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2.16 2.16 FIRE AND RESCUENorth Queensbury Rescue-Set Public Hearing—1-7-2019 RESOLUTION SETTING PUBLIC HEARING ON EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN TOWN OF QUEENSBURY AND NORTH QUEENSBURY RESCUE SQUAD, INC. RESOLUTION NO.: 92019 INTRODUCED BY: WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: WHEREAS, in accordance with Town Law §184 and General Municipal Law §122-b, the Queensbury Town Board may contract with ambulance services certified or registered in accordance with Public Health Law Article 30 for general emergency ambulance services within the Town, and WHEREAS, the Town's Agreements with its three(3) Emergency/Rescue Squads, Bay Ridge Rescue Squad, Inc., North Queensbury Rescue Squad, Inc., and West Glens Falls Emergency Squad, Inc. expired as of December 31, 2018, and WHEREAS, in such Agreements the Town and Emergency/Rescue Squads agreed that the terms and provisions of the existing Agreements may continue during the interim period pending execution of new Agreements, and WHEREAS, the Town and North Queensbury Rescue Squad, Inc. have negotiated terms for a new one(1)year Agreement for general emergency ambulance services and accordingly, in accordance with Town Law §184 and General Municipal Law §209(b), the Town Board wishes to set a public hearing concerning such proposed Agreement, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Queensbury Town Board shall duly conduct a public hearing concerning a proposed new emergency ambulance services Agreement between the Town of Queensbury and North Queensbury Rescue Squad, Inc. on Monday, January 28ffi, 2019 at 7:00 p.m., and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby authorizes and directs the Queensbury Town Clerk to publish a Notice of Public Hearing in the Post-Star Newspaper once at least ten (10) days prior to the Public Hearing. Duly adopted this 7ffi day of January, 2019,by the following vote: AYES NOES ABSENT: FIRE&RESCUE North Qby Rescue—2019 AGREEMENT THIS AGREEMENT made as of the I" day of January, 2019 between the TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY, acting for and on behalf of the Town of Queensbury, a municipal corporation situated in the County of Warren and State of New York, (hereinafter referred to as the "TOWN") and the NORTH QUEENSBURY RESCUE SQUAD, INC.,a New York Not-for-Profit Corporation, located in the Town of Queensbury, Warren County, New York(hereinafter referred to as the "EMERGENCY SQUAD"). WITNESSETH, that: WHEREAS, Town Law§184 provides that a Town Board may contract with an ambulance service certified or registered in accordance with Public Health Law Article 30 for general emergency ambulance service within the Town, and WHEREAS,the Emergency Squad has an organized Emergency Squad and ambulance and equipment and has consented to provide volunteer emergency ambulance service in the Town of Queensbury for an annual consideration as hereinafter specified, and WHEREAS, the Town Board, after conducting a public hearing in accordance with New York State Town Law §184, duly adopted a Resolution authorizing this Agreement for emergency ambulance service upon the following terms and conditions: NOW, THEREFORE, for and consideration of the covenants and agreements herein contained, the Town does by this Agreement engage the Emergency Squad to furnish emergency ambulance service to the Town of Queensbury and the Emergency Squad agrees to furnish emergency ambulance service to the Town in the following manner: 1. Emer2ency Squad to Use Best Efforts to Perform Duties; Failure to Perform. The Emergency Squad covenants and agrees that it will use its best efforts at all times to provide general emergency ambulance service to the Town. This Agreement is not to be cancelled, revoked or terminated by either party within the term of this Agreement unless it is proven that one party or the other has been willfully negligent and neglectful with respect to any of the Agreement's terms or provisions. It is further agreed between the parties hereto that if the Emergency Squad shall fail to respond to any alarm and fulfill and perform its duties and obligations at any time during the duration of this Agreement for a period of 30 days and without a reasonable explanation, or at any time notifies the Town that it does not intend to perform its duties for any period of time, then the Town may allot and pay to one or more of the other emergency squads located in the Town for furnishing ambulance service to the Town, all or any part of the monies due or to become due under this Agreement for the period for which such service is to be rendered. In the event that monies have already been paid to the Emergency Squad for the period involved,then the Emergency Squad shall refund to the Town the full amount of the unearned money on a pro-rata basis per day of failure to provide service. It is specifically understood and agreed by the parties that the ambulance service to be provided by the Emergency Squad under the terms of this Agreement will relate to emergency conditions and situations only and that the Emergency Squad is not required hereby to provide ambulance services in non-emergency situations or circumstances. 