§ 10 — General powers and duties of the corporation relating to canals

§ 10. General powers and duties of the corporation relating to\ncanals. The corporation shall:\n 1. Have general supervision of the canal system and its operating\npersonnel and enforce the faithful administration and observance of the\ncanal law.\n 2. Appoint and remove all officers and employees in the administration\nof canal matters in conformity with the provisions of title nine of\narticle two of the public authorities law.\n 3. Provide for all engineering services required in the improvement,\nmaintenance and repair of the canal system.\n 4. Cause surveys, maps, plans, specifications and estimates to be made\nfor the improvement, maintenance and repair of the canal system.\n 5. Cause plans, specifications and estimates covering canal contracts\nto be prepared.\n 6. Cause inspections of the canal system to be made annually.\n 7. Determine the boundaries of the districts of the canal system and\nchange such boundaries when it deems it expedient.\n 8. Keep and maintain in good condition the canals, canal terminals and\ncorporation equipment used in the maintenance and repair of the canal\nsystem.\n 9. Prescribe rules and regulations not inconsistent with law relating\nto the navigation, protection and maintenance of the canal system and\nenforce such rules and regulations by prescribing fines, penalties or\nforfeitures not to exceed one hundred dollars for each offense.\n 9-a. Undertake lock improvements designed to attract tourists to the\nlocks and surrounding communities. Such improvements may include, but\nnot be limited to, comfort stations, information kiosks, picnic tables\nand grills, docking facilities, lock beautification, campsites,\ntelephone service, and trash collection and removal facilities.\n 10. Enforce compliance with laws, rules and regulations relating to\nposting of limited loads and clearances on all bridges over the canal\nsystem under the jurisdiction of the department of transportation\npursuant to section six and article seven of this chapter.\n 11. Compile statistics relating to the canal system and the traffic\nthereon and collect such other information in regard thereto as it shall\ndeem expedient.\n 12. Make an annual report to the legislature, covering the calendar\nyear, on the trade and tonnage handled, on the condition of the canals\nand the work and improvements connected therewith.\n 13. Cause a record to be made and filed on January first, in the\ncorporation of all expenditures during the previous fiscal year from\nmoneys appropriated for the canal system.\n 14. Permit boat owners operating upon the canal system to use state\ndrydocks while making emergency repairs to their vessels.\n 15. Grant leases and issue revocable permits pursuant to this chapter.\n 16. Cause to be removed from canal lands any encroachments which in\nits judgment are detrimental.\n 17. Cause to be acquired lands necessary for canal purposes and cause\nto be abandoned such canal lands as are no longer necessary or useful\nfor canal purposes. The commissioner of environmental conservation shall\nbe given notice of any lands located within the Adirondack park which\nare no longer necessary or useful for canal purposes and which are to be\nabandoned, and shall be given sixty days within which to request the\ntransfer of such lands. Such lands for which such a request has been\nmade shall be transferred to the department of environmental\nconservation.\n 18. Accept available federal aid money for the construction,\nreconstruction, improvement, restoration, repair, operation, maintenance\nor rehabilitation of any section, appurtenances or facility of the Barge\ncanal system.\n 19. Investigate all matters relating to the administration and\noperation of the canal system and its personnel.\n 20. Either absolutely, or on such conditions as it prescribes, remit\nfines imposed, if in its judgment such action is expedient.\n 21. Administer, operate and maintain the state-owned hydroelectric\npower plants on the Mohawk river at Crescent and Vischer Ferry.\n 22. When an emergency arises endangering life or the canal system,\nseize any lands, equipment or supplies necessary to avert such damage.\n 23. Prepare an inventory sufficient for planning purposes which\nincludes at least: (a) a general description of all state-owned property\nwhich comprises the canal system, and where appropriate other\nstate-owned property contiguous to the canal system, specifying present\nuse and facilities for public use, including but not limited to parks\nand recreation facilities; (b) a description of significant freshwater\nwetlands and lands which possess significance for wildlife management,\nrecreation or natural resource protection purposes within the canal\nsystem; and (c) significant municipal and privately-owned facilities\nwhich serve users of the canal system. Such inventory shall be provided\nto the commission no later than July thirty-first, nineteen hundred\nninety-three.\n 24. Prepare on an annual basis a detailed five-year capital plan for\nthe maintenance and improvement of canal infrastructure. Such plan shall\nset system-wide goals and objectives for capital spending and,\ncommencing January first, nineteen hundred ninety-five, describe the\ncompatibility of such plan to the canal recreationway plan approved\npursuant to section one hundred thirty-eight-c of this chapter. Such\nplan shall include but not be limited to such capital project categories\nas locks, canal bridges, channels, shorelines, dams, guard gates, and\nother structures necessary for safe and successful operation of the\ncanal system. The plan shall also include a detailed schedule of all\ncapital projects which the authority intends to undertake within the\nnext five years and shall provide the following information for each\nsuch capital project: (a) a description of the project; (b) an\nindication of the category into which the project has been classified in\nthe capital plan; (c) the estimated total cost of the project and\nexpenditures by year for such project; (d) the actual disbursements by\nproject for the prior year; and (e) the estimated dates of project\ninitiation and completion. The plan shall also include a statement of\nthe mix of financing methods to be used by the authority for financing\nthe capital plan. The capital plan shall be submitted to the governor,\nthe temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on\nthe first day of January of each year commencing in nineteen hundred\nninety-three.\n 25. Prepare, in consultation with the department of environmental\nconservation: (a) a survey of canal lands in the Adirondack park; and\n(b) a study of canal lands in the Adirondack park subject to permits,\nincluding the identification of any structures or activities that are\nnot allowed by law or by such permits. Such survey and study shall be\ncompleted and submitted to the commission no later than January first,\nnineteen hundred ninety-four.\n 26. Perform such other acts as in its judgment constitute a duty\nrequired to efficiently administer the canal system.\n