Senate Bill No. 409
(By Senators Wooton, Bailey, Wagner, Chafin,
Ross, Helmick, Sharpe, Buckalew, Love and Oliverio)
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[Introduced February 15, 1996; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to establish the Coalfields Expressway authority;
functions; members; appointment; powers and duties;
officers; bylaws; rules and regulations; compensation;
authority as corporate body; support, maintenance and
operation; and severability.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
COALFIELDS EXPRESSWAY AUTHORITY.
§1. Parkway authority created; functions.
There is hereby created a Coalfields Expressway authority,
to promote and advance the construction of a modern highway
through McDowell, Raleigh and Wyoming counties and to coordinate
with counties, municipalities, state and federal agencies, public nonprofit corporations, private corporations, associations,
partnerships and individuals for the purpose of planning,
assisting and establishing recreational, tourism, industrial,
economic and community development of the coalfields expressway
for the benefit of West Virginians.
§2. Members; appointment; powers and duties generally; officers;
bylaws; rules and regulations; compensation.
(a) The authority consists of nine voting members and three
ex officio nonvoting members. All members shall be appointed
before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-six.
(b) Each of the county commissions of the counties of
McDowell, Raleigh and Wyoming shall appoint three voting members
to the commission. The terms of the voting members initially
appointed by a county commission are as follows: One member
shall be appointed for a term of one year and two members shall
be appointed for a term of two years. All successive
appointments shall be for a term of four years. Any voting
member may be removed for cause by the appointing county
commission.
(c) The three ex officio nonvoting members are the commissioner of highways or designee, the director of natural
resources or designee and the executive director of the West
Virginia development office or designee. All terms of ex officio
nonvoting members are for four years.
(d) Should a vacancy occur, the person appointed to fill the
vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired portion thereof. All
members are eligible for reappointment.
(e) There shall be an annual meeting of the authority on the
third Monday in July in each year and a monthly meeting on a day
and at a time as the authority may designate in its bylaws. A
special meeting may be called by the president, the secretary or
any two members of the authority and may be held only after all
members are given notice of the meeting in writing. Five voting
members constitute a quorum for all meetings. At each annual
meeting of the authority, it shall elect a president, vice
president, secretary and treasurer. The authority shall adopt
bylaws, rules and regulations as may be necessary for its
operation and management. The authority has all, but only, those
powers necessary, incidental, convenient and advisable for the
following purposes:
(1) The preparation of a plan or plans for the coalfields
expressway;
(2) The promotion of economic development and tourism along
the coalfields expressway;
(3) Advocating actions consistent with that plan or its
provisions to or before any governmental entity or any private
person or entity; and
(4) Otherwise acting in an advisory capacity with regard to
any aspects of the coalfields expressway at the request of or
without the request of any governmental entity or private person
or entity.
The authority may not own any of the real estate or real
property herein described for development and may not be
responsible for operating or maintaining the parkway.
Each voting member of the authority shall be compensated
monthly by the governing bodies which appointed the members in an
amount to be fixed by the governing body.
§3. Body corporate.
The authority hereby created shall be a public corporation
and as such it may contract and be contracted with, sue and be
sued, plead and be impleaded and may have and use a corporate seal.
§4. Support, maintenance and operation.
The county commissions of the counties of McDowell, Raleigh
and Wyoming may provide for the support, maintenance and
operation of the coalfields expressway authority and other
related activities under the jurisdiction of the authority hereby
created.
§5. Severability.
If any provision hereof is held invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect other provisions hereof which can be given
effect without the invalid provision, and to this end the
provisions of this act are declared to be severable.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the
Coalfields Expressway authority to promote and advance the
construction of a modern highway through the counties of
McDowell, Raleigh and Wyoming.)