§ 2779 — Albany county airport authority

§ 2779. Albany county airport authority. 1. (a) There is hereby\ncreated the Albany county airport authority. The authority shall be a\nbody corporate and politic constituting a public benefit corporation.\nThe authority shall consist of seven members who shall be residents of\nAlbany county. The members shall be appointed in the following manner:\nthree shall be appointed by the county executive and four shall be\nappointed by the majority leader of the county legislature. All\nappointments must be confirmed by the county legislature within thirty\ndays of the appointment. No more than four members may be enrolled\nmembers of the same political party. Of the members initially appointed\nby the county executive two each shall serve for a term ending December\nthirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-six and one shall serve for a term\nending December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven. Of the\nmembers initially appointed by the majority leader of the county\nlegislature, one shall serve for a term ending December thirty-first,\nnineteen hundred ninety-five; two each shall serve for a term ending\nDecember thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-six and one shall serve\nfor a term ending December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven.\nEach member shall serve a term of four years. The majority leader and\ncounty executive shall jointly designate one of the seven members to\nserve as the chairperson of the authority. The authority may provide for\nsuch officers as may be determined necessary and the same need not be\nmembers of the authority.\n (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this\nsubdivision the majority leader and county executive shall jointly\nsubmit to the county legislature the initial seven members of the\nauthority. Within thirty days, the county legislature must approve or\ndisapprove the appointment of the entire group of nominees but may not\nreject an individual member nor may it modify in any way the proposed\ngroup of members.\n 2. All members shall continue to hold office until their successors\nare appointed and qualify. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision\nthree of this section, vacancies shall be filled in the manner provided\nfor original appointment. Vacancies, occurring otherwise than by\nexpiration of term of office, shall be filled for the unexpired terms.\nMembers may be removed from office for the same reasons and in the same\nmanner as may be provided by law for the removal of officers of the\ncounty. The members of the authority shall receive no compensation for\ntheir services but shall be reimbursed for all their actual and\nnecessary expenses incurred in connection with the carrying out of the\npurposes of this title. The powers as set forth in the by-laws of the\nauthority shall be established and vested in and be exercised by the\nmembers of the authority at an initial meeting duly called and held and\nfive members shall constitute a quorum. No action shall be taken at the\naforementioned initial meeting or any adjournment thereof except\npursuant to the favorable vote of at least five members of the\nauthority. Any amendment to the aforementioned powers as set forth in\nthe by-laws shall only become effective upon the favorable vote of at\nleast five members of the authority.\n 3. The authority shall have a regional advisory board consisting of\nnot less than six non-voting members. The membership shall include, but\nnot be limited to, the chairperson of the airline affairs committee of\nthe Albany county airport and other members, one of whom shall be\nappointed by the legislative body of the county of Schenectady, one of\nwhom shall be appointed by the legislative body of the county of\nSaratoga, one of whom shall be appointed by the legislative body of the\ncounty of Rensselaer and two of whom shall be appointed by the\nlegislative body of the town of Colonie.\n 4. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of any general, special\nor local law, ordinance, resolution or charter, no officer, member or\nemployee of the state or of any public corporation shall forfeit his or\nher office or employment by reason of his or her acceptance of\nappointment as a member, officer or employee of the authority, nor shall\nservice as such member, officer or employee be deemed incompatible or in\nconflict with such office, membership or employment.\n 5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of any general, special\nor local law, ordinance, resolution or charter, no officer, member,\nelected official or employee of the county of Albany shall be eligible\nto serve as a member of the authority.\n 6. All members of the authority will be required to comply with the\nAlbany county code of ethics and to complete all disclosure forms\nrequired by said code of ethics.\n 7. The authority and its corporate existence shall continue until\nterminated by law, provided, however, that no such termination shall\ntake effect so long as the authority shall have bonds or other\nobligations outstanding unless adequate provision has been made for the\npayment or satisfaction thereof. Upon termination of the existence of\nthe authority, all of the rights and properties of the authority then\nremaining shall pass to and vest in the county of Albany in such a\nmanner as prescribed by law.\n 8. Within thirty days from the establishment of the authority, the\ncounty and authority shall undertake an environmental audit ("the\naudit") of the airport and its facilities. The audit shall be prepared\npursuant to an agreed upon scope of work between the county and the\nauthority prior to its undertaking and shall be used to establish the\nexisting environmental conditions of the airport and its facilities. As\na minimum the audit shall include, but not be limited to, the\nexamination and inspection of all property identified on the currently\napproved airport layout plan; all property adjacent to the airport\nlayout plan or otherwise used directly by the county in support of\nairport operations which will continue to be made available to the\nauthority for the same purposes in the future; all structures and\nfacilities on said properties including facilities used for the storage\nand handling of aviation, jet, automotive, heating or other fuel, oil,\npetroleum products or solvents; all storm water drainage systems\nincluding oil/water separators and systems for the collection or\ndiversion of airport and aircraft deicing agents. The results of the\naudit shall serve as a disclosure statement and will be taken into\nconsideration in any negotiations for any agreement between the county\nand the authority regarding the future operation of the airport.\n