§ 17-1907 — Contracts for construction of sewer systems

§ 17-1907. Contracts for construction of sewer systems.\n 1. As used in this section:\n a. "Construction" means and includes the building, installation, or\nextension of a sewer system; the inspection and supervision thereof; the\nengineering, legal, fiscal and economic investigations; studies,\nsurveys, designs, plans, contract drawings, specifications, procedures;\nand other actions necessary thereto.\n b. "Sewer system" means and includes pipe lines or conduits, pumping\nstations, force mains, and all other constructions, devices, and\nappliances appurtenant thereto, used for conducting sewage (the\nwater-carried human, animal or other treatable wastes from residences,\nbuildings, industrial and commercial establishments or other places) to\na point of connection to the sewage treatment works as defined in\nsection 17-1903.\n c. "Sewer connection" means and includes a point of connection between\na building, residence or other structure and a public sewer.\n d. "Residence" means and includes a building or structure which is\noccupied principally as the home of one or more persons; provided,\nhowever, that such building or structure contain not more than two\ndwelling units.\n e. "Municipality" means and includes any county, town, village,\ndistrict corporation, county or town improvement district, or any two or\nmore of the foregoing which are acting jointly in connection with an\neligible project. For purposes of this section only, an Indian\nreservation located partly or wholly within New York State shall be\nconstrued as a "municipality".\n f. "Local governing body" means and includes (1) in a county, the\ncounty legislative body (2) in a town, the town board; (3) in a village,\nthe board of trustees; (4) in a district corporation or an improvement\ndistrict, the governing board; (5) in an Indian reservation, the proper\ntribal officials.\n g. "Federal assistance" means and includes funds available, other than\nby loan, from the federal government to a municipality, either directly\nor through allocation by the state, for construction of a sewer system\nor which are used for such construction, pursuant to any other federal\nlaw or program.\n i. "Project" means the construction of the whole or connected portion\nof a sewage collection system. Where the construction of a sewage\ncollection system is phased over a period of years, each phase may be\nconsidered as a project.\n j. "Eligible project" means a project which in the judgment of the\ncommissioner meets all of the following requirements:\n (1) It is in accord with applicable comprehensive studies and reports\nmade pursuant to section 17-1901 of this article;\n (2) It conforms with applicable rules and regulations of the\ncommissioner and, in his opinion, reflects a reasonable effort to\ndevelop maximum economy in planning, design and construction, with an\nacceptable ratio between costs and benefits;\n (3) It is necessary for the accomplishment of the state water\npollution control program;\n (4) It is under construction in the period between April 1, 1965 and\nMarch 31, 1977;\n (5) No portion of the project aided herein is eligible to receive\nassistance pursuant to section 17-1903;\n (6) It serves inhabited residences in existence prior to the effective\ndate of this law;\n (7) It serves the public by providing for the collection of sewage\n(house connections and pipes collecting exclusively industrial,\ncommercial and other nonresidential waste are ineligible);\n (8) The project or major part thereof is, at the time of construction,\nlocated in: (a) a town which has a total population of seventeen\nthousand or less persons, or (b) a town outside of village area which\nhas a population density per square mile of less than one hundred\npersons.\n k. "Capital cost" means the actual cost of construction of an eligible\nproject, not to include the cost of securing financing or interest on\nfunds borrowed to finance such construction, and representing that part\nof the cost of the eligible project that is not paid by the federal\ngovernment.\n l. "Annual debt service" means such amounts as shall be required to be\npaid annually to amortize obligations (both principal and interest)\nissued in order to finance the capital cost of an eligible project;\nprovided, however, that for the purposes of state aid, such annual debt\nservice shall be computed on a debt amortization schedule of not less\nthan thirty years nor more than forty years, as the commissioner shall\ndetermine, and shall not include any other debt service (whether\nprincipal or interest) on obligations of or on behalf of a municipality,\nother capital costs, or expenditures for the purpose as to which state\nreimbursement is claimed under any provision of law other than this\nsection. Where the eligible portion of the sewage collection system\nserves non-residential users as well as residences, the amount of annual\ndebt service to be used in computing state aid shall be reduced as\ndetermined by the commissioner, to compensate for the benefits received\nby the nonresidential users from such system.