H. B. 3254
(By Delegates Long, Porter, Frederick, Moore,
Burdiss and Browning)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17-16A-6 and 17-16A-13 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to requiring the
West Virginia Parkways Economic Development and Tourism
Authority to present any proposed toll revision to the Joint
Committee on Government and Finance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17-16A-6 and 17-16A-13 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16A. WEST VIRGINIA PARKWAYS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
TOURISM AUTHORITY.
§17-16A-6. Parkways Authority's powers.
(a) The Parkways Authority is hereby authorized and empowered:
(1) To adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the
conduct of its business;
(2) To adopt an official seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(3) To maintain an office at such place or places within the
state as it may designate;
(4) To sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be
impleaded. Any and all actions against the Parkways Authority
shall be brought only in the county in which the principal office
of the Parkways Authority shall be located;
(5) To construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, repair and
operate projects at such locations within the state as may be
determined by the Parkways Authority:
Provided, That the Parkways
Authority shall be prohibited from constructing motels or any other
type of lodging facility within five miles of the West Virginia
Turnpike;
(6) To issue parkway revenue bonds of the State of West
Virginia, payable solely from revenues, for the purpose of paying
all or any part of the cost of any one or more projects, which
costs may include, with respect to the West Virginia Turnpike, such
funds as are necessary to repay to the State of West Virginia all
or any part of the state funds used to upgrade the West Virginia
Turnpike to federal interstate standards:
Provided, That upon the
effective date of the amendments to this section enacted during the
regular session of the Legislature in two thousand six, the
authorization to issue bonds pursuant to this subsection is limited
to that of refunding bonds pursuant to subdivision
seven (7) of
this subsection;
(7) To issue parkway revenue refunding bonds of the State of
West Virginia, payable solely from revenues, for any one or more of
the following purposes: (i) Refunding any bonds which shall have
been issued under the provisions of this article or any predecessor
thereof; and (ii) repaying to the state all or any part of the
state funds used to upgrade the West Virginia Turnpike to federal
interstate standards;
(8) To fix and revise, from time to time, tolls for transit
over each parkway project constructed by it or by the West Virginia
Turnpike Commission
Provided, That the authority must present any
proposed toll revision with evidence in the form of documentation
supporting the need therefor to the Joint Committee on Government
and Finance: Provided, however, That a revision may not be made or
become effective until twelve months after the presentation to the
Joint Committee on Government and Finance;
(9) To fix and revise, from time to time, rents, fees or other
charges, of whatever kind or character, for the use of each tourism
project or economic development project constructed by it or for
the use of any building, structure or facility constructed by it in
connection with a parkway project;
(10) To acquire, hold, lease and dispose of real and personal
property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its
duties under this article:
Provided, That the authority may not
finance any transaction to acquire, hold or lease real property;
(11) To acquire in the name of the state by purchase or
otherwise, on such terms and conditions and in such manner as it
may deem proper, or by the exercise of the right of condemnation in
the manner hereinafter provided, such public or private lands,
including public parks, playgrounds or reservations, or parts
thereof or rights therein, rights-of-way, property, rights,
easements and interests, as it may deem necessary for carrying out
the provisions of this article:
Provided, That the authority may
not finance any transaction to acquire real property. No
compensation shall be paid for public lands, playgrounds, parks,
parkways or reservations so taken, and all public property damaged
in carrying out the powers granted by this article shall be
restored or repaired and placed in its original condition as nearly
as practicable;
(12) To designate the locations, and establish, limit and
control such points of ingress to and egress from each project as
may be necessary or desirable in the judgment of the Parkways
Authority to ensure the proper operation and maintenance of such
project, and to prohibit entrance to such project from any point or
points not so designated;
(13) To make and enter into all contracts and agreements
necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the
execution of its powers under this article, and to employ
consulting engineers, attorneys, accountants, architects, construction and financial experts, trustees, superintendents,
managers and such other employees and agents as may be necessary in
its judgment, and to fix their compensation. All such expenses
shall be payable solely from the proceeds of parkway revenue bonds
or parkway revenue refunding bonds issued under the provisions of
this article, tolls or from revenues;
(14) To make and enter into all contracts, agreements or other
arrangements with any agency, department, division, board, bureau,
commission, authority or other governmental unit of the state to
operate, maintain or repair any project;
(15) To receive and accept from any federal agency grants for
or in aid of the construction of any project, and to receive and
accept aid or contributions from any source of either money,
property, labor or other things of value, to be held, used and
applied only for the purposes for which such grants and
contributions may be made;
(16) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient to
carry out the powers expressly granted in this article; and
(17) To file the necessary petition or petitions pursuant to
Title 11, United States Code, Sec. 401 (being section 81 of the Act
of Congress entitled "An act to establish a uniform system of
bankruptcy throughout the United States", approved July 1, 1898, as
amended) and to prosecute to completion all proceedings permitted
by Title 11, United States Code, Secs. 401-403 (being sections 81 to 83, inclusive, of said Act of Congress). The State of West
Virginia hereby consents to the application of said Title 11,
United States Code, Secs. 401-403, to the Parkways Authority.
(b) Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit the
issuance of parkway revenue refunding bonds in a common plan of
financing with the issuance of parkway revenue bonds:
Provided,
That upon the effective date of the amendments to this section
enacted during the regular session of the Legislature in two
thousand six, the authorization to issue bonds pursuant to this
subsection is limited to that of refunding bonds pursuant to
sections twenty-one and twenty-two of this article.
§17-16A-13. Tolls, rents, fees, charges and revenues; competitive
bidding on contracts.
