1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to transportation; modifying certain state 
  1.3             contract procedures; providing for posting highway 
  1.4             construction and maintenance bids or bid records 
  1.5             electronically or over the Internet; modifying 
  1.6             seasonal highway weight limitations; making clarifying 
  1.7             changes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 
  1.8             16C.05, subdivision 2; 16C.06, subdivisions 1, 2; 
  1.9             16C.08, subdivision 2; 161.32, subdivisions 1, 1b, 1e; 
  1.10            169.825, subdivision 11. 
  1.11  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.12     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.05, 
  1.13  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.14     Subd. 2.  [CREATION AND VALIDITY OF CONTRACTS.] (a) A 
  1.15  contract is not valid and the state is not bound by it unless: 
  1.16     (1) it has first been executed by the head of the agency or 
  1.17  a delegate who is a party to the contract; 
  1.18     (2) it has been approved by the commissioner; 
  1.19     (3) it has been approved by the attorney general or a 
  1.20  delegate as to form and execution; 
  1.21     (4) the accounting system shows an obligation in an expense 
  1.22  budget or encumbrance for the amount of the contract liability; 
  1.23  and 
  1.24     (5) the combined contract and amendments shall not exceed 
  1.25  five years without specific, written approval by the 
  1.26  commissioner according to established policy, procedures, and 
  1.27  standards, or unless otherwise provided for by law.  The term of 
  1.28  the original contract must not exceed two years unless the 
  2.1   commissioner determines that a longer duration is in the best 
  2.2   interest of the state.  
  2.3      (b) Grants, interagency agreements, purchase orders, and 
  2.4   annual plans need not, in the discretion of the commissioner and 
  2.5   attorney general, require the signature of the commissioner 
  2.6   and/or the attorney general.  A signature is not required for 
  2.7   work orders and amendments to work orders related to department 
  2.8   of transportation contracts.  Bond purchase agreements by the 
  2.9   Minnesota public facilities authority do not require the 
  2.10  approval of the commissioner.  
  2.11     (c) A fully executed copy of every contract must be kept on 
  2.12  file at the contracting agency. 
  2.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.06, 
  2.14  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.15     Subdivision 1.  [PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.] Notices of 
  2.16  solicitations for acquisitions estimated to be more than 
  2.17  $25,000, or $100,000 in the case of a department of 
  2.18  transportation acquisition, must be publicized in a manner 
  2.19  designated by the commissioner. 
  2.20     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.06, 
  2.21  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.22     Subd. 2.  [SOLICITATION PROCESS.] (a) A formal solicitation 
  2.23  must be used to acquire all goods, service contracts, and 
  2.24  utilities estimated at or more than $25,000, or in the case of a 
  2.25  department of transportation solicitation, at or more than 
  2.26  $100,000, unless otherwise provided for.  All formal responses 
  2.27  must be sealed when they are received and must be opened in 
  2.28  public at the hour stated in the solicitation.  Formal responses 
  2.29  must be authenticated by the responder in a manner specified by 
  2.30  the commissioner.  
  2.31     (b) An informal solicitation may be used to acquire all 
  2.32  goods, service contracts, and utilities that are estimated at 
  2.33  less than $25,000, or in the case of a department of 
  2.34  transportation solicitation, at or less than $100,000.  The 
  2.35  number of vendors required to receive solicitations may be 
  2.36  determined by the commissioner.  Informal responses must be 
  3.1   authenticated by the responder in a manner specified by the 
  3.2   commissioner. 
  3.3      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.08, 
  3.4   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.5      Subd. 2.  [DUTIES OF CONTRACTING AGENCY.] Before an agency 
  3.6   may seek approval of a professional or technical services 
  3.7   contract valued in excess of $5,000, or $50,000 in the case of a 
  3.8   department of transportation professional or technical services 
  3.9   contract, it must certify to the commissioner that: 
  3.10     (1) no current state employee is able and available to 
  3.11  perform the services called for by the contract; 
  3.12     (2) the normal competitive bidding mechanisms will not 
  3.13  provide for adequate performance of the services; 
  3.14     (3) the contractor has certified that the product of the 
  3.15  services will be original in character; 
  3.16     (4) reasonable efforts were made to publicize the 
  3.17  availability of the contract to the public; 
  3.18     (5) the agency has received, reviewed, and accepted a 
  3.19  detailed work plan from the contractor for performance under the 
  3.20  contract, if applicable; 
  3.21     (6) the agency has developed, and fully intends to 
  3.22  implement, a written plan providing for the assignment of 
  3.23  specific agency personnel to a monitoring and liaison function, 
  3.24  the periodic review of interim reports or other indications of 
  3.25  past performance, and the ultimate utilization of the final 
  3.26  product of the services; and 
  3.27     (7) the agency will not allow the contractor to begin work 
  3.28  before funds are fully encumbered.  
