§33-15-6. Powers, duties and functions generally.

The general powers, duties and functions of the authority shall be as follows:

(1) GENERAL. The authority:

a. Shall have perpetual succession in its corporate name;

b. May bring civil actions and have civil actions brought against it in its corporate name;

c. May adopt, use, and alter a corporate seal, which shall be judicially noticed;

d. May enter into such contracts and cooperative agreements with federal, state and local governments, with agencies of such governments and with private individuals, corporations, associations and other organizations, including the Bear Creek Watershed Association, Inc., whether organized under the laws of Alabama or of another state, as the board may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to carry out the purposes of this article, which authorization shall include without limitation contracts and cooperative arrangements with any of the several states and with counties and municipalities in and agencies of such states;

e. May adopt, amend and repeal bylaws;

f. May appoint managers, officers, employees, attorneys and agents as the board deems necessary for the transaction of its business, fix their compensation, define their duties, and require bonds of such of them as the board may determine; the salaries of any such employees to be paid out of such funds as may be available to the authority from any source;

g. May institute legal proceedings in any court of competent jurisdiction and proper venue; provided, that no civil action may be brought against the authority nor may the authority be subjected to a counterclaim or cross-claim in any court other than the courts of Franklin County, Alabama; and provided further, that no civil action may be brought against the officers, directors, agents or employees of the authority nor may they or any of them be subjected to a counterclaim or cross-claim for actions in behalf of the authority in any court other than the courts of Franklin County, Alabama; and provided further, that no claim or cause of action, based wholly or in part upon allegations which call into question the validity of the authority, shall be heard or adjudicated in any court other than the courts of Franklin County, Alabama; and

h. May appoint park rangers to enforce rules and regulations including those of Section 33-15-7(c) in regard to property owned or under the jurisdiction of the Bear Creek Development Authority; to grant this authority to any conservation enforcement officer; and to give said rangers and officers the power and authority of deputy sheriffs to arrest without warrant and carry before the district court of the county which has jurisdiction over the Bear Creek Development Authority any person violating any of the laws of this state or the rules and regulations prescribed by the Bear Creek Development Authority while on the property of such authority.

(2) FORMULATION AND EXECUTION OF DEVELOPMENT PLANS. The authority is authorized to:

a. Investigate the resources of the Bear Creek Watershed and determine the requirements for its full development and for control and development of its stream system as an integral part of the economy of the area;

b. Develop and carry out a unified, comprehensive program of resource development designed to encourage and assist the economic growth of the area, which program shall not be inconsistent with official programs for statewide economic development;

c. Provide for the construction of water control structures, channel improvements and other facilities for navigation, drainage, irrigation, water conservation and supply, industrial development, recreation and related purposes, as a part of comprehensive plans;

d. Arrange with the state and with any city, county, municipality or supplier of utilities for the abandonment, relocation or other adjustments of roads, highways, bridges and utility lines; and

e. In making investigations and in formulating and executing development plans, seek and utilize the assistance of appropriate federal, state and local agencies and of private citizens and citizen organizations and, in aid of such activities, accept loans, grants or other assistance from federal, state and local governments or from agencies of such governments, and make contracts and execute instruments containing such terms, provisions and conditions as the board in its discretion deems to be necessary, proper or advisable for the purpose of obtaining such loans, grants or other assistance.

(3) LAND ACQUISITION. The authority may acquire by purchase, construction, lease, gift, condemnation or otherwise property of any kind, real, personal or mixed, or any interest therein, that the board deems necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers or functions; provided, that acquisition by condemnation shall be limited to lands, rights in land, including leaseholds and easements, and water rights in the Bear Creek Watershed that the board determines to be necessary to the control and optimum development of Bear Creek and its tributaries, including such lands adjacent to or in the immediate vicinity of water control reservoirs as the board determines to be necessary to assure full development and optimum use of such reservoirs for the purposes of navigation, water conservation and supply, flood control, irrigation, industrial development, public recreation and related purposes. The amount and character of the interests in land, rights in land and water rights to be acquired in such area shall be determined by the board of directors, and its determination shall be conclusive. The authority's power of eminent domain may be exercised under Title 18 and any amendments thereto or pursuant to any other general statutory provisions hereafter enacted for the exercise of the power of eminent domain. The authority is expressly authorized to acquire by condemnation or otherwise and hold for resale or lease to private or other industrial organizations land or interests in land in the Alabama portion of the Bear Creek Watershed that it determines to be suitable for industrial uses, and such acquisition is hereby declared to be for the public purpose of the state's industrial development and for the increase of industrial employment opportunities.

(4) MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION. The authority may:

a. Enter into contracts with the United States, with the several states and with individuals, private corporations, associations, municipalities and other public agencies or political subdivisions of any kind, for the sale of water for municipal, domestic, agricultural or industrial use, or for the sale of any other services, facilities or commodities that the authority may be in a position to supply;

b. Acquire and develop reservoirs and shoreline lands and provide for their operation for industrial, recreational and other uses directly or by concessionaires, licensees, lessees or venders of shoreline lands;

c. Sell or lease shoreline lands, or any interest therein, in connection with development of the stream system, for uses consistent with the authority's development plan and subject to such restrictions as the authority deems necessary for reservoir protection and subject to such requirements as to character of improvements and activities and the time within which such improvements or activities shall be undertaken as the authority deems appropriate to its overall development plan;

d. Acquire or operate shoreline lands of reservoirs owned by the United States of America as the agent of the federal agency having custody and control thereof under appropriate agreements with such agencies;

e. Acquire, construct or operate such other facilities or works of improvement as are necessary to effectuate plans for the comprehensive development of the area;

f. Make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations governing the use of any facilities and other property owned, controlled or operated by the authority;

g. Provide for such insurance as the board may deem advisable; and

h. Fix and revise from time to time reasonable rates, fees and other charges for the sale of water for municipal, domestic, agricultural or industrial use, or for the sale of any other services, facilities or commodities that the authority may be in a position to supply.

(5) FINANCING. The authority may:

a. Sell and issue its bonds from time to time in order to provide funds for any corporate function, use or purpose, all such bonds to be payable solely out of the revenues derived from the facilities and other property of the authority or out of the revenues of any particular facilities and other property of the authority; and

b. Secure such bonds by a pledge of all or any of the revenues which may now or hereafter come to the authority from any source, by a mortgage or deed of trust covering the authority's land or any part thereof, or under the provisions of a trust indenture, or by a combination of one or more thereof; provided, that all obligations created or assumed and all bonds issued by the authority shall be solely and exclusively obligations of the authority and shall not create an obligation or debt of the state or of any county or municipality.

(Acts 1965, No. 584, p. 1080, §6; Acts 1981, No. 81-767, p. 1316, §1.)