All purchases of supplies and contractual services and all sales of personal property that has become obsolete and unusable for the estimated value of less than three thousand dollars ($3,000.00), but equal to or in excess of the estimated value of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00), shall be made on the open market without newspaper advertisement and without the procedures prescribed in this Article for purchases of more than three thousand dollars ($3,000.00).
No contract, purchase or sale shall be subdivided to avoid the requirements of this Article.
All open market purchases shall, wherever possible, be based on at least three (3) competitive bids which may be either oral or written and shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with the standards set forth in Section 145.180.
The City Administrator shall solicit bids by direct mail request to prospective suppliers or by telephone or by such other method as he/she shall deem appropriate in order to receive competitive proposals.