  3.29     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 161.32, 
  3.30  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.31     Subdivision 1.  [ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS.] The commissioner 
  3.32  may conduct the work or any part thereof of the work incidental 
  3.33  to the construction and maintenance of the trunk highways by 
  3.34  labor employed therefor to do the work or by contract.  In cases 
  3.35  of construction work, the commissioner shall first advertise for 
  3.36  bids for contracts, and if no satisfactory bids are received, 
  4.1   may either reject all bids and readvertise, or do the work by 
  4.2   labor employed therefor to do the work.  Except as hereinafter 
  4.3   provided in subdivision 3 or 4, when work is to be done under 
  4.4   contract, the commissioner shall advertise for bids once each 
  4.5   week for three successive weeks prior to the date such the bids 
  4.6   are to be received.  The advertisement for bids shall must be 
  4.7   published in a newspaper or other periodical of general 
  4.8   circulation in the state and may be placed on the Internet.  The 
  4.9   plans and specifications for the proposed work shall must be on 
  4.10  file in the commissioner's office prior to the first call for 
  4.11  bids. 
  4.12     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 161.32, 
  4.13  subdivision 1b, is amended to read: 
  4.14     Subd. 1b.  [LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER.] Bidders may submit 
  4.15  bids electronically in a form and manner required by the 
  4.16  commissioner.  Trunk highway construction contracts, including 
  4.17  design-build contracts, must be awarded to the lowest 
  4.18  responsible bidder, taking into consideration conformity with 
  4.19  the specifications, the purpose for which the contract or 
  4.20  purchase is intended, the status and capability of the vendor, 
  4.21  and other considerations imposed in the call for bids.  The 
  4.22  commissioner may decide which is the lowest responsible bidder 
  4.23  for all contracts and may use the principles of life-cycle 
  4.24  costing, where when appropriate, in determining the lowest 
  4.25  overall bid.  Any or all bids may be rejected.  In a case 
  4.26  where When competitive bids are required and where all bids are 
  4.27  rejected, new bids, if solicited, must be called for as in the 
  4.28  first instance, unless otherwise provided by law. 
  4.29     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 161.32, 
  4.30  subdivision 1e, is amended to read: 
  4.31     Subd. 1e.  [RECORD.] A record must be kept of all bids, 
  4.32  including names of bidders, amounts of bids, and each successful 
  4.33  bid.  After the contract is awarded, this record is open to 
  4.34  public inspection and may be posted on the Internet. 
  4.35     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 169.825, 
  4.36  subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
  5.1      Subd. 11.  [GROSS WEIGHT SEASONAL INCREASES.] (a) The 
  5.2   limitations provided in this section are increased:  
  5.3      (1) by ten percent from January 1 to March 7 between the 
  5.4   dates set by the commissioner based on frost depth each winter, 
  5.5   statewide; 
  5.6      (2) by ten percent from December 1 through December 31 
  5.7   between the dates set by the commissioner based on frost depth 
  5.8   each winter, in the zone bounded as follows:  beginning at 
  5.9   Pigeon River in the northeast corner of Minnesota; thence in a 
  5.10  southwesterly direction along the north shore of Lake Superior 
  5.11  along trunk highway No. 61 to the junction with trunk highway 
  5.12  No. 210; thence westerly along trunk highway No. 210 to the 
  5.13  junction with trunk highway No. 10; thence northwesterly along 
  5.14  trunk highway No. 10 to the Minnesota-North Dakota border; 
  5.15  thence northerly along that border to the Minnesota-Canadian 
  5.16  Border; thence easterly along said Border to Lake Superior; and 
  5.17     (3) by ten percent from the beginning of harvest to 
  5.18  November 30 each year for the movement of sugar beets and 
  5.19  potatoes within an area having a 75-mile radius from the field 
  5.20  of harvest to the point of the first unloading.  The 
  5.21  commissioner shall not issue permits under this clause if to do 
  5.22  so will result in a loss of federal highway funding to the state.
  5.23     (b) The duration of a ten percent increase in load limits 
  5.24  is subject to limitation by order of the commissioner, subject 
  5.25  to implementation of springtime load restrictions, or March 7.  
  5.26     (c) When the ten percent increase is in effect, a permit is 
  5.27  required for a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer 
  5.28  combination that has a gross weight in excess of 80,000 pounds, 
  5.29  an axle group weight in excess of that prescribed in subdivision 
  5.30  10, or a single axle weight in excess of 20,000 pounds and which 
  5.31  travels on interstate routes.  
  5.32     (d) In cases where gross weights in an amount less than 
  5.33  that set forth in this section are fixed, limited, or restricted 
  5.34  on a highway or bridge by or under another section of this 
  5.35  chapter, the lesser gross weight as fixed, limited, or 
  5.36  restricted may not be exceeded and must control instead of the 
  6.1   gross weights set forth in this section.  
  6.2      (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
  6.3   subdivision, no vehicle may exceed a total gross vehicle weight 
  6.4   of 80,000 pounds on routes which have not been designated by the 
  6.5   commissioner under section 169.832, subdivision 11. 
  6.6      (f) The commissioner may, after determining the ability of 
  6.7   the highway structure and frost condition to support additional 
  6.8   loads, grant a permit extending seasonal increases for vehicles 
  6.9   using portions of routes falling within two miles of the 
  6.10  southern boundary of the zone described under paragraph (a), 
  6.11  clause (2).