§ 1154 — Powers of the authority

§ 1154. Powers of the authority. The authority shall have power:\n 1. To sue and be sued;\n 2. To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;\n 3. To acquire, in the name of the authority, lease, hold and dispose\nof real estate and personal property or any interest therein for its\ncorporate purposes, including the power to purchase prospective or\ntentative awards in connection with the exercise of the power of\ncondemnation hereinafter granted;\n 4. To purchase, in the name of the authority, any water supply system,\nwater distribution system, including plants, works, instrumentalities or\nparts thereof and appurtenances thereto, lands, easements, rights in\nland and water rights, rights-of-way, contract rights, franchises,\napproaches, connections, dams, reservoirs, water mains and pipe lines,\npumping stations and equipment, or any other property incidental to and\nincluded in such system or part thereof, and any improvements,\nextensions and betterments, situated wholly within the county, provided,\nhowever, that the authority shall have the power to purchase any source\nof supply, or water supply system or any part thereof situated wholly or\npartly without the territorial limits of the district; and in connection\nwith the purchase of such properties the authority may assume any\nobligations of the owner of such properties and, to the extent required\nby the terms of any indentures or other instruments under which such\nobligations were issued, the authority may assume and agree to perform\ncovenants and observe the restrictions contained in such instruments;\nand furthermore the owner of any properties, which the authority is\nauthorized to acquire, is hereby authorized to sell or otherwise\ntransfer the same to the authority, whereupon the authority shall become\ncharged with the performance of all public duties with respect to such\nproperties with which such owner was charged and such owner shall become\ndischarged from the performance thereof, and in the case of a sale or\nother transfer of properties of a public utility corporation pursuant to\nthis provision, it shall be lawful to dissolve such corporation;\n 5. To supply and sell water for domestic, commercial and public\npurposes at retail to individual consumers within the county of Onondaga\nor at wholesale in the manner provided by subdivision eight of this\nsection as a means of so acquiring for such purposes, and the authority\nmay purchase all of the stock of any existing privately owned water\ncorporation or company, and thereafter, within a reasonable time, such\nwater corporation or company shall be dissolved;\n 6. To condemn in the name of the authority, within the territorial\nlimits of the county, any water supply system, water distribution\nsystem, including plants, works, instrumentalities, or parts thereof and\nappurtenances thereto, lands, easements, rights in land and water\nrights, rights-of-way, contract rights, franchises, approaches,\nconnections, dams, reservoirs, water mains and pipe lines, pumping\nstations and equipment or any other property incidental to and included\nin such system or part thereof, and any improvements, extensions and\nbetterments for the purpose of supplying water for domestic, commercial\nand public purposes at retail to individual consumers within the county\nof Onondaga or at wholesale in the manner provided by subdivision eight\nof this section. The authority shall exercise the power of condemnation\nhereby granted in the manner provided by the condemnation law and title\nto the properties described in the condemnation proceedings shall become\nand be vested in the authority in accordance with the provisions of the\ncondemnation law. In the exercise of such power of condemnation, the\nproperty being condemned shall be deemed, when so determined by the\nauthority, to be for a public use superior to the public use in the\nhands of any other person, association, or corporation, provided,\nhowever, that the authority shall have no power to condemn property the\nlegal title to which is vested in a municipality or a political\nsubdivision of the state, unless such municipality or political\nsubdivision shall consent thereto.\n 7. To construct and develop any water supply system, water\ndistribution system including plants, works, instrumentalities, or parts\nthereof, and appurtenances thereto, dams, reservoirs, water mains, pipe\nlines, pumping stations and equipment, or any other property incidental\nto or included in such system or part thereof within the county of\nOnondaga, and to acquire, by condemnation in the manner provided by this\ntitle, or by purchase, lands, easements, rights in land, and water\nrights and rights-of-way in connection therewith within such county; and\nto own and operate, maintain, repair, improve, reconstruct, enlarge and\nextend, subject to the provisions of this title, any of its properties\nacquired or constructed under this title, all of which, together with\nthe acquisition of such properties are hereby declared to be public\npurposes;\n 8. To sell water by volume to any or all municipalities, duly\nestablished water districts or privately owned public water supply and\ndistribution systems in such county. The fact that any municipality has\nprocured or is about to procure an independent source of water supply\nshall not prevent such municipality from purchasing water from the\nauthority. To sell any water not needed in such county to any duly\nestablished water district, municipality or privately owned public water\nsupply and distribution system outside of the county in which created.