§ 64-7-110 — Powers and duties

(a) The regional council has the following powers and duties: (1) To organize itself into a public body, elect its officers and adopt bylaws for purposes of carrying out functions authorized under this chapter; (2) To receive and expend funds from any sources for staffing, for research, planning, coordination, economic development, demonstration projects and other activities deemed necessary to promote the efficient, harmonious and economic development of the region, to receive grants from private foundations for purposes of research and for demonstration projects oriented to human, physical and natural resources utilization; (3) To contract with local, state and federal agencies and with consultants for services to be provided; (4) To prepare broad plans for the economic development of the region including, but not limited to, comprehensive land use and plans for physical development. Such plans shall be made with the purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted, efficient and economic development of the region that will, in accordance with present and future needs and resources, best promote the health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity and welfare of the citizens, as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development and may include distribution of population, urbanization and the uses of land and resources for trade, industry, recreation, forestry, agriculture and tourism, that will tend to create conditions favorable to transportation, health, safety and otherwise promote the general welfare of the citizens, including the design and layout of industrial parks and feasibility studies for extension of utilities and services to areas deemed suitable for industrial development; (5) To cooperate and coordinate its activities with the local and state planning agencies and with development districts in developing and implementing plans for development; (6) To cooperate and coordinate its activities with the federal agencies responsible for developing natural, human and physical resources of the region and recommend projects that will enhance the development of all resources, to be carried out through existing governmental units or through a combination of these as applicable under state laws, including, but not limited to, the [former] Area Redevelopment Program [repealed] and the [former] Economic Opportunity Act [repealed]; (7) To cooperate with local and regional finance companies in assembling financial resources for commercial, industrial and other development; (8) To compile, prepare, publish and disseminate information about the economic resources of the region and about subareas; (9) To encourage and assist in the creation of private and semipublic, nonprofit organizations as needed and under existing laws of the state for carrying out specific projects and programs initiated under federal and state laws; (10) To enter into compacts and contractual arrangements with planning agencies of other adjoining or neighboring states for the purpose of preparing joint, comprehensive plans for development of a broader area or region. The regional council is hereby expressly authorized to expend funds for interstate planning, notwithstanding the fact that in doing so portions of such funds may be used for planning work outside of the state boundary; (11) To assume and perform all duties, powers, functions and obligations and is entitled to all rights under all contracts and agreements to which the Mid-Cumberland development district and the Mid-Cumberland council of governments is a party, including all funding and compensation due under the contracts and agreements, including, but not limited to, all state and federal grants and programs; (12) To contract with any other public agency singly or jointly to implement and administer public agency plans and to operate public agency programs and projects. Any other public agency has the power to contract with the regional council to implement and administer its plans and to operate its projects; (13) To discuss and make recommendations on matters involving intergovernmental cooperation brought to the attention of the regional council by the regional council members, nonmembers, local governments, units of the state and federal governments, quasi-governmental agencies or citizens of the region; (14) To initiate and/or request studies deemed necessary by the board of directors or the full regional council to further understanding of any matters or problems under consideration by the regional council; (15) To establish or designate any such committees, technical committees or advisory groups it deems necessary to assist the carrying out of its purposes and functions; (16) To accept contributions of funding and other assistance from: (A) Other public agencies; and (B) Private individuals, agencies, foundations, institutions, organizations, companies and/or corporations to further the planning or implementation functions described in this section and directed by the board of directors. The regional council shall not accept such private contributions when and if the contribution may be determined by the board of directors to be an effort to influence the regional council's actions, recommendations or plans; (17) To own or lease real and personal property that is necessary in order to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the regional council as set forth in this chapter; and (18) To have and exercise other authority as deemed necessary to further and promote the orderly and economic development of the state. (b) The regional council has powers and duties that enable it to function as a catalyst in the implementation of projects that are planned by or for the regional council or are for the benefit of a portion of the member local