ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

H. B. 2742


(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Douglas,

Mezzatesta, Michael, Doyle, Varner and Martin)

(Originating in the Committee on Political Subdivisions)

[February 18, 1999]


A BILL to authorize a roundhouse authority in Berkeley County; to be created as public corporation; acquisition of property; membership and management; general powers; promulgation of rules to regulate traffic and penalties; right of eminent domain; tax exemptions; indebtedness; disposition of surplus; contributions, participation; and dissolution of authority.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
BERKELEY COUNTY ROUNDHOUSE AUTHORITY.
§1. Regional roundhouse authority authorized.
The county commission of interested counties and municipalities within the region are hereby authorized to create and establish an authority for the purpose of acquiring, establishing, constructing, equipping, improving, financing, maintaining and operating the historic Baltimore and Ohio Railroad roundhouse property located in the city of Martinsburg, for various uses: Provided, That no municipality or county may participate in the authority unless and until its governing body so provides.
§2. Authority to be public corporations.
The authority when created and established, and the members thereof, shall constitute a public corporation and as such, shall have perpetual succession, may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, and have and use a common seal.
§3. Authority empowered and authorized to acquire, operate, etc., roundhouse property.
The authority is hereby empowered and authorized to acquire, establish, construct, equip, improve, finance, maintain and operate for purposes it considers appropriate, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad roundhouse located in the city of Martinsburg with appurtenant facilities and any other property necessary for the purposes of the authority.
§4. Management of authority vested in members; appointment and terms of members; vote of members, valuation of property contributed to an authority.
The management and control of the authority, its property, operations, business and affairs shall be lodged in a board of not less than five nor more than twenty-one individuals who shall be known as members of the authority and who shall be appointed for terms of three years. Each participating county and municipality may initially appoint three members. Thereafter, the authority may vary representation on the authority depending on the number of municipalities and counties that choose to participate and to contribute moneys or property to the authority, except that the county shall retain the right to appointment of a majority of members of the board. All members shall serve at the will and pleasure of the appointing body.
When property is contributed, the contributing municipality or county and the authority shall agree in writing at the time the contribution is made as to the fair market value of such property.
§5. Substitution of members.
If any member of an authority die, or resign, or be removed or for any other reason cease to be a member of the authority, the municipality or the county commission which the member represented shall appoint another individual to fill the unexpired portion of the term of the member.
§6. Qualification of members.
All members of the board of the authority shall be residents of the municipality or county which said members represent.
§7. Compensation of members.
No member of the board of the authority shall receive any compensation, whether in form of salary, per diem allowance or otherwise, for or in connection with his or her services as a member. Each member shall, however, be entitled to reimbursement by the authority for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred with the performance of his or her duties as a member.
§8. Powers of authority generally.
The authority is hereby given plenary power and authority as follows:
(1) To make and adopt all necessary bylaws and rules for its organization and operations not inconsistent with law;
(2) To elect its own officers, to appoint committees and to employ and fix the compensation for personnel necessary for its operation;
(3) To enter into contracts with any person, including both public and private corporations, or governmental department or agency, and generally to do any and all things necessary or convenient for the purpose of acquiring, establishing, constructing, equipping, improving, financing, maintaining and operating the roundhouse property with appurtenant facilities and other property necessary for the purposes of the authority;
(4) To delegate any authority given to it by law to any of its officers, committees, agents or employees;
(5) To apply for, receive and use grants-in-aid, donations and contributions from any source or sources, including, but not limited to, the federal government and any department or agency thereof, and this state subject to any constitutional and statutory limitations with respect thereto, and to accept and use bequests, devises, gifts and donations from any person;
(6) To acquire lands and hold title thereto in its own name;
(7) To purchase, own, hold, sell and dispose of personal property and to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of any real property which it may own;
(8) To borrow money and execute and deliver negotiable notes, mortgage bonds, other bonds, debentures and other evidences of indebtedness therefor, and give security therefor as shall be requisite, including giving a mortgage or deed of trust on its properties and facilities or assigning or pledging the gross or net revenues therefrom;
(9) To raise funds by the issuance and sale of revenue bonds in the manner provided by the applicable provisions of sections nine through seventeen, article sixteen of chapter eight of the
West Virginia code, it being hereby expressly provided that for the purpose of the issuance and sale of revenue bonds, the authority is a "governing body" as that term is used in said article only;
(10) To establish, charge and collect reasonable fees and charges for services or for the use of any part of its property or facilities, or for both services and use;
(11) To expend its funds in the execution for the powers and authority herein given;
(12) To apply for, receive and use loans, grants, donations, technical assistance and contributions and from participating municipalities and counties; and
(13) To prescribe by bylaw the manner of financial participation by participating municipalities and counties.
§9. Rules and regulations to control vehicular and pedestrian traffic; violation of rule and regulations a misdemeanor; penalty.
The county commission of Berkeley County is hereby empowered and authorized, upon request of the authority, to adopt and promulgate rules to: (1) Control the movement and disposition of vehicular and pedestrian traffic within the property of the authority; (2) regulate and control vehicular parking within the property by the installation of parking meters or by other methods; and (3) impose reasonable charges for the use of the parking space so metered or otherwise allocated, so as to provide maximum opportunity for the public use thereof.
Violation of any rule shall constitute a misdemeanor and the offender, upon conviction in the manner provided by law, may be fined not less than two dollars nor more than ten dollars for each violation. Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts and with statutory courts of record having criminal jurisdiction for the trial of offenses under this section.
