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Purchasing / Bid Information

WELCOME to the Town of Wethersfield's Purchasing Division. The Council, by ordinance, has established rules and regulations, which apply to purchases made by the town. The provisions of Charter Sections 712, 713, 714 and 715 shall control the purchasing procedure of the town. The procedures and personnel involved in the purchasing process shall be subject to the supervision of and fall within the jurisdiction of the Director of Finance.

Vendor/Bidder List

The Purchasing Division produces and maintains a Master Bid List on a commodity basis. Accordingly, for each general commodity or service area, a bid list is created which includes current names and addresses of vendors interested in doing business with the town. All requests by vendors to be placed on the bid list will be honored. If interested, it is preferred that you e-mail vendor information to the Purchasing Agent, or you may call at (860) 721-2861.

Once on the bid list, bidders will not be removed except for the following reasons:

  1. Defaulting on business with the town
  2. Requesting to be removed from the list
  3. Failing to respond to town bids either with a letter or a note advising "no bid"
  4. They are no longer in the business of supplying the products in the commodity area for which the list was originally composed

    No attempt is made to designate bidders with regard to their capabilities. Pre-qualifications are not done because no provision has been made in either the Charter or the Ordinances to permit such disqualification of a potential vendor. Where pre-qualifications are to be done, they would include such factors as the vendor's credit rating, solvency, supply capacity, a review and analysis of the applicant's place of business, number of people working for the supplier, etc.

    Cost Guidelines

    For purchases of items under $500 that are not purchased on a repetitive basis, only one telephone quote by the department is necessary. No requisition forms are required.

    When a department wishes to purchase an item costing between $500 and $1,000, a minimum of three telephone quotes must be obtained. A purchase order is required for these items.

    For purchases of items costing between $1,000 and $19,999, the department must obtain a minimum of three written (including fax) price quotations. A purchase order is required for such items and the department is required to submit a written quotation form along with the purchase order to Purchasing.

    For purchases of items costing $20,000 or more, formal bid procedures shall be followed.

    Bids

    Sealed bids are publicly opened and read aloud at the time specified in the bid package. Vendors are invited to attend bid openings and may inspect all bids in the Purchasing Division following the opening.Under no circumstances will the town accept bids after the date and time specified in the Invitation to Bid.

    Bid Awards

    In making a bid award, the following procedural guidelines shall govern all related activities:

    1. Determination of the lowest responsible bidder (as per Finance Office calculations and sponsoring agency expertise). The lowest responsible bidder is that person or firm whose bid to perform the work is lowest, who is qualified and competent to do the work, whose past performance of work is satisfactory to the town and whose bid documents comply with the procedural requirements stated within the town's bid specification package. It is the town's intent to award contracts to the lowest responsible and qualified bidder. The town reserves the right, for any reason or for no reason, to reject any bid or all bids, to negotiate with any or all bidders, to waive any informalities, irregularities or omissions in any bids received or to afford any bidder an opportunity to remedy any informality or irregularity if in the opinion of the town it is in the best interest of the town to do so.
    2. Consideration of local bidder option. Consideration must be afforded to any local bidders having submitted a bid that is not more than ten (10) percent higher than the lowest responsible bidder. In accordance with the Town's Ordinance Providing for Local Preference, a local bidder (having a principal business located in Wethersfield) may be awarded the bid provided such town-based bidder agrees to accept the award of the bid at the amount proffered by the lowest most responsible bidder. (Note: Local Bidder Preference shall not apply when the bid in question involves a cooperative purchasing agreement between the town and either other municipalities of the State of Connecticut.)
    3. Recommendation for contract award. Recommendations for award are stated by the department head. If a vendor other than the lowest bidder is selected, a detailed explanation for selecting such vendor must be included. This documentation shall become part of the permanent purchase order file.
    4. Council review and action. Said action may involve either an acceptance or a rejection of the bid in question. Rejections may result from an insufficient number of bid responses. In the event that a bid is rejected, the goods/services involved will be subject to a re-bid.
    5. Vendor notification of award. Following Council approval, a letter of notification will be generated by Purchasing and sent to the awardee, with instructions to forward all necessary documentation to the Finance Office (e.g. certificates of insurance, bonds, etc.) Once said materials are received, an enabling Purchase Order will be issued. Work shall not commence until a P.O. has been issued.

      Note: The Town of Wethersfield is a political subdivision of the State of Connecticut and is therefore exempt from State, Federal and local taxes per the General Statutes of Connecticut, Volume III Title 12, Section 12-412. EXEMPTIONS. (SALE AND USE TAX EXEMPTION #0541235000)

      Recurring Bids

      Below is a list of our annual recurring bids. The month represents when the bid is usually opened. These bids are advertised two weeks prior to the opening date. Please call Miguel Robles at (860) 721-2861 for more information or questions concerning these bids.

      January

      Street sweeping/catch basin sewer cleaning service

      		 February

      March

      General office supplies

      April

      Sidewalk Construction & Repair

      		May

      June

      Misc. Paving Prep./Restoration

      July

      Custodial Services

      		 August

      September

      Pavement crack sealing

      Rock salt
      October November December