(A) Oath of office. Each Commissioner, before entering his duties, shall take and subscribe an oath of office, to be endorsed upon the certificate of his appointment, which oath of office and certificate of appointment shall be promptly filed with the Clerk-Treasurer.
(`92 Code, § 2-164)
(B) Annual organizational meeting. The Commission shall meet within thirty (30) days after its appointment at a time and place to be designated by the President of the Town Council, for the purpose of organizing, and, further, the Commission shall meet to reorganize in February of each succeeding year.
(`92 Code, § 2-165 )
(C) Officers of the Commission. The Commission shall elect one (1) of its members as President, one (1) of its members as Vice-President, and one (1) of its members as Secretary, and those officers shall serve from the date of their election until January 31 next following his election, and until his successor is elected and qualified.
(`92 Code, § 2-166)
(D) Rules, regulations, and by-laws. The Commission shall be authorized to adopt by- laws, rules and regulations as it may deem necessary. Regular or special meetings shall be held at a time that it may determine and upon such notice as it may fix either by resolution or in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws, rules and regulations adopted. A majority of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of a majority of the Commission at a meeting or unanimous consent signed by each Commissioner shall be sufficient to authorize any action. The records of the Commission are public records.
(`92 Code, § 2-167)
(E) Investigatory duties.
(1) The Commission shall investigate, study, and survey the need for additional job opportunities, industrial diversification, water services, and pollution control facilities in the unit and shall recommend action to improve or promote job opportunities, industrial diversification, water services, and availability of pollution control facilities in the unit.
(2) As part of an investigation under subsection (1), the Commission may participate in the financing of business appraisals and financial feasibility studies of the possible purchase of a business with operations in the Commission’s jurisdiction by the employees of that operation through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The employees must agree to repay the commission’s contribution to the cost of the appraisals and studies if such a purchase is successful.
(F) Powers of the Town related to economic development.
(1) The Town shall have all powers, privileges and duties as granted by I.C. 36-7-12 et seq., and hereinafter enacted with respect to the promotion of economic development, including, without limitation the following:
(a) To enter into agreements concerning, and acquire by any lawful means, land or interests in land and personal property needed for the purposes of the Commission;
(b) To exercise its power of eminent domain to acquire unimproved land, unoccupied economic development facilities, or pollution control facilities and the land relating to those facilities, for the purposes of the Commission;
(c) To purchase, lease as lessee, construct, remodel, rebuild, enlarge, or substantially improve economic development or pollution control facilities, including land, machinery, or equipment;
(d) To lease economic development or pollution control facilities to users or developers, with or without an option to purchase;
(e) To sell economic development or pollution control facilities to users or developers, for consideration to be paid in installments or otherwise;
(f) To make direct loans to users or developers for the cost of acquisiti9on, construction, or installation of economic development or pollution control facilities, including land, machinery, or equipment, with the loans to be secured by the pledge of one (1) or more taxable or tax-exempt bonds or other secured or unsecured debt obligations of the users or developers;
(g) To enter into agreements with users or developers to allow the users or developers to wholly or partially construct economic, development or pollution control facilities to be acquired by the unit;
(h) To issue bonds for economic development or pollution control facilities to accomplish the purposes of the Commission pursuant to Indiana law, and secure their payment;
(i) To establish reserves from the proceeds of the sale of taxable or tax-exempt bonds, other funds, or both, to secure the payment of the principal and interest on the bonds;
(j) To lend or deposit the proceeds of bonds to or with a lender for the purpose of furnishing funds to the lender for the purpose of making a loan to a specifically identified developer or user for the financing of specifically identified economic development or pollution control facilities; and
(k) To reimburse from bond proceeds expenditures for pollution control facilities or economic development facilities.
(2) This chapter does not authorize the financing of economic development facilities for a developer unless any written agreement that may exist between the developer and the user is fully disclosed to, and approved by, the Commission or the fiscal body of the unit.
(G) Removal of Commissioners. A Commissioner ita be removed from office for neglect of duty, incompetency, inability to perform his or her duties, or any other good cause, by the executive or fiscal body that selected or nominated him or her. The Commissioner removed may judicial review of the removal by filing a complaint in a circuit or superior court in the county, and the burden of proof is upon the executive or fiscal body that removed the Commissioner. The cause shall be placed on the advanced calendar and be tried as other civil causes are tried by the court, without a jury. The court’s judgment may be appealed in the manner as any civil action.
(Ord. 1, 1976, passed 3-15-76; Ord. 2016-26, passed 10-13-16)