ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 527
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, Chafin,
Wagner and Jackson)
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[Passed March 10, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to establish the corridor G regional development authority;
provide for its functions; definitions; purposes; management
and control of authority vested in board; appointment and
terms of members; vacancies and removals; qualifications of
members; powers generally; compensation of members; expenses;
authority to be a public corporation; findings respecting
necessity for exercise of right of eminent domain; incurring
indebtedness; rights of creditors; agreements in connection
with obtaining funds; property, bonds and obligations of
authority exempt from taxation; participation and
appropriations authorized; transfers and conveyances of property; contributions by member counties, local entity and
others; funds and accounts; reports; audit and examination of
books, records and accounts; sale or lease of property;
reversion of assets upon dissolution; liberal construction;
and severability of provisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
CORRIDOR G REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.
§1. Corridor G regional development authority created; functions.
There is hereby created the Corridor G regional development
authority.
§2. Definitions.
For purposes of this article the following terms shall have
the following meanings:
(1) "Authority" shall mean the Corridor G regional development
authority;
(2) "Member counties" shall mean the counties of Boone,
Lincoln, Logan and Mingo;
(3) "Local entity" shall mean any county, municipality, board
of education, political subdivision or other governmental agency or
body;
(4) "Corridor G" shall mean that part of United States route
119 which passes through the West Virginia counties of Boone,
Lincoln, Logan and Mingo.
§3. Purposes.
The purposes for which the authority is created are to
promote, develop and advance the business prosperity and economic
welfare of the member counties, including, but not limited to,the
area adjacent to Corridor G, their citizens and their industrial
complex; to encourage and assist through loans, investments or
other business transactions in the locating of new business and
industry within the member counties and to rehabilitate and assist
existing businesses and industries therein; to stimulate and
promote the expansion of all kinds of business and industrial
activity which will tend to advance business and industrial
development and maintain the economic stability of the member
counties, provide maximum opportunities for employment, encourage
thrift and improve the standard of living of the citizens of the
member counties; to cooperate and act in conjunction with other
organizations, federal, state or local, in the promotion and
advancement of industrial, commercial, agricultural and recreational developments within the member counties; and to
furnish money and credit, land and industrial sites, technical
assistance and such other aid as may be deemed requisite to
approved and deserving applicants for the promotion, development
and conduct of all kinds of business activity within the member
counties.
§4. Management and control of county authority vested in board;
appointment and terms of members; vacancies; removal of
members.
(a) The management and control of the authority, its property,
operations, business and affairs shall be lodged in a board of
sixteen voting members and five nonvoting ex officio members to be
appointed as follows: Each of the county commissions of the
counties of Boone, Lincoln, Logan and Mingo shall appoint four
voting members to the authority, one of whom shall be a member of
the county commission; the member of the county commission shall
serve at the will and pleasure of the county commission; the
initial terms of the other voting members appointed by a county
commission are as follows: One member shall be appointed for a
term of one year; one member shall be appointed for a term of two years; and one member shall be appointed for a term of three years;
all successive appointments shall be for a term of three years. A
member may be reappointed for such additional term or terms as the
appointing agency may deem proper. If a member resigns, is removed
or for any other reason his or her membership terminates during his
or her term of office, a successor shall be appointed by the
appointing county to fill out the remainder of the term. Members
in office at the expiration of their respective terms shall
continue to serve until their successors have been appointed and
have qualified.
(b) The directors of the county development authorities of
each of the member counties and the president of Southern West
Virginia community college, or his or her designee, shall be ex
officio nonvoting members.
(c) Should a vacancy occur, the person appointed to fill the
vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired portion thereof.
(d) Any voting member appointed to the authority by a county
commission may be removed by the appointing county commission for
such causes and reasons as a member of such county commission may
be removed from office.
(e) All initial members shall be appointed on or before the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.
§5. Qualifications of members.
All members of the board of the authority shall be citizens of
the county in which the authority is intended to operate, and bona
fide residents of the county by which they are appointed.
§6. Authority to be a public corporation.
The authority and the members thereof shall constitute and be
a public corporation under the name provided for in section one of
this article, and as such shall have perpetual succession, may
contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, plead and be
pleaded and have and use a common seal.
§7. Powers generally.
