Title 17. Education

Chapter 26. Colleges and Universities

Part IX-a. Community and Technical Colleges Facilities Improvement and Enhancement

17:3394.3       Authority of board to execute agreements related to the finance of capital improvements and enhancements; nonprofit corporation; administration and management of projects

A. (1) Projects contained in this Section may, at the direction of the board, be funded through the issuance of bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness or through financing programs provided by the Louisiana Local Government Environmental Facilities and Community Development Authority, pursuant to R.S. 33:4548.1 et seq., or a public trust duly organized pursuant to R.S. 9:2341 et seq., having for its beneficiary the state, with the approval of the State Bond Commission. 

(2) Bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness may be issued as serial bonds or as term bonds and shall bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times, not exceeding thirty years from their respective dates, bear interest at such rate or rates, including variable, adjustable, or zero interest rates, be payable at such time or times, be in such denominations, be sold at such price or prices, at public or private negotiated sale, after advertisement as is provided for in R.S. 39:1426 et seq., be in such form, carry such registration and exchangeability privileges, be payable at such place or places, be subject to such terms of redemption, as may be provided in the indenture, trust agreement, or resolution relating to such bonds. Bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness may be sold in such manner and from time to time as may be determined by the issuer and the board to be most beneficial, subject to approval of the State Bond Commission. 

(3) Projects contained in this Section shall not be required to be included in the annual comprehensive capital budget nor obtain legislative approval as provided in R.S. 39:112(G). 

(4) Construction projects contained in this Section shall be managed and administered by a corporation established for such purposes, regardless of the source of revenues used to fund such construction projects. Notwithstanding any provision of this Chapter to the contrary, the corporation shall adhere to the following requirements with respect to any project it undertakes pursuant to this Section: 

(a) The corporation shall disclose on the board’s internet homepage and make available consistent with the Public Records Law its property interest and that of any party contracting with the corporation in connection with a project. 

(b) The corporation shall disclose on the board’s internet homepage and make available consistent with the Public Records Law its responsibilities and those of any party contracting with the corporation in the development of a project. 

(c) The corporation shall disclose on the board’s internet homepage and make available consistent with the Public Records Law its responsibilities and those of any party contracting with the corporation with respect to the financing of a project. 

(d) The corporation shall disclose the contracts it enters into in connection with a project on the board’s internet homepage and make the contracts available consistent with the Public Records Law. 

(e) The president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System or his designee shall be provided reasonable notice of and all materials relating to and be allowed to attend and participate in all meetings of the corporation’s board of directors and of any committee thereof charged with the procurement, management, or oversight of a project. 

(f)(i) Each board member of the corporation and each member of his immediate family who derives any thing of economic value directly, through any transaction involving the corporation or who derives any thing of economic value of which he may be reasonably expected to know through a person which has bid on or entered into or is in any way financially interested in any contract, subcontract, or any transaction under the supervision or jurisdiction of the corporation shall disclose the following substantially in accordance with the Code of Governmental Ethics: the amount of income or value of any thing of economic value derived; the nature of the business activity; the name and address of filer and name of and relationship to the board member, if applicable; and the name and business address of the legal entity, if applicable. 

(ii) The corporation shall adopt and maintain a policy on conflicts of interest, which shall include provisions requiring the corporation’s board of directors and committee members to make appropriate disclosures of any actual or potential conflicts of interest and requiring, following disclosure of a conflict, the member who discloses such a conflict to physically leave any meetings for the duration of any discussion concerning the matter disclosed, to abstain from voting on any issues relating to the matter disclosed, and to refrain from any discussion designed to influence or otherwise participating in any decision-making process relating to the matter disclosed. 

(g) Prior to beginning construction or management of any project in excess of fifty thousand dollars of total installed costs, the corporation or the board shall hold a public meeting in accordance with the Open Meetings Law. The corporation or the board shall consider any public input provided at such public meeting prior to beginning construction or selecting any contractor. The minutes of all meetings of the corporation shall be published on the board’s internet homepage and made available consistent with the Public Records Law. 

(h) For any project in excess of fifty thousand dollars of total installed costs, the corporation shall issue a request for qualifications or request for proposals to select contractors for any project. The procedures for issuing such a request shall be consistent with procurement through competitive sealed bid or competitive negotiation and include the following provisions: 

(i) The corporation shall establish and use public announcement procedures for solicitation of letters of interest from qualified contractors. Such public announcement procedures shall include a requirement for advertisement on the board’s internet home page and in a newspaper of general circulation in the parish or municipality where the project is situated. The corporation shall include a deadline for submission of letters of interest within any such public announcement. All such notices shall be posted no less than twenty days prior to selecting a contractor for a project. 

(ii) The corporation shall provide a request for qualifications package or request for proposals package to any contractor who submits a letter of interest. All required information shall be identified in the package and in the standard response forms. 

(i) The corporation shall require interested contractors to include the following items in their responses to the request for qualifications package or request for proposals package: 

(i) Financial disclosure statements, substantially in accordance with R.S. 42:1114, by which a contractor or his immediate family who derives any thing of economic value, directly, through any transaction involving the board or the corporation or who derives any thing of economic value of which he may be reasonably expected to know through a person which has bid on or entered into or is in any way financially interested in any contract, subcontract, or any transaction involving the board or the corporation shall disclose the following: the amount of income or value of any thing of economic value derived; the nature of the business activity; the name and address, and relationship to the contractor, if applicable; and the name and business address of the legal entity, if applicable. 

(ii) Proposed responsibilities of interested contractors in the development of the project. 

(iii) Proposed responsibilities with respect to the financing of the project. 

(iv) Statements of qualification concerning the experience and resources of the prospective contractor. 

