§ 99-N — Transfer and lease of ferry boats and buses

§ 99-n. Transfer and lease of ferry boats and buses. 1. As used in\nthis section the term "municipality" shall mean a county, city, town or\nvillage.\n 2. Notwithstanding any other law, general, special or local, a\nmunicipality, acting through its chief executive officer and its chief\nfiscal officer, without further approval, except, in the case of any\nmunicipality with respect to which the legislature has declared that a\nstate of financial emergency exists, the approval of any emergency\nfinancial control board or similar body established by state law for\nsuch municipality, may (a) sell or transfer all interest in any or all\nof its ferry boats and buses, except to the extent of any portion of any\nferry boat or bus financed by federal grants, for consideration and on\nsuch terms and conditions as it may deem appropriate, and obtain a lease\nfrom the transferee on such terms and conditions and for such period as\nit may deem appropriate pursuant to which it may operate such ferry\nboats or buses, as the case may be, provided (i) such lease contains an\noption to the municipality to repurchase such interest at the expiration\nof the scheduled lease term for nominal consideration and (ii) the\naggregate of the regularly scheduled rental payments which the\nmunicipality is obligated to make pursuant to such lease during each\ntwelve month period of the lease term shall not exceed the aggregate\namount receivable, whether by principal or interest, by the municipality\nfrom its transferee during each such twelve month period. Without\nlimitation of the foregoing, any lease entered into pursuant hereto may\nalso contain provisions requiring the municipality to indemnify the\ntransferee for, among other things, any loss resulting from the loss or\ndestruction of any property which is the subject of such lease and\nrequiring the municipality to undertake to replace, repair or restore\nany such property, but such obligations shall not be deemed regularly\nscheduled rental payments for purposes of the preceding sentence; and\n(b) provide compensation to one or more third parties for services\nrendered by them in connection with any such transaction.\n 3. Notwithstanding any other law, general, special or local, the\nproceeds from any transaction described in this section may be used by\nsuch municipality for any lawful municipal purpose.\n 4. The lessor of such property, during the term of any lease thereof\nto a municipality, shall, if the lessor shall have assigned to the\nlessee all manufacturers' and other warranties furnished to the lessor\nin connection with its purchase of such property, and except as the\nlease may otherwise provide, have no liability or responsibility to the\nlessee or to third parties for damages to real or personal property or\nfor the destruction thereof, or for personal injuries or death, based\nupon the use, condition or state of such property, or any part thereof,\nexcept to the extent such lessor may have any such responsibility or\nliability by virtue of its being the manufacturer of such property, or\nany part thereof.\n 5. With respect to any transaction described in this section, a\nmunicipality shall comply with the following standards and procedures:\n(i) notice of intention to negotiate a transaction described in this\nsection shall be published in at least one newspaper of general\ncirculation, and a copy thereof shall be mailed to all parties who have\nrequested notification from the municipality of its intent to engage in\ntransactions of this type. Such notice shall describe the nature of the\nproposed transaction and the factors subject to negotiation which shall\ninclude, but not be limited to, the price to be paid to the\nmunicipality; (ii) the municipality shall consider each proposal which\ncomplies with the requirements set forth in the notice; and (iii) the\nmunicipality shall determine, on the basis of relevant factors, that the\ntransaction negotiated will provide maximum available financial\nbenefits, consistent with other defined objectives and requirements.\n