71-15,158. Property and personnel; policies, rules, and procedures; bidding requirements.
(1) Local housing agencies shall adopt policies, rules, and procedures governing the procurement of goods or services, the sale or disposition of agency property, and the management of agency personnel. Such policies, rules, and procedures shall apply to all controlled affiliates of a local housing agency unless the agency, by resolution of its board of commissioners, elects otherwise.
(2) To the extent that federal funds are involved in any procurement by a local housing agency and public bidding or other procedures and conditions are required as a condition of the acceptance of federal financial assistance, a local housing agency shall follow such federal procedures and other conditions in such procurement.
(3) Contracts or awards for housing developments which the local housing agency proposes to construct or cause to be constructed, if the estimated cost is one hundred fifty thousand dollars or more, shall be entered into or awarded only after public bidding as provided in this section. This section shall not apply to the procurement of any professional services such as that of an architect, engineer, or legal counsel.
(4) For the construction of new housing developments, the local housing agency, in its discretion, may publish a request for proposals, including a general plan for the purposes and ends to be accomplished by the new development, including, but not limited to, the total number of units desired, any units that are to be specifically designed for the elderly or the handicapped, the unit size, and any other details which the local housing agency deems appropriate for inclusion within the proposed new development or any facilities that are pertinent thereto.
(5) The local housing agency shall advertise for public bids or proposals once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in its area of operation. After sealed bids or proposals are received, the contract shall be awarded to the lowest and best bidder or, if the local housing agency has elected to proceed under subsection (4) of this section, in favor of the proposal that is most commensurate with the published objectives of the local housing agency and is most suitable for the purposes of the Nebraska Housing Agency Act, except that a local housing agency, if it deems it to be in its best interests or necessary or desirable to effectuate the purposes of the act or economy and efficiency in the construction and operation of such housing development, may either reject all bids or proposals and readvertise or elect not to proceed with the development.
(6) The local housing agency may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing the qualifications of bidders, the submission of combined bids by two or more contractors, the award and execution of the contract, security, if any, the execution and performance of the contract, the requirements for making a proposal, and any other matters which the local housing agency deems appropriate.
(7) The local housing agency may, in its discretion, insert a provision in any contract that additional work may be done or materials or supplies furnished or that work or materials may be omitted for the purpose of completing the contract in accordance with any changes, omissions, or additions in the specifications of any such contract. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the power of the local housing agency to carry out a project or development or any part thereof directly by the officers, agencies, and employees of the agency or by any public agency or to purchase or to acquire goods, services, materials, equipment, or property by or through any other local housing agency as provided in section 71-15,160 or by any other public agency provided in section 71-15,161. The local housing agency may, in its discretion, insert a provision in any contract regarding labor, including wage rates, safety, and equal employment opportunities, that the local housing agency deems necessary or desirable or as may be required by law.
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