§ 9-1-104. POWERS GENERALLY.

(a)

(1)

The authority is created for the purpose of constructing, improving, equipping, furnishing, maintaining, acquiring, and operating the following projects to be devoted wholly or partially for public uses: Public buildings for the use of the county and a district court facility for the state; airports and landing fields; county institutions of every kind and character (heretofore or hereafter constructed); incinerators, bridges, toll bridges and tunnels; parks, swimming pools, arenas, stadia, and recreational facilities of all kinds; dams, impounding basins, and flood control projects; parking facilities of every type and description, including areas, structures, and buildings for office, retail, and other uses in conjunction with such parking facilities; highways, parkways, traffic distribution centers, and facilities necessary or incident thereto; and public transportation facilities and systems of every kind and description.

(2)

Before approving the location or any plans for construction of a district court facility, the authority shall receive approval of the County Executive.

(b)

The authority is hereby granted and shall have and may exercise all powers necessary or convenient for the carrying out of the aforesaid purposes, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the following rights and powers:

(1)

To have perpetual existence as a corporation;

(2)

To sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, complain and defend in all courts;

(3)

To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal;

(4)

(i)

To acquire, purchase, hold and use any property, real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of the authority, and (without limitation of the foregoing). To lease as lessee any property, real, personal or mixed, or any interest therein, for a term not exceeding ninety-nine (99) years at a nominal rental or such annual rental as may be determined;

(ii)

To lease as lessor to the state or the county or to any political subdivision thereof or to any person any project at any time constructed by the authority, whether wholly or partially completed, and any property, real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein, at any time acquired by the authority, whether wholly or partially completed; and

(iii)

To sell, transfer, and convey to the state or to the county or to any political subdivision thereof or to any person any project or any part thereof at any time constructed by the authority, whether wholly or partially completed, and any property, real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein, at any time acquired by the authority if:

1.

The conveyance, sale, or transfer first is offered to the county for its acceptance or rejection;

2.

The disposition has been advertised once a week for three (3) successive weeks in one (1) or more newspapers of general circulation published in the county, stating the terms and the compensation to be received; and

3.

In the case of real property, notice is posted before any conveyance, sale, or transfer in a conspicuous location on the property site for:

A.

At least thirty (30) days; and

B.

Throughout the period that the newspaper advertisement runs.

(5)

To acquire by purchase, lease, or otherwise and to construct, improve, equip, furnish, maintain, repair, and operate projects;

(6)

To appoint officers, attorneys, accountants, agents, employees, and servants; to prescribe their duties and fix their compensation;

(7)

To make bylaws for the management and regulation of its affairs;

(8)

To fix, charge, and collect tolls, rates, rentals, and other charges for the use of the facilities of or for the services rendered by the authority or projects thereof, at reasonable rates, to be determined by it, for the purpose of providing for the payment of the expenses of the authority, the construction, improvement, repair, equipping, furnishing, maintenance, and operation of its facilities and projects, the payment of the principal of and interest on its bonds and obligations, and to fulfill the terms and provisions of any agreements made with the purchasers or holders of any such bonds and obligations;

(9)

To borrow money and issue negotiable revenue bonds, mortgages, certificates, or other evidence of indebtedness or obligations and to secure the payment of them or any part of them by pledge, mortgage, or indenture of trust of all or any part of its property, projects, revenues, rentals, receipts, and funds available from any source whatsoever, all as may be provided in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds (or other evidence of indebtedness), which resolution shall be taken as a part of the contract with the holders of the bonds, and to make agreements with the purchasers or holders of its bonds or with others in connection with any of its bonds, whether issued or to be issued, as the authority shall deem advisable, and in general to provide for the security for the bonds and the rights of the holders thereof;

(10)

To make contracts of every name and nature, and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient for the carrying on of its business;

(11)

Without limitation of the foregoing, to borrow money and accept grants of cash or property from and to enter into contracts, leases, or other transactions with the county, the state, a political subdivision, or any federal agency;

(12)

To acquire in its own name by condemnation in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the existing laws of this state applicable to the condemnation of property for public use, real property, or rights or easements therein or franchises and licenses convenient for its corporate purposes; provided, however, that the authority shall be under no obligation to accept and pay for any property condemned under the provisions of this article except from the funds provided under the authority of this article. In any proceeding to condemn property under the terms of this article, the court having jurisdiction may enter such orders as may be just to the authority and to the owner of the property to be condemned;

(13)

To pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber all or any of the revenues or receipts of the authority as security for all or any of the obligations of the authority;

(14)

To do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers granted to it by this article or any other acts;

(15)

To enter into agreements with the State Roads Commission or any other public body providing for the construction or reconstruction of highways and bridges by the authority if such agreements are necessary, and to enter into any and all agreements which may be necessary for the acquisition or construction of toll bridges by the authority, under such terms and conditions as may be desirable;

(16)

To acquire, by assignment from the state or the county, contracts which are not completed and which involve constructing, improving, equipping, furnishing, maintaining, and operating the structures, facilities, or undertakings similar to those designated herein as projects;

(17)

To convey to the county all of its rights, title, and interest in and to any project or projects if the revenue bonds or revenue refunding bonds issued pursuant to the terms of this article for the purpose of providing the funds for the cost of such project or projects shall have been paid and retired.

(c)

Except as otherwise provided by law, when projects are to be constructed or improved by the authority for the use of the county or any department thereof, no plans or specifications therefor shall be presented for quotations or bids until such plans and specifications shall have been submitted to and approved by the Department of Public Works of the county.

(d)

It is specifically declared that the powers of the authority shall not extend to either the Board of Education or the public school system of the county and that such Board and system are entirely exempt from this article.

(Laws of Md. (1959) ch. 516; Laws of Md. (1969) ch. 643; Laws of Md. (1970) ch. 56; Laws of Md. (1970) ch. 509; Laws of Md. (1971) ch. 136; Laws of Md. (1978) ch. 652; Laws of Md. (1982) ch. 579; Laws of Md. (1988) ch. 347; Laws of Md. (1989) ch. 588) (1988 Code, § 30-4) (Bill No. 48-02, § 1, 7-1-2004)