N.Y. Public Authorities Law § 578: Powers of the authority

§ 578. Powers of the authority. The authority shall have power and is

hereby authorized:

1. To sue and be sued in courts of general jurisdiction, whether

federal, state, or foreign, including but not limited to the supreme

court of the state of New York;

2. To have a seal and alter the same as its pleasure;

3. To acquire real property or rights or easements therein by

condemnation, pursuant to the condemnation law, and to acquire,

purchase, hold, dispose of and use any real or personal property or any

interest therein necessary, convenient or desirable to carry out any

purpose described in this title and to sell, at public or private sale,

convey, transfer, assign and dispose of any property or interest therein

at any time required by it in the exercise of its powers or when it may

determine it no longer needs the same for its corporate purposes, upon

such terms and for such consideration, if any, as it shall deem fit;

4. To lease, as lessor or as lessee, any real or personal property or

any interest therein for any purposes consistent with any purposes

described in this title or with the appropriate use of the authority's

facilities or with the convenience of the public using such facilities,

upon such terms and for such consideration, if any, as it shall deem

fit, provided, however, that no lease shall be made for a term of more

than ten years, including all renewal options, without the prior express

and formal approval and consent of the supervisors;

5. To make by-laws for the management and regulation of its affairs,

and to establish and change a fiscal year for its operations and

financial reporting purposes;

6. To determine as matters of policy what courses of action are in the

best interests of any bridge complex or other authorized purpose and to

pursue the same;

7. To appoint and remove such officers, agents and employees as it may

require for the performance of its duties, and to fix and determine

their qualifications, duties, and compensation and to retain or employ

and discharge counsel, auditors, engineers, architects and private

consultants on a contract basis or otherwise for rendering professional

or technical services and advice. To establish a practicable merit

system for the appointment and promotion of its employees. Neither the

authority nor any of its officers, employees, or agents shall be subject

to the provisions of the civil service law nor be under the jurisdiction

or subject to the rules of any civil service commission;

8. To use the agents, employees, facilities and equipment of the

county or of any town or political subdivision within the county or of

any board, agency or department thereof, to the extent agreement

therefor may be reached with the appropriate governing body, and to pay

such county, town or political subdivision its agreed proportion of the

compensation or costs;

9. To make contracts and agreements and to execute all instruments

necessary or convenient;

10. To construct, maintain, repair and operate the following bridges

and approaches thereto and roads:

One or more bridges across the easterly or American channel of the

Saint Lawrence river at a point at or near Collins landing in the town

of Orleans, in Jefferson county, New York, from the mainland to

Wellesley or Wells island.

One or more bridges across the westerly or Canadian channel of the

Saint Lawrence river at a point at or near Ivy Lea in the county of

Leeds, in the province of Ontario, from the mainland to Hill island.

One or more bridges across the International rift from a point on such

Wellesley or Wells island to such Hill island.

One or more roads on such Wellesley or Wells island connecting any

bridge across the American channel with any bridge across the

International rift.

One or more roads on such Hill island connecting any bridge across the

Canadian channel with any bridge across the International rift.

The approach roads connecting any of such bridges and tunnels with the

state highway system in New York and with the nearest highway in the

province of Ontario.

Any road connecting any of its facilities with any other or with any

state, county or town road, or any public highway, or any road providing

access for vehicles or pedestrians from one part of its real property to

another;

11. To construct and maintain over, under, along or across the bridges

and roads hereby authorized, telephone, telegraph or electric wires and

cables, gas mains, water mains, and other mechanical equipment not

inconsistent with the appropriate use of the bridges and roads or such

other facilities. To contract for such construction and maintenance and

to lease the right to construct, maintain and/or use the same on such

terms and for such consideration as it shall determine, provided,

however, that no lease shall be made for a term of more than ten years,

including all renewal option, without the prior express and formal

approval and consent of the supervisors;

12. To construct and maintain such buildings, structures,

improvements, roads, parking and other facilities as may be necessary or

convenient, to contract for such construction and maintenance and to

lease the right to construct, maintain and/or use such facilities on

such terms and for such considerations as it shall determine, provided,

however, that no lease shall be made for a term of more than ten years,

including all renewal options, without the prior express and formal

approval and consent of the supervisors;

13. To fix, charge and collect tolls for traffic across its bridges,

subject to any approval thereof or limitations or regulatory

restrictions thereto as required, fixed, or imposed by federal law of

either the United States of America or Canada, which shall in the

opinion of the authority be adequate to provide complete operation and

maintenance of all its facilities and programs, repay any indebtedness

of the authority as scheduled and agreed, establish and fund reserves

for the repair, improvement or replacement of any or all of its

facilities or the construction of any new facility which it may be

authorized to construct under this title, or which shall accomplish as

many of the foregoing purposes as may be practicable, and at a level

which shall not jeopardize or be unreasonably competitive with any other

similar toll charging facilities within a radius of fifty miles of

Collins Landing, New York;

14. To construct, maintain, repair and operate within the county one

or more facilities for the performance or display of any medium of the

arts, including but not limited to concerts, plays, exhibitions, and any

activity which could reasonably contribute to the cultural improvement

of the communities in the area of its influence;

15. To construct, maintain, repair and operate within the county one

or more facilities for conventions, meetings, sporting events of all

kinds, museums, any activity which could reasonably contribute to the

attraction of tourists and recreational development and industrial and

commercial developments;