(a) (1) The Parkways Authority is hereby authorized to fix,
revise, charge and collect tolls for the use of each parkway
project and the different parts or sections thereof
subject to
presenting the proposed revision to the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance as provided in section six of this article
and to fix, revise, charge and collect rents, fees, charges and
other revenues, of whatever kind or character, for the use of each
economic development project or tourism project, or any part or
section thereof, and to contract with any person, partnership,
association or corporation desiring the use of any part thereof,
including the right-of-way adjoining the paved portion, for placing thereon telephone, telegraph, electric light, power or other
utility lines, gas stations, garages, stores, hotels, restaurants
and advertising signs, or for any other purpose except for tracks
for railroad or railway use, and to fix the terms, conditions,
rents and rates of charges for such use. Such tolls, rents, fees
and charges shall be so fixed and adjusted in respect of the
aggregate of tolls, or in respect of the aggregate rents, fees and
charges, from the project or projects in connection with which the
bonds of any issue shall have been issued as to provide a fund
sufficient with other revenues, if any, to pay: (A) The cost of
maintaining, repairing and operating such project or projects; and
(B) the principal of and the interest on such bonds as the same
shall become due and payable and to create reserves for such
purposes:
Such tolls, rents, fees and other charges shall not be
subject to supervision or regulation by any other commission,
board, bureau, department or agency of the state. The tolls, rents,
fees, charges and all other revenues derived from the project or
projects in connection with which the bonds of any issue shall have
been issued, except such part thereof as may be necessary to pay
the cost of maintenance, repair and operation and to provide such
reserves therefor as may be provided in the resolution authorizing
the issuance of such bonds or in the trust agreement securing the
same, shall be set aside at regular intervals as may be provided in
the resolution or the trust agreement in a sinking fund which is hereby pledged to, and charged with, the payment of: (i) The
interest upon the bonds as such interest shall fall due; (ii) the
principal of the bonds as the same shall fall due; (iii) the
necessary charges of paying agents for paying principal and
interest; and (iv) the redemption price or the purchase price of
bonds retired by call or purchase as therein provided. The use and
disposition of moneys to the credit of such sinking fund shall be
subject to the provisions of the resolution authorizing the
issuance of the bonds or of the trust agreement. Except as may
otherwise be provided in the resolution or the trust agreement,
such sinking fund shall be a fund for all bonds without distinction
or priority of one over another. The moneys in the sinking fund,
less such reserve as may be provided in the resolution or trust
agreement, if not used within a reasonable time for the purchase of
bonds for cancellation as above provided, shall be applied to the
redemption of bonds at the redemption price then applicable.
(2) (A) In fiscal year one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
after the Parkways Authority has met or provided for the
satisfaction of each requirement imposed by the provisions of
subdivision (1) of this subsection, the Parkways Authority shall
pay two hundred fifty thousand dollars to the Hatfield-McCoy
Regional Recreation Authority from any remaining balance of
revenues received from economic development projects and tourism
projects.
(B) Upon the effective date of this act, the Parkways
Authority shall seek authorization from the federal highway
administration, the State Department of Transportation and the
trustee under any trust indenture or agreement existing as the
result of the issuance of any revenue bonds under the provisions of
this article to issue additional revenue bonds in a total amount
not to exceed six million dollars for the purpose of funding
projects of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority. Upon
the agreement of all of such entities that the Parkways Authority
be authorized to do so, as certified to the Parkways Authority, the
Governor and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, the
parkways authority is authorized to issue additional revenue bonds
in a total amount not to exceed six million dollars. The proceeds
of the revenue bonds shall be used to fund projects of the
Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority. Each issuance of
such revenue bonds and the application of the proceeds thereof
shall be subject to each condition, restriction or other provision
of this article applicable to the issuance of parkway revenue
bonds. In the event the agreement is not certified as required by
this subsection, and until the same is certified, the Parkways
Authority shall pay two hundred fifty thousand dollars to the
Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority in the fiscal year
ending the thirtieth day of June, two thousand, and in each fiscal
year thereafter, for a total of nine consecutive years, for the purpose of funding projects of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional
Recreation Authority. These amounts shall be paid in quarterly
installments from remaining balances in each fiscal year of
revenues received from economic development projects and tourism
projects as determined in the manner provided in paragraph (A) of
this subdivision.
(b) The Parkways Authority shall cause, as soon as it is
legally able to do so, all contracts to which it is a party and
which relate to the operation, maintenance or use of any
restaurant, motel or other lodging facility, truck and automobile
service facility, food vending facility or any other service
facility located along the West Virginia Turnpike, to be renewed on
a competitive bid basis. All contracts relating to any facility or
services entered into by the Parkways Authority with a private
party with respect to any project constructed after the effective
date of this legislation shall be let on a competitive bid basis
only. If the Parkways Authority receives a proposal for the
development of a project, such proposal shall be made available to
the public in a convenient location in the county wherein the
proposed facility may be located. The Parkways Authority shall
publish a notice of the proposal by a Class I legal advertisement
in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
fifty-nine of this code. The publication area shall be the county
in which the proposed facility would be located. Any citizen may communicate by writing to the Parkways Authority his or her
opposition to or approval to such proposal within a period of time
not less than forty-five days from the publication of the notice.
No contract for the development of a project may be entered into by
the Parkways Authority until a public hearing is held in the
vicinity of the location of the proposed project with at least
twenty days' notice of such hearing by a Class I publication
pursuant to section two of said article. The Parkways Authority
shall make written findings of fact prior to rendering a decision
on any proposed project. All studies, records, documents and other
materials which are considered by the Parkways Authority in making
such findings shall be made available for public inspection at the
time of the publication of the notice of public hearing and at a
convenient location in the county where the proposed project may be
located. The Parkways Authority shall promulgate rules in
accordance with chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the conduct
of any hearing required by this section. Persons attending any
such hearing shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to speak
and be heard on the proposed project.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the West
Virginia Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority to
present any proposed toll revision to the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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