Council adopts procurement code update to incorporate Virginia law and clarify contract authority

Blacksburg Town Council unanimously approved ordinance 20-78, which revises town procurement code sections and incorporates provisions from the Virginia Public Procurement Act intended to clarify the purchasing agent’s authority, simplify contract approval, and align local rules with state law.

Town staff presenter Larry Spencer told the council the amendments will “make it easier to stay up to date with the state code” and will “change, and I think make it simpler, how contract changes, how contract approval works.” Spencer said the changes explicitly clarify that the purchasing agent awards contracts and may develop procurement procedures such as small-purchase rules. He told council the ordinance will require website notice for construction and professional-services contracts over $80,000.

Spencer said the change removes a requirement in the town code for council approval of certain contracts — including construction of town buildings and professional services —because those procurements already go through competitive processes such as bids or RFPs and the state code governs the procedures. He said the rewrite incorporates Section 2.2-4303 of the Virginia code and uses state-code language for sole-source awards and emergency procurements, noting that sole-source findings and emergency justifications must be documented and public postings required for true emergencies. Spencer also noted the ordinance incorporates state-language on contractual disputes and corrects the name of the state agency referenced for sheltered-workshop awards.

Asked about venue clauses in large IT contracts, Spencer said the state change gives localities some protection against out-of-state forum-selection provisions: “if you enter into these contracts with Virginia companies, you can't force these down local governments,” he said, adding that the town must include the applicable language in its contracts to invoke that protection.

After the staff presentation no members of the public spoke on the ordinance. A motion to approve passed on a roll-call vote recorded in the transcript as: Matt Inglie — Aye; Michael Sutphin — Aye; Watson — Aye; Anderson — Aye; Oliver — Aye; Ford — Aye; Edgar Smith — Aye. The ordinance was adopted as recorded in the meeting transcript.