§ 1696 — Designation of small business set-asides at the Hostos Community College

* § 1696. Designation of small business set-asides at the Hostos\nCommunity College. The chairman has authority to designate as small\nbusiness set-asides specified commodities, equipment or services or\ncontracts for construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation or\nimprovement of college facilities for which purchase or work contract\nhave been requested by the board of trustees of either the Bronx\nCommunity College or the Hostos Community College under the provisions\nof this title. The designation shall be made prior to the advertisement\nfor bids as provided by law, and when the advertisement is published it\nshall indicate the purchases which have been designated small business\nset-asides. To effectuate the purposes of this title, the chairman may\nexercise this authority whenever there is a reasonable expectation that\nbids will be obtained from at least three small businesses capable of\nfurnishing the desired property or service at a fair and reasonable\nprice.\n In the case of purchases or work contracts designated as small\nbusiness set-asides, invitations to bid shall be confined to small\nbusinesses and bids from other businesses shall be rejected. The\npurchase, contract or expenditure of funds shall be awarded to the\nlowest responsible bidder among the small businesses (considering\nconformity with specifications and terms) in accordance with the rules\nand regulations for purchasing published by the authority.\n It is hereby declared that a portion of small business set-asides,\nshall be set aside in turn as exclusively as possible, to small\nbusinesses owned or controlled by minority entrepreneurs as previously\ndefined, and that such aforementioned businesses, shall constitute not\nless than twenty-five percent of the successful bidders under this\ntitle. Other contracts and business that in the opinion of the chairman\ncan be judged to be substantially beneficial to socially or economically\ndisadvantaged individuals may also be excluded from the general\nprovisions and procedures applicable to the larger set-aside contracts.\n Minority business concerns eligible hereunder shall be excluded from\nstipulated limitations of sales volume, number of employees and other\nfactors defined in this title.\n Offers must be advertised in the locality where a contract is to be\neffectuated. In locations where twenty-five percent or more of the\npopulation is non-English-speaking, notices shall be published in\nappropriate translated form. The procurement officer shall cooperate\nwith county-wide business development organizations servicing minority\ncommunities in the formulation and maintenance of lists of qualified\ncontractors, and shall notify such contractors of opportunities to\nsubmit bids for set-aside contracts. Minority bidders will be notified\nof reasons why their bids were unsuccessful. That each minority small\nbusiness concern which bids is notified of reasons for failure to secure\na successful bid, and that where responsibility as defined by the\nprocurement officer or officers, agent or agents is a factor, such\nresponsibility will be defined, and such reasons for determination of\nlack of responsibility will be provided the minority small business\nbidders.\n Bonding requirements shall be negotiable for minority bidders.\n * NB There are 2 § 1696's\n