Bill Text: MI SB0711 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: State financing and management; authorities; port authority act; revise. Amends secs. 2, 8 & 9 of 1978 PA 639 (MCL 120.102 et seq.).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-12 - Referred To Committee On Commerce And Trade [SB0711 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-SB0711-Engrossed.html

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SB-0711, As Passed Senate, June 12, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUBSTITUTE FOR

 

SENATE BILL NO. 711

 

 

 

 

(as amended May 30, 2018)

 

 

 

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1978 PA 639, entitled

 

"Hertel-Law-T. Stopczynski port authority act,"

 

by amending sections 2, 8, 9, and 12 (MCL 120.102, 120.108,

 

120.109, and 120.112)<< and by adding section 16A>>.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 2. As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Authority" means a port authority created under this act

 

and may also include the area within the jurisdiction of an

 

authority.

 

     (b) "Constituent unit" means a city or county requesting the

 

incorporation of an authority.

 

     (c) "Governing body of the city" means the city council or

 

city commission of a city requesting incorporation of an authority

 

created under this act.

 

     (d) "Governing body of the county" means the county board of

 

commissioners of a county participating in an authority created

 

under this act.

 

     (e) "Port facilities" means, those except as otherwise

 

provided in subparagraph (ii), 1 of the following:

 

     (i) Those facilities owned by the port authority such as: that

 

include, but are not limited to: seawall jetties; piers; wharves;

 

docks; boat landings; marinas; warehouses; storehouses; elevators;

 

grain bins; cold storage plants; terminal icing plants; bunkers;

 

oil tanks; ferries; canals; locks; bridges; tunnels; seaways;

 

conveyors; modern appliances for the economical handling, storage,

 

and transportation of freight and handling of passenger traffic;

 

transfer and terminal facilities required for the efficient

 

operation and development of ports and harbors; other harbor

 

improvements; or improvements, enlargements, remodeling, or

 

extensions of any of these buildings or structures.

 

     (ii) For authorities created before the effective date of the

 

amendatory act that added this subparagraph, those facilities

 

described in subparagraph (i), whether or not they are owned by the

 

port authority and include other real or personal property

 

necessary to enhance commercial or recreational maritime

 

activities. Port facilities shall not include a bridge or a tunnel,

 

directly or indirectly.

 

     (f) "Project" means the acquisition, purchase, construction,

 

reconstruction, rehabilitation, remodeling, improvement,

 

enlargement, repair, condemnation, maintenance, or operation of

 

port facilities. For authorities created before the effective date

of the amendatory act that added this sentence, project includes

 

public infrastructure, and other real and personal property

 

necessary to achieve the purpose of this act. Project shall not

 

include a bridge or a tunnel, directly or indirectly.

 

     Sec. 8. (1) An authority may:

 

     (a) Adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws for the regulation of its

 

affairs and the conduct of its business.

 

     (b) Sue and be sued on the same basis as the state; and adopt

 

and register with the secretary of state an official seal and alter

 

that seal at its pleasure.

 

     (c) Maintain offices at a place or places, either within or

 

without its jurisdiction as it may determine.

 

     (d) Acquire, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, improve,

 

maintain, lease as lessor or as lessee, repair, or operate port

 

facilities within its territorial jurisdiction, including, but not

 

limited to, the dredging of ship channels and turning basins and

 

the filling and grading of land therefor. An authority may operate

 

a leased facility, owned by the authority, if the lessee defaults

 

and a new lease is negotiated or competitively bid.

 

     (e) Designate the location and character of the port

 

facilities which the authority may hold or own or over which it is

 

authorized to act and regulate all matters related to the location

 

and character of those port facilities.

 

     (f) Acquire, hold, and dispose of real and personal property.

 

     (g) Make directly, or through the hiring of expert

 

consultants, investigations and surveys of whatever nature,

 

including studies of business conditions, freight rates, port

services, physical surveys of the conditions of channels and

 

structures, and the necessity for additional port facilities for

 

the development and improvement of commerce and recreation and for

 

the more expeditious handling of that commerce and recreation, and

 

make studies, surveys, and estimates, as necessary for the

 

execution of its powers under this act.

