notification.



Construction projects shall be advertised in accordance with Georgia State Law. i)

The public will be given adequate notice of the Invitation for Bids, provided

that, adequate notice shall mean at least fifteen (15) business days before the

bid opening date, which is stated in the Invitation. Notice shall be published

in a reasonable time before bid opening, contain a description of the

procurement in general terms as well as the place, date, and time of the bid

opening, and appear in a newspaper(s) of general circulation. In addition to

publication in a newspaper, notice shall also be made by electronic means,

including the posting on the Internet and on the City?s government access

television channel.



ii) Public works construction projects shall be advertised in accordance with

Georgia State Law.



iii) The City reserves the right to mail invitations to vendors under the

following circumstances:



A Solicitations for Specialized Equipment/Supplies

B Solicitations for Specialized Services

C Re-bid of Solicitations where normal advertising procedures netted

no responses.

D Whenever deemed necessary by the Purchasing Division Manager.