2. Town Implementation of Bill for Service. The Town has implemented the bill for service program whereby a qualified company will provide third party billing service for reimbursement recovery of EMS costs from insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid. It is understood and agreed upon that all revenue produced by this billing system is the Town's and will be deposited into the Town of Queensbury Emergency (2) Medical Services Revenue Account No.: 005-0000-52005. All fees associated with the billing will be covered by the Town directly. All Squads and their members will adhere to proper billing procedures, charges and training as necessary. No member of the Squad or its paid staff and/or volunteers shall make statements that bills will be ignored and they shall fully support the bill for service program by following proper procedure to ensure that all patients will be billed properly for their services. Of course, the Squad may, in the appropriate circumstances, inform patients that if they are unable to pay due to limited income, they may contact the billing company for a hardship application 3. Paid Service. In addition to the amounts the Town will pay in accordance with the paragraph entitled, "Town's Responsibility to Pay,"the Town shall also pay the Emergency Squad for the costs of paid service as follows: A. The Emergency Squad will arrange for paid service with a payroll service. B. Such service shall begin as of January 1", 2019 and shall continue through December 3Is', 2019. C. The Town Board will fund such paid staffing up to $195,399 per year. Paid Staffing will be paid ahead in six (6) equal installments,paid every other month starting with the first audit in January. The Squad shall provide copies of the actual payrolls which shall include paid staff persou's name,pay rates, taxes and benefits for the Emergency Squad to be shown on a payroll distribution report by the 15t" of each month for the preceding month. If the supporting documentation is not received within 30 days after the prepaid period, future payments shall be withheld. D. The hourly pay rates for such paid staffing shall be: $15.00 hourly for staffers with Basic Life Support (BLS) training; $16.50 for staffers with Advanced EMT (A- (3) EMT) training; $19.00 hourly for staffers with Advanced Life Support (ALS) training. No paid time-off is allowed. 4. Non-Exclusivity. This Agreement shall not be deemed exclusive and the Emergency Squad may use its ambulance, equipment, and personnel for ambulance service to persons not covered by this Agreement, and also for the purpose of taking part in mutual aid responses, conventions, parades, meetings, and schools of instruction, both within and without the Town of Queensbury. Further, nothing contained herein shall prevent the Emergency Squad from contracting with other municipalities to provide ambulance service, and to enter into contracts or otherwise bill those municipalities for the services provided, so long as copies of any contracts proposed to be entered into by the Emergency Squad are delivered to the Queensbury Town Clerk and authorized by Resolution of the Queensbury Town Board. However, the Emergency Squad shall not bill Town residents for its services nor for emergency services provided within the Town of Queensbury, except as permitted by a Resolution of the Town Board. The Squads have the authority to enter into Intercept Agreements with neighboring emergency/rescue squads. The funds that are received will be forwarded to the Town as EMS revenue. 5. Emergency Squad Duties. The Emergency Squad shall: A. Be certified or registered by New York State in accordance with Public Health Law Article 30 for general emergency ambulance service within the Town. B. Be and remain duly incorporated and qualified under §501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. (4) C. At all times during the period of this Agreement, provide a New York State certified ambulance and on-call general emergency ambulance service to the Town of Queensbury. D. Be able to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) services at all times in accordance with the requirements of the Mountain Lakes Regional EMS Council (Mountain Lakes). If the Squad is not granted a full renewal of such ALS Operating Authority by Mountain Lakes, or otherwise shall not be able to provide ALS services at all times, this Agreement shall immediately terminate and will then be considered null and void. E. Obtain proper Emergency Squad authorization to enter into this Agreement and shall direct its duly authorized officer to sign this Agreement. F. Respond on call from Warren County 911, a police officer, peace officer, or doctor to the scene of any emergency within the Town of Queensbury. G. Respond to a call from a County Fire Coordinator or the Chief of any Volunteer Fire Company to the scene of a fire or other emergency in the Town of Queensbury. H. Cooperate with the other emergency squads to the extent that an ambulance and personnel should be available for all emergencies within the Town of Queensbwy. 