WEST virginia legislature
2019 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2735
By Delegates Bibby, Hardy, J. Jeffries, Paynter,
Higginbotham, D. Jeffries, Hanna and Wilson
[Introduced January 30, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on Technology and Infrastructure then Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17-4-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring any state road or bridge that exceeds 55 miles per hour that is under construction for longer than 72 hours proceed with work 24 hours per day until completed.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
article 4. state road system.
§17-4-19. Contracts for construction, materials, etc.; work by prison labor, etc.; bidding procedure.
(a) All work of construction and reconstruction of state roads and bridges, and the furnishing of all materials and supplies therefor, and for the repair thereof shall be done and furnished pursuant to contract, except that the commissioner may not be required to award any contract for work which can be done advantageously, economically and practicably by commission forces or prison labor and by use of state road equipment, or for materials and supplies, which are manufactured, processed or assembled by the commissioner: Provided, That the commissioner may not be required to award any contract for work, materials or supplies for an amount less than $3,000. In all the work, the commissioner shall utilize state road forces or prison labor and state road equipment and shall manufacture, process and assemble all the materials and supplies for the work whenever and wherever the commissioner, in his or her discretion, finds work and services advantageous, economical and practicable in the state road program: Provided, however, That any state road or bridge with a speed limit exceeding 55 miles per hour undergoing work relating to construction or reconstruction that takes greater than 72 hours to complete shall proceed 24 hours per day until completion: Provided further, That any weather conditions which would make it unsafe or impractical to perform work without a reasonable accommodation for any number of hours shall not be included in the initial 72 hour completion requirement or required to proceed 24 hours per day if conditions are unsafe or impractical.
(b) If the work is to be done, or the materials therefor are to be furnished by contract, the commissioner shall thereupon publish the following described advertisement as a Class II legal advertisement, in compliance with the provisions of §59-3-1 et seq. of this code, and the publication area for the publication shall be the county or municipality in which the road lies.
(c) The advertisement shall also be published at least
once in at least one daily newspaper published in the city of Charleston and in
other journals or magazines as may to the commissioner seem considers
advisable. The advertisement shall solicit sealed proposals for the
construction or other improvement of the road, and for the furnishing of
materials therefor, accurately describing the same, and stating the time and
place for opening the proposals and reserving the right to reject any and all
proposals: Provided, That whenever the estimated amount of any contract
for work or for materials or supplies is less than $3,000, the commissioner may
not be required to advertise the letting of the contract in newspapers as above
required, but may award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder, when two
or more sealed proposals or bids have been received by him or her without the
advertisement, but the contract may not be so awarded unless the bid of the
successful bidder is $3,000 or less.
(d) The commissioner shall have the power to prescribe proper prequalifications of contractors bidding on state road construction work: Provided, That a vendor who has been debarred pursuant to the provisions of §5A-3-33a through §5A-3-33f of this code, may not bid on or be awarded a contract under this section: Provided, however, That the commissioner shall require any contractor to work 24 hours a day for any contract work that does last longer than 72 hours: Provided further, That any weather conditions which would make it unsafe or impractical to perform work without a reasonable accommodation for any number of hours shall not be included in the initial 72 hour completion requirement or required to proceed 24 hours per day if conditions are unsafe or impractical.
(e) To all sealed proposals there shall be attached the
certified check of the bidder or bidder's bond acceptable to the commissioner,
in the amount as the commissioner shall specify in the advertisement, but not
to exceed five percent of the aggregate amount of the bid; but the amount shall
never be less than $5,00 $5.00. The proposals shall be publicly
opened and read at the time and place specified in the advertisement, and the
contract for the work, or for the supplies or materials required therefor
shall, if let, be awarded by the commissioner to the lowest responsible bidder
for the type of construction selected.
(f) In case all bids be rejected, the commissioner may thereafter do the work with commission forces or with prison labor, or may readvertise in the same manner as before and let a contract for the work pursuant thereto.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require any state road or bridge that exceeds 55 miles per hour that is under construction for longer than 72 hours proceed with work 24 hours per day until completed, weather permitting.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.