H-3639              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 2584

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Representatives Haugen, Nealey, Nutley, Ferguson, Nelson, Zellinsky, Wood, Phillips and Raiter

Read first time 1/15/90 and referred to Committee on Local Government.

AN ACT Relating to contracts for work or material by public utility districts; and amending RCW 54.04.070.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 124, Laws of 1955 as amended by section 4, chapter 220, Laws of 1971 ex. sess. and RCW 54.04.070 are each amended to read as follows:

          Any item, or items of the same kind of materials, equipment, or supplies purchased, the estimated cost of which is in excess of five thousand dollars, exclusive of sales tax shall be by contract:  PROVIDED, That a district may make purchases of the same kind of items of materials, equipment and supplies not exceeding five thousand dollars in any calendar month without a contract, purchasing any excess thereof over five thousand dollars by contract.  Any work ordered by a district commission, the estimated cost of which is in excess of ten thousand dollars exclusive of sales tax, shall be by contract, except that a district commission may have its own regularly employed personnel perform work which is an accepted industry practice under prudent utility management without a contract.  Prudent utility management means performing work with regularly employed personnel utilizing material of a worth not exceeding ((thirty)) one hundred ten thousand dollars in value without a contract:  PROVIDED, That such limit on the value of material being utilized in work being performed by regularly employed personnel shall not include the value of individual items of equipment purchased or acquired and used as one unit of a project.  Before awarding such a contract, the commission shall publish a notice once or more in a newspaper of general circulation in the district at least twenty days before the letting of the contract, inviting sealed proposals for the work or materials; plans and specifications of which shall at the time of the publication be on file at the office of the district subject to public inspection:  PROVIDED, That any published notice ordering work to be performed for the district shall be mailed at the time of publication to any established trade association which files a written request with the district to receive such notices.  The commission may at the same time and as part of the same notice, invite tenders for the work or materials upon plans and specifications to be submitted by the bidders.

Notwithstanding any other provisions herein, all contract projects, the estimated cost of which is less than one hundred thousand dollars, may be awarded to a contractor on the small works roster.  The small works roster shall be comprised of all responsible contractors who have requested to be on the list.  The commission may set up uniform procedures to prequalify contractors for inclusion on the small works roster.  The commission shall authorize by resolution a procedure for securing telephone and written quotations from the contractors on the small works roster to assure establishment of a competitive price and for awarding contracts to the lowest responsible bidder.  Such procedure shall require that a good-faith effort be made to request quotations from all contractors on the small works roster.  Immediately after an award is made, the bid quotations obtained shall be recorded, open to public inspection, and available by telephone inquiry.  The small works roster shall be revised once a year.  All contract projects equal to or in excess of one hundred thousand dollars shall be let by competitive bidding.

          Whenever equipment or materials required by a district are held by a governmental agency and are available for sale but such agency is unwilling to submit a proposal, the commission may ascertain the price of such items and file a statement of such price supported by the sworn affidavit of one member of the commission and may consider such price as a bid without a deposit or bond((:  PROVIDED, That where an emergency arises endangering the public safety, or threatening property damage, the commission may purchase materials or order work performed by others in addition to regularly employed personnel in any amount necessary without calling for bids after having taken precautions to secure the lowest price practicable under the circumstances)).  In the event of an emergency when the public interest or property of the district would suffer material injury or damage by delay, upon resolution of the commission, or proclamation of an official designated by the board to act for the board during such emergencies, declaring the existence of such emergency and reciting the facts constituting the same, the board, or the official acting for the board, may waive the requirements of this chapter with reference to any purchase or contract. In addition, these requirements may be waived for purchases which are clearly and legitimately limited to a single source of supply and purchases involving special facilities, services, or market conditions, in which instances the purchase price may be best established by direct negotiation.