1. Make non-emergency or other transports in accordance with the by-laws and operating procedures of the Emergency Squad. J. Use the monies received from the Town in accordance with this Agreement for only the following purposes and subject to the following conditions: (5) (i) The monies provided in accordance with this Agreement shall be used in accordance with the budget that has been submitted by the Emergency Squad, attached as Exhibit A and incorporated herein for all purposes. Allocations set forth on an operation budget line may be transferred to any other operation budget line, except that this shall not apply to budget lines or funds for vehicle funds, insurance and debt service, which budget lines and transfers into or out thereof shall be subject to Town Board approval. (ii) Any moneys paid to the Squad by the Town shall be maintained in their own interest bearing bank account and only charges allowable under this Agreement shall be paid through such bank account. No comingling of Squad and Town moneys and expenses shall be permitted. Any Squad monies received and expended shall be maintained in a separate bank account and such expenses kept separate from expenses made from Town funds. (iii) Notwithstanding anything provided in the budget, it is agreed that none of the Town funds shall be used for purposes of the payment of banquets or awards; fund raising activities; clothing not used for emergency purposes; compensation or reimbursement for the purchase of telephones by members; wear and tear on members' personal vehicles or personal equipment such as computers or telephones used in connection with Emergency Squad activities; except that these restrictions shall not prohibit reimbursing members for telephone calls, food and beverage, and other business expenses related to the Emergency Squad purposes. K. The Emergency Squad shall mail and/or personally deliver the documents identified below, in acceptable form,to the Town's Budget Officer each year of this Agreement or any extension thereof as follows: (6) (i) By March 31 St, a summary of Squad Members' Service Award Credits for the previous year. The Town, specifically including the Town's Budget Officer, shall be provided detailed records of such Service Award Credits upon request. By July 15th, an accounting of the previous year's insurance expense. By July 15"', an annual update of the Emergency Squad's five (5) year capital plan that forecasts future capital needs and expenditures, including anticipated vehicles, equipment, tools, other apparatus, facilities or improvements to facilities to be used for emergency services purposes. The budget should include all such costs for such expenses. (iv) On July 15t", a budget for each respective year of the proposed, subsequent Agreement. (v) Prior to the expiration of the previous insurance policies, insurance certificates and declaration pages as specified in Paragraph 12 of this Agreement. (vi) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, at any time that the Emergency Squad is in default of the documentation requirements of this Paragraph: a) The Town shall defer any payments due to the Emergency Squad under this Agreement; b) The Town shall not commence contract renewal negotiations with the Emergency Squad; (7) c) In the event that a payment is deferred because of non-compliance with reporting requirements, the Emergency Squad may appeal to the Town Board for a partial or full payment of amounts otherwise due by providing an explanation of extenuating circumstances. (vii) By September 15'', the Squad must furnish a list of all vehicles currently in the Squad's possession that have a license plate including the type (i.e., ambulance, first responder), make, model, license plate number, date purchased and the purchase price. (viii) By September 15t", the Squad must also provide any and all New York State Department of Health Inspection reports. L. All Emergency Squads will be subject to an annual audited financial report for the previous year in the format prescribed by the Town prepared on an accrual basis by a qualified Certified Public Accountant. Such report shall verify the Emergency Squad's qualification under 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code and shall include statements of all revenues regardless of source and all expenditures regardless of purpose, with specific schedules of expenditures of Town funds. Such report shall also include a detailed schedule of all transactions in the Vehicle Fund and any other Reserve Fund. A copy of the auditor's Management Letter shall also be provided. It is specifically understood that the requirement for the Emergency Squad to provide a complete financial report of all revenues and expenditures is to confoim with prudent financial disclosure and public accountability. It is not intended that money received from fundraising, grants, bequeaths and other non-Town sources will be applied to expenses for which the Town has agreed to pay within the approved budgets. (8) The Certified Public Accountant shall be selected and paid for by the Town on an annual basis. 