200.47 Contracts.

(1) General powers of the commission. The commission may enter into contracts, agreements or stipulations necessary to perform its duties and exercise its powers under this subchapter, including contracts to purchase, lease or otherwise obtain the use of all necessary equipment, supplies and labor.

(2) Bidding requirements.

(a) Except as provided in par. (b), all work done and all purchases of supplies and materials by the commission shall be by contract awarded to the lowest responsible bidder complying with the invitation to bid, if the work or purchase involves an expenditure of $20,000 or more. If the commission decides to proceed with construction of any sewer after plans and specifications for the sewer are completed and approved by the commission and by the department of natural resources under ch. 281, the commission shall advertise by a class 2 notice under ch. 985 for construction bids. All contracts and the awarding of contracts are subject to s. 66.0901.

(b) The commission may purchase without public advertisement or competitive bidding if the article, appliance, apparatus, material or process to be purchased is patented or made or manufactured by one party only or if damage or threatened damage to the sewerage system creates an emergency in which public health or welfare is endangered.

(c) The commission shall accept the bid of the person who it finds is the lowest responsible bidder complying with the invitation to bid for the contract unless it rejects all bids or relets the contract.

(cm)

1. Except as provided under subd. 4., in determining the lowest responsible bid for any contract awarded prior to December 31, 1993, the commission may evaluate the multiplier effect on state revenues and tax receipts of contract moneys which will be spent in this state under the contract. The commission shall promulgate by rule any condition and evaluation criterion which it applies to a bid evaluated under this subdivision. If the commission accepts a bid evaluated under this subdivision, it shall file with the secretary of the commission a written report detailing the reasons for its acceptance. The secretary shall make the report available for public inspection. The commission shall include in the annual report prepared under s. 200.27 (9) a summary of all bids accepted after an evaluation under this subdivision.

2. In determining the lowest responsible bid for any contract awarded under this subsection, the commission may use life-cycle cost estimates as part of any evaluation under this subdivision, including the applicable costs of energy efficiency, acquisition and conversion, money, transportation, warehousing and distribution, training, operation and maintenance and disposition or resale.

3. The commission shall include in any advertisement for bids which it intends to evaluate under this paragraph notice of the conditions and evaluation criteria which it intends to apply to the bids.

4. This paragraph does not apply to any contract financed in whole or in part by federal funding if any condition of the funding prohibits acceptance of a bid based on the type of evaluation authorized under this paragraph.

5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this state may not deem any contract awarded by the commission under this paragraph ineligible for funding by this state because the dollar amount of the contract awarded by the commission is higher than the lowest dollar bid received by the commission.

(d) Notwithstanding pars. (a) to (c) and in addition to any rights the commission may have under the provisions of the contract, the commission may amend any contract let under par. (a) with the agreement of the contractor, upon making the following findings:

1. The proposed amendment results in a reduction of the total contract price.

2. The changes do not substantially change the general scope or purpose of the contract work.

(e) Paragraphs (a) to (d) do not apply to contracts awarded under s. 200.49.

(3) Bid deposits; contract provisions.

(a) The commission may permit or require a sum of money or a certified check payable to the order of the district or a bond for the benefit of the district to be filed with any bid or proposal as liquidated damages in an amount that, in the judgment of the commission, will protect the district from any loss if the bid is accepted, the contract is awarded to the bidder and the bidder fails to execute a contract in accordance with the terms of the bid.

(b) Every contract made by the commission shall contain an agreement on the part of the contractor and the contractor's sureties requiring the contractor to pay to the district:

1. Actual damages if the contractor breaches the contract; or

2. Liquidated damages in a definite sum, to be named in the contract, for each day's delay in completing the contract after the time specified for its completion. The daily sum shall be an amount that, in the judgment of the commission, will protect the district from loss and will ensure the prompt completion of the contract.

(c) The commission may require any construction contract and any other contract specified by the commission's executive director to include a bond, which shall guarantee one of the following:

1. The full performance of the contract by the contractor to the satisfaction of the commission, according to the plans and specifications of the commission.

2. The full payment by the prime contractor of all claims for labor performed and materials furnished or used under the contract.

(4) Day labor. The commission may use day labor to do any work if the executive director of the district in writing so recommends. All bids or part of a bid for any such work, supplies or materials may be rejected by the commission or may be subsequently relet.

(5) Worker's compensation. The commission may require that all contracts be let subject to ch. 102.

History: 1981 c. 282, 391; 1985 a. 29; 1999 a. 9; 1999 a. 150 s. 589 to 591; Stats. 1999 s. 200.47.

This section does not abrogate the applicability of the 1-year statute of limitations applicable to public works contracts under s. 779.14. Frietsh v. Refco, Inc. 56 F.3d 821 (1995).

When a mistake of omission in a bid was not material and was quickly cured, an award to the bidder was proper. Dillingham Construction, Inc. v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, 629 F. Supp. 406 (1986).