1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to municipalities; adding definitions and 
  1.3             updating procedures in the Uniform Municipal 
  1.4             Contracting Act; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.5             section 471.345, subdivision 2, and by adding 
  1.6             subdivisions. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, 
  1.9   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 2.  [CONTRACT DEFINED.] A "contract" means ~~an~~ 
  1.11  ~~agreement entered into by a municipality~~ any written instrument 
  1.12  or electronic document containing the elements of offer, 
  1.13  acceptance, and consideration to which a municipality is a party 
  1.14  for the sale or purchase of supplies, materials, equipment or 
  1.15  the rental thereof, or the construction, alteration, repair or 
  1.16  maintenance of real or personal property. 
  1.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  1.18  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.19     Subd. 2a.  [BEST VALUE DEFINED.] "Best value" describes a 
  1.20  result intended in the acquisition of all goods and services.  
  1.21  Price must be one of the evaluation criteria when acquiring 
  1.22  goods and services.  Other evaluation criteria may include, but 
  1.23  are not limited to, environmental considerations, quality, and 
  1.24  vendor performance. 
  1.25     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  1.26  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.1      Subd. 2b.  [SEALED DEFINED.] "Sealed" means a method 
  2.2   determined by the state commissioner of administration to 
  2.3   prevent the contents from being revealed or known before the 
  2.4   deadline for submission of responses. 
  2.5      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  2.6   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.7      Subd. 2c.  [SINGLE SOURCE DEFINED.] "Single source" means 
  2.8   an acquisition where, after a search using available vendor 
  2.9   lists and other standard business resources, only one supplier 
  2.10  is determined to be reasonably available for the required 
  2.11  product, service, or construction item. 
  2.12     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  2.13  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.14     Subd. 6a.  [CONTRACT AWARD.] Unless otherwise provided by 
  2.15  law, contract awards may be based on best value which includes 
  2.16  an evaluation of price and may include other considerations 
  2.17  including, but not limited to, environmental considerations, 
  2.18  quality, and vendor performance.  A best value determination 
  2.19  must be based on the evaluation criteria detailed in the 
  2.20  solicitation document.  If criteria other than price are used, 
  2.21  the solicitation document must state the relevant importance of 
  2.22  price and other factors.  The principles of life-cycle costing 
  2.23  may be used, where appropriate, in determining the lowest 
  2.24  overall bid. 
  2.25     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  2.26  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.27     Subd. 6b.  [INFORMATION IN BIDS AND PROPOSALS.] (a) Only 
  2.28  the name of the responding vendors to requests for proposals for 
  2.29  information technology or software may be read at the time of 
  2.30  opening.  All other information contained in a vendor's response 
  2.31  to a request for proposal, other than the name of the vendor, 
  2.32  may be classified as nonpublic data, as defined in chapter 13, 
  2.33  and may remain nonpublic data until the completion of the 
  2.34  evaluation process.  If a municipality elects to use the 
  2.35  solicitation procedure described in this section, such a 
  2.36  procedure must be fully detailed in the solicitation document 
  3.1   and any public notice of the request for proposals (RFP) process.
  3.2      (b) If a municipality elects to use the solicitation 
  3.3   procedures described in this section, all responses are public 
  3.4   information at the time of the award unless otherwise provided 
  3.5   for in chapter 13.  All responses and documents pertaining to 
  3.6   the final award of an acquisition must be retained and made a 
  3.7   part of a permanent file or record and remain open to public 
  3.8   inspection, after award, unless otherwise provided for by law.  
  3.9      Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  3.10  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.11     Subd. 6c.  [MULTIPLE AWARDS.] A municipality may award a 
  3.12  contract to more than one vendor if it is in the best interest 
  3.13  of the municipality. 
  3.14     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  3.15  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.16     Subd. 6d.  [SINGLE SOURCE.] The solicitation process 
  3.17  described in this chapter is not required if there is clearly 
  3.18  and legitimately only a single source for the goods and services 
  3.19  and the price has been fairly and reasonably established. 
  3.20     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 471.345, is 
  3.21  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.22     Subd. 6e.  [FEDERAL AGENCY PRICE SCHEDULES.] 
  3.23  Notwithstanding anything in this chapter to the contrary, a 
  3.24  municipality may, instead of soliciting bids, contract for 
  3.25  purchases with suppliers who have published schedules of prices 
  3.26  effective for sales to any federal agency of the United States.  
  3.27  The contracts may be entered into, regardless of the amount of 
  3.28  the purchase price, if the municipality considers them 
  3.29  advantageous and if the purchase price of all the commodities 
  3.30  purchased under the contract do not exceed the price specified 
  3.31  by the schedule.