Broward County Commission Regular Meeting

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AI-27061

69.

Meeting Date:	06/12/2018
Director's Name:	Michael Udine
Department:	County Commission

Information

Requested Action

MOTION TO CONSIDER adoption of a Resolution No. 2018-295 Amending the Administrative Code, the title of which is as follows: (Commissioner Udine)

A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, PERTAINING TO THE PROCUREMENT CODE, AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 21 OF THE BROWARD COUNTY ADMINISTRATIVE CODE ("ADMINISTRATIVE CODE") RELATING TO BID PROTESTS AND HEARINGS, COMMITTEE-BASED PROCUREMENTS, CONTRACT AND BID AWARD AUTHORITY, NEGOTIATIONS, AND DEBARMENT; AND PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

ACTION: (T-11:07 AM) Approved, as amended, with the Purple-Sheeted Additional Material, dated Tuesday, June 12, 2018, submitted at the request of the Office of the County Attorney. (Refer to minutes for full discussion.)

VOTE: 8-0. Commissioner LaMarca voted in the affirmative telephonically. Commissioner Ryan was not present.

Why Action is Necessary

A Resolution directing the County Administrator to publish notice of public hearing to consider adoption of the Resolution Amending the Administrative Code will be considered by the Board of County Commissioners at its meeting of June 5, 2018.

What Action Accomplishes

Amends various sections of the Procurement Code, Chapter 21 of the Broward County Administrative Code.

Is this Action Goal Related

Previous Action Taken

Summary Explanation/Background

On May 22, 2018, the Board directed the Office of the County Attorney to draft a Resolution amending certain sections of the Procurement Code, consistent with direction provided during the Board's April 17, 2018, workshop. The County Attorney has advised that this Resolution addresses those sections on an interim basis to permit the Purchasing Division to implement specified changes during the Board's summer recess. The Office of the County Attorney expects that these sections will again be addressed, in a nonsubstantive manner, in connection with a global rewrite and simplification of the Procurement Code.

The proposed Resolution includes the following material amendments to the Procurement Code:

Deleting the requirement that contract negotiations be noticed in the same manner in which meetings subject to Florida's Sunshine Law are noticed;
Generally increasing the Director of Purchasing's award authority to $500,000, with appropriate signatures, for all procurements regardless of whether the contract is for a single year or multiple years. After conferring with the County Attorney and the Director of Purchasing, both of whom attended the workshop and listened to the workshop recording, the direction regarding multiple signatures appears to have been unclear. Accordingly, the bolded numbers on line 5 on page 4 present different options for Board discussion, and if $500,000 is selected on line 5, the italicized language on lines 4 - 6 would be removed;
Delegating certain authority to the Director of Purchasing to award low bid contracts. 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 listing 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. That requirement will instead be incorporated into 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;
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 permissible 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 generally be limited to three hours for each side and generally disallowing depositions. At the discretion of the presiding officer, and upon a showing of good cause, depositions may be allowed to present testimony from a witness unavailable for the hearing.

The existing authority for small purchases made through the Certified Agency Buyer ("CAB") and Purchasing Card ("P-Card") Programs would be unaffected by these changes.

Source of Additional Information

Fiscal Impact

Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary:

These changes are expected to increase efficiencies, but the financial impact thereof cannot presently be quantified.

Attachments
Exhibit 1 - Copy of Proposed Resolution Amending the Administrative Code
Additional Material - Information