MOTION TO DIRECT Office of the County Attorney to draft a Resolution amending sections of the Procurement Code, Chapter 21 of the Broward County Administrative Code, relating to bid protests and hearings, committee-based procurement procedures, negotiations, contract award authority, and debarment. (Commissioner Udine)
ACTION: (T-10:43 AM) Approved.
VOTE: 8-0. Commissioner Sharief was not present.
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This item, which results from the Board's April 17, 2018, workshop, addresses the following proposals as to which there appeared to be consensus:
- Increasing the Director of Purchasing's contract award authority to $500,000, with appropriate signatures, for all procurements, including commodities, general services, construction, and professional services, regardless of whether the contract is for a single year or multiple years;
- Delegating to the Director of Purchasing the award authority for all low bid awards if no vendor is deemed nonresponsive or nonresponsible and if no bid protest has been filed. However, any bids with a single responsive, responsible bidder must still be awarded by the Board. The Director of Purchasing shall provide monthly reports to the County Administrator, the County Auditor, and the Board on awards by the Director of Purchasing;
- Removing from the Procurement Code the requirement that members of the Selection Committee or Evaluation Committee be appointed within one business day after approval of the applicable competitive solicitation, and instead incorporating that requirement in the County's Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual;
- Requiring that each Selection Committee and Evaluation Committee have no fewer than three members, regardless of solicitation amount (currently, for solicitations over $5 million, no fewer than five members are required);
- Providing that for committee-based procurements, if no protest or objection has been filed, the Board does not need to approve the ranking after the Final Recommendation of Ranking is posted, but still requiring that all negotiated contracts exceeding the authority delegated to staff shall be presented for the Board's consideration and approval;
- Deleting the requirement that contract negotiations be noticed in the same manner in which meetings subject to Florida's Sunshine Law are noticed;
- Closing the meetings for committee-based procurements to both the public and competitors during the vendor presentation and the subsequent question and answer period, consistent with Section 286.0113, Florida Statutes. The presentations will be video-recorded and posted on the Purchasing Division's website, along with the recommended final ranking, within three business days after the final ranking meeting, and the time period for any protest shall not commence until such posting of the final ranking;
- Deleting any topical limitations on possible grounds for protests;
- Including an additional cause for debarment for violating the County's fair dealing policy as set forth in Section 1-81.6(b), Broward County Code of Ordinances (the Broward County Business Opportunity Act of 2012); and
- Clarifying procurement hearing procedures to provide that the hearing on appeals of protest decisions will be limited to three hours for each side and generally disallowing depositions. If there is an intervenor, the intervenor will be allowed up to one hour to present its case, unless the County cedes time from the County's allotted time. At the discretion of the presiding officer, and upon a showing of good cause, additional time may be provided to the parties or the intervenor and depositions may be allowed to present testimony from a witness unavailable for the hearing. The County proposes to enter into a contract with the State of Florida, Division of Administrative Hearings ("DOAH") to provide Administrative Law Judges to hear appeals of the County's procurement decisions. DOAH has agreed to follow the County's protest procedures.
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