§ 120-l. Letting of contracts. 1. Whenever any work to be performed or materials to be furnished in or about any improvement to be made by two or more municipalities under the provisions of this act shall involve an expenditure of any sum of money exceeding five hundred dollars, the municipal bodies or boards of the contracting municipalities, by their official action taken in joint meeting as herein provided, shall designate a time when they will meet at their usual place of meeting to receive proposals, in writing, for doing the work or furnishing the materials, and such joint meeting shall order the chairman and secretary thereof to give notice, by advertisement inserted in one or more newspapers published or circulating in the municipalities jointly contracting, at least two weeks before the time of such meeting, of the work to be done or materials to be furnished, of which at the time of such order they shall cause to be filed in the office of such joint meeting particular specifications; all proposals received shall be publicly opened by such chairman in the presence and during a session of such joint meeting, and of all others who choose to attend the said meeting; not more than one proposal shall be received from any one person, directly or indirectly, for the same contract work or materials; and the said joint meeting may reject any and all of said proposals and direct its chairman and secretary to advertise for new proposals and accept such as shall in the opinion of a majority of the municipalities represented in said joint meeting be deemed most advantageous for the said municipalities, subject, however, to the reservations herein provided; the board may require a bond or deposit from the person submitting a proposal, the liability of such bond to accrue, or such deposit to be forfeited to the municipality, or municipalities, in case such person shall refuse to enter into a contract in accordance to his proposal. The proposal so accepted shall be reduced to a contract in writing, and a satisfactory bond to be approved by such joint meeting shall be required and given for its faithful performance, but all contracts when awarded shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder offering satisfactory security; this section shall not apply to any engineer or agent of the joint contracting municipalities engaged in supervising or directing the work of such improvements.

2. Whenever a security bond is posted by a successful bidder for the faithful performance of a municipal project under the provisions of this article, for which state aid is approved, the name and address of the bonding company or person issuing the security bond, the number of such bond, and such other information as may be required by the state department or agency responsible for supervising the aid program regarding the project, shall be transmitted to such department or agency, where it shall be reviewed to determine its authenticity prior to the award of such contract. The original of such bond shall remain in the office of the municipality. Upon request of such department or agency, the superintendent of financial services shall render such assistance as is necessary to determine the authenticity of the security bond.