§10. Indebtedness of authority.
The authority may incur any proper indebtedness and issue any obligations and give any security therefor which it may consider necessary and advisable in connection with carrying out its purposes.
No indebtedness or obligation incurred by the authority shall give any right against any member of the governing body of any participating county or municipality, or the county commission or any member of the board of the authority. No indebtedness of any nature of an authority shall constitute an indebtedness of any participating municipality or county or the governing body of any participating municipality or the county commission or be a charge against any property of any participating municipality or county. The rights of creditors of an 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 moneys or property for its purposes, enter into any agreement with any person, including the federal government, or any department, agency or subdivision thereof, containing such provisions, covenants, terms and conditions as the authority may consider advisable.
§12. Authority to have right of eminent domain.
Whenever it shall be considered necessary by the authority, in connection with the exercise of its powers herein conferred, to take or acquire any lands, structures or buildings or other rights, either in fee or as easements, for the purposes herein set forth, the authority may purchase the same directly or through its agents from the owner or owners thereof, or failing to agree with the owner or owners thereof, the authority may exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner provided for condemnation proceedings in chapter fifty-four of the West Virginia code, and such purposes are hereby declared to be public uses for which private property may be taken or damaged.
§13. Property, bonds and obligations of authorities exempt from taxation.
The authority shall be exempt from the payment of any taxes or fees to the state or any subdivisions thereof or any municipality or to any officer or employee of the state or of any subdivision thereof or of any municipality.
The property of the authority shall be exempt from all municipal and county taxes. Bonds, notes, debentures and other evidences of indebtedness of the authority are declared to be issued for a public purpose and to be public instrumentalities, and, together with interest thereon, shall be exempt from taxation.
§14. Authority may lease facilities.
The authority may lease all or part of the property and all or any part of the appurtenances and facilities therewith to any available lessee, subject to all constitutional and statutory limitations with respect thereto, at such rental and upon such terms and conditions as the authority shall consider proper.
§15. Disposition of surplus of authority.
If the authority should realize a surplus, whether from operating the property or leasing it for operation, over and above the amount required for the equipping, improvement maintenance and operation of the property and for meeting all required payments on its obligations, it shall set aside such reserve for future equipping, improvements, maintenance, operations and contingencies as it shall consider proper and shall then apply the residue of the surplus, if any, to the payment of any recognized and established obligations not then due, and after all such recognized and established obligations have been paid off and discharged in full, the authority shall, at the end of each fiscal year, set aside the reserve for future equipping improvements, maintenance, operations and contingencies, as aforesaid, and then pay the residue of such surplus, if any, to the participating counties and municipalities in direct proportion to their contribution for moneys and property.
§16. Contributions to authority; funds and accounts of authorities.
Contributions of moneys may be made to the authority from time to time by the participating municipalities and counties and persons that shall desire to do so. All such moneys and all other moneys received by an authority shall be deposited in a banking institution or banking institutions as the authority may direct and shall be withdrawn therefrom in a manner as the authority may direct. The authority shall keep strict account of all of its receipts and expenditures and shall make an annual report thereon to the participating municipalities and counties contributing moneys or property, and the report shall contain an itemized account of its receipts and disbursements for the preceding fiscal year, and publish the same as a Class II-O legal advertisement in compliance with the provision of article three, chapter fifty-nine of the code of West Virginia, in a newspaper of general circulation within Berkeley County. The books, records and accounts of the authority shall be subject to audit and examination by the office of the state tax commissioner and by any other proper public official or body in the manner provided by law.
The participating counties and municipalities are hereby authorized to convey to the authority any and all real and personal property to which they hold title and which property will enhance the authority's ability to own, manage and operate the aforesaid B&O Railroad roundhouse property with appurtenant facilities and other property necessary to the purposes of the authority.
§17. Dissolution of authority; disposition of assets after payment of debts.
In the event full and adequate provision is made for the payment of all of the debts of the authority, the participating municipalities or counties or any combination thereof which have contributed at least sixty percent of the total value of all moneys and property (the value of which property is determined as specified in section four of this article) contributed to the authority by the participating municipalities and counties may by resolution provide for the dissolution for the authority and for: (1) The conveyance of the real and tangible personal property contributed to it to the participating municipalities and counties which contributed the same; (2) equitable distribution among the contributing municipalities and counties of any real and tangible personal property purchased or condemned by the authority or of the proceeds of sale thereof, or the fair value thereof; and (3) the equitable distribution of all moneys on hand to the participating municipalities and counties in direct proportion to the contribution of moneys by them.
§18. Employees to be covered by workers' compensation.
All eligible employees of the authority shall be considered to be within the workers' compensation statute of this state and premiums on their compensation shall be paid by the authority as required by law.
§19. Liberal construction of article.
The purposes of this article are to provide for the acquisition, establishment, construction, equipping, improvements, financing, maintenance and operation of the roundhouse property in a prudent and economical manner, and this article shall be liberally construed as giving to any authority created and established hereunder full and complete power reasonably required to give effect to the purposes hereof. The provisions of this article are in addition to and not in derogation of any power granted to or vested in municipalities and county commissions under any constitutional, statutory or charter provisions which may now or hereafter be in effect.