Chesapeake Beach council narrowly approves charter amendment allowing limited waivers of competitive procurement
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Summary
The Town Council approved Charter Amendment Resolution CAR‑25‑2 to add a waiver process to Section C‑7‑23 of the town charter allowing the council to waive competitive procurement under specified circumstances; the measure passed 4‑1 after debate over voting thresholds and emergency language.
The Chesapeake Beach Town Council voted 4‑1 on July 17 to approve Charter Amendment Resolution CAR‑25‑2, which adds a new subsection to section C‑7‑23 of the town charter permitting the council to waive competitive procurement requirements for “good cause” when certain conditions and procedural safeguards are met. The vote followed a public hearing and a detailed council discussion of safeguards and vote thresholds.
The amendment adds a new subsection (j) that requires staff to document an investigation and present findings to the council before a waiver is approved. At the public hearing, town counsel Alyssa Lavan described the proposal as an effort to “incorporate internal code provisions that many other jurisdictions have that allow… counsel to waive the competitive bidding requirements to allow the procurement process to be more flexible.” Lavan said the language was drafted to preserve transparency and to ensure the town continues to “get the benefit of the best bids and proposals” in staff’s judgment.
Council members debated how restrictive the waiver should be. One councilmember said they supported the transparency requirements but wanted waivers to remain rare and proposed limiting waivers to emergency situations; another member warned that making the exception emergency‑only could hamper routine work the town already executes without RFPs, such as past water treatment plant purchases. Town Administrator Samilia noted municipalities commonly adopt similar provisions and emphasized that the proposed text was intended to add safeguards rather than create a new authority.
Councilmembers also discussed the vote threshold required to approve a waiver. The drafted amendment used a supermajority requirement; several councilmembers pointed out that, with a six‑member council, the drafted two‑thirds language would effectively require four votes and suggested changing it to five votes for greater deliberation. No supermajority change was adopted.
After discussion, the council moved to adopt CAR‑25‑2 as written. The final roll call was recorded as four in favor and one opposed; the record does not list individual yea/nay names. The amendment will change the charter text by adding the waiver subsection and the documentation requirement counsel described.
Why it matters: The change gives the council a formal process to waive competitive procurement when staff documents an investigation supporting a waiver, while also prompting debate about how often and under what conditions waivers should be used. Council debate focused on balancing flexibility for time‑sensitive or specialty procurements against the need to preserve competitive bidding as the default.
The council did not adopt proposed emergency‑only language or a higher supermajority threshold during the July 17 vote. The newly adopted amendment will be part of the town charter upon completion of the required post‑adoption steps.
