SB542 Summary

• Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to develop projects at Gulf State Park (approximately 6,150 acres in Baldwin County) including lodging, conference facilities, restaurants, recreation facilities, and related infrastructure on a 29-acre project site.

• Requires the commissioner, in consultation with the Governor and Joint Legislative Committee on State Parks, to issue requests for proposals to qualified persons and publicly open all proposals for evaluation.

• Permits the commissioner to reject all proposals and negotiate project agreements on terms no less favorable than the most favorable proposal submitted, with written approval required from the Governor and committee chair.

• Project agreements must include provisions for insurance, maintenance, annual revenue payments to the department, state expense reimbursement, indemnification, and prohibit user assignment or encumbrance without department consent; ground leases may not exceed 99 years.

• Exempts project agreements from specified state laws regarding competitive bidding (except for public-funded contracts), Article 2 of Chapter 14, Chapter 14B, Article 3 of Chapter 15, Section 9-2-44, and Article 6 of Chapter 9 of Title 41 of the Code of Alabama 1975; repeals Chapter 14D of Title 9.