§3160. Rights and powers of commission
A. The commission shall exercise the powers herein conferred upon it, within the
port area, consisting of the entire parishes of Caddo and Bossier; however, specifically
excluded from the port area are any docks, landings or wharves in use on November 8, 1966,
and businesses engaged in river operations in the port area on November 8, 1966.
B. The commission may authorize a reasonable travel allowance for its members in
the performance of their official duties. It may employ such officers, agents, and employees
as it finds necessary in the performance of its duties and may prescribe the duties, powers,
and compensation of such officers, agents and employees. The commission, on such terms
as it agrees upon, may contract for legal, financial, engineering, and other professional
services necessary or expedient in the conduct of its affairs, and, on terms and conditions
mutually agreeable, may utilize the services of the executive departments of the state.
C.(1) The commission shall regulate the commerce and traffic within the port area
in any manner as may, in its judgment, be for the best interests of the state. It shall not be
subject in any respect to the authority, control, or supervision of any local regulatory body
or any political subdivision. It shall have charge of and administer public wharves, docks,
sheds, landings, industrial parks, industrial buildings, and other property or facilities owned,
operated, or controlled by the commission. It shall have authority to construct or acquire and
equip wharves and landings and other structures useful for the commerce of the port area,
and provide mechanical facilities therefor; to erect sheds or other structures on the wharves
and landings; to provide light, water, police protection, and other services for its facilities as
it may deem advisable; to construct or acquire, maintain, and operate basins, locks, canals,
warehouses, and elevators; to charge for the use of all facilities administered by it, and for
all services rendered by it; to establish such fees, rates, tariffs, or other charges as it may
deem fit; to establish harbor lines within the port area by agreement with the United States
Army Corps of Engineers; and to construct, own, operate, and maintain terminal rail facilities
and other common carrier rail facilities for the purpose of rendering rail transportation to and
from the facilities to be erected, owned, or operated by the commission in both intrastate and
interstate commerce. The commission shall have authority to plan, finance, develop,
construct, and acquire industrial parks and industrial plant buildings within its port area,
including sites and other necessary property or appurtenances therefor, and to acquire,
construct, develop, improve, operate, maintain, and provide improvements and services
necessary therefor, including but not limited to roads, streets, street lighting, bridges, rail
facilities, drainage, sewers, sewerage disposal facilities, solid waste disposal facilities,
waterworks, and other utilities and related properties. Title to such property and
improvements shall be in the public and shall vest in the commission for public
administration, subject only to the right of the commission to lease, sell, or otherwise dispose
of the same in the manner provided in this Chapter.
(2) In addition to any other powers and functions, the commission may perform the
functions of an economic and industrial development entity. Such functions may include but
shall not be limited to the following:
(a) Public relations, advertising, marketing, and providing and disseminating
information.
(b) Government relations, ombudsman, and government liaison.
(c) Financial and financing assistance.
(d) Tax abatement.
(e) Planning and coordination for economic development and resource utilization,
including such functions as industrial and economic research and industrial programming and
solicitation.
(f) Industrial training, technical assistance, and technology transfer.
(g) The use of public and other legal powers to facilitate development.
(h) Promoting transfer mechanisms to take ideas from their point of origin and
development to commercially successful utilization by local enterprises.
(i) Fostering entrepreneurial activity in the port area.
(j) Promoting the development of new products, processes, or services or new uses
for existing products, processes, or services manufactured or marketed in the port area.
(k) Supporting market research aimed at identifying new markets for local or
regional products and processes, including international markets; determining the
characteristics, needs, and preferences of those markets; and developing new marketing
techniques to exploit those markets.
(l) Fostering and supporting economic industrial development and education in
cooperation with private business enterprises, financial institutions, educational institutions,
nonprofit institutions and organizations, state government and political subdivisions of the
state, the federal government, and other organizations or persons concerned with research,
development, education, commercial application, and economic or industrial development
in ways which increase the economic base of the port area.
(3) For the purposes of Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, the commission may engage
in activities and projects it deems most appropriate to encourage and assist economic growth
and development in the port area. However, the selection of utility service providers shall
be subject to the provisions of R.S. 33:4160.1 and 4160.2, R.S. 45:123, and all applicable
orders of the Louisiana Public Service Commission for facilities constructed or acquired by
the commission.
D.(1) The commission shall have authority to make and enter into contracts, leases,
and other agreements with railroads, trucking companies, bargelines, and with any and all
companies interested in the transportation, storage, and shipping of goods and other products,
whether by rail, truckline, bargeline, or otherwise, for the use of facilities administered by
the commission or any part or portion thereof for a period of time not exceeding ninety-nine
years. However, no exclusive franchise shall be granted to any carrier.
(2) The commission shall also have the authority to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose
of, by suitable and appropriate contract, to any enterprise locating or existing within its port
area, all or any part of an industrial plant site, industrial plant building, or other property
owned by the commission, subject only to the requirements of this Chapter. In determining
the consideration for any contract to lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of lands, buildings, or
other property of the commission, it may take into consideration the value of the lands,
buildings, or other properties involved as well as the potential value of the economic impact
of the industrial or business enterprise being induced to locate or expand within the port area.
Such economic impact shall include increased employment, increased use of local labor,
wages and salaries to be paid, consumption of local materials, products and resources and
special tax revenues to be generated by the industrial or business enterprise acquiring or
leasing lands, buildings, or other property from the commission. Any lease may be for a term
not exceeding ninety-nine years and may contain an option to purchase by the lessee.
(3) The resolution or ordinance adopted by the commission authorizing any lease,
sale, or other disposition of lands, buildings, or other property of the commission shall set
forth, in a general way, the terms of the authorized lease, sale, or other disposition, and such
resolution or ordinance shall be published as soon as possible in one issue of the official
journal of the commission. For a period of thirty days from the date of publication of any
such resolution or ordinance, any interested person may contest the legality of such resolution
or ordinance or the validity of the authorized lease, sale, or other disposition of commission
property, after which time, no one shall have any cause of action to contest the legality of
said resolution or ordinance or to draw in question the legality of the authorized lease, sale,
or other disposition of commission property for any cause whatsoever, and it shall be
conclusively presumed thereafter that every legal requirement has been complied with, and
no court shall have authority to inquire into such matters after the lapse of said thirty days.