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BACKGROUND The City Purchasing Manual (Manual) requires that purchases of goods and ancillary services in excess of $50,000 be approved by the City Council unless determined otherwise by the City Manager. As an example, if the City was to conduct a bid process to purchase a particular product that yielded uncertain bid results; the City Manager may elect to forward the matter to the Council to assure there is appropriate public review for the purchase. On the other hand, the purchase of a budgeted piece of heavy equipment, where the bid results are clear, will be authorized by the City Manager. As a result, the level of authorization is determined not only by the value of the purchase, but also by the result of the bidding process DISCUSSION As part of the City's annual purchasing process, individual vendors are provided with RPOA's authorizing departments to make numerous as- needed purchases on a regular basis throughout the year. These purchases range from office supplies to automobile parts to fertilizers and computer equipment. The products purchased from the vendor vary. As an example, a firm operating in accordance with a RPOA for office supplies may, in fact, have many individual sales with the City, all of which are valued at less than a few hundred dollars. Because the individual purchases have values that are within approved purchasing limits, they are generally authorized by mid managers or line staff in one department. However, in the event the cumulative annual purchase exceeds $50K and /or the items are from a sole source vendor, it is appropriate to have these RPOA's approved as part of a public meeting to allow public comment. In reviewing this year's listing of RPOA's, staff identified a number of vendors that, based on previous activity, will provide products that collectively may be in excess of $50,000 and /or are sole source vendors. As a result, staff determined that it is appropriate to forward these to the City Council for approval prior to issuing a RPOA for fiscal year 2010 -11. As indicated, a majority of RPOA's cover the two -year budget, however, Council is asked to approve only the current fiscal year RPOA requests. In June 2009, Council approved the RPOA's listed under the 'Information Only' section on Attachment A. Attachment A includes a listing of the vendors, products, projected purchase amount and the justification for purchasing. The attachment does not include products that are part of a previously approved purchase agreement. As an example, because the City is required by agreement to utilize Xerox supplies and services on Xerox copy machines, Xerox is not on the list. Competitive Bidding All of the vendors listed on Attachment A, have either been selected through the City's competitive bid process or have been declared 'sole source' vendors. If a vendor is designated a sole source vendor, an explanation is included next to that vendor in Attachment A. To date, all competitive bids for Recurring Purchase Orders in excess of $50,000 have been completed. If additional RPOA's for $50,000 or more are identified Page 2 of 3