§ 2703 — Development authority of the north county

§ 2703. Development authority of the north county. 1. A corporation\nknown as the development authority of the north country is hereby\ncreated for the public purposes and charged with the duties and having\nthe powers provided in this title. The authority shall be a body\ncorporate and politic constituting a public benefit corporation. Its\nmembership shall consist of a board of thirteen members chosen as\nfollows: five non-voting members appointed by the governor, one of whom\nshall be upon the recommendation of the temporary president of the\nsenate, and one of whom shall be upon the recommendation of the speaker\nof the assembly; two members, who shall be residents of the county of\nJefferson, shall be appointed by the board of supervisors of such\ncounty; two members, who shall be residents of the county of Lewis,\nshall be appointed by the county legislature of such county; two members\nwho shall be residents of the county of St. Lawrence, shall be appointed\nby the county legislature of such county; and two members, who shall be\nresidents of the city of Watertown, shall be appointed by the common\ncouncil of the city of Watertown. The local governing bodies of each of\nthe participating counties and the city of Watertown shall adopt\nresolutions providing for the appointments of such members and shall\ntransmit copies of such resolutions to the governor, the temporary\npresident of the senate and the speaker of the assembly before such\nmembers take office. The first members of the authority shall be\nappointed for the following terms from the effective date of their\nappointment: one member to be appointed by the county legislatures of\neach of the counties of Lewis and St. Lawrence, the two members\nappointed by the governor upon the recommendation of the temporary\npresident of the senate and the speaker of the assembly and one member\nto be appointed by the common council of the city of Watertown for a\nterm of four years; one member to be appointed by the board of\nsupervisors or county legislature of each of the counties of Lewis,\nJefferson and St. Lawrence, and three members appointed by the governor\nfor a term of two years; one member to be appointed by the board of\nsupervisors of the county of Jefferson and one member to be appointed by\nthe common council of the city of Watertown for a term of two years. The\nvoting members of the authority shall choose from their number a\nchairman by majority vote of such members then in office. Each member\nshall continue in office until such member's successor has been\nappointed and qualifies. Each appointment following the expiration of\nthe original terms of appointment shall be for a term of four years. In\nthe event of a vacancy occurring in the office of any member, other than\nby the expiration of a member's term, such vacancy shall be filled for\nthe balance of the unexpired term, if applicable, in the same manner as\nthe original appointment.\n 2. The powers of the authority shall be vested in the voting members\nthereof in office from time to time and a majority of voting members and\na majority of non-voting members shall constitute a quorum at any\nmeeting of the authority. In cases of a tie vote, the chairman shall\ncast an additional vote. No vacancy in the membership of the authority\nshall impair the right of such members to exercise all the rights and\nperform all the duties of the authority. Any action taken by the\nauthority under the provisions of this title may be authorized at a\nmeeting of the authority by resolution approved by a majority of the\ntotal number of voting members then in office, which resolution shall\ntake effect immediately, or, unless inconsistent with the provisions of\narticle seven of the public officers law, any action may be taken by a\nresolution circulated or sent to each member of the authority, which\nshall take effect at such time as all of the voting members then in\noffice shall have signed an assent to such resolution and such assents\nare filed with the minutes of the proceedings. Any non-voting member who\nserves as an officer or employee of the state, or any political\nsubdivision thereof, shall be entitled to designate a representative to\nattend, in his or her place, meetings of the board and to act in his or\nher behalf. Written notice of such designation shall be furnished to the\nboard by the designating member prior to any meeting attended by his\nrepresentative. Any representative shall serve at the pleasure of the\ndesignating member. No representative shall be authorized to delegate\nany of his duties or functions to any other person. The authority may\ndelegate by resolution to one or more of its members, officers, agents\nand employees such powers and duties as the voting members may deem\nproper.\n 3. The members of the authority shall serve without salary or other\ncompensation but each member shall be entitled to reimbursement for\nactual and necessary expenses incurred by such member in the performance\nof the official duties as a member.\n 4. Subject to the provisions of this subdivision, members of the\nauthority may engage in private employment, or in a profession or\nbusiness. The members, officers and employees of the authority shall be\ndeemed to be state officers or employees and the authority shall be\ndeemed to be a state agency solely for the purposes of sections\nseventy-three and seventy-four of the public officers law, which\nsections are hereby made applicable to the authority and its members,\nofficers and employees.\n 5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of this or any other\nlaw, general, special or local, no officer or employee of the state, or\nof any political subdivision thereof, shall be deemed to have forfeited\nor shall forfeit any public office or employment by reason of such\nperson's acceptance of a membership on the authority; provided, however,\na member who holds such other public office or employment shall receive\nno additional compensation or allowance for services rendered pursuant\nto this title, but shall be entitled to reimbursement for the actual and\nnecessary expenses incurred in the performance of such services.\n 6. A member may be removed from office by the board for inefficiency,\nneglect of duty, conflict of interest or misconduct in office after the\nauthority has given such member a copy of the charges against him or her\nand an opportunity to be heard in person, or by counsel in his defense,\nupon not less than ten days notice. If any member shall be so removed,\nthere shall be filed with the chairman of the authority a complete\nstatement of the charges made against such member and the finding of\nsuch board thereon, together with a complete record of the proceeding.\n 7. The authority and its corporate existence shall continue until\nterminated by law, provided, however, that no such law shall take effect\nso long as the authority shall have bonds, notes or other obligations\noutstanding, unless adequate provision has been made for the payment\nthereof. Upon termination of the existence of the authority, all of the\nrights and properties of the authority then remaining shall pass to and\nbe vested in the counties in accordance with such law.\n