Senate Bill No. 586
(By Senator Tomblin
, Mr. President)
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[Introduced March 26, 2001; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article fifteen-a,
chapter thirty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to competitive
bids; and raising the threshold for bids on infrastructure
construction projects.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article fifteen-a, chapter thirty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15A. WEST VIRGINIA INFRASTRUCTURE AND JOBS DEVELOPMENT
COUNCIL.
§31-15A-15. Projects not to be considered public improvements;
competitive bid requirements.
(a) No project or infrastructure project acquired,
constructed, maintained or financed, in whole or in part, by the
water development authority shall be considered to be a "public
improvement" within the meaning of the provisions of article
five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code as a result of such the
financing.
(b) The state and its subdivisions shall, except as provided
in this subsection (c) of this section, solicit competitive bids
and require the payment of prevailing wage rates as provided in
article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code for every project
or infrastructure project funded pursuant to this article exceeding
twenty-five thousand dollars in total cost.
Following the solicitation of the bids, the construction
contract shall be awarded to the lowest qualified responsible
bidder, who shall furnish a sufficient performance and payment
bond: Provided, That the state and its subdivisions may reject all
bids and solicit new bids on the project.
(c) Nothing in this subsection applies This section does not:
(1) Apply to work performed on construction or repair projects
not exceeding a total cost of twenty-five fifty thousand dollars by
regular full-time employees of the state or its subdivisions:
Provided, That no more than fifty thousand dollars shall be expended on an individual project in a single location in a
twelve-month period;
(2) nor shall anything in this subsection prevent Prevent
students enrolled in vocational educational schools from being
utilized in the construction or repair projects when such use is a
part of the students' training program;
(3) Nothing in this subsection applies Apply to emergency
repairs to building components and systems: Provided, however,
That the the term "emergency repairs" means repairs that, if not
made immediately, will seriously impair the use of the building
components and systems or cause danger to those persons using the
building components and systems; or
(4) This subsection shall not apply Apply to any situation
where the state or a subdivision thereof comes to an agreement with
volunteers, or a volunteer group, whereby the governmental body
will provide construction or repair materials, architectural,
engineering, technical or any other professional services and the
volunteers will provide the necessary labor without charge to, or
liability upon, the governmental body: Provided, further, That the
total cost of the construction or repair projects does not exceed
twenty-five fifty thousand dollars.
(c) (d) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall does
not apply to privately owned projects or infrastructure
projects constructed on lands not owned by the state or a
subdivision of the state.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to raise the threshold
amount for competitive bids on certain infrastructure construction
projects.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page three, section fifteen, line one, by striking out the
word "utilized" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "used";
On page three, section fifteen, line one, by striking out the
word "such" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";
On page three, section fifteen, line ten, by striking out the
word "thereof" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "of the
state";
And,
On page three, section fifteen, line eleven, by striking out
the word "whereby" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "by
which".