If bids have been called for at the first regular meeting of the governing body in the month of April in each year, the bids shall be opened and the contract for the furnishing of gravel shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder who has complied with the requirements of this chapter. If the city auditor shall have failed to advertise for bids before the fifteenth day of March or if the governing body shall have failed to award the contract at a meeting in April, such advertisement for bids and such award may be made subsequently upon the same basis as if made at the time provided in this chapter.