ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 409
(By Senators Wooton, Bailey, Wagner, Chafin,
Ross, Helmick, Sharpe, Buckalew, Love and Oliverio)
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[Passed March 8, 1996; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to establish the coalfields expressway authority;
functions; members; appointment; powers and duties;
officers; bylaws; rules and regulations; compensation;
authority as corporate body; 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 promotion of economic development and tourism along
the coalfields expressway;
(2) Advocating actions consistent with that plan or its
provisions to or before any governmental entity or any private
person or entity; and
(3) 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. 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.