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Council to consider revised procurement ordinance March 3 after staff responses to council feedback
Summary
Assistant Town Administrator Stuart Ford presented updates to the town's purchasing and procurement ordinance, including a 10% change‑order threshold and a $50,000 cap that together aim to limit routine change‑orders returned to council. Council voted to place the ordinance revision on the March 3 agenda for first reading.
Assistant Town Administrator Stuart Ford briefed council on proposed revisions to Lexington’s purchasing and procurement ordinance and said staff incorporated council feedback before returning the ordinance for consideration. Council voted to place the ordinance update on the March 3 council agenda for first reading.
Ford summarized several substantive changes. The revisions add a 10% change‑order guideline alongside an absolute $50,000 threshold so smaller routine change orders need not be returned to council, while change orders that alter a project’s scope or would exceed remaining project budgets must be approved by council. Ford also said the town administrator retains discretion to require council review of any change order depending on its nature.
Ford said routine purchasing delegations remain in place and council involvement will be limited to items not specifically budgeted or where budget authority is insufficient. He said the $5,000 field‑purchase limit with required best‑effort quotes remains to give staff operational flexibility.
Town Administrator Rachel Glinton supported the updates as a modernization of limits and praised staff work to provide clearer authority and reporting. Glinton said the changes “allow us to modernize and get in line just with cost of living and cost of products of us today” and emphasized the reporting and accountability mechanisms in the draft ordinance. Ford and Glinton said staff will return the ordinance for consideration on March 3 and asked council to put the item on that agenda.
A motion to place the procurement ordinance on the March 3 agenda carried unanimously at the work session; the ordinance language and a comparative chart prepared by finance staff will be available to council for first reading.
