Council hears request to let mayor sign pool bid to speed work; clerk says legal limits prevent delegation

A council member urged the council to delegate authority to the mayor to sign off on final pool bid documents so construction could begin sooner and the project would not lose critical weeks in the construction season. “Why can't the mayor just sign it off instead of bringing it here… if everything looks good and it's good with you, Ryan, and it's good with public works,” the member asked, citing urgency to start construction.

The city clerk told the council that bid advertisement and bid awards are statutory actions that must be approved by the governing body and cannot be delegated to the mayor or staff for an action item that requires council approval. The clerk said bid documents should be ready to post in about two weeks, and the council will need to approve the documents and later the bid award in public session.