Town of Charlestown, RI Purchasing

The Administrator shall act as purchasing agent for the town within the scope of this Article.

[Amended 11-8-1988; ratified by Town Council 2-10-1992; 11-5-1996; 11-4-2008; 11-2-2010; 11-6-2012]

Any purchase of standard supplies, materials, equipment or services for the routine operation of any department or other town agencies shall be made centrally by the Administrator and will comply with the following provisions.

All other purchases unique to any department or other town agency shall be made in compliance with the following provisions, upon written request to the Administrator by the head of the department or other town agency.

For construction purchases:

For amounts which do not exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000), the purchase shall be considered a small purchase and approved by the purchasing agent without any quotes or bids required by the Town department and/or division seeking the purchase.

ii.

For amounts which are greater than three thousand dollars ($3,000) but less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the purchase shall be considered a small purchase and approved by the purchasing agent only after three written quotes have been obtained by the Town department and/or division seeking the purchase.

iii.

For amounts which are greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), award shall only be made by competitive bidding in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 55 of Title 45 of the General Laws.

For all other purchases:

ii.

For amounts which are greater than three thousand ($3,000) but less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), the purchase shall be considered a small purchase and approved by the purchasing agent only after three written quotes have been obtained by the Town department and/or division seeking the purchase.

iii.

For amounts greater than five thousand dollars ($5,000), award shall only be made by competitive bidding in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 55 of Title 45 of the General Laws

Where items or services to be purchased, in any amount, through a vendor which has a current Master Price Agreement (MPA) with the State of Rhode Island that can be verified with MPA documentation and MPA number, then the aforementioned purchasing/quotation process is replaced with the requirement of a quote for items or services from the MPA vendor and approval from the department head, verification of funds from the treasurer and final approval by the Town Administrator. This does not preclude or prohibit competitive bidding.

§ C-104 Procedures.

A record of all bids and quotations showing the names of the bidders and amounts of bids and indicating in each case the successful bidder, together with the originals of all sealed bids and other documents pertaining to the award of purchases, shall be open to public inspection for three (3) years following the award.

In the event of a public emergency, the purchase or service contract may be made without public notice and competitive bidding, provided the Council record clearly indicates the particulars of the emergency and/or prospective disadvantages to the town, and upon the vote of at least three (3) Council members.

No transaction which is essentially a unit shall be divided for the purpose of evading the intent of this Article.

Contracts for professional services shall not be excluded from the requirements of competitive bidding. However, if no competitive bids are received the Council may award the contract for professional services as appropriate.

All purchases made and contracts executed by the Administrator shall be pursuant to written requisitions in accordance with the limits as stated in § C-74 from the authorized person or persons in the office, department or agency whose appropriation will be charged.

The award of any sale or lease of any town property shall be subject to Council approval, and shall be awarded to the highest responsible bidder, provided the Council shall have the right to reject any and all bids and to direct the Administrator to solicit new bids.