§9-14E-5. Acceptance of proposals; project agreement; Gulf State Park Project Committee.

(a) No later than 30 days after acceptance of a proposal by the Governor, the Governor shall submit the accepted proposal to the Director of Finance and Alabama Building Commission for evaluation, review, and comments pertaining to the information provided in the proposal. The Director of Finance and Alabama Building Commission shall provide such evaluation, review, and comments to the Governor no later than 60 days after acceptance of a proposal by the Governor.

(b) Upon acceptance of a proposal by the Governor, and subject to the provisions of subsection (a), the Governor shall enter into negotiations of a project agreement with the person who submitted the accepted proposal. Any project agreement negotiated by the Governor shall provide that the employment of engineers, architects, attorneys, contractors, consultants or other employees or agents should reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the state. If, upon negotiation, the Governor is unable to approve a project agreement, then the Governor shall repeat the process provided for in this chapter until such time as a project agreement is approved by the Governor.

(c) Officers and employees of the department, members of the Legislature, and members of their families, are excluded from submission of a proposal hereunder.

(d) There is hereby established the Gulf State Park Project Committee which shall consist of the Governor, who shall be an ex officio member and chairman of the committee, and seven other persons as follows: the Lieutenant Governor, or his or her designee; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or his or her designee; the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, or his or her designee; the State Finance Director, or his or her designee; the Alabama Secretary of Commerce, or his or her designee; the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, or his or her designee; and the Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on State Parks, or his or her designee. The committee provided for herein shall meet at the call of the chair, and five members present shall constitute a quorum. The committee, by a majority vote of a quorum, may approve or reject any project agreement negotiated and approved by the Governor. In the event the committee rejects a project agreement negotiated and approved by the Governor, then the Governor shall repeat the process provided for in this chapter until such time as a project may be approved by the committee.

(e) The Governor shall execute each project agreement made herein, in accordance with all applicable provisions of law and not inconsistent with any provision of this chapter, and the written approval of the Governor shall be set forth on each such project agreement.

(f) The term of any ground lease shall not exceed 70 years, including all extension and renewal periods. The Governor, no sooner than one year prior to the expiration date of any ground lease, or immediately upon termination of any ground lease prior to the expiration date of the ground lease, may enter negotiations with any person for execution of a subsequent ground lease. The provisions of any ground lease executed pursuant to this chapter shall be in accordance with all applicable provisions of law and not inconsistent with this chapter.

(g) If any project agreement is terminated prior to or upon the expiration thereof, the Governor may, from time to time, issue new requests for proposals as provided herein. Any proposal submitted in response to a request for proposal shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter and all other provisions of law, unless otherwise expressly provided for in this chapter. Any person, other than the state, who was a party to an executed project agreement or any part thereof, shall not be eligible to submit a proposal or become a party to an executed project agreement or any part thereof, subsequent to termination of any executed project agreement to which the person was a party.

(Act 2013-222, p. 523, §5.)