The authority shall have all of the powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including the power:
I. To sue and be sued in all courts and to initiate or participate in actions and proceedings, whether judicial, administrative, arbitrative, or otherwise.
II. To have a seal, and to alter such seal at pleasure and to use it by causing it or a facsimile to be affixed or impressed or reproduced in any manner.
III. (a) To employ or retain as independent contractors architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants, and such other advisors and employees, consultants, and agents as may be necessary in its judgment without regard to any personnel or civil service law or personnel or civil service rule of the state, to prescribe their duties and qualifications, and to fix and pay their compensation, if any.
(b) To appoint qualified individuals to serve as unpaid volunteers or advisors under such terms and conditions as it may deem necessary. Such volunteers or advisors may be reimbursed for such incidental expenses determined by the board to be necessary and incurred while performing the business of the authority.
IV. To purchase, receive, take by grant, gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, employ, use, and otherwise deal in and with property or any interest therein, whether tangible or intangible, for its purpose.
V. To sell, convey, lease, exchange, transfer, abandon, or otherwise dispose of, or mortgage, pledge, or create a security interest in, all or any of its airport or division property or any interest therein, except that no real property of the division may be sold, conveyed, exchanged, transferred, or otherwise disposed of, except by license, lease, or other agreement subject to a term of not more than seven years, without the prior approval of the governor and the executive council.
VI. To apply for and accept gifts, loans, grants, property, funds, money, materials, labor, supplies, or services from the United States of America or its agencies or departments or any state agency or any political subdivision of the state, or any other person, to carry out the terms and provisions of, or make agreements with respect to, any such gifts, loans, or grants, and to do any and all things necessary, useful, desirable, or convenient in connection with procuring, accepting, or disposing of such gifts, loans, or grants.
VII. To purchase, take, receive, subscribe for, or otherwise acquire, hold, make a tender offer for, vote, employ, sell, lend, lease, exchange, transfer, or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security interest in, use, or otherwise deal in and with, bonds and other obligations, shares, or other securities or interests therein issued by others, whether engaged in a similar or different business or activity.
VIII. To make and execute agreements, contracts, and other instruments necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers and functions of the authority under this chapter, including contracts with any person, firm, corporation, municipality, state agency, governmental unit, or other entity, foreign or domestic, provided that no contract in excess of $10,000, including contracts under paragraphs III and XV but excluding contracts and agreements entered into under paragraph V, shall be made without requests for proposal. This requirement may also be eliminated by an affirmative vote of 5 members of the board on any particular matter. Justification for eliminating the requirement shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
IX. To borrow money for purposes not related to division property or division projects at such rate or rates of interest as the authority may determine, issue its notes, bonds, or other obligations to evidence such indebtedness, and secure any of its obligations by mortgage or pledge of all or any of its airport property or any interest therein, tangible or intangible, whether then owned or thereafter acquired.
X. To arrange for guaranties of its notes, bonds, or other obligations pursuant to RSA 12-G:31 by the federal government or by any private insurer or otherwise, and to pay any premiums therefor.
XI. To issue such notes, bonds, or other obligations, whether or not the income therefrom to the holders is exempt from federal income taxation.
XII. To purchase notes, bonds, or other obligations of the authority at such price or prices, in such manner, and upon such terms as the authority may determine.
XIII. To invest and reinvest its funds, and take and hold property as security for the payment of funds so invested.
XIV. To procure insurance against any loss in connection with its airport or division property or projects in such amount or amounts and from such insurers, including the federal government, as it may deem necessary or desirable, and to pay any premiums therefor. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the state except as authorized under RSA 491:8.
XV. To enter into and perform contracts and agreements, whether or not they may be deemed to constitute indebtedness under applicable law, for the joint and separate planning, financing, construction, purchase, operation, maintenance, use, sharing costs of, ownership, mortgaging, leasing, sale, disposal of, or other participation in facilities, products, or services of any person who engages in business on property owned or controlled by the authority.
XVI. To maintain a principal office in the state and an office or offices at such other place or places as it may determine.
XVII. To make any inquiry, investigation, survey, feasibility study, or other study which the authority may deem necessary to enable it to carry out effectively the provisions of this chapter.
XVIII. To apply to the appropriate agencies and officials of the federal government and the state for licenses, permits, or approvals of its plans, airport projects, or division projects as it may deem necessary or advisable, and to accept such licenses, permits, or approvals as may be tendered to it by such agencies or officials, upon such terms and conditions as it may deem appropriate.
XIX. To make bylaws and establish committees for the management and regulation of its affairs as it may deem necessary, and subject to agreements with bondholders, to make rules pursuant to its own procedures for the use of its airport projects and property and division projects and property, including but not limited to zoning, subdivision, and site plan review regulations, and building, electric, plumbing, and fire codes, and to establish and collect rentals, fees, and all other charges for the use of projects under the jurisdiction of the authority and for services or commodities sold, furnished, or supplied by the authority.
XX. To design, construct, maintain, operate, improve, and reconstruct such airport projects and division projects as shall be consistent with the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including without limitation the maintenance and development of aviation and port services, including landing fields, heliports, hangars, shops, passenger and freight terminals, control towers, piers, wharves, docks, navigation aids, and all facilities necessary or convenient in connection with any such airport project or division project and also to contract for the construction, operation, or maintenance of any parts thereof, or for services to be performed thereon, and to rent parts thereof and grant concessions thereon, all on such terms and conditions as the authority may determine.
XXI. To take such other action as it may deem necessary and advisable in the furtherance of the purposes of this chapter.