ORDINANCE NO. 05-23
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF ORANGE AMENDING CHAPTER
3.08 OF THE ORANGE MUNICIPAL CODE TO
UPDATE UNIFORM PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION
COST ACCOUNTING ACT REFERENCES TO
CONFORM TO CURRENT LAW.
WHEREAS, on June 22, 1999, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 9133 electing to become subject to the Uniform Construction Cost Account ing Act (the “Act”) for public project construction work contracted by the City of Orange; and
WHEREAS, the benefit of the Act is that it allows a city’s formal and informal bid limits to adapt to current economic conditions by having them adhere to those limits established by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission, as amended from time to time ; and
WHEREAS, by Ordinance No. 10-06 adopted on June 13, 2006, the then -current (2006) bid limits were codified into the Orange Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, codification of the 2006 dollar limits has created a discrepancy between the City’s adherence to the Act and the outdated references in the Orange Municipal Code.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ORANGE DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION I:
This Ordinance is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, because it involves administrative activities of the City that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
SECTION II:
Section 3.08.500 of the Orange Municipal Code, “Revenue and Finance – Purchasing System – Public Projects – General Bid Limits,” is hereby revised to read as follows:
3.08.500 Public Projects—General Bid Limits.
A. Public projects up to that amount set forth in Public Contract Code section 22032(a), or as it may be amended from time to time, may be performed by the employees of the City by force account.
2 B. Public projects up to that amount set forth in Public Contract Code section 22032(a), or as it may be amended from time to time, may be let to contract by the i nformal bid procedures prescribed in Sections 3.08.150 through 3.08.170 of this chapter.
C. Public projects up to that amount set forth in Public Contract Code section 22032(b), or as it may be amended from time to time, may be let to contract by the inf ormal procedures prescribed in Section 3.08.520 of this chapter.
D. Public projects greater than that amount set forth in Public Contract Code section 22032(c), or as it may be amended from time to time, shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, be let to contract by the formal bidding procedures prescribed in Sections 3.08.530 through 3.08.580 of this chapter.
E. The City Council may utilize the bidding procedures set forth in this chapter when contracting for “maintenance work” or when cont racting for any other work which does not fall within the definition of “public project.”
SECTION III:
Section 3.08.520 of the Orange Municipal Code, “Revenue and Finance – Purchasing System – Public Projects – Informal Bidding Procedures,” is hereby revised to read as follows:
3.08.520 Public Projects—Informal Bidding Procedures.
Pursuant to the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act as adopted by the City (Public Contract Code section 22000 et seq.), the following shall govern the selection of contractors when a public project which is anticipated to fall within the monetary limits on informal bids described in Section 3.08.500.C of this chapter is to be performed:
A. The City shall prepare a notice of the opportunity to bid which describes the project in general terms, states the time and place for the submission of bids and describes how to obtain more detailed information about the project.
B. The City shall provide the notice to all contractors for the category of the work to be bid, as shown on the list of contractors developed and maintained by the Department of Public Works in accordance with criteria promulgated from time to time by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission (“Commission”).
C. The City may also provide the notice to all construction trade journals specified by the Commission for the County of Orange. Additional contractors and/or construction trade journals may also be notified at the discretion of the Director of Public Works; provided, however:
(1) if the City has not prepared a list of qualified contractors for the particular category of work to be performed, the notice inviting bids shall be provided only to the construction trade journals 3 specified by the Commission; and (2) if the product or service is proprietary in nature such that it can be legally obtained only from a certain contractor(s), the notice inviting informal bids may be provided exclusively to such contractor(s).
D. All notices to contractors and construction tra de journals pursuant to this section shall be provided not less than 10 calendar days before bids are due.
E. The City Manager shall have the authority to award informal contracts pursuant to this section with a value of $30,000 or less pursuant to the findings and recommendations presented by the Director of Public Works. Such contracts shall have the prior approval of, and be executed by, the City Manager and shall be approved as to form by the City Attorney. All contracts with a value in excess of $30,000 to be awarded pursuant to this section shall require the approval of the City Council and shall be executed by the Mayor and approved as to form by the City Attorney.
Unless the agreement provides otherwise, the City Manager may approve dollar i ncreases to contracts that have been approved by the City Council. The extent of the City Manager’s authority to approve such increases shall be in the amount of $10,000 or 10%, whichever is greater.
However, in no event may the City Manager approve an increase of more than $30,000.
F. If all informal bids received exceed that amount set forth in Public Contract Code section 22032(b), or as it may be amended from time to time, and the City Council determines that the cost estimate was reasonable, the City Council may award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder at up to that additional amount set forth in Public Contract Code section 22034(d), or as it may be amended from time to time, by resolution approved by the vote of the whole City Council as required by Section 22034(d). Such contracts shall be executed by the Mayor and approved as to form by the City Attorney. Otherwise, such work shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder pursuant to the formal bid procedures prescribed in Sections 3.08.530 through 3.08.570 of this chapter
SECTION IV:
The first paragraph of Section 3.08.560 of the Orange Municipal Code, “Revenue and Finance – Purchasing System – Public Projects – Award of Formal Bid Contracts,” is hereby revised to read as follows:
3.08.560 Public Projects—Award of Formal Bid Contracts.
All contracts for public work with a value greater than that amount set forth in Public Contract Code section 22032(c), or as it may be amended from time to time, shall require the approval of the City Council and shall be executed by the Mayor and approved as to form by the City Attorney. Unless the agreement provides otherwise, the City Manager may approve dollar increases to contracts that have been approved by the City Council. The extent of the City Manager’s authority to approve such increases shall be in the amount of $10,000 or 10%, whichever is greater. However, in no event may the City Manager approve an increase of more than $30,000. If a contract is awarded, it shall be awarded by the City Council to the lowest 4 responsible bidder. The determination of the “lowest responsible bidder” shall be at the discretion of the City Council pursuant to the findings and recommendations presented by the Director of Public Works at the time of award of contract. In determining the lowest responsible bidder, the following shall be considered by the City Council, in addition to price:
SECTION V:
To the extent required to implement the provisions of this Ordinance, City staff is directed to modify any Administrative Policies in conflict herewith.
SECTION VI:
If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (or more) section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase had been declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION VII:
The City Clerk is hereby directed to certify the adoption of this Ordinance and cause the same to be published as required by law. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days from and after the date of its final passage.
ADOPTED this day of , 2023.
Daniel R. Slater, Mayor, City of Orange
ATTEST:
Pamela Coleman, City Clerk, City of Orange
5 STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE )
CITY OF ORANGE )
I, PAMELA COLEMAN, City Clerk of the City of Orange, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced at the regular meeting of the City Council held on the ___ day of _____________, 2023, and thereafter at the regular meeting of said City Council duly held on the ___ day of ____________, 2023 was duly passed and adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS:
Pamela Coleman, City Clerk, City of Orange