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Anacortes council adopts purchasing policy updates to reflect state law changes
Summary
The council voted Oct. 6 to adopt an updated purchasing policy that incorporates recent state legislative changes affecting public works procurement, apprenticeship requirements and small works roster procedures; staff recommended against authorizing direct contracting under the new law because of tracking and reporting burdens.
The Anacortes City Council on Oct. 6 unanimously adopted a resolution updating the city’s purchasing policy to incorporate recent changes in state law affecting public-works procurement, small works rosters and apprenticeship utilization requirements.
Tiffany Mattson, the city’s contract specialist, told the council most edits were minor or editorial but highlighted several substantive changes in the public-works section that reflect 2024 state law updates. Staff presented the redline and clean versions of the proposed resolution and recommended adoption.
Major changes described to council
Staff described these main changes that will appear in the updated policy:
- Small works roster threshold and direct contracting: the small works roster remains available for public-works projects up to $350,000. State law now permits two options for using a small works roster: (1) send a solicitation to the entire generated roster for a project, or (2) for contracts at or below $150,000, use direct contracting. Direct contracting requires local government authorization, a business utilization plan, strict rotation procedures and additional reporting; staff recommended the city not authorize direct contracting because current systems lack the administrative capacity to meet rotation and reporting obligations.
- Bidder-subcontractor licensing on large projects: for public-works projects over $1 million, bidders must identify HVAC, plumbing and electrical subcontractors at bid submittal and those subs must be licensed at that time (a change from prior practice where licensing could be confirmed later).
- Second-lowest-bidder award: the policy was updated to codify the ability to award to the second-lowest bidder when specified findings are made and the second-lowest bid is within 5% of the lowest bid, including council-issued written findings when required by statute.
- Apprenticeship utilization: the update incorporates the state’s July 2024 apprenticeship utilization requirements for large public-work projects and lists five local scenarios (based on MRSC recommendations) where adjustments to apprentice requirements may apply.
- Contract changes and field orders: the policy adds guidance on who may issue and approve field orders, change orders and contract modifications on engineered public-work contracts.
Council action and comments
Council Member Walters moved adoption of the resolution; Council Member Hubick seconded. The clerk took roll and the motion carried with recorded yes votes from Council Members Hebeck, Walters, Young and McDougall. Council members praised staff for strengthening contracting practices and compliance with state law; one council member noted that engineering quality also materially affects project costs and procurement outcomes.
Ending
The resolution was adopted on Oct. 6; staff will incorporate the revised purchasing policy into procurement procedures and continue training and documentation to support the new reporting and compliance tasks described in the policy update.
