§ 44-0111 — Greenway heritage conservancy for the Hudson river valley

§ 44-0111. Greenway heritage conservancy for the Hudson river valley.\n 1. It is hereby found, determined and declared that the\nreestablishment of the greenway heritage conservancy for the Hudson\nriver valley and the carrying out of its corporate purposes is in all\nrespects for the benefit of the people of the state of New York, for the\npreservation and enhancement of the natural and historic resources of\nthe Hudson river valley and in furtherance of their welfare and\nprosperity, and is a public purpose, in that the conservancy will be\nperforming an essential governmental function in the exercise of the\npowers conferred upon it by this title and the conservancy shall not be\nrequired to pay taxes or assessments upon any of the real property\ninterests or rights acquired by it or under its jurisdiction or control,\nor upon its activities in the operation and maintenance of such property\ninterests or rights or use of any moneys, revenues or other income\nreceived by the conservancy. All contributions of real or personal\nproperty interests or rights made to the conservancy whether by gift,\ndevise or bequest shall to the extent deductible for federal income tax\npurposes, be deductible for purposes of the tax law to the extent\nprovided therein.\n 2. The heritage task force for the Hudson river valley is hereby\nreestablished in the executive department to be the greenway heritage\nconservancy for the Hudson river valley a body corporate and politic\nconstituting a public benefit corporation and to consist of seventeen\nvoting members and nine non-voting members. All voting members shall\nreside within the greenway and may designate representatives to act in\ntheir stead. The governor shall appoint three voting members, one of\nwhom shall also be the chairperson. Two voting members shall be\nappointed by the temporary president of the senate; two voting members\nshall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly; one voting member\nshall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; one voting\nmember shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly and\neight voting members shall be appointed by the council. A member of the\ncouncil may not be appointed to be a voting member of the conservancy.\nThe commissioner and the commissioners of the state departments of\ntransportation, agriculture and markets and economic development and the\noffices of parks, recreation and historic preservation and general\nservices, the secretary of state, the chairman of the state senate\ncommittee on environmental conservation and the chairman of the state\nassembly committee on environmental conservation, or such members'\ndesignated representatives, shall be nonvoting, ex-officio members of\nthe conservancy. The term of office of voting members commencing as of\nthe effective date of this section shall be four years except that five\nof the first voting members appointed pursuant to this section shall\nhave a two-year term and that another five of the first voting members\nappointed pursuant to this section shall have a three-year term. Each\nmember appointed to such task force by the commissioner before enactment\nof this section, shall continue in office until a quorum of voting\nmembers has been appointed. In the event of a vacancy occurring in the\noffice of any member, such vacancy shall be filled for the balance of\nthe unexpired term, if applicable, in the same manner as the original\nappointment.\n 3. The conservancy shall actively seek qualified candidates for\nmembership and shall recommend such candidates to the governor.\n