 

     (h) Promulgate all necessary rules to fulfill the purposes of

 

this act.

 

     (i) Issue its bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness

 

as provided in this act.

 

     (j) Fix and revise from time to time and charge and collect

 

rates, fees, rentals, or other charges for the use of a facility

 

owned by the authority.

 

     (k) For authorities created before the effective date of the

 

amendatory act that added this subdivision, enter into public-

 

private partnerships with other owners or property or port

 

facilities within the jurisdiction of the authority.

 

     (2) Nothing in this act shall limit the property rights of any

 

person that owns property or port facilities within the

 

jurisdiction of the authority.

 

     (3) The powers granted under this act are in addition to those

 

powers granted by charter or other statute.

 

     Sec. 9. An authority may:

 

     (a) Appear in its own behalf before boards, commissions,

 

departments, or other agencies of the federal government or of any

 

state or international conferences and before committees of the

 

congress of the United States and the state legislature in all

matters relating to the design, establishment, construction,

 

extension, operation, improvement, repair, or maintenance of a

 

project operated, and maintained, financed, or supported by the

 

authority under this act, and appear before any federal or state

 

agencies in matters relating to transportation rates, port services

 

and charges, demurrage, switching, wharfage, towage, pilotage,

 

differentials, discriminations, labor relations, trade practices,

 

river and harbor improvements, aids to navigation, permits for

 

structures in navigable waters, and all other matters affecting the

 

physical development of, and the business interest of, the

 

authority and those it serves.

 

     (b) Make application for, receive and accept from any federal,

 

state, or municipal agency, foundation, public or private agency,

 

or individual, a grant or loan for, or in aid of, the planning,

 

construction, operation, or financing of a port facility; project;

 

and receive and accept contributions from any source of money,

 

property, labor, or other things of value, to be held, used, and

 

applied for the purposes for which the grant or contribution may be

 

made.

 

     (c) Appoint an executive director who shall be the chief

 

administrative executive officer of the authority, and to whom the

 

authority may delegate any of its administrative powers and

 

authorizations. During employment the executive director shall not

 

have a financial interest in port facilities or projects over which

 

the authority has jurisdiction or power or authorization to act.

 

     (d) Employ personnel as is necessary and employ the services

 

of private consultants and engineers, legal counsel, accountants,

construction and financial experts, and other agents for rendering

 

professional and technical assistance and advice as may be

 

necessary, and whose compensation, including the executive

 

director, shall be is determined by the authority.

 

     Sec. 12. (1) An authority may acquire by purchase or lease,

 

when it considers the purchase or lease expedient, lands,

 

structures, property, rights, rights of way, franchises, easements,

 

and other interests in lands as it considers necessary or

 

convenient for the construction or operation of a project, upon

 

terms and at a price as considered reasonable and agreed upon

 

between the authority and the owner thereof.of that property.

 

     (2) An authority may acquire by condemnation lands, property

 

rights, rights of way, franchises, easements, and other property,

 

or parts thereof or rights therein, of a person, partnership,

 

association, or corporation considered by the authority to be

 

necessary for the construction or efficient operation of a project.

 

However, a facility currently operated as a port facility by a

 

terminal operator or a facility owned or operated by and for the

 

exclusive use of the owner or operator and a facility owned or

 

operated by a common carrier or public utility shall be exempt from

 

this subsection. The condemnation shall be made in the manner

 

provided by Act No. 295 of the Public Acts of 1966, as amended,

 

being sections 213.361 to 213.391 of the Michigan Compiled Laws,

 

except where that procedure may be inconsistent with this act.

 

     (2) (3) An authority may sell or remove the buildings or other

 

structures upon lands taken owned or leased by the authority, and

 

may sell or lease lands or rights or interest in lands or other

Senate Bill No. 711 as amended May 30, 2018

 

property taken or purchased or leased for the purposes of this act.

<<Sec. 16a. Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section, an authority shall not issue revenue bonds under this act for a project that is not owned by an authority but is financed by an authority unless that project is located within 5 miles of the commercially navigable waters that provide water access to 1 or more port facilities within the jurisdiction of that authority.>>