A. The City Manager may enter into a public contract that does not exceed $100,000 without specific Council approval, provided the obligation is part of an adopted budget and a record is made of the transaction that shows compliance with applicable law and regulations. The City Manager may not delegate more than $25,000 in contracting authority to any other position or department, but the authority of the City Manager under this section may be authorized by any person designated to act as City Manager in the City Manager’s absence.

B. The City Manager may adopt forms, computer software, procedures, purchasing limits, change order standards and administrative policies for all City purchases. The City Manager may adopt purchasing policies dealing with ethics, sustainability, ADA compliance, conflicts of interest and other administrative matters consistent with this chapter and applicable law.

C. All public contracts in excess of $100,000, and each additional amendment or group of amendments in excess of $100,000 increments, require approval of the Local Contract Review Board, excluding subsequent phase costs authorized by subsection (E) of this section. Once an additional $100,000 has been approved by the Local Contract Review Board, further amendments will only need additional approval if the cumulative additional total exceeds $100,000.

D. All public contracts shall include a maximum contract price, which may not be increased by more than 25 percent or $25,000, whichever is greater, for any single change, or 50 percent or $50,000, whichever is greater, cumulatively, without approval of the City Manager. The City Manager’s authority to approve increases may not be delegated except when the City Manager is absent from the City or otherwise unavailable for a week or longer. Changes in a contract will be permitted only when authorized by a written change order or amendment. Change orders that will increase the cost of a contract will be permitted only if there are unexpected conditions that could not have been discovered with normal diligence prior to execution of the contract, if a project cannot be completed as designed, or if the need for the change order is the result of an action or decision by the City.

E. It is expected that the City will anticipate future needs when soliciting contracts and will scope work broadly enough to avoid the need for contract revisions to add work that could have been anticipated prior to entering into the original contract. The City may contract for work in phases, with a contract amendment for each phase. If work is to be performed in phases, the maximum contract price need only be established for the first phase, with estimates for future phases included in the contract. The maximum contract price shall be established by contract amendment prior to the start of each subsequent phase. If the maximum contract price for a subsequent phase is more than 25 percent greater than the estimated cost for that phase or if no estimate for future phases was included in the original contract, a new competitive procedure is required, except for personal service contracts for professional services that include a provision for establishing the cost of subsequent phases based on a review by a neutral third party. Any contract with phases shall contain provisions allowing the City to terminate at the end of any phase. The City Manager may waive the requirement for a new competitive procedure based on a determination that the waiver is in the public interest, will result in cost savings to the City, and will not discourage competition. [Ord. NS-2174, 2011; Ord. NS-2159, 2011; Ord. NS-2145, 2010]