Generally, public agencies, including counties, are required to contract on a competitive basis for public works and award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder.
Before the award of a public works contract, a bidder must meet responsibility criteria to be qualified to be awarded a public works project. The bidder must:
The awarding agency or jurisdiction may adopt supplemental criteria for determining bidder responsibility. The supplemental criteria, the basis for evaluation against that criteria, and deadlines for appeal must be provided in the invitation to bid or bidding documents.
Generally public agencies, including local jurisdictions, are required to have the approval of the Capital Project Advisory Review Board before pursuing the alternative contracting procedures known as design-build and general contractor/construction manager, which allow selection of a contractor based on factors other than low bid.
"Competitive negotiation" is permitted for public agencies when contracting for electronic data processing and telecommunication systems. This process allows the selection of the bidder whose proposal is the most advantageous to the project sponsor based on price and other factors.
The Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their written records available to the public for inspection and copying upon request unless the information fits into one of the various specific exemptions under the act. Financial information supplied in a bid or proposal for state ferry or highway construction or as part of alternative public contracting procedures is exempt from disclosure.
A county is permitted to use additional competitive bidding procedures for procurement and design of electric ferries.
After bids are submitted, a county may:
The determination of a responsible bidder must consider:
Due to the unique aspects of electric ferry design and the importance of well-integrated ship and shore equipment, the county may consider best value criteria in determining the lowest responsive and responsible bidder:
The bid solicitation must clearly set forth the requirements and criteria that the contract will apply in evaluating bid submissions.
Trade secrets or other proprietary information submitted by a bidder in connection with electric ferry design and procurement are exempt from public disclosure if the bidder specifically states in writing the reason for protection from disclosure and identifies the data to be protected and the county agrees that such protection is necessary. All documents are exempted from disclosure until the bid award is made or the selection process is terminated.
Where critical equipment selections can be made to reduce cost and performance risk, the solicitation may identify specific equipment and vendors, without allowing substitutions.
A county may designate a public works department as the lead agency for the design and procurement of electric ferries.