§ 279-c. Certain agreements of a county sewer district in Orange county. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, a county sewer district in Orange county, acting through its administrative head, is hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time, to issue requests for proposals, and subsequently to enter into agreements based upon such requests for proposals, or to amend, supplement, modify, change or extend such agreements, including but not limited to, contracts, leases, rental or management agreements with, or grant licenses, permits, concessions or any other authorizations to, any private corporation, partnership or individual, upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration and for such term or duration not to exceed twenty-five years, as may be agreed upon by said administrative head, with the approval of the county legislature, wherein such private entity is granted the right to design, construct, finance, operate, maintain, use, manage, occupy, lease, own, or any of them, all or part of certain facilities it or the district owns or will own and to carry on activities or furnish services, in whole or in part relative to the manner of sewerage and wastewater treatment and collection for the district on sites approved by the district which may either be owned by the district, the county, or privately. The district, only after conducting a cost/benefit review analyzing the efficacy of such an arrangement, may enter into such agreements with a private entity based upon a determination by the district that the selected proposal is the most responsive to the district's request for proposals and is in the best interest of the district, with the overall cost of the proposal being a major criterion in the selection. The district may negotiate with any proposer. This section shall not be construed to alter or diminish a district's obligation to provide wastewater services, to comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations, and to administer the district's services, including the assessment, levying, and collection of the expenses of the district. Such facilities, including their influent, effluent, waste, and by-products, shall be regulated and permitted as if such facilities were fully owned and operated by a municipality.

2. A private entity which is a party to such agreement may be granted the rights hereinbefore referred to for any purpose or purposes which shall, by utilization of such sewerage and wastewater treatment and collection facilities, benefit the people of the district or provide for the improvement of their health and welfare or aid and undertake or assist in the financing of the design, construction, operation or maintenance of such facilities. The district shall not sell to any such private entity any existing wastewater treatment facility of the district.

3. The by-products, if any, generated by the facility may be sold, utilized or otherwise disposed of by the private entity pursuant to the agreement, upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration as may be agreed upon by the parties thereto.

4. Every agreement entered into between the district and a private entity, pursuant to subdivision one of this section, for the construction of a wastewater treatment facility, shall require the payment of all applicable prevailing wages pursuant to section two hundred twenty of the labor law, shall require the furnishing to the district of a performance bond in the full amount of the cost of such construction, shall require that each contractor and subcontractor performing work on such construction furnish a payment bond in the full amount of its contract guaranteeing prompt payment of monies that are due to all persons furnishing labor and materials to such contractor or subcontractor, and shall contain provisions that such construction, if in excess of twenty thousand dollars, shall be conducted pursuant to section one hundred one of the general municipal law. A copy of the above mentioned payment and performance bonds shall be kept by the district and shall be open to public inspection.

5. It shall be a mandatory term of any agreement entered into between the district and a private entity, pursuant to subdivision one of this section, that any employee of Orange county or the district, then performing operation or maintenance work at an existing district wastewater treatment facility at the time of such agreement, must be offered employment by any private entity assuming operation or maintenance responsibilities at such facility at no less than the wage then being earned by such employee and with equivalent benefits. If any such employee chooses not to accept such offer of employment, such employee shall remain a county or district employee subject to the same terms and conditions of employment as if the operation or maintenance responsibilities had not been assumed by such private entity.