N.Y. General Municipal Law § 120-l: Letting of contracts

§ 120-l. Letting of contracts. 1. Whenever any work to be performed or

materials to be furnished in or about any improvement to be made by two

or more municipalities under the provisions of this act shall involve an

expenditure of any sum of money exceeding five hundred dollars, the

municipal bodies or boards of the contracting municipalities, by their

official action taken in joint meeting as herein provided, shall

designate a time when they will meet at their usual place of meeting to

receive proposals, in writing, for doing the work or furnishing the

materials, and such joint meeting shall order the chairman and secretary

thereof to give notice, by advertisement inserted in one or more

newspapers published or circulating in the municipalities jointly

contracting, at least two weeks before the time of such meeting, of the

work to be done or materials to be furnished, of which at the time of

such order they shall cause to be filed in the office of such joint

meeting particular specifications; all proposals received shall be

publicly opened by such chairman in the presence and during a session of

such joint meeting, and of all others who choose to attend the said

meeting; not more than one proposal shall be received from any one

person, directly or indirectly, for the same contract work or materials;

and the said joint meeting may reject any and all of said proposals and

direct its chairman and secretary to advertise for new proposals and

accept such as shall in the opinion of a majority of the municipalities

represented in said joint meeting be deemed most advantageous for the

said municipalities, subject, however, to the reservations herein

provided; the board may require a bond or deposit from the person

submitting a proposal, the liability of such bond to accrue, or such

deposit to be forfeited to the municipality, or municipalities, in case

such person shall refuse to enter into a contract in accordance to his

proposal. The proposal so accepted shall be reduced to a contract in

writing, and a satisfactory bond to be approved by such joint meeting

shall be required and given for its faithful performance, but all

contracts when awarded shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder

offering satisfactory security; this section shall not apply to any

engineer or agent of the joint contracting municipalities engaged in

supervising or directing the work of such improvements.

2. Whenever a security bond is posted by a successful bidder for the

faithful performance of a municipal project under the provisions of this

article, for which state aid is approved, the name and address of the

bonding company or person issuing the security bond, the number of such

bond, and such other information as may be required by the state

department or agency responsible for supervising the aid program

regarding the project, shall be transmitted to such department or

agency, where it shall be reviewed to determine its authenticity prior

to the award of such contract. The original of such bond shall remain in

the office of the municipality. Upon request of such department or

agency, the superintendent of financial services shall render such

assistance as is necessary to determine the authenticity of the security

bond.