§ 3-611 — Airport authority; creation; authorized; board; powers and duties; members; election; vacancy; removal; expenses; quorum

In addition to the powers granted by sections 3-601 to 3-609 , any county may create an airport authority. Such authority shall be managed and controlled by a board which shall have full and exclusive jurisdiction and control over all facilities owned or thereafter acquired by such county for airport purposes. Each such board shall be a body corporate and politic, constituting a public corporation and an agency of the county for which such board is established. Each board shall consist of five members. The county board creating the authority shall appoint board members to serve until their successors elected pursuant to section 32-548 take office. Members of the board must be residents of the county for which the authority is created. Any vacancy on a board shall be filled by temporary appointment by the county board until a successor can be elected at the next general election. A member of such board may be removed from office for incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. An action for removal of such member may be brought, upon resolution by the county board, in the district court of the county in which the authority is located.
The members of the board shall not be entitled to compensation for their services but shall be entitled to reimbursement of expenses paid or incurred in the performance of the duties imposed upon them by the provisions of sections 3-601 to 3-622 with reimbursement for mileage to be made at the rate provided in section 81-1176 . A majority of the members of the board then in office shall constitute a quorum. The board may delegate to one or more of the members, or to its officers, agents, and employees, such powers and duties as it may deem proper. The board and its corporate existence shall continue only for a period of twenty years from the date of appointment of the members thereof and thereafter until all its liabilities have been met and its bonds have been paid in full or such liabilities and bonds have otherwise been discharged. When all liabilities incurred by the authority of every kind and character have been met and all its bonds have been paid in full or such liabilities and bonds have otherwise been discharged, all rights and properties of the authority shall pass to and be vested in the county. The authority shall have and retain full and exclusive jurisdiction and control over all projects under its jurisdiction, with the right and duty to charge and collect revenue therefrom, for the benefit of the holders of any of its bonds or other liabilities. Upon the authority's ceasing to exist, all its remaining rights and properties shall pass to and vest in the county.
The board may enter into leases for nonaviation purposes for periods longer than the corporate existence of the board for a maximum period of twenty years. Such leases shall be subject to the approval of the county at the time the leases are entered into. At the conclusion of the corporate existence of the board, such leases shall pass to the control of the county.
The board may enter into leases for nonaviation purposes with the State of Nebraska or any political subdivision for land and land improvements. Such leases may be entered into for a maximum of forty years. At the conclusion of the corporate existence of the board, such leases shall pass to the control of the county.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1969, c. 141, § 11, p. 650; Laws 1976, LB 671, § 1; Laws 1981, LB 204, § 14; Laws 1994, LB 76, § 462; Laws 1996, LB 1011, § 3. Annotations: An airport authority has no duty by statute nor common law to provide fire protection for property it leases to another. The Geer Co. v. Hall County Airport Authority, 193 Neb. 17, 225 N.W.2d 32 (1975).