6. Town's Responsibility to Pay. The Town agrees to: A. Pay to the Emergency Squad and the Emergency Squad agrees to accept the following amounts for furnishing emergency ambulance in accordance with the terms of this Agreement for 2019: $91,700 for Operations Expenses, $32,500 for Debt Service and$15,000 for Insurance. B. Pay the following sums: (1) 25%in January at the Town's first audit; (2) 25% upon delivery of all needed documents by the Squad to an independent accounting firm and after April 1 St; (3) 25% upon the Town's receipt of the annual audit with no findings or, in the case of findings, upon receipt of a corrective action plan addressing any findings made by the auditors and after July 15tn; (4) 25% by October 151h provided the audit has been completed and corrective action plan has been provided, in case of any findings. C. As EMS training classes are essential to the function of the Emergency Squad's mission, a reasonable reimbursement- for driving expenses (fuel) from each Emergency Squad's operational funds is permitted. Reimbursement for driving travel expenses for training outside a 15 mile radius from the Town of (9) Queensbury will be permitted. Squads should make every effort to coordinate travel to keep this reimbursement to a minimum (i.e., carpooling). D. The Emergency Squad shall establish a policy and rental rate for use of its facilities by outside agencies and individuals for training and private functions. Revenue derived from rental of the facilities shall be applied annually toward the Emergency Squad's expenses for building repair and maintenance. E. Any revenues derived from activities funded through the Emergency Squad's Agreement with the Town shall be applied towards operational expenses funded by Town contract monies. 7. Term. This Agreement shall be for a period of one (1) year beginning January 1, 2019 and continuing through December 31, 2019. The parties intend to open negotiations for a future agreement at least 90 days prior to expiration of this Agreement. 8. Restrictions on Purchase,Sale, or Disposition of EmerLency Squad Assets. A. The Emergency Squad agrees not to purchase or enter into any binding contract to incur debt of any amount or purchase any piece of apparatus, equipment, vehicles, real property, or make any improvements thereon with a value of$50,000 or more, without prior approval by Resolution of the Queensbury Town Board. As part of the approval process, the Emergency Squad will be expected to show financial responsibility and ability to maintain a responsible debt level within the approved budget. It is understood and agreed that such approval will not be interpreted as an agreement by the Town to assume responsibility or liability for payment or guarantee or assure payment for such apparatus, equipment, real property or improvement thereon, or debt. (10) B. The Emergency Squad agrees not to sell, give, or otherwise dispose of any vehicle, equipment, machine, or other apparatus acquired by or through the use of funds received from the Town by reason of this Agreement, or any prior agreement, without prior notification to the Town Board and except through or by way of, sale or conveyance to the highest bidder following an advertised auction or solicitation of bids or transfer to another emergency service funded by the Town of Queensbury. This provision, however, shall not prohibit vehicle/equipment trade-in or transfer to another Town of Queensbury Fire Company or Emergency Squad. In addition, the above notification provision shall not apply to the sale of equipment having a value of less than$5,000. C. In recognition that the payment made by the Town in accordance with this Agreement constitutes nearly the entire budget of the Emergency Squad and the long-standing support of the Emergency Squad by the Town, the Emergency Squad agrees: (1) that in the event of dissolution or cessation of operation of the Emergency Squad during the term of this Agreement, all assets of the Emergency Squad remaining after the payment of its debts shall be distributed to the Town to be used for purposes substantially similar to those of the Emergency Squad; and(2)that the Emergency Squad shall not sell, lease, convey, give or otherwise transfer any real property without prior Resolution of the Town Board approving the transfer. D. Emergency Squad agrees to utilize purchasing guidelines as set forth and contained herein as Exhibit B or guidelines as submitted by the Squad and agreeable to the Town's Budget Officer. 9. Unforeseen Events. The Town agrees that, in the case of an unforeseen,justifiable event which has the effect of substantially impairing or reducing the capability of the Emergency Squad to carry out its duties of ambulance service, the Town will entertain reasonable requests or applications for additional financial aid or assistance to the Emergency Squad to alleviate or eliminate the condition. It is (11) understood, however, that the Town, by agreeing to entertain any such applications or requests, does not hereby in any respect make any representation, commitment or guarantee that additional funds or aid will be provided to the Emergency Squad by the Town or that this is permitted under law. 10. Service Awards Program Records. The Emergency Squad is hereby required to keep, maintain and allow inspection by the Queensbuiy Town Supervisor, Town Board and Town Budget Officer, certain records relating to recordation and accumulation of points by Volunteer Emergency Squad Members participating in the Volunteer Ambulance Service Awards Program established previously by Local Law following approval of the voters at a referendum. The Emergency Squad shall keep all records that are required by such Local Law and the records shall be provided and certified to the Town Board at such times and in such form as may be prescribed by the Town Board of the Town of Queensbuiy not later than March 31" of each year, or not later than 30 days after a written request has been made. (Reference is hereby made to Chapter 16 of the Code of the Town of Queensbury). 