§36-35  State educational facilities repair
and maintenance account.  (a)  There is created in the state general fund
under EDN 400 (school support) the state educational facilities repair and
maintenance account, into which shall be deposited legislative appropriations
to the account designated for use solely to eliminate the backlog of school
repair and maintenance projects, including the repair or replacement of
fixtures, furnishings, and equipment, existing on June 30, 2000.  Expenditures
from the account shall be subject to sections 37-31 and 37-33 to 37-40.  Based
on the prioritization approved by the department of education as prescribed by
section 302A-1505, appropriations or authorizations from the account shall be
expended by the superintendent of education.



(b)  The department of education shall review
the existing condition of school facilities and establish specific vision plans
for each school complex based on current repair and maintenance requirements
and overall repair and maintenance priorities.



(c)  Criteria used to establish current repair
and maintenance requirements may include:



(1)  The remaining useful life of the school facility
and its major components;



(2)  The adjusted life of the school facility and its
major components after repair or maintenance; and



(3)  The current and future repair and maintenance
requirements of the school facility and its components based on established
industry standards or product manufacturer recommendations;



provided that demolition of a facility or any of its
components may be recommended if the cost of the repairs do not justify the
adjusted life or remaining life of the facility.



(d)  Criteria used to establish overall repair
and maintenance requirements may include:



(1)  Whether a school facility will continue to be
used for the next twenty-five years; and



(2)  Whether a repair or maintenance project is
required:



(A)  For health or safety reasons;



(B)  To comply with legal mandates;



(C)  To comply with current building codes; or



(D)  For preventive maintenance reasons;



provided that in developing criteria, consideration
shall be given to school facilities that were more than twenty-five years of
age on July 1, 2000.



(e)  The expenditure of funds for any project
with an estimated total cost of less than $100,000 shall be exempt from section
464-4; provided that:



(1)  The superintendent of education shall develop
internal policies and procedures for the procurement of goods, services, and
construction, consistent with the goals of public accountability and public
procurement practices;



(2)  Insofar as is practical, and based on
specifications developed, adequate and reasonable competition of no fewer than
three proposals shall be solicited for each project, based on rules adopted by
the superintendent of education;



(3)  Considering all factors, including quality,
warranty, and delivery, the award shall be made to the vendor with the most
advantageous proposal;



(4)  The procurement requirements shall not be
artificially divided or parceled so as to avoid competitive bidding or
competitive proposals; and



(5)  Formal design for projects shall be done when
there is a clear need to preserve structural integrity, health and safety, or
to clearly communicate construction requirements.



For all projects, the superintendent of
education shall develop a strategy for the efficient and cost-effective use of
government and private-sector workforces and consider increased flexibility
through public-private partnering, design-build options, cost plus, job order
contracts, performance-based contracts, request for proposals, and any other
means to improve communications and accelerate repairs while preserving the
quality of the repairs.



(f)  The superintendent of education shall
ensure that all repair and maintenance projects achieve maximum cost-efficiency
by emphasizing functional or performance criteria, uniformity of design, and
commonality of products, and by avoiding unique or custom requirements that
increase costs.  The superintendent of education shall develop project
specifications based on generic specifications or prescriptive specifications
using standard commercial products.  Prescriptive specifications may include a
qualified product list.



For the purposes of this subsection:



"Generic specification" means a
technical specification that is written in a clear, unambiguous, and
nonrestrictive manner establishing:



(1)  Design, performance, or functional requirements
to identify the work to be performed; and



(2)  Material standards to be used on a project.



"Prescriptive specification" means a
technical specification:



(1)  Establishing that the required work to be
performed is written in a clear, unambiguous, and nonrestrictive manner; and



(2)  Listing manufacturers or products that are
acceptable for use on the project.



"Standard commercial product" means a
product or material that in the normal course of business is customarily
maintained in stock by, or readily available for marketing from a manufacturer,
distributor, or dealer.



This subsection shall not apply to any school
facility designated a historic property pursuant to section 6E-5.5.



(g)  The superintendent of education shall
submit an annual report to the legislature, which shall include a financial
statement of the account and the status of repair and maintenance projects
undertaken pursuant to this section, no later than twenty days prior to the
convening of each regular session.  Expenditures for repair and maintenance
projects undertaken pursuant to this section shall be posted electronically on the
Internet by the department of education within thirty days of each project's
completion.



(h)  This section shall be repealed on July 1,
2020. [L 2001, c 316, pt of §2; am L 2002, c 115, §2; am L 2003, c 188, §4; am
L 2004, c 51, §50 and c 216, §6; am L 2005, c 189, §3]