WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4404
By Delegate Butler and
Porterfield
By Request of the Division of Highways
[Introduced January 17, 2020;
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 removing the requirement that the Division of Highways read bids aloud; and removing antiquated language.
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, repair, 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.
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 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.
(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 article three, chapter 59 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 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-3-33-b through §5A-3-33-f of this code, may not bid on or be awarded a contract under this section.
(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. 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. Copies of bids
will be available for public inspection during regular business hours after the
bid opening.
(f) In case all bids be
rejected, the commissioner may thereafter do the work with commission forces or
with prison labor, or may readvertise advertise in the same
manner as before and let a contract for the work pursuant thereto.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the antiquated requirement that actual bids be read aloud at the bid opening. A copy of all bids will be available to the public after the bids have been opened.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.