NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1959 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 765

SENATE BILL 330

 

 

AN ACT ENABLING THE COUNTY OF VANCE AND THE CITY OF HENDERSON TO ESTABLISH AN AIRPORT AUTHORITY FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF AIRPORT FACILITIES FOR THE CITIZENS OF VANCE COUNTY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1. There is hereby created the "Henderson Township Airport Authority", hereinafter referred to as the "Airport Authority", which shall be a body corporate and politic, having the powers and jurisdiction hereinafter enumerated and such other powers and additional powers as shall be conferred upon it by future Acts of the General Assembly.

Sec. 2. The Airport Authority shall consist of five members, two of whom shall be resident voters of the City of Henderson, and three of whom shall be qualified voters and residents of the County of Vance at large. The two members from the City of Henderson shall be appointed by the City Council, and the three members from the County of Vance shall be appointed by the Board of County Commissioners of Vance County. The members of the Airport Authority shall be appointed to serve for a period of two years. Each of the members and their successors appointed biennially thereafter shall take and subscribe before the Clerk of the Superior Court of Vance County, an oath of office and file copies of the same with the County Commissioners of Vance County and the City Council of the City of Henderson.

Sec. 3. The members shall, for the purpose of doing business, constitute a board of directors which may adopt suitable bylaws for its management. The members of the board shall receive no compensation per diem or otherwise, but shall be allowed and paid their actual travel expenses incurred in transacting the business and at the instance of the said Airport Authority.

Sec. 4. The said Airport Authority shall constitute a body, both corporate and politic, and shall have the following powers and authority:

(1)       To purchase, acquire, establish, construct, own, control, lease, equip, improve, maintain, operate and regulate airports or landing fields for the use of airplanes and other aircraft within the limits of the County of Vance; and for any of such purposes, to own, hold, lease and operate real or personal property; to borrow money and to issue bonds and to secure the same by mortgages, with the consent of the Vance County Commissioners and the Henderson City Council, upon any property held or to be held by it.

(2)       Any lands acquired, owned, controlled, or occupied by said city and county, for the purposes enumerated herein, shall and are hereby declared to be acquired, owned, controlled and occupied for the public purpose, and said city and county shall have the right to acquire property for such purposes under the power of eminent domain.

(3)       To sue or be sued in the name of said Airport Authority, to acquire by purchase and to hold lands for the purpose of constructing, maintaining or operating any airport within the limits of said county, and to make such contracts and to hold such personal property as may be necessary for the exercise of the powers of the said Airport Authority. The said Airport Authority may acquire by purchase, or otherwise, any existing lease, leasehold right or other interest in any existing airport located in the County of Vance.

(4)       To charge and collect reasonable and adequate fees and rents for the use of the airport property or for services rendered in the operation thereof.

(5)       To make all reasonable rules and regulations as it deems necessary for the proper maintenance and operation of the said airport and to provide penalties for the violation of such rules and regulations; provided, that said rules and regulations and schedules of fees be not in conflict with the laws of the State of North Carolina and the rules and regulations of the Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Federal Government.

(6)       To issue bonds or other securities and obligations for the purpose of providing funds for such construction, maintenance and operation of the said airport facilities. The said bonds, if and when so issued, shall be denominated "Henderson Township Airport Authority Bonds", and shall be issued in such form and denomination and shall mature at such time or times, not exceeding fifty years after that date, and shall bear such rate of interest, not exceeding six per cent (6%) per annum, payable annually or semiannually, as the said Airport Authority may determine. The bonds shall be signed by the chairman of the said Airport Authority and the corporate seal affixed or impressed upon each bond, and attested by the secretary of the said board. The coupons to be attached to said bonds shall bear the facsimile signature of the chairman of the authority. Such bonds, notes or securities issued for the purpose or purposes above set out may be issued and sold with the approval of the County Commissioners of Vance County, but the sale shall be made under the provisions of the Municipal Finance Act of the State of North Carolina and with the approval of the Local Government Commission.

Bonds and notes issued under this Act shall be exempt from all State, Federal, county or municipal taxes or assessments, direct or indirect, general or special, and the interest paid on said bonds or notes shall not be subject to taxation as income. The said bonds, notes or other security shall not be obligations of the County of Vance or the City of Henderson, but the said Airport Authority is authorized and empowered to pledge the revenues, rents, income and tolls arising out of the use of any airport property or any specific part of said airport property until such time as the sums borrowed therefor are fully amortized and repaid. The said bonds or other securities which the said Airport Authority may incur shall be issued and incurred upon such other terms and conditions as the said Airport Authority may deem proper.

(7)       To deal with the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the United States Government and any other representative of said Federal Government relative to the grading, constructing, equipping, improving, maintaining, and operating of airports or landing fields established under the authority of this Act.

