| | | Emergency preamble. Whereas, Acts of the Legislature do not become | | effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as | | emergencies; and |
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| | | Whereas, the Legislature created a school renovation fund to | | provide funds for improvements to school buildings, with priority | | being given to projects that affect critical health and safety | | needs such as air quality; and |
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| | | Whereas, current law is unclear on the competitive bidding | | requirements for performance contracts for energy conservation | | and air quality improvements in public school buildings; and |
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| | | Whereas, there are energy conservation and air quality | | improvement projects that are awaiting funding but are currently | | being delayed due to this lack of clarity in the law; and |
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| | | Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create | | an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and | | require the following legislation as immediately necessary for | | the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, | | therefore, |
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| | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | | Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §15915, sub-§1, as repealed and replaced by PL 1987, | | c. 402, Pt. A, §134, is amended to read: |
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| | | 1. Initial agreement. Any school administrative unit may | | enter into an agreement of up to 20 years with a private party, | | such as an energy service or 3rd-party financing company, for the | | design, installation, operation, maintenance and financing of | | energy conservation or air quality improvements at school | | administrative unit facilities. Such an agreement is deemed to | | be a professional service, which is not subject to the | | competitive bidding requirements of Title 5, section 1743-A, if | | the agreement: |
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| | | A.__Provides for operation or maintenance of the improvement | | for at least 5 years or the entire term of the financing | | agreement if longer than 5 years; and |
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| | | B.__Requires a guaranty by the contractor for at least 5 | | years or for the entire term of the financing agreement if | | longer that the improvement will meet performance criteria | | set forth in the agreement. |
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| | | A school administrative unit may select contractors for these | | professional services on the basis of qualifications only and it | | is not required to use a competitive design-bid-build method set |
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