(a) Any special infrastructure project acquired, constructed or financed, in whole or in part, by service fees imposed by a county commission under section twelve of this article shall be considered to be a "public improvement" within the meaning of the provisions of articles one-c and five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code.

(b) The county commission shall, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, solicit or require solicitation of competitive bids and require the payment of prevailing wage rates as provided in article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code and compliance with article one-c of said chapter for any special infrastructure project funded pursuant to section twelve of this article exceeding $25,000 in total cost.

(c) Following the solicitation of the bids, the construction contract shall be awarded to the lowest qualified responsible bidder, who shall furnish a sufficient performance and payment bond: Provided, That the county commission or other person soliciting the bids may reject all bids and solicit new bids on the project.

(d) No officer or employee of this state or of any public agency, public authority, public corporation or other public entity and no person acting or purporting to act on behalf of such officer or employee or public entity shall require that any performance bond, payment bond or bid bond required or permitted by this section be obtained from any particular surety company, agent, broker or producer.

(e) This section does not:

(1) Apply to work performed on construction projects not exceeding a total cost of $50,000 by regular full-time employees of the county commission: Provided, That no more than $50,000 shall be expended on an individual project in a single location in a twelve-month period;

(2) Prevent students enrolled in vocational educational schools from being used in construction or repair projects when such use is a part of the students' training program;

(3) Apply to emergency repairs to building components and systems: Provided, That the term "emergency repairs" means repairs that, if not made immediately, will seriously impair the use of the building components and systems or cause danger to those persons using the building components and systems; or

(4) Apply to any situation where the county commission comes to an agreement with volunteers, or a volunteer group, by which the county commission will provide construction or repair materials, architectural, engineering, technical or any other professional services and the volunteers will provide the necessary labor without charge to, or liability upon, the county commission: Provided, That the total cost of the construction or repair projects does not exceed $50,000.