11. Emergency Squad Insurance Requirements. The Emergency Squad shall provide all insurance coverage required in the performance of this Agreement and the Town shall be in no respect liable for any act or omission of the Emergency Squad, its members, employees, servants or agents. Appropriate liability insurance shall be obtained by and/or on behalf of the Emergency Squad as further set forth below. Such insurance shall be procured from an insurance company licensed to do business in New York State. The Emergency Squad shall provide the Town with a Certificate of Insurance demonstrating at least the following coverage: A. $1,000,000 combined single limit liability coverage, per occurrence, for Business Auto with a$2,000,000 Umbrella Policy; and (12) B. $1,000,000 Combined Single Limit Liability Coverage per occurrence for General Liability Coverage with a $3,000,000 General Aggregate and $3,000,000 Product and Completed Operation Aggregate. C. Building Casualty Coverage equal to replacement value. D. Vehicle Casualty and Collision Coverage equal to replacement value. E. Worker's Compensation Coverage as required by New York State Law. Umbrella Coverage may be used to satisfy the required limits. The Certificate of Insurance shall name the Town as additional insured and provide for thirty (30) days written notice to the Town of any cancellation. The above insurance may be obtained directly by the Emergency Squad or by the Town on behalf of the Emergency Squad, either separately or as part of an aggregate group policy obtained by the Town on behalf of all Town Fire Companies and Emergency Squads. Regardless of the manner in which the insurance for the Emergency Squad is obtained, the Town will ultimately be responsible for funding the premiums for such insurance, either by making payment directly to the insurance company on behalf of the Emergency Squad or by including in its payment to the Emergency Squad the amount of the premium paid by the Emergency Squad, whichever method is selected by the Town Budget Officer. In the event that insurance coverage is procured on behalf of the Emergency Squad by the Town, then such insurance shall provide for coverage amounts and limits not less than those currently in effect under the Emergency Squad's existing insurance policy. The Town shall be provided copies of the Emergency Squad's insurance policies at least annually or upon any changes to any policy. The Emergency Squad agrees to obtain quotes for (13) insurance coverages every three years and to provide the Town with copies of the quotes obtained. The Emergency Squad agrees to consider additional competitive quotes obtained by the Town on behalf of the Emergency Squad. 12. Fines. Any and all fines levied on an Emergency Squad by the New York State Department of Labor or other governmental agency using OSHA guidelines will be paid in full by the Emergency Squad. 13. Access. The Emergency Squad agrees that the Town Board, its employees, agents, servants and assigns shall, within ten (10) days of written request, have access to any and all Emergency Squad owned buildings and real property for purposes of inspecting and evaluating the buildings,property, vehicles, equipment,tools and other apparatus. The Emergency Squad agrees to furnish minutes of their Board of Directors and membership meetings to the Town on a monthly basis, by-laws on an annual basis, and furthermore agrees to allow inspection of documents such as invoices, contracts, etc., within ten (10) days of written request. 14. Town of Queensbury EMS Efficiencies Committee. The Squad agrees to participate in the Town of Queensbury EMS Efficiencies Management Committee (Committee) as described herein. The Committee shall consist of eight (8) members: In addition to the Town Supervisor and one other Town Board representative, each Squad shall designate one operational and one administrative officer to the Committee. Other Town and Squad officials will be welcome to attend as well. The Committee shall meet approximately every two (2) months, with such meetings to be arranged by the Town Supervisor's Office on a day and time (14) mutually convenient to all involved. The mission/intent of the Committee will be to discuss, among other things, cost-effective efficiencies while maintaining quality emergency medical services to Town residents. 