Senate Bill No. 523
Senate Bill No. 523
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-206
AN ACT CONCERNING THE TWEED-NEW HAVEN AIRPORT
AUTHORITY ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 3 of public act 97-271 is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof:
(a) There is created a body politic and
corporate to be known as the "Tweed-New Haven
Airport Authority". Said authority shall be a
public instrumentality and political subdivision
of this state and the exercise by the authority of
the powers conferred by this act shall be deemed
and held to be the performance of an essential
public and governmental function. The Tweed-New
Haven Airport Authority shall not be construed to
be a department, institution or agency of the
state.
(b) The authority shall be governed by a
board of directors consisting of fourteen members,
each member serving not more than two consecutive
four-year terms. The initial terms of the members
shall be staggered so that not more than four
members' terms shall expire at the same time. Nine
members shall be appointed by the mayor of New
Haven and two members shall be appointed by the
mayor of East Haven. Not less than six members of
the authority shall be residents of New Haven and
East Haven. Three members of the authority shall
be appointed by the South Central Regional Council
of Governments which appointees shall be residents
of any of the following towns or cities: Bethany,
Branford, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford,
North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford,
West Haven or Woodbridge. The board of directors
shall elect a chairperson from among its members
and shall annually elect one of its members as
vice-chairperson and shall elect other members as
officers, and establish bylaws as necessary for
the operation of the authority. Members of the
board of directors shall receive no compensation
for the performance of their duties. No member of
the board shall have any financial interest in
Tweed-New Haven Airport or any of its tenants or
concessions.
(c) The powers of the authority shall be
vested in and exercised by the board. Eight
members of the board shall constitute a quorum and
the affirmative vote of a majority of the members
present at a meeting of the board shall be
sufficient for any action taken by the board. No
vacancy in the membership of the board shall
impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the
rights and perform all the duties of the board.
Any action taken by the board may be authorized by
resolution at any regular or special meeting and
shall take effect immediately unless otherwise
provided in the resolution. Notice of any meeting,
whether special or regular, shall be given orally,
not less than forty-eight hours prior to the
meeting. The board may delegate to three or more
of its members, or its officers, agents and
employees, such board powers and duties as it may
deem proper.
(d) The authority shall have perpetual
succession and shall adopt procedures for the
conduct of its affairs in accordance with section
5 of [this act] PUBLIC ACT 97-271. Such succession
shall continue as long as the authority shall have
obligations outstanding and until the existence of
the authority is terminated by law at which time
the rights and properties of the authority shall
pass to and be vested in the [state] CITY OF NEW
HAVEN.
Sec. 2. Section 4 of public act 97-271 is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof:
(a) The authority shall maintain and improve
Tweed-New Haven Airport as an important economic
development asset for the south central
Connecticut region which is comprised of the towns
and cities of Bethany, Branford, East Haven,
Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven,
North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford,
West Haven and Woodbridge. The authority shall
have the following powers and duties and may
exercise such powers in its own name: (1) To
manage, maintain, supervise and operate Tweed-New
Haven Airport; (2) do all things necessary to
maintain working relationships with the state,
municipalities and persons, and conduct the
business of a regional airport, in accordance with
applicable statutes and regulations; (3) to charge
reasonable fees for the services it performs and
modify, reduce or increase such fees, provided
fees shall apply uniformly to all airport users;
(4) to enter into contracts, leases and agreements
for goods and equipment and for services with
airlines, concessions, counsel, engineers,
architects, private consultants and advisors; (5)
to contract for the construction, reconstruction,
enlargement or alteration of airport projects with
private persons and firms in accordance with such
terms and conditions as the authority shall
determine; (6) to make plans and studies in
conjunction with the Federal Aviation
Administration or other state or federal agencies;
[and] (7) to apply for and receive grant funds for
airport purposes; [(7)] (8) to plan and enter into
contracts with municipalities, the state,
businesses and other entities to finance the
operations and debt of the airport, including
compensation to the host municipalities of New
Haven and East Haven for the use of the land
occupied by the airport; [(8)] (9) to borrow funds
for airport purposes for such consideration and
upon such terms as the authority may determine to
be reasonable; [(9)] (10) to employ a staff
necessary to carry out its functions and purposes
and fix the duties, compensation and benefits of
such staff; [(10)] (11) to issue and sell bonds
and to use the proceeds of such bonds for capital
improvements to the airport; [(11)] (12) to
acquire property by purchase or lease for airport
purposes, subject to applicable requirements of
federal law and regulation; [(12)] (13) to prepare
and issue budgets, reports, procedures, audits and
such other materials as may be necessary and
desirable to its purposes; and [(13)] (14) to
exercise all other powers granted to such an
authority by law.
(b) The authority shall have full control of
the operation and management of the airport,
including land, buildings and easements by means
of a lease to the authority by the city of New
Haven and the town of East Haven.
Approved June 8, 1998