\nNot only may the authority sell any surplus water it may have developed,\nbut it may develop and provide a sufficient amount of water so as to\nsupply water outside of the county to any municipality, duly established\nwater district or privately owned public water supply and distribution\nsystem;\n 9. To purchase water in bulk from any person, private corporation or\nmunicipality when necessary or convenient for the operation of such\nwater supply and distribution system;\n 10. To acquire, hold, use, lease, sell, transfer and dispose of any\nproperty, real, personal or mixed, or interest therein, for its\ncorporate purposes, including the right to sell, lease, convey or\notherwise dispose of any distribution system or improvements thereto\nwhich the authority may acquire or construct to any municipal\ncorporation or town water district, town water supply district, or to\nthe county;\n 11. To produce, develop, distribute and sell water or water services\nwithin or without the territorial limits of the district; and to\npurchase water from any municipal corporation, town water district,\nperson, association or corporation; provided, however, that water may be\nsold at retail to individual consumers only within the county of\nOnondaga and further provided that in exercising the powers granted by\nthis title, the authority shall not sell water in any area which is\nserved by a water system owned or operated by a municipality or special\nimprovement district unless the governing board of such municipality or\ndistrict shall adopt a resolution requesting the authority to sell water\nin such served area; and the authority shall not interfere with any\nwater supply or water system of any municipality unless requested by\nsuch municipality after such municipality has held a referendum on such\nquestion and approval given thereon;\n 12. To make by-laws for the management and regulation of its affairs\nand subject to agreements with bondholders, rules for the sale of water\nand the collection of rents and charges therefor. A copy of such rules\nand by-laws, and all amendments thereto, duly certified by the secretary\nof the authority shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the county\nand thereafter published once in two newspapers having a general\ncirculation in the county. Violation of such rules shall be punishable\nby fine, not exceeding fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for not longer\nthan thirty days, or both. Exclusive jurisdiction is hereby conferred\nupon the local criminal courts of the county, outside the city of\nSyracuse, which have trial jurisdiction, to hear and determine, subject\nto the provisions of the criminal procedure law, any violation of this\ntitle;\n 13. To use the officers, employees, facilities and equipment of the\ncounty with the consent of the county, paying a proper portion of the\ncompensation or cost;\n 14. To make contracts and to execute all necessary or convenient\ninstruments, including evidences of indebtedness, negotiable or\nnon-negotiable;\n 15. To enter on any lands, waterways and premises for the purpose of\nmaking surveys, soundings and examinations;\n 16. To borrow money and to issue negotiable bonds or notes or other\nobligations and to fund or refund the same, and to provide for the\nrights of the holders of its obligations;\n 17. To fix rates and collect charges for the use of the facilities of,\nor services rendered by, or any commodities furnished by the authority\nsuch as to provide revenues sufficient at all times to pay, as the same\nshall become due, the principal and interest on the bonds, notes or\nother obligations of the authority together with the maintenance of\nproper reserves therefor, in addition to paying as the same shall become\ndue the expense of operating and maintaining the properties of the\nauthority together with proper reserves for depreciation, maintenance\nand contingencies and all other obligations and indebtedness of the\nauthority;\n 18. To enter into cooperative agreements with other water authorities,\nmunicipalities, counties, towns, villages, water districts, utility\ncompanies, individuals, firms or corporations, within or without the\nterritorial limits of the district for the interconnection of\nfacilities, the exchange or interchange of services and commodities, and\nwithin the territorial limits of the district to enter into a contract\nfor the construction and operation and maintenance of a water supply and\ndistribution system by the authority for any municipality having power\nto construct and develop a water supply and distribution system, upon\nsuch terms and conditions as shall be determined to be reasonable\nincluding, but not limited to the reimbursement of all costs of such\nconstruction, or for any other lawful purposes necessary or desirable to\neffect the purposes of this title;\n 19. To accept grants, loans or contributions from the United States,\nthe state of New York, or any agency or instrumentality of either of\nthem, or the county, or an individual, by bequest or otherwise, and to\nexpend the proceeds for any purposes of the authority;\n 20. To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers\nexpressly given in this title.\n 21. To contract with the board of supervisors of the county of\nOnondaga for the acquisition, construction and development of a water\nsupply and distribution system, or any part or parts thereof, on behalf\nof a county water district or districts, and to contract for the\noperation and management of any such district or districts, in\naccordance in each case with the provisions of article five-A of the\ncounty law.\n 22. To act as a county water agency in accordance with the provisions\nof article five-A of the county law.\n 23. To contract for the purposes of subdivision twenty-four of section\nten of article two of the highway law.\n 24. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, to purchase,\nconstruct, lease and operate water systems and properties in the towns\nof Sullivan, Lenox, Lincoln, Volney, Verona, Vienna, Hannibal, Hastings,\nMinetto, Schroeppel, Scriba, Oswego, West Monroe, Annsville, Granby,\nConstantia, Parish and Sterling to enter into any contract authorized by\nthis section with any municipality within the territorial limits of said\ntowns, and to supply and sell any water not needed in the county of\nOnondaga at retail or at wholesale to individual consumers within the\nterritorial limits of said towns.\n