The authority is hereby given power and authority as follows:
(1) To make and adopt all necessary bylaws, rules for its
organization and operations not inconsistent with laws; (2) to
elect its own officers, to appoint committees and to employ and fix
compensation for personnel necessary for its operation; (3) to
enter into contracts with any person, agency, governmental
department, firm or corporation, including both public and private corporations, and generally to do any and all things necessary or
convenient for the purpose of promoting, developing and advancing
the business prosperity and economic welfare of the member
counties, their citizens and industrial complex, including, without
limiting any of the foregoing, the construction of any building or
structure for lease to the federal government or any of its
agencies or departments, and in connection therewith to prepare and
submit bids and negotiate with the federal government or such
agencies or departments in accordance with plans and specifications
and in the manner and on the terms and conditions and subject to
any requirements, regulations, rules and laws of the United States
of America for the construction of said buildings or structures and
the leasing thereof to the federal government or such agencies or
departments; (4) to amend or supplement any contracts or leases or
to enter into new, additional or further contracts or leases upon
such terms and conditions, for such consideration and for such term
of duration, with or without option of renewal, as may be agreed
upon by the authority and such person, agency, governmental
department, firm or corporation; (5) unless otherwise provided for
in, and subject to the provisions of, such contracts, or leases, to operate, repair, manage and maintain such buildings and structures
and provide adequate insurance of all types, and in connection with
the primary use thereof and incidental thereto to provide such
services or other authorizations to any person or persons, upon
such terms and conditions, for such consideration and for such term
of duration as may be agreed upon by the authority and such person,
agency, governmental department, firm or corporation; (6) to
delegate any authority given to it by law to any of its officers,
committees, agents or employees; (7) to apply for, receive and use
grants-in-aid, donations and contributions from any source or
sources, and to accept and use bequests, devises, gifts and
donations from any person, firm or corporation; (8) to acquire
lands and other real property by gift, purchase or construction or
in any other lawful manner, and hold title thereto in its own name;
(9) to purchase or otherwise acquire, own, hold, sell and dispose
of personal property and real estate, and to own, hold, sell, lease
or otherwise dispose of all or part of such personal property and
any real property which it may own; (10) pursuant to a
determination by the board that there exists a continuing need for
programs to alleviate and prevent unemployment within any or all of the member counties in which the authority is intended to operate
or aid in the rehabilitation of areas in said county or counties
which are underdeveloped, decaying or otherwise economically
depressed, and that moneys or funds of the authority are necessary
therefor, to borrow money and execute and deliver the authority's
negotiable notes, mortgage bonds, other bonds, debentures and other
evidences of indebtedness therefor, on such terms as the authority
shall determine, and give such security therefor as shall be
requisite, including giving a mortgage or deed of trust on its real
or personal property and facilities in connection with the issuance
of mortgage bonds; (11) to raise funds by the issuance and sale of
revenue bonds in the manner provided by the applicable provisions
of article sixteen, chapter eight of the code, it being hereby
expressly provided that a development authority created under this
bill is a "governing body" within the definition of that term as
used in article sixteen, chapter eight of this code; and (12) to
expend its funds in the execution of the powers and authority
herein given, which expenditures, by the means authorized herein,
are hereby determined and declared as a matter of legislative
finding to be for a public purpose and use, in the public interest, and for the general welfare of the people of West Virginia, to
alleviate and prevent economic deterioration and to relieve the
existing critical condition of unemployment existing within the
state.
§8. Compensation of members; expenses; excusal of member from
voting where conflict of interest involved.
(a) No member of the authority shall receive any compensation,
whether in formal salary, per diem allowance or otherwise, in
connection with his or her services as such member. Each member
shall, however, be entitled to reimbursement by the authority for
any necessary expenditures in connection with the performance of
his or her general duties as such member, but only insofar as the
authority shall authorize.
(b) Each member present during any meeting of the authority
when any question is put shall vote unless he or she is immediately
and particularly interested therein. Before such a question is
put, any member having direct personal or pecuniary interest
therein shall announce this fact and request to be excused from
voting. The presiding officer of the meeting or a majority of the
members present may then excuse the member from voting upon the question. The disqualifying interest must be such as affects the
members directly, and not as one of a class.
§9. Findings respecting necessity for exercise of right of eminent
domain; authorization to exercise right of eminent domain.
(a) It is hereby found and determined by the Legislature that
in fulfilling its prescribed purposes and exercising its powers,
including the purpose of promoting, developing and advancing the
business prosperity and economic welfare of the member counties for
which created by acquiring lands and other real property to be
furnished by lease, sale or other disposition as industrial sites,
the authority is performing essential public purposes; that the
performance of such essential public purposes are frequently
impeded, unduly delayed, or wholly frustrated by the refusal of the
owner or owners of property to convey title thereto, by
imperfections in the title to essential land and other real
properties, by lost heirs or widely scattered owners of undivided
interests in essential lands and other real properties and by
owners of relatively small but essential parcels of a proposed land
development site who refuse to sell their land or other real
property to the county; and, that the exercise by the authority of the right of eminent domain within the limitations herein provided
is therefore necessary and appropriate to achieve the said public
purposes of the authority.
