Montgomery County                                2365

vided, that such exchanges or trade-ins shall be made in accordance
with the formal bid procedure or open market procedure provisions of
this article.

(m) Prepare, adopt and issue written specifications covering goods
purchased by the county government, with consideration being given to
standardization of equipment.

(n) Prescribe and maintain such forms and contracts as are reason-
ably necessary to the operation of this article.

(o) Keep informed of current developments in the field of pur-
chasing, prices, market conditions and new products, and secure for the
county the benefits of research done in the field by other governmental
jurisdictions, national technical societies, trade associations having na-
tional recognition and by private businesses and organizations.

84-14. Establishment of rules and regulations by chief administrative
officer.

The chief administrative officer shall, subject to the direction of the
County Executive, establish, amend when necessary, and enforce such
rules and regulations as shall be necessary to promote efficiency of op-
erations and compliance with the provisions of this article.

84-15. Competitive bidding.

All purchases of, and contracts for goods and services and all sales
of county property which has become surplus, obsolete or unusable shall
be based on competitive bids, except as specifically provided in this article.

84-16. Formal bid procedure.

(a)    Any single purchase or contract involving an expenditure of
three thousand dollars or more shall be purchased by a formal bid procedure
from the lowest responsible bidder after due public notice inviting pro-
posals. The formal bid procedure shall consist of:

(1)    Solicitation of bids from all responsible prospective suppliers
who have requested their names be added to a "bidder's list" for a
particular class of commodity, by notice of a pending purchase posted on
a public bulletin board in the purchasing office, and by such other public
notice as may be deemed necessary by the county.

(2)    Submission of sealed bids to the county on the official county
bid form and in a bid envelope furnished by the county.

(3)    Opening of the bids in public at the time and place stated
in the public notices and tabulation of all bids which shall then be avail-
able for public inspection.

(b)    All sales of goods which have become surplus, obsolete or un-
usable and whose estimated value is three thousand dollars or more shall
be sold by formal bid procedure to the highest responsible bidder in the
manner prescribed for purchases above; except, that the chief admini-
strative officer is authorized, subject to the direction of the County
Executive, to waive the formal bid procedure and auction such property
to the highest responsible bidder after due public notice when, in his
opinion, the return to the county will be increased by this procedure.

(c)    No purchase or sale shall be subdivided to avoid the intent of
this section.