71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
Enrolled
House Bill 2721
Sponsored by Representative KROPF; Representative C WALKER (at
the request of Oregon Fire District Directors Association,
Oregon Fire Chiefs Association)
CHAPTER ................
AN ACT
Relating to transfers of property by fire departments; amending
ORS 279.015.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 279.015 is amended to read:
279.015. (1) Subject to the policies and provisions of ORS
279.005 and 279.007, all public contracts shall be based upon
competitive bids or proposals except:
(a) Contracts made with other public agencies or the federal
government.
(b) Contracts made with qualified nonprofit agencies providing
employment opportunities for disabled individuals.
(c) A public contract exempt under subsection (2) of this
section.
(d) A contract for products, services or supplies if the value
of the contract is less than $5,000.
(e) Insurance and service contracts as provided for under ORS
414.115, 414.125, 414.135 and 414.145.
(f) Contracts for repair, maintenance, improvement or
protection of property obtained by the Director of Veterans'
Affairs under ORS 407.135 and 407.145 (1).
(g) Contracts between public agencies utilizing an existing
solicitation or current requirement contract of one of the public
agencies that is party to the contract for which:
(A) The original contract met the requirements of this chapter;
(B) The contract allows other public agency usage of the
contract; and
(C) The original contracting public agency concurs.
(h) If a project is competitively bid and all responsive bids
from responsible bidders exceed the public agency's cost
estimate, the public agency, in accordance with rules adopted by
the public agency, may negotiate with the lowest responsive,
responsible bidder, prior to awarding the contract, in order to
solicit value engineering and other options to attempt to bring
the project within the agency's cost estimate. A negotiation with
the lowest responsive, responsible bidder pursuant to this
paragraph shall not result in the award of the contract to that
bidder if the scope of the project is significantly changed from
the original bid proposal. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the records of a bidder used in contract negotiation
pursuant to this paragraph are not subject to public inspection
Enrolled House Bill 2721 (HB 2721-A) Page 1
until after the negotiated contract has been awarded or the
negotiation process has been terminated.
(2) Subject to subsection (6)(b) of this section, the Director
of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services or a local
contract review board may exempt certain public contracts or
classes of public contracts from the competitive bidding
requirements of subsection (1) of this section upon approval of
the following findings submitted by the public contracting agency
seeking the exemption:
(a) It is unlikely that such exemption will encourage
favoritism in the awarding of public contracts or substantially
diminish competition for public contracts; and
(b) The awarding of public contracts pursuant to the exemption
will result in substantial cost savings to the public contracting
agency. In making such finding, the director or board may
consider the type, cost, amount of the contract, number of
persons available to bid and such other factors as may be deemed
appropriate.
(3)(a) Before final adoption of the findings required by
subsection (2) of this section exempting a contract for a public
improvement from the requirement of competitive bidding, a public
agency shall hold a public hearing.
(b) Notification of the public hearing shall be published in at
least one trade newspaper of general statewide circulation a
minimum of 14 days prior to the hearing.
(c) The notice shall state that the public hearing is for the
purpose of taking comments on the agency's draft findings for an
exemption from the competitive bidding requirement. At the time
of the notice, copies of the draft findings shall be made
available to the public. At the option of the public agency, the
notice may describe the process by which the findings are finally
adopted and may indicate the opportunity for any further public
comment.
(d) At the public hearing, the public agency shall offer an
opportunity for any interested party to appear and present
comment.
(e) If a public agency is required to act promptly due to
circumstances beyond its control that do not constitute an
emergency, notification of the public hearing can be published
simultaneously with the agency's solicitation of contractors for
the alternative public contracting method, as long as responses
to the solicitation are due at least five days after the meeting
and approval of the findings.
(4) A public contract also may be exempted from the
requirements of subsection (1) of this section if:
(a) Emergency conditions require prompt execution of the
contract; { - or - }
(b) In case of sale of surplus property by a public agency, the
number, value and nature of the items to be sold make it probable
that the cost of conducting a sale by competitive bidding will be
such that a liquidation sale will result in substantially greater
net revenue to the public agency { + ; or + } { - . - }
{ + (c)(A) The public contract is made between regularly
organized fire departments, as defined in ORS 652.050, for fire
protection equipment, as defined in ORS 476.005, and:
(i) The recipient regularly organized fire department makes a
written request for the fire protection equipment to the
transferor regularly organized fire department;
(ii) The fire protection equipment is surplus to or unusable by
the transferor;
Enrolled House Bill 2721 (HB 2721-A) Page 2
(iii) The total fair market value of fire protection equipment
received by the recipient does not exceed $50,000 per calendar
year; and
(iv) The transferor holds a public hearing, with notice given
as outlined in subsection (3)(b) of this section, and finds that
the public contract is in the public's interest.
(B) As used in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, 'public
contract' includes a sale at no cost. + }
(5) The director or board shall adopt rules allowing the
governing body of a public agency and the officer of a public
agency for contracts under $50,000 to declare that an emergency
exists and establishing procedures for determining when the
conditions in subsection (4)(a) of this section are present. The
rules shall prescribe that if an emergency is declared, any
contract awarded under this subsection and subsection (4)(a) of
this section must be awarded within 60 days following declaration
of the emergency, unless the director or board grants an
extension.
(6) In granting exemptions pursuant to subsection (2)(a) and
(b) of this section, the director or board shall:
(a) Where appropriate, direct the use of alternate contracting
and purchasing practices that take account of market realities
and modern or innovative contracting and purchasing methods,
which are also consistent with the public policy of encouraging
competition.
(b) Require and approve or disapprove written findings by the
public contracting agency that support the awarding of a
particular public contract or a class of public contracts,
without the competitive requirements of subsection (1) of this
section. The findings must show that the exemption of a contract
or class of contracts complies with the requirements of
subsection (2)(a) and (b) of this section.
(7) { - No - } { + A + } written agreement under ORS
chapter 190 is { + not + } necessary under subsection (1)(g) of
this section if the arrangement is between or among units of
local government.
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Passed by House March 6, 2001
...........................................................
Chief Clerk of House
...........................................................
Speaker of House
Passed by Senate April 4, 2001
...........................................................
President of Senate
Enrolled House Bill 2721 (HB 2721-A) Page 3
Received by Governor:
......M.,............., 2001
Approved:
......M.,............., 2001
...........................................................
Governor
Filed in Office of Secretary of State:
......M.,............., 2001
...........................................................
Secretary of State
Enrolled House Bill 2721 (HB 2721-A) Page 4