Focus Area: Infrastructure and Economy
Staff Contact: Mary Jaeger; Nate Baldwin; Jamie Robichaud; Felix Diaz
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title:
title
Report regarding proposed amendments to Olathe Municipal Code Chapter 3.50 (Procurement Policies) pertaining to public improvement project contracts.
Body
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recommended motion:
Accept the report. Unless directed otherwise, staff will prepare the ordinance for formal consideration on July 7, 2026.
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Summary:
City staff requests the option to consider using a competitive sealed proposal (CSP) process to request proposals from contractors regarding various construction methods to evaluate and select the method that will best suit the City’s needs for public improvement projects. The first project under consideration for this method of procurement is an upcoming sanitary sewer project.
Procurement of public improvement project contracts is governed by Charter Ordinance 17 and Council Policy PI-1A, neither of which specifically allow for CSP as an alternative to the general bidding requirement (lowest responsible bidder). Staff recommends that CSP be added to the policy to specifically allow its use when appropriate. Additionally, although the policy currently allows for the design-build alternative delivery method (ADM) as an alternative to lowest responsible bidder, staff recommends that the policy be amended to allow use of other ADM methods, when appropriate. ADMs allow the City to select contractors based on pertinent criteria other than lowest responsible bidder when it is in the City’s best interests to do so and to structure project delivery to lower the risk to the City of project cost overruns.
Finally, staff recommends that the public improvement project procurement provisions be moved from Council Policy PI-1A to Chapter 3.50 of the Olathe Municipal Code (OMC), where all other procurement provisions are found. When it was first established in 2006, Council Policy PI-1A was intended to be temporary until its provisions could be added to the OMC or charter ordinance.
A proposed draft ordinance making these changes is attached (Attachment A), as well as a redline showing the proposed amendments to the current policy language that would be incorporated into the new OMC section (Attachment B).
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Financial Information:
None.
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Attachment(s):
A - Ordinance No. 26-XX
B - Olathe City Council Policy PI-1A - redline