(b) The authority is hereby authorized and empowered to
exercise the right of eminent domain if an order of the county
commission in which the property to be acquired by eminent domain
authorizes exercise of the right of eminent domain as to any
proposed acquisition: Provided, That prior to the issuance of the
order by the county commission, it shall hold a public hearing on
the public necessity of the exercise of eminent domain and shall
cause a Class II legal advertisement to be published in accordance
with the provisions of section two, article three, chapter fifty-
nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, prior to the hearing: Provided, however,
That a separate hearing must be held and a separate order
promulgated for each parcel over which the authority wishes to
exercise the power of eminent domain.
§10. Incurring indebtedness; rights of creditors.
The authority may incur any proper indebtedness and issue any
obligations and give any security therefor which it may deem necessary or advisable in connection with carrying out its purposes
as hereinbefore mentioned. No statutory limitation with respect to
the nature, or amount, interest rate or duration of indebtedness
which may be incurred by municipalities or other public bodies
shall apply to indebtedness of the authority. No indebtedness of
any nature of the authority shall constitute an indebtedness of the
governing body of the member counties, or a charge against any
property of said county commissions or other appointing agencies.
The rights of creditors of the authority shall be solely against
the authority as a corporate body and shall be satisfied only out
of property held by it in its corporate capacity.
§11. Agreements in connection with obtaining funds.
The authority may, in connection with obtaining funds for its
purposes, enter into any agreement with any person, firm or
corporation, including the federal government; or any agency or
subdivision thereof, containing such provisions, covenants, terms
and conditions as the authority may deem advisable.
§12. Property, bonds and obligations of authority exempt from
taxation.
The authority shall be exempt from the payment of any taxes or fees to the state or any subdivision thereof or to any officer or
employee of the state or other subdivision thereof. The property
of the authority shall be exempt from all local and municipal
taxes. Bonds, notes, debentures and other evidence of indebtedness
of the authority are declared to be issued for a public purpose and
to be public instrumentalities and shall be exempt from taxes.
§13. Participation and appropriations authorized; transfers and
conveyances of property.
The member counties, or any one or more of them, jointly and
severally, are hereby authorized and empowered to contribute by
appropriation from their respective general funds not otherwise
appropriated to the cost of the operation and projects of the
authority.
The member counties and any local entity are hereby authorized
and empowered to transfer and convey to the authority property of
any kind acquired by said county or local entity for or adaptable
to use in industrial, economic and recreational development, such
transfers or conveyances to be without consideration or for such
price and upon such terms and conditions as the said county or
local entity deems proper.
§14. Contributions by member counties, local entity and others;
funds and accounts; reports; audit and examination of books,
records and accounts.
Contributions may be made to the authority from time to time
by the member counties or local entities, and by any persons, firms
or corporations which shall desire to do so. All such funds and
all other funds received by the authority shall be deposited in
such bank or banks as the authority may direct and shall be
withdrawn therefrom in such manner as the authority may direct.
The authority shall keep strict account of all its receipts and
expenditures and within sixty days after the end of each fiscal
year, the authority shall make an annual report containing an
itemized statement of its receipts and disbursements for the
preceding year, and such annual report shall be delivered to the
county commission of each member county and shall be published as
a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of
section two, article three, chapter fifty-nine of the code of West
Virginia, and the publication area for such publication shall be
the member counties. The books, records and accounts of the
authority shall be subject to audit and examination by the office of the state tax commissioner of West Virginia and by any other
proper public official or body in the manner provided by law.
§15. Sale or lease of property; reversion of assets upon
dissolution.
In the event the board of the authority shall so determine,
the authority may lease or sell all of its property and equipment
on such terms and conditions as the authority may fix and
determine. Upon the dissolution of the authority, all of its
assets and property shall revert to and become the property of the
member counties, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the
board.
§16. Liberal construction.
It is the purpose of this bill to provide for promotion,
development and advancement of the business prosperity and economic
welfare of the member counties, their citizens and their industrial
complex, and this bill shall be liberally construed as giving to
the authority full and complete power reasonably required to give
effect to the purposes hereof.
§17. Provisions severable.
The several sections and provisions of this bill are severable, and if any section or provisions hereof shall be held
unconstitutional, all the remaining sections and provisions of this
bill shall nevertheless remain valid.