16. To cooperate with the Watertown airport commission, the city of

Watertown, the county and any other agency or agencies to assist in the

improvement, enlargement, development, operation and promotion of the

Watertown international airport as an essential transportation facility

for the county and the adjacent territory, and to agree with said city

and county for the acquisition by the authority of such airport and to

operate and manage such airport;

17. To cooperate with the county and the municipalities therein

bordering on the Saint Lawrence river and on Lake Ontario and to assist

in the study, development, operation and promotion of suitable port and

docking facilities on said river and lake within or bordering the county

and the improvement of water-borne transportation, and to construct,

operate and manage such port and docking facilities as it may determine

to be in the public interest;

18. To make studies and surveys of the needs of the county for the

development and improvement of its transportation facilities, whether by

land, air or water and to report the results thereof and its

recommendations to the supervisors;

19. To enter on any lands, waters and premises for the purpose of

making surveys, soundings and examinations;

20. To fix and collect any payments, fees and other charges for the

use of any facility under its control other than bridges;

21. To borrow money and issue its negotiable bonds and notes or other

obligations for any of its corporate purposes and to provide for and

secure the payment thereof and to provide for the rights of the holders

thereof, subject to any limitations or conditions imposed thereon as

elsewhere in this title provided;

22. To put into effect and maintain fiduciary bonds on its members and

on any employee or agent who handles or controls money or assets of the

authority which could be embezzled or stolen, in such amounts as the

authority may deem reasonable or as requested by the county;

23. To put into effect and maintain insurance coverage protecting the

authority and its individual members from liability for errors and

omissions or from any act other than a willful violation of law which

constitutes a crime;

24. To make payments to any domestic or foreign subdivision of

government in which any of its facilities are situated, whether in lieu

of taxes or otherwise, in such amounts and at such times as the

authority may in its sole discretion determine, provided, however, that

if the authority is at the time of reference operating both in the

county and in the province of Ontario it shall endeavor in good faith to

make any such payments to Canadian political subdivisions or

municipalities and those to the county or subdivisions or municipalities

of such county in proportion to its income generated in such different

jurisdictions, as nearly as practicable, after taking into account any

taxes which are required to be paid and any services or facilities which

are required to be or are supplied for less than full payment;

25. To engage in such advertising and promotion of the bridges, bridge

complex, and of the areas adjacent thereto and within a radius of fifty

miles thereof, and of such of its other authorized purposes, as it in

its sole discretion shall determine. Such promotion shall be deemed to

include but not be limited to the promotion of tourism in the county and

the southern portion of the province of Ontario, Canada, including the

Front of Leeds and Lansdowne;

26. To cooperate and participate in or to initiate any public

promotions, parades, special events, area promotions, historical

pageants, and the like held within fifty miles of Collins Landing, New

York;

27. To invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any

moneys not required for immediate use or disbursement, at the discretion

of the authority in (a) obligations of the state or the United States

government, or any political subdivision, agency and instrumentality of

either; (b) obligations of the province of Ontario or of the federal

government of Canada, or any political subdivision or agency and

instrumentality of either, (c) obligations the principal and interest of

which are guaranteed by the state or the United States government, or by

the province of Ontario or the federal government of Canada, (d)

certificates of deposit of banks or trust companies in this state or in

the province of Ontario secured, if the authority shall so require, by

obligations described in (a), (b), or (c) above or other marketable

securities eligible as security for the deposit of trust funds under

regulations of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System with

a market value equal at all times to the amount on deposit;

28. To combine any two or more of its purposes or facilities into a

single project for financing purposes;

29. To use revenues, income or funds from any source to create,

construct, reconstruct, support, operate, repair and maintain any one or

more of its other purposes or facilities;

30. To make rules and regulations governing the use by the public of

the bridges, the bridge complex, and any facility owned or operated by

it;

31. To establish a code of ethics and rules regarding conflict of

interest for the members of its board and its employees and agents;

32. To accept public or private gifts or grants of funds or property;

33. To engage in any activity permitted by law which in its judgment

would be convenient for the public using any of its facilities;

34. To enter into agreements with the government of the Dominion of

Canada or the province of Ontario, or any political subdivision of

either, for the construction and operation in Canada of any of the

bridges and facilities authorized hereunder and for the application of

revenues collected by the authority for the use of the bridges and

facilities operated by it in Canada;

35. To do in the province of Ontario anything it is authorized or

permitted to do in the state of New York and which is permitted by the

laws of such foreign jurisdiction;

36. To exercise any of its powers alone or in conjunction with any

political subdivision;

37. To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers

enumerated above and to effectuate their general intent and purpose. The

foregoing specification of powers shall not be construed as in any way

limiting or denying the usual implied powers, it being the intent that

the authority shall have full power to manage its affairs generally with

the same freedom from the restrictions which apply to municipalities as

do boards of directors of privately owned corporations.

38. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, the authority shall not

initially enter into any general activity category authorized in

subdivisions fourteen through seventeen of this section, including but

not limited to the construction or operation of any performing arts

center, cultural improvement project, convention hall, sports arena,

museum, industrial or commercial development project, airport, port,

marina or docking facility, until and unless it has been formally

requested to do so by the supervisors by resolution duly adopted.