Section 54-9-210 - Contract and performance bond - Acceptance of lowest bid - Rejection of bids - Readvertisement(a) The department of transportation shall prepare a model contract and performance bond, which the counties, without exception, alteration or modification, shall use, except for filling in appropriate blanks, or spaces, as may be necessary to complete the contract and bond.(b) The bond shall be executed by a corporate surety authorized to do business in this state.(c)(1) The committee referred to in § 54-9-209 shall accept, on behalf of the county, the lowest bid, except the committee may reject all bids if the lowest bid exceeds the estimated cost of the project by ten percent (10%); provided, that in the event the committee decides to reject the bid, the presiding officer of the county legislative body shall, within ten (10) days, call the county legislative body into special session to determine whether the bid shall be accepted or rejected.(2) If the bid is accepted either by the committee or the county legislative body, the contract shall be executed on behalf of the county, by the chief administrative officer of the county highway department, if any, and the presiding officer of the county legislative body, and countersigned by the county clerk, who shall affix the county clerk's seal of office to the contract.(3) If the county legislative body concurs with the committee in rejecting the bid, the project shall be readvertised in the same way and manner as originally and the low bid shall be accepted and the appropriate county officers shall execute the contract.(4) The original contract shall be filed in the office of the county clerk, and copies of the contract shall be supplied to the contractor and the county highway department.Acts 1959, ch. 320, § 10; impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 3; impl. am. Acts 1972, ch. 829, § 7; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 7, 36; T.C.A., § 54-853; Acts 1983, ch. 320, § 11.