§ 11 — Powers of operating agencies

Section 11. Each operating agency shall have the powers and be subject to the limitations provided in sections one to sixteen, inclusive, shall have the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes of the relevant provisions of the General Laws and shall have the following powers in addition to those specifically granted in this chapter:--(a) To sue and be sued; to have a seal; to have corporate succession;(b) To act as agent of, or to cooperate with the federal government in any clearance, housing, relocation, urban renewal or other project which it is authorized to undertake;(c) To receive loans, grants and annual or other contributions from the federal government or from any other source, public or private;(d) To take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine or chapter eighty A, or to purchase or lease, or to acquire by gift, bequest or grant, and hold, any property, real or personal, or any interest therein, found by it to be necessary or reasonably required to carry out the purposes of this chapter, or any of its sections, and to sell, exchange, transfer, lease or assign the same; provided, that in case of a taking by eminent domain under said chapter seventy-nine, the provisions of section forty of said chapter shall be applicable, except that the security therein required shall be deposited with the mayor of the city or the selectmen of the town in which the property to be taken is situated. Except as herein otherwise provided, the provisions of chapters seventy-nine and eighty A relative to counties, cities, towns and districts, so far as pertinent, shall apply to operating agencies, and the members of a housing or redevelopment authority shall act on its behalf under those chapters.(e) To clear and improve any property acquired by it;(f) To engage in or contract for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, remodeling or repair of any clearance, housing, relocation, urban renewal or other project which it is authorized to undertake or parts thereof;(g) To make relocation payments to persons and businesses displaced as a result of carrying out any such project;(h) To borrow money for any of its purposes upon the security of its bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness, and to secure the same by mortgages upon property held or to be held by it or by pledge of its revenue, including without limitation grants or contributions by the federal government, or in any other lawful manner, and in connection with the incurrence of any indebtedness to covenant that it shall not thereafter mortgage the whole or any specified part of its property or pledge the whole or any specified part of its revenues;(i) To invest in securities legal for the investment of funds of savings banks any funds held by it and not required for immediate disbursement;(j) To enter into, execute and carry out contracts with any person or organization undertaking a project under chapter one hundred and twenty-one A;(k) To enter, with the approval of the mayor or board of selectmen and the department, into agreements with the federal government relative to the acceptance or borrowing of funds for any project it is authorized to undertake and containing such covenants, terms and conditions as the operating agency, with like approval, may deem desirable; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to require approval by the mayor or selectmen or the department of requisition agreements and similar contracts between an agency and the federal government which are entered into pursuant to an agreement approved by them;(l) To enter into, execute and carry out contracts and all other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers granted in this chapter;(m) To make, and from time to time amend or repeal, subject to the approval of the department, by-laws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with pertinent rules and regulations of the department to govern its proceedings and effectuate the purposes of this chapter;[ Subsections (n) and (o) effective until August 6, 2024. For text effective August 6, 2024, see below.](n) To join or cooperate with one or more other operating agencies in the exercise, either jointly or otherwise, of any of their powers for the purpose of financing, including the issuance of bonds, notes or other obligations and the giving of security therefor, planning, undertaking, owning, constructing, operating or contracting with respect to any project or projects authorized by this chapter located within the area within which one or more of such authorities are authorized to exercise their powers; and for such purpose to prescribe and authorize, by resolution, any operating agency so joining and cooperating with it to act in its behalf in the exercise of any of such powers; and(o) To lease energy saving systems that replace non-renewable fuels with renewable energy such as solar powered systems.[ Subsections (n) and (o) as amended by 2024, 150, Sec. 30 effective August 6, 2024. For text effective until August 6, 2024, see above.](n) To join or cooperate with 1 or more other operating agencies in the exercise, either jointly or otherwise, of any of their powers for the purpose of financing, including the issuance of bonds, notes or other obligations and the giving of security therefor, planning, undertaking, owning, constructing, operating or contracting with respect to any project or projects authorized by this chapter located within the area within which 1 or more of such authorities are authorized to exercise their powers; and for such purpose to prescribe and authorize, by resolution, any operating agency so joining and cooperating with it to act in its behalf in the exercise of any of such powers;(o) To lease energy saving systems that replace non-renewable fuels with renewable energy such as solar powered systems; and[ Subsection (p) added by 2024, 150, Sec. 30 effective August 6, 2024.](p) To secure, with the approval of the department, in consultation with the executive office for administration and finance, indebtedness incurred for the preservation, modernization and maintenance of 1 or more of its low rent housing developments assisted under section 32 or 34 by a pledge of a portion of capital funds awarded to it for improvements to be carried out pursuant to a capital improvement plan, approved by the department and in accordance with department regulations governing capital projects. The department, in consultation with the executive office for administration and finance, shall promulgate regulations to establish limitations on the percentage of awarded capital funds that may be pledged to secure indebtedness, describe permitted terms for borrowing and repayment and establish criteria for operating agencies permitted to incur indebtedness secured by a pledge of capital funds. Any pledge of future year capital funds pursuant to this section shall be subject to the availability of funds under the department's capital spending plan. All financing documents related to future year capital fund amounts shall include a statement that the credit of the commonwealth is not pledged and that the pledging of funds shall be subject to the availability of funds under the department's capital spending plan.