(a) As used in this section, “governmental entity” means any county, municipality, metropolitan government, town, utility district, or other municipal or public corporation of this state.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or private act to the contrary, a governmental entity may enter into multi-year contracts for painting and other maintenance of water storage tanks and appurtenant facilities procured through a request for proposals process. The request for proposals process shall invite prospective proposers to participate and shall indicate the service requirements and the categories used for evaluating the proposals, together with the relative weight of each category. Such categories shall include such factors as qualifications, experience on similar projects, availability of workers, technical approach, minority participation, cost, and any additional factor or factors deemed relevant by the procuring governmental entity. Cost shall not be the sole criterion for evaluation. Proposers shall be given at least thirty (30) days from public advertisement of the request for proposals to consider the evaluation factors set forth in the solicitation documents before submitting proposals. The contract shall be awarded to the best proposer who meets the minimum required qualifications, using the evaluation criteria set forth in this subsection (b).

(c) Any governmental entity may, at its option, require such multi-year contracts to be competitively bid.