Sec. 5. The Airport Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to acquire from the County of Vance or the City of Henderson, by agreement therewith, and such county and city are hereby authorized and empowered to grant and convey, either by gift or for such consideration as it may deem wise, any real or personal property which it now owns or may hereinafter be acquired, and which may be necessary for the construction, operation and maintenance of any airport located in the county of Vance.

Sec. 6. Any lands owned, acquired, controlled or occupied by the said Airport Authority shall, and are hereby declared to be acquired, owned, controlled and occupied for a public purpose.

Sec. 7. Private property needed by said Airport Authority for any airport or landing field may be acquired by gift or devise, or may be acquired by purchase.

Sec. 8. The Board of County Commissioners of Vance County shall be authorized and empowered, after posting notice at the courthouse and three other public places in the area in Vance County designated as Henderson Township, and by three weekly publications in a newspaper circulating in said township, to order a special election to be held at such time as they may fix to determine the will of the people of Henderson Township as to whether or not the County Commissioners shall levy a special annual tax of not to exceed ten cents (10¢) on each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the said township.

The question of levying such special tax shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the Henderson Township at an election to be held as hereinbefore provided. The rate, or amount, of such tax, or taxes, for which a levy may be made hereunder shall be determined by the Board of County Commissioners of Vance County, but shall not exceed ten cents (10¢) on each one hundred dollars ($100.00) assessed valuation of the taxable property within the said Henderson Township.

A ballot shall be furnished to each qualified voter at said election, which ballot may contain the words "For Airport Authority Tax" (briefly stating any other pertinent information), and "Against Airport Authority Tax" (briefly stating any other pertinent information), with a square in front of each proposition, in one of which squares the voter may make an (X) mark; but any other form of ballot containing adequate information and properly stating the question to be voted upon shall be construed as being in compliance with this Section.

The election herein authorized shall be conducted by the County Board of Elections in the manner and under the same rules and provisions of law applicable to the holding of general elections so far as they may be applicable. The cost of holding said special election shall be paid by the county. The Board of Elections shall provide one or more polling places in said township, shall provide for a registrar or registrars and judges of election at said voting places, shall cause to be prepared the necessary ballots for voting at said election and shall conduct said election at such time as the Board of County Commissioners may direct. The election officers shall count the votes and make returns thereof to the County Board of Elections, who shall determine and declare the results of said election. The returns shall be made in duplicate, one copy to be filed with the County Board of Elections and the other to be filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court of Vance County. The County Board of Elections shall prepare a statement showing the number of votes cast for and against the Airport Authority Tax, and declaring the result of the election, which statement shall be signed by the chairman of the board and attested by the clerk, who shall transmit it to the Board of County Commissioners who shall record it in the minutes of the board and file the original in his office and publish it once in a newspaper published or circulating in said township.

If a majority of the qualified voters of Henderson Township in Vance County shall approve said tax levy, the Board of County Commissioners shall levy the tax so authorized, which shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes are collected, and the proceeds derived therefrom shall be paid over to the Henderson Airport Authority created under this Act and shall be expended by said Airport Authority for such purposes as will in the discretion of the governing body of the Airport Authority be deemed necessary for the establishment, development, and operation of the Airport Authority authorized under the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 9. The said Airport Authority shall make an annual report to the Vance County Commissioners, setting forth in detail the operations and transactions conducted by it pursuant to this Act. The said Airport Authority shall be regarded as the corporate instrumentality and agent for the County of Vance for the purpose of developing airport facilities in the County of Vance, but it shall have no power to pledge the credit of the County of Vance or the City of Henderson, or any subdivision thereof, or to impose any obligation upon the County of Vance or the City of Henderson, or any subdivision thereof, except and when such power is expressly granted by statute or the consent of the County of Vance and the City of Henderson.

Sec. 10. All rights and powers given to the counties or municipalities by the statutes of North Carolina which may now be in effect or to be enacted in the future relating to the development, regulation and control of municipal airports and the regulations of aircraft, are hereby vested in the said Airport Authority, and the County of Vance or the City of Henderson may delegate its powers under the said Acts to the Authority and the Authority shall have concurrent right with the County of Vance and the City of Henderson to control, regulate and provide for the development of aviation in the County of Vance.

Sec. 11. The said Airport Authority is hereby authorized to employ such agents, engineers and attorneys and other persons whose services may be deemed necessary by the Airport Authority in carrying out the provisions of this Act. Members of the said Airport Authority shall not be personally liable, in any manner, for their acts as members of the Airport Authority, except for misfeasance or malfeasance.

Sec. 12. If any provisions of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.

Sec. 13. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 14. This Act shall be in full force and effect on and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 5th day of June, 1959.