(a)
The city council shall, within 10 days after the establishment of the district, invite bids for the making of the improvement by ordering a notice of the invitation to be published by two successive insertions in a daily or weekly newspaper published or circulated in the city and designated by the city council for that purpose. However, if the city council determines that there is only one contractor practically capable of serving the street lighting system to be improved in the manner provided in the plans and specifications contained in the report provided for in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 18040) of Part 1 of Division 14 of the Streets and Highways Code and that the contractor is subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California, the city council may, in its discretion, without competitive bidding, order the improvement to be carried out by the contractor in accordance with rates and rules filed by it from time to time with the Public Utilities Commission.
(b)
All bids for construction work shall be presented under sealed cover and shall be accompanied by one of the following forms of bidder’s security which amounts to 10 percent of the bid:
(1)
Cash.
(2)
A cashier’s check made payable to the city.
(3)
A certified check made payable to the city.
(4)
A bidder’s bond executed by an admitted surety insurer, made payable to the city.
The security shall be forfeited to the city in case the bidder depositing it does not, within 15 days after the notice that the contract has been awarded to him or her, enter into a contract with the city for making the improvement, the faithful performance of which shall be secured by an undertaking in those penal sums as the city council shall require, with sureties satisfactory to that body. In any case where competitive bidding is required, the contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. Upon an award to the lowest bidder, the security of an unsuccessful bidder shall be returned in a reasonable period of time, but in no event shall that security be held by the city beyond 60 days from the time the award is made.