15. Agreement Not Assignable. This Agreement and any and all duties, responsibilities, rights and benefits accruing under this Agreement may not be assigned or delegated without the written consent of the Town of Queensbury, which consent shall be entirely within the Town's discretion. The intent of this paragraph is not to prohibit temporary coverage by a neighboring Emergency Squad under unusual circumstances which may occur from time to time. 16. Other Documents. The parties agree to enter into, execute and deliver at all future times, any and all other documents and papers necessary to fully effectuate the terms of this Agreement. 17. Notices. All notices, requests, demands and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given if delivered in person or mailed certified mail return receipt requested,to the Town, Emergency Squad or their respective officers. 18. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed simultaneously in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but all of which constitute one and the same instrument. 19. Severability. (15) In the event any parts of this Agreement are found to be void by a court of law, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall nevertheless be binding with the same force and effect as though the void parts were deleted. 20. Modification by Writing Only; New York State Law; Venue; Captions. No waiver of or modification to any provisions of this Agreement shall be valid unless in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the parry against whom charged. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with New York State Law. Venue for any action concerning this Agreement shall be Warren County. Captions have been added for convenience only and are not to be determinative in the interpretation or construction of this Agreement. 21. Successor Agreement. In the event that this Agreement expires before the next Emergency Squad Agreement can be negotiated, the Town and Emergency Squad agree that the terms and provisions of this Agreement may, by agreement of the parties, remain in full force and effect during the interim period pending execution of a new agreement. During this interim period, the Town Supervisor may, if so directed by the Town Board, approve monthly vouchers limited to 1/12,h of the Emergency Squad's previous year's budget contingent upon submission by the Squad of a cash flow analysis including but not limited to bank statements for the immediately preceding year end. IN WITNESS WHEREOF,the parties hereto have signed and executed this Agreement as of the 1"day of January, 2019. TOWN OF QUEENSBURY NORTH QUEENSBURY RESCUE SQUAD, INC. BY: BY: JOHN F. STROUGH TOWN SUPERVISOR PRESIDENT (16) STATE OF NEW YORK) ss.. COUNTY OF WARREN) On this day of , in the year 2019 before me, the undersigned, a notary public in and for said state, personally appeared JOHN F. STROUGH,personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the individual whose name is subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he executed the same in his capacity, and that by his signature on the instrument, the individual or the person upon behalf of which the individual acted, executed the instrument. Notary Public STATE OF NEW YORK) ss.. COUNTY OF WARREN) On this day of in the year 2019 before me, the undersigned, a notary public in and for said state, personally appeared , personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the individual whose name is subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he executed the same in his capacity, and that by his signature on the instrument, the individual or the person upon behalf of which the individual acted, executed the instrument. Notary Public (17) EXHIBIT A NORTH QUEENSBURY RESCUE SQUAD, INC. 2019 EMERGENCY SQUAD BUDGET Operating Expenses 91,700. Insurance 15,000. Debt Service 32,500. Paid Staffing Cost 195,399. Total Contract 334,599 (18) r EXHIBIT B Town of Queensbury Fire and EMS Purchasing Guidelines This Purchasing Policy for the Volunteer Fire Companies and EMS Squads currently under contract with the Town of Queensbury is intended to assure economical use of public funds, facilitate the acquisition of goods and services of optimum quality at the lowest price and guard against favoritism, extravagance, fraud and corruption. Types of Purchases There are two basic types of purchase contracts: • Purchase Contracts — involve the acquisition of commodities, materials, supplies or equipment • Contracts for Public Work—generally involve services, labor or construction Many times a contract may involve both types. As a general rule, if a contract is predominantly for services and the acquisition of goods is incidental, then it will be considered a Contract for Public Work. Aggregate purchases over $2,500 for purchase contracts (those involving the acquisition of commodities, materials, supplies or equipment) or over $2,500 for public works contracts (those involving services, labor or construction) will require three (3) quotes. The contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder/quote (vendor submitting the lowest bid or price quote that meets all product specifications). All related parry (current officers, board members, members in general) contracts (purchase and public works) would require approval of the majority of each company's/squad's Board of Directors. All IRS guidelines will be followed for the issuance of 1099's for those vendors meeting IRS stipulations. (19)