\n m. "State aid" means financial support made available to a\nmunicipality by way of state participation in annual debt service,\nthrough contracts entered into between the commissioner and the\nmunicipality, upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner shall\ndeem appropriate, which shall be based on the number of residences\nserved by the eligible project and computed as follows:\n (1) The amount of annual debt service, as defined above, minus the\nmunicipality's share of the expense for construction of the sewage\ncollection system.\n (2) The municipality's share shall be the product of the number of\nresidential sewer connections served by the project multiplied by an\nadjusted rate. The adjusted rate shall be determined by applying a\nvaluation correction from the sum of one hundred twenty-five dollars.\n (3) Valuation correction shall consist of minus one dollar for each\none thousand dollars or part thereof that the project area per capita\nfull value is less than the average per capita full value for the state\nexcluding all cities. For projects wholly located within a village or\ntown the project area per capita full value shall be the per capita full\nvalue for the village, or for the town outside of village area,\nrespectively. For other projects, per capita full value shall be per\ncapita full value of the town or village within which the major portion\nof the project is located. Per capita full value shall mean the full\nvalue of such municipality or area divided by the population thereof.\n The amount of such state aid shall be recomputed each year, on the\nbasis of data reported by the local governing body as accepted by the\ncommissioner. State aid shall commence in the state fiscal year\nbeginning April 1, l971. No state-aid payments shall be made on the\nbasis of any portion of the debt service of eligible projects which was\ndue and payable prior to April 1, 1971.\n 2. For the purpose of meeting the state responsibility as provided\nherein, with respect to the protection and promotion of the health of\nthe inhabitants of the state by the provision of sewer systems, the\ncommissioner, in the name of the state, may enter into contracts with\nmunicipalities having power to construct, operate and maintain sewer\nsystems, and any such municipality may enter into a contract with the\ncommissioner concerning eligible projects. Any such contract may include\nsuch provisions as may be agreed upon by the parties thereto, and shall\ninclude, in substance, the following provisions:\n a. The cost of the eligible project as determined by the commissioner.\n b. The method by which the eligible project shall be financed.\n c. An agreement between the commissioner and the municipality to\nprovide state aid to the municipality each year, during the progress of\nconstruction or following completion of construction as may be agreed\nupon by the parties.\n d. An agreement by the municipality\n (1) To proceed expeditiously with, and complete, the project in\naccordance with plans approved pursuant to section 17-0701 of this\narticle;\n (2) To commence operation of the sewer system on completion of the\nproject, and not to discontinue operation of the sewer system without\nthe approval of the commissioner,\n (3) To operate and maintain the sewer system in accordance with\napplicable provisions of this article, the state sanitary code and rules\nand regulations of the commissioner,\n (4) To apply for and make reasonable efforts to secure federal\nassistance for the project,\n (5) To secure the approval of the commissioner before applying for\nfederal assistance, in order to maximize the amounts of such assistance\nreceived or to be received for all projects in New York state,\n (6) To provide for the payment of the municipality's share of the cost\nof the project,\n (7) To execute a contract or agreement with the owner of the sewage\ntreatment plant, if other than the municipality itself, to accept sewage\nfrom the sewage collection system aided under this section, and\n (8) To promulgate a municipal sewage use ordinance acceptable to the\ncommissioner.\n e. A provision that, in the event that federal assistance which was\nnot included in the calculation of the capital cost becomes available to\nthe municipality, the amount of the state payment shall be recalculated\nby deducting the amount of such federal assistance from the eligible\ncapital cost, and adjustment shall be made either (1) by the\nmunicipality paying to the state the amount by which the state payments\nactually made exceed the state payments determined by the recalculation\nor, (2) by deducting the excess paid from subsequent payments to be made\nby the state.\n 3. The commissioner may adopt rules and regulations pursuant to\nsubdivision 3 of section 17-0303 of this article governing the making\nand enforcing of contracts pursuant to this section.\n 4. All contracts entered into pursuant to this section shall be\nsubject to approval by the state comptroller, and by the attorney\ngeneral as to form. All payments by the state pursuant to such contracts\nshall be made after audit by and upon the warrant of the comptroller on\nvouchers approved by the commissioner.\n 5. In connection with each contract concerning an eligible project the\ncommissioner shall keep adequate records of the amount of the payment by\nthe state pursuant to subparagraph c of subdivision two of this section,\nand of the amount of federal assistance received by the municipality.\n