governmental units of the regional council. The regional council as a public agency and any one (1) or more local governments within the region as public agencies may join together to exercise their powers in the following manner: (1) Any power or powers, privileges or authority exercised or capable of exercise by a public agency of this state may be exercised and enjoyed jointly with any other public agency of this state having the power or powers, privilege or authority, and jointly with any public agency of any other state or the United States to the extent that laws of such other state or of the United States permit such joint exercise or enjoyment. Any agency of the state government when acting jointly with any public agency may exercise or enjoy all the powers, privileges and authority conferred by this chapter upon a public agency. The authority for joint or cooperative action of political subdivisions applies only to such powers, privileges or authority vested in their governing bodies, and no joint or cooperative agreement shall be entered into affecting or relating to the constitutional or statutory powers, privileges or authority of officers of political subdivisions or of agencies of political subdivisions having powers granted by statute independent of the governing body; (2) Any two (2) or more public agencies may enter into agreements with one another for joint or cooperative action pursuant to this chapter. Appropriate action of the governing bodies of the participating public agencies by resolution or otherwise pursuant to law is necessary before any such agreement may enter into force; (3) Any such agreement shall specify the following: (A) Its duration; (B) The precise organization, composition and nature of any separate legal or administrative entity or entities created thereby, which may include, but not be limited to, a nonprofit corporation, together with the powers delegated thereto; (C) Its purpose or purposes; (D) The manner of financing the joint or cooperative undertaking and of establishing and maintaining a budget for the undertaking; (E) The permissible method or methods to be employed in accomplishing the partial or complete termination of the agreement and for disposing of property upon such partial or complete termination; and (F) Any other necessary and proper matters; (4) In the event that the agreement does not establish a separate legal entity or entities to conduct the joint or cooperative undertaking, the agreement shall, in addition to subdivisions (b)(3)(A)-(F), contain the following: (A) Provision for an administrator or a joint board responsible for administering the joint or cooperative undertaking and, in the case of a joint board, public agencies party to the agreement shall be represented; and (B) The manner of acquiring, holding and disposing of real and personal property used in the joint or cooperative undertaking; (5) No agreement made pursuant to this chapter shall relieve any public agency of any obligation or responsibility imposed upon it by law, except that to the extent of actual and timely performance of the agreement by a joint board or other legal or administrative entity or entities created by an agreement made hereunder, those performances may be offered in satisfaction of the obligation or responsibility; (6) Financing of joint projects by agreement shall be as provided by law; (7) In the event that an agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter is between or among one (1) or more public agencies of this state and one (1) or more public agencies of another state or of the United States, the agreement shall have the status of an interstate compact, but in any case or controversy involving performance or interpretation thereof or liability thereunder, the public agencies party thereto shall be real parties in interest and the state may maintain an action to recoup or otherwise make itself whole for any damages or liability that it may incur by reason of being joined as a party therein. Such action shall be maintainable against any public agency or agencies whose default, failure of performance or other conduct caused or contributed to the incurring of damage or liability by the state; (8) In the event that an agreement made pursuant to this chapter deals in whole or in part with the provision of services or facilities with regard to which an officer or agency of the state government has constitutional or statutory powers of control, the agreement shall, as a condition precedent to its entry into force, be submitted to the state officer or agency having such power of control and shall be approved or disapproved by the state officer or agency as to all matters within the state officer's or agency's jurisdiction; (9) Any public agency entering into an agreement pursuant to this chapter may appropriate funds and may sell, lease, give or otherwise supply the administrative joint board or other legal or administrative entity created to operate the joint or cooperative undertaking by providing such personnel or services for the undertaking as may be within its legal power to furnish; (10) Any one (1) or more public agencies may contract with any one (1) or more public agencies to perform any governmental service, activity or undertaking that each public agency entering into the contract is authorized by law to perform; provided, that such contract shall be authorized by the governing body of each party to the contract. Such contract shall set forth fully the purposes, powers, rights, objectives and responsibilities of the contracting parties. Contracts entered into pursuant to this section need to conform to the requirements set forth in this chapter for contracts for joint undertakings; and (11) Nothing in this chapter prohibits any public agency from contracting with other public agencies under