2018 -- H 7196

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LC003604

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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A N   A C T

AMENDING THE CHARTER OF NORTH PROVIDENCE

     Introduced By: Representatives Corvese, O'Brien, and Hull

     Date Introduced: January 18, 2018

     Referred To: House Municipal Government

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Article 20, Chapter 1, Sections 20-1-2 and 20-1-3 of Chapter 471 of the

2014 Public Laws entitled "An Act Amending the Charter of North Providence", are hereby

amended to read as follows:

     20-1-2. Meetings.

     The board shall hold regularly scheduled meetings and give written notice of regularly

scheduled meetings at the beginning of each calendar year. The notice shall include the dates,

times, and places of the meetings and shall be provided to members of the public upon request

and to the secretary of state at the beginning of each calendar year in accordance with chapter 46

of title 42, "Rhode Island Open Meetings Act."

     The board shall give supplemental written public notice of any meeting within a

minimum of forty-eight (48) hours before the date. This notice shall include the date the notice

was posted, the date, time, and place of the meeting, and a statement specifying the nature of the

business to be discussed. Notwithstanding the aforementioned forty-eight (48) hour notice, this

supplemental notice shall be provided to the members of the board at least two weeks (2) in

advance of the meeting(s).

     In the event of an emergency affecting the public safety, health or welfare, on the written

recommendation of the purchasing agent, additional meetings of the board may be held provided

that written notice of the meeting, as provided under the Rhode Island Open Meetings Act, as

amended, is given.

     The board shall hold all meetings at the North Providence town hall. All meetings shall

be held on weekdays at 6:00 p.m.

     The agenda, the time, and the location of each meeting, except an emergency meeting as

hereinabove provided, shall be advertised in a paper of local circulation on the town's website and

within town hall on the Public Notice Bulletin Board at least one week prior to the meeting.

     20-1-3. Processing prior to requesting bids and upon Submission of Bids.

     (a) Prior to sending out the Request For Proposal, the treasurer must approve, in writing,

to the purchasing board, a written certification of the line item in the budget that supports the

purchase.

     (b) All purchases requiring the submissions of bids pursuant to state law or this charter, at

the time they are submitted to either the town or the purchasing agent, shall be time stamped by

the purchasing agent or the town when submitted. No bid submitted after the time set for

submission in the bid specifications shall be considered by the board. The purchasing agent may

declare a general amnesty to this requirement in the event of severe weather or other state of

emergency, such that town offices are closed or mail is otherwise undeliverable. Said general

amnesty shall be until a time immediately following said severe weather or state of emergency.

     (c) The purchasing agent may declare a general amnesty to this requirement in the event

of severe weather or other state of emergency, such that town offices are closed or mail is

otherwise undeliverable. Said general amnesty shall be until a time immediately following said

severe weather or state of emergency.

     (d) Should the town post an addendum to any bid specifications after they have been

circulated to proposed bidders, the purchasing agent may extend the time for bid submissions to a

date no later than fourteen (14) days from the original date of bid submissions.

     SECTION 2. Article 20, Chapter 2, Section 20-2-1 of Chapter 273 of the 1999 Public

Laws entitled "An Act Amending the Charter of North Providence" is hereby further amended to

read as follows:

     20-2-1 Procedure.

     All purchases for construction exceeding an aggregate amount of Ten Thousand

($10,000.00) Dollars and for all other purchases exceeding an aggregate amount of Five

Thousand ($5,000.00) Dollars shall be made only by bids except, that this procedure shall not be

enforced for purchases required in connection with an emergency as defined in Section 2-1-6 (d)

of this Charter.

     All purchases not exceeding an aggregate amount of Ten Thousand ($10,000.00) Dollars

for construction and Five Thousand ($5,000.00) Dollars for all other purchases shall be made by

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obtaining written or telephone quotations from at least three (3) suppliers/contractors of the

items/services. A record of all such purchases and quotations shall be retained by the Purchasing

Agent. In the event that there are available less than three (3) suppliers of the items/services, such

lessor number of suppliers may be requested to quote prices.

     Purchasers of items with a value of items/services with a value of less than Fifteen

Hundred ($1,500.00) Twenty-Five Hundred ($2,500) Dollars shall be authorized to be made by

the Purchasing Agent.

     All items which are essentially a unit, are made normally on a recurring basis or which

can be purchased more economically in larger quantity, shall be purchased in such a quantity as

the Purchasing Agent may direct for the greatest economical advantage to the Town. The

Purchaser shall not be fractionalized to circumvent the intent of this Section. The Purchasing

Board may declare void any purchase it deems to have been made in such a manner as to

intentionally defeat the intent of the Section and the person making the purchase may be held

personally liable for any resulting loss or other damages to the Town.

     In order to operate as a central purchasing agency or to otherwise make purchases more

economically, the Purchasing Agent may require each office, department or other agency to

submit at specified times, a list of items and of their quantity as may be needed within designated

periods.

     The amount set forth in this Section shall be increased or decreased annually at the same

rate as the Boston Regional Consumer Price Index.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

AMENDING THE CHARTER OF NORTH PROVIDENCE

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     This act would require the town of North Providence to post the agenda for its purchasing

board meetings on its town website and in the town hall on the public notice bulletin board, at

least one week prior to meeting. It would increase from fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) to

twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500) the maximum amount the town purchasing agent could

authorize the purchases of items/services. It would also authorize the town's purchasing agent to

declare a general amnesty period due to severe or other state emergencies from the purchasing

bid's submission date. Finally it would authorize the purchasing agent to extend the original bid

submission deadline if the town posted an addendum to the original bid's specifications.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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