(j) The corporation shall evaluate and grade all responses. Alternatively, an advisory committee authorized by a cooperative endeavor agreement with the state of Louisiana may evaluate and grade all responses. The corporation shall develop and make public its selection criteria for selecting a contractor on a project. The corporation shall consider the following nonexclusive list of factors as part of its selection process: 

(i) Professional training and experience of key personnel in general and as related to the project described in the request for qualifications. 

(ii) Capacity for timely completion of the work. 

(iii) Past performance on projects of a similar nature to the project described in the request for qualifications. 

(iv) Any criteria that apply to project-specific needs. 

(v) Cost of services. The corporation is not required to select the lowest cost submission, but it shall consider the cost of services as one of the various factors in evaluating the responses. 

(k) After reviewing all submissions made in response to the request for qualifications or request for proposals, selecting a qualified contractor, and obtaining approval in writing for the letting of the contract from the board, the corporation shall submit letters to the selected proposing parties notifying them of their selection and begin contract negotiations. The corporation shall also submit letters with a statement identifying the selected proposing party to all parties who submitted responses but were not selected. The corporation shall make available for inspection, by any party who submitted a response, scoring sheets or other materials utilized in selecting the selected proposing parties, which sheets or materials shall include the criteria outlined in Subparagraph (j) of this Paragraph, subject to protections of information provided in Subparagraph (l) of this Paragraph. 

(l) The corporation shall make at least one copy of each response to its request for qualifications or proposals available consistent with the Public Records Law. All documents submitted to the corporation that are made available to the public shall be provided in a form that protects against the disclosure of any of the following that have been marked “CONFIDENTIAL” by the submitting party: 

(i) Proprietary or trade secret information of a submitting party pertaining to any code, pattern, formula, design, device, method, or process. 

(ii) Financial records of a submitting party. 

(iii) Specific cost estimates produced and submitted by a submitting party. 

(m) Information protected from disclosure by Subparagraph (l) of this Paragraph may be disclosed as agreed to by the submitting party and the corporation. 

(n) The corporation shall continuously review and monitor the status of and contractor performance for each project that the corporation undertakes. The corporation shall make available on the board’s internet homepage and consistent with the Public Records Law annual reports explaining contractor performance for each project that it has undertaken or completed during the previous year, listing those projects that are expected to be solicited for bid within the next year, listing those projects that are in progress, listing those projects removed from consideration during the prior year, identifying all contractors for each project completed or in progress, and accounting for all funds expended on each project. Each annual report shall be completed, made available for public inspection, and submitted to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget by April thirtieth in the calendar year following the calendar year that is the subject of the annual report. Each annual report and all books and records of the corporation directly pertaining to the expenditure of project funds, including but not limited to all design and construction contracts, change orders, and pay applications, shall be maintained for a minimum of three years following final completion of the project and shall be subject to audit by internal or external auditors selected by the board. 

(o) All records that are public records pursuant to this Paragraph may be maintained in an electronic format. 

(5) The board shall exercise its authority granted pursuant to R.S. 17:3361, et seq., as may be necessary to provide for the completion of the projects enumerated in this Section. The board may grant leases of property under its supervision to a nonprofit corporation or to an entity authorized to issue bonds as set forth in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection for the purpose of financing such projects, and the sum total amount to be financed therefor shall equal no more than the total value of all projects listed herein, plus an amount equal to fifteen percent of such total, together with other requirements including but not limited to costs of issuance, capitalized interest, if any, credit enhancement and related costs. Notwithstanding any provision of R.S. 17:3361, et seq., to the contrary, the term of any lease agreement made for purposes of this Part shall not exceed thirty years. No monies shall be appropriated for the purposes set forth in this Part for the projects set forth in Subsection B of this Section until July 1, 2008. No monies shall be appropriated for the purposes set forth in this Part for the projects set forth in Subsection C of this Section until July 1, 2015. 

B. For the purposes of this Part, the following projects and the projects set forth in Subsection C of this Section shall comprise the entirety of public facilities and projects to be financed under the authorities of this Part and R.S. 17:3361 et seq. with respect to these projects. The dollar value listed, plus an amount equal to fifteen percent, together with other requirements including but not limited to costs of issuance, capitalized interest, if any, credit enhancement and related costs, is the maximum amount that may be financed for each of the following projects: 

(1) LOUISIANA TECHNICAL COLLEGE 

(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGES 

(4) The amounts set forth in this Subsection are estimates and the funding for any project may be increased to meet any contingencies by an amount not to exceed fifteen percent of the amounts set forth in the Subsection. 

C. The projects set forth in Subsection B of this Section and the following projects shall comprise the entirety of public facilities and projects to be financed under the authorities of this Part and R.S. 17:3361 et seq., with respect to these projects. Each project set forth below shall require a no less than twelve percent private match. No project shall be financed until all private funds are available for that project. The dollar value listed for each project, plus an amount equal to fifteen percent, together with other requirements including but not limited to costs of issuance, capitalized interest, if any, credit enhancement and related costs, is the maximum amount that may be financed for each of the following projects: 

(3) Repealed by Acts 2015, No. 418, § 2, eff. July 1, 2015. 

(4) The amounts set forth in this Subsection are estimates and the funding for any project may be increased to meet any contingencies by an amount not to exceed fifteen percent of the amounts set forth in this Subsection. 

Added by Acts 2007, No. 391, § 1, eff. June 30, 2007. Amended by Acts 2008, No. 220, § 7, eff. June 14, 2008; Acts 2013, No. 360, § 1, eff. June 17, 2013; Acts 2015, No. 418, § 1, eff. July 1, 2015; Acts 2016, No. 511, § 1, eff. June 16, 2016; Acts 2019, No. 287, § 1.