existing statutory or charter authority. (c) The regional planning function of the regional council shall be broadly interpreted from the functions in subsections (a) and (b) and shall also include specifically the following functions: (1) Developing, amending and redrafting regional goals, strategies, policies, standards and plans for the region, which goals, strategies, standards and plans may consist of, but are not limited to, a combination of the following elements: land use, transportation, water, sewer, solid waste, recreation and open space, housing and environmental concerns; (2) Reviewing and making recommendations on all comprehensive or general plans or major elements thereof developed by the local governments after the enactment of these provisions to ensure compatibility and consistency with regional goals, strategies, policies, standards and plans adopted by the regional council, which plans by the local governments include, but are not limited to, existing and future land use, functional transportation plan, public facilities plan to include water and sewer plans, capital improvements programs and budgets; (3) Reviewing all grant and loan requests from local governments or other organizations or agencies within the jurisdiction of the local governments to the state and federal governments and submitting recommendations and comments on these requests where appropriate as authorized previously by executive order of the governor; (4) Reviewing all regional impact projects; (5) Planning for any regional cooperative infrastructure projects and acting as a catalyst in the implementation of these projects by planning for these projects, assisting in the structuring of financing and financial arrangements and assisting in the formation of institutional arrangements for the construction and operation of these facilities; and (6) Calling for public hearings for the purpose of citizen participation on any of the above within the discretion of the board of directors, to resolve conflict between and among entities of local governments on any of the above, or to resolve conflicts between the regional council and any local government affected by a regional goal, policy, standard and plan. (d) The review processes as outlined in subdivisions (c)(2) and (3) are mandatory reviews, and the board of directors shall issue comments and/or recommendations to the local, state or federal governments as to the findings of these reviews. The comments and/or recommendations of the board of directors shall not be binding on these governmental units, but shall be viewed as advisory as are those of other reviewing bodies, such as local planning commissions. Review by the board of directors of items in subdivisions (c)(2) and (3) shall be based on the regional council's adopted regional goals, strategies, policies, standards and plans. (e) The review process as outlined in subdivision (c)(4) may be initiated by any of the following means: (1) A mayor or county mayor and/or legislative body whose city or county will be impacted by the project can request the review in accordance with procedures established by the board of directors; (2) The planning staff of any jurisdiction in which the project is proposed to be located and/or the planning commission that has jurisdiction over the review, recommendation or approval of the project; (3) The board of directors may request review of the proposed project; or (4) Any agency, commission or department of the state of Tennessee, adjoining state or federal government may request the regional council to review the project. (f) The board of directors' review, comments and/or recommendations regarding a regional impact project will be based on compatibility and consistency with regional goals, strategies, policies and plans, and it will also be based on an analysis of the probable impacts of the regional impact project. The impact analysis is designed to be an aid and an information source for mayors, county mayors, planning staffs, local planning commissions, city councils, and boards of county commissioners, state and federal agencies, commissions and departments in their evaluations of a project and an aid for adjacent jurisdictions to coordinate and plan for impacts that are created by these projects. (g) The review and recommendations process as outlined in subdivisions (c)(3) and (4) shall be completed by the board of directors within a maximum of thirty (30) days after its submission to the board of directors. Projects, grants and loan applications will be placed on the board of directors' next available agenda when received by the board of directors if the project, grant or loan application is received within fifteen (15) days of the meeting. If the project, grant or loan application is received by the board of directors less than fifteen (15) days prior to its next meeting, it will be placed on the agenda of the next subsequent meeting. If the board of directors fails to respond to a project, grant or loan application by failing to make a review and recommendation or fails to call for a public hearing within the thirty (30) days after its submittal, it is deemed acceptable or of no regional impact. The thirty-day review period may be extended, if the board of directors finds it is appropriate to do so in the public interest in order to conduct a public hearing. The review and recommendation of the board of directors on regional impact projects is an advisory function only. The ability to approve, modify or disapprove a regional impact project is wholly and completely within the jurisdiction of the local government in which the project is proposed to be located.

Legislative History

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 837, Secs.s 7, s 8 eff. 4/19/2022. Acts 1988, ch. 886, §1; 2003 , ch. 90, §2; 2009 , ch. 59, § 1.