(70 ILCS 1832/40)

Sec. 40. Procedure for leases or contracts for operation of warehouses and storage facilities. All leases or other contracts for operation of any public warehouse or public grain elevator to which this Section is applicable owned or otherwise controlled by the district shall be governed by the following procedures. Notice shall be given by the district that bids will be received for the operation of the public warehouse or public grain elevator. This notice shall state the time within which and the place where bids may be submitted, the time and place of opening of bids, and shall be published not more than 30 days nor less than 15 days in advance of the first day for the submission of bids in any one or more newspapers designated by the district that have a general circulation within the district. The notice shall specify sufficient data of the proposed operation to enable bidders to understand the scope of the operation; provided, however, that contracts that by their nature are not adapted to award by competitive bidding, such as contracts for the services of individuals possessing a high degree of personal skill, contracts for the purchase or binding of magazines, books, periodicals, pamphlets, reports, and similar articles, and contracts for utility services such as water, light, heat, telephone, or telegraph, shall not be subject to the competitive bidding requirements of this Section.

The Board may, by ordinance, promulgate reasonable regulations prescribing the qualifications of the bidders as to experience, adequacy of equipment, ability to complete performance within the time set, and other factors in addition to financial responsibility, and may, by ordinance, provide for suitable performance guaranties to qualify a bid. Copies of all regulations shall be made available to all bidders.

The district may determine in advance the minimum rental that should be produced by the public warehouse or public grain elevator offered and, if no qualified bid will produce the minimum rental, all bids may be rejected and the district shall then readvertise for bids. If after the readvertisement no responsible and satisfactory bid within the terms of the advertisement is received, the district may then negotiate a lease for not less than the amount of minimum rental so determined. If, after negotiating for a lease as provided in this Section, it is found necessary to revise the minimum rental to be produced by the facilities offered for lease, then the district shall again readvertise for bids, as provided in this Section, before negotiating a lease.

If the district shall temporarily operate any public warehouse or public grain elevator as provided in Section 35, the temporary operation shall not continue for more than one year without advertising for bids for the operation of the facility as provided in this Section.

(Source: P.A. 90-636, eff. 7-24-98.)