§ 8. Provisions relating to health facilities improvement program. 1.
Municipal health facilities agency. The mayor or other chief executive
of a municipality shall designate a department, board, commission,
bureau, division or other agency or official to act on behalf of the
municipality as a municipal health facilities agency in order to
accomplish the purposes of this section and section forty-seven-d of the
private housing finance law.

2. Construction. a. The corporation shall, as agent of the state
housing finance agency, construct a health facility or health facilities
or cause such facility or facilities to be constructed, provided that:

(i) The state housing finance agency or the state medical care
facilities finance agency, as the case may be, and the municipality,
with the approval of the governing body, have entered into an agreement
which shall set forth the health facility or health facilities to be
constructed, the total estimated cost of each such facility, the
estimated date of completion thereof and the estimated annual rentals to
be paid by the municipality therefor. The agreement shall contain such
other terms and conditions as may be agreed upon and shall be subject to
the approval of the commissioner of health. Nothing herein contained
shall preclude the corporation from being a party to any such agreement.

(ii) The commissioner of health shall have certified that there has
been compliance with all requirements of article twenty-eight of the
public health law.

b. When two or more municipalities act jointly to provide a health
facility, the agreement referred to in subparagraph (i) of paragraph a
of this subdivision shall require the approval of the governing body of
each municipality and shall specify the rights, duties and obligations
of each municipality.

c. The corporation shall prepare separate specifications for and
solicit separate and independent bids on and award separate contracts on
the subdivisions of work to be performed specified in section one
hundred thirty-five of the state finance law, but the corporation in its
discretion may assign such contracts for supervision to the successful
bidder for the remaining work to be performed at the time the contracts
for the particular health facility are awarded. Each contract for the
construction of a health facility may include a provision that the
architect who designed the facility, or an architect or engineer
retained or employed specifically for the purpose of supervision, shall
supervise the work to be performed through to completion and shall see
to it that the materials furnished and the work performed are in
accordance with the drawings, plans, specifications and contracts
therefor.

d. All contracts which are to be awarded pursuant to this subdivision
shall be awarded by public letting in accordance with the following
provisions, notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred
thirty-six, one hundred thirty-nine or one hundred forty of the state
finance law, except that the corporation in its discretion may enter
into a contract for such purposes without public letting where the
estimated expense thereof is less than ten thousand dollars.

(i) If the contracts are to be publicly let, the corporation shall
advertise the invitation to bid in a newspaper published in the
municipality in which the health facility project is situated and in
such other newspapers as will be most likely in its opinion to give
adequate notice to contractors of the work required and of the
invitation to bid. The invitation to bid shall contain such information
as the corporation shall deem appropriate and a statement of the time
and place where all bids received pursuant to such notice will be
publicly opened and read.

(ii) The corporation shall not award any contract after public bidding
except to the lowest bidder who in its opinion is qualified to perform
the work required and is responsible and reliable. The corporation may,
however, reject any or all bids, again advertise for bids, or waive any
informality in a bid if it believes that the public interest will be
promoted thereby. The corporation may reject any bid if in its judgment
the business and technical organization, plant, resources, financial
standing or business experience of the bidder, compared with the work to
be performed, justify such rejection.

(iii) The invitation to bid and the contract awarded shall contain
such other terms and conditions and such provisions for penalties as the
corporation may deem desirable.

(iv) The corporation shall require such deposits, bonds and security
in connection with the submission of bids, the award of contracts and
the performance of work as it shall determine to be in the public
interest and for the protection of the state housing finance agency or
the state medical care facilities finance agency, as the case may be,
and the municipality.

(v) The directors of the corporation shall determine when minor work
of construction, reconstruction, alteration or repair of any health
facility may be done by special order. Special orders for such work
shall be short-form contracts. No work shall be done by special order in
an amount in excess of twenty thousand dollars and a bond shall not be
required for special orders. No work shall be done by special order
unless a diligent effort has been made to obtain competition sufficient
to protect the public interest prior to selecting the contractor to
perform the work. Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph
work done by special order under this subparagraph may be advertised
through the regular public notification service of the office of general
services or the state register. At least five days shall elapse between
the first publication of such public notice and the date so specified
for the public opening of bids. All payments on special orders shall be
made on the certificate of the directors of the corporation. All special
orders shall contain a clause that the special order shall only be
deemed executory to the extent of the moneys available and no liability
shall be incurred by the corporation or the state beyond the moneys
available for the purpose.