§ 32 — Niagara thruway toll removal fund

§ 32. Niagara thruway toll removal fund. 1. There is hereby created\nwithin the department of transportation the "Niagara thruway toll\nremoval fund". The fund shall be a corporate governmental agency\nconstituting a public benefit corporation. It shall be administered by\nthree trustees, two of whom shall be appointed by the governor with the\nadvice and consent of the senate and the third shall be the commissioner\nof transportation.\n 2. The two trustees of the fund first appointed by the governor shall\nserve their terms ending December thirty-first, in nineteen hundred\nsixty-eight and nineteen hundred seventy, respectively. Persons\nappointed for full terms as their successors shall serve for six years\neach commencing as of the January first next following the year in which\nthe term of his predecessor expired. In the event of a vacancy occurring\nin the office of a trustee by death, resignation or otherwise, the\ngovernor shall appoint a successor in the same manner as an original\nappointment to serve for the balance of the unexpired term.\n 3. The trustees of the fund shall serve without salary, but each\ntrustee shall be entitled to reimbursement for his actual and necessary\nexpenses incurred in the performance of his official duties.\n 4. The trustees of the fund may engage in private employment, or in a\nprofession or business, subject to the limitations contained in sections\nseventy-three and seventy-four of the public officers law. The fund\nshall, for the purposes of such sections, be a "state agency", and the\ntrustees thereof shall be "officers" of the agency for the purposes of\nsaid sections.\n 5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of law, general,\nspecial or local, no officer or employee of the state, or of any civil\ndivision thereof, shall be deemed to have forfeited or shall forfeit his\noffice or employment by reason of accepting appointment as a trustee of\nthe fund.\n 6. The governor may remove any trustee for inefficiency, neglect of\nduty or misconduct in office after giving him a copy of the charges\nagainst him, and an opportunity to be heard, in person or by counsel, in\nhis defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. If any trustee shall\nbe removed, the governor shall file with the secretary of state a\ncomplete statement of charges made against the trustee, and his findings\nthereon, together with a complete record of the proceedings.\n 7. The chairman of the fund shall be designated by the governor, shall\npreside over all its meetings and shall have such other duties as the\ntrustees may direct. A vice-chairman who shall preside over all meetings\nof the fund in the absence of the chairman and shall have such other\nduties as the trustees may direct may be designated from time to time by\nthe trustees from among the other trustees.\n 8. The powers of the fund shall be vested in and exercised by no less\nthan two of the trustees then in office. The fund may delegate to one or\nmore of its trustees, or officers, agents and employees, such powers and\nduties as it may deem proper, provided, however, that all contracts\ninvolving an estimated expense of ten thousand dollars or more and all\nlease agreements to be entered into pursuant to section thirty-four of\nthis chapter shall be approved prior to execution by no less than two\ntrustees of the fund.\n 9. Officers and employees of other state agencies may be transferred\nto the fund and officers and employees of the fund may be transferred to\nother state agencies without examination and without loss of any civil\nservice status or rights. No such transfer, however, may be made except\nwith the approval of the head of the other state agency involved, the\ndirector of the budget and the chairman of the fund, and in compliance\nwith the rules and regulations of the state civil service commission.\n