The Port Authority created hereunder shall have full power and authority to:
(A) Purchase, construct, sell, lease, and operate docks, wharves, warehouses, piers, and other port, terminal, or transportation facilities within its jurisdiction consistent with the purposes of the Port Authority and to make charges for the use thereof;
(B) (1) Straighten, deepen, and improve any channel, river, stream, or other watercourse or way which may be necessary or proper in the development of the facilities of the Port;
(2) Establish dock lines, piers, and other facilities necessary to the conduct of pleasure boating within the territory under the jurisdiction, of the Port Authority; and
(3) Regulate and enforce the regulation of all uses and activities related to the port in the area under the jurisdiction of the Port Authority and to determine the use of land adjacent to waters under the jurisdiction of the Port Authority within a reasonable distance from the shorelines of the waters. However, the Port Authority shall not assess a charge or fee from the passage of a watercraft through the navigable waters of the state.
(C) Acquire, own, hold, sell, lease, or operate real or personal property for the authorized purposes of the Port Authority;
(D) (1) The Board of Directors may, by resolution, recommend to the Common Council of the city that the Council authorize general obligation, mortgage, or revenue bonds for any one or more than one of the following purposes:
(a) To acquire or improve the port or harbor sites;
(b) To acquire, construct, extend, alter, or improve structures, ways, facilities, or equipment necessary for the proper operation of the Port Authority or the port or harbor within its jurisdiction; and/or
(c) To refund outstanding bonds and matured interest coupons and issue and sell refunding bonds for that purpose.
(2) Prior to a recommendation authorized by division (D)(1) above, the Board shall give notice of a public hearing at which time the Board shall disclose the purpose for which the bond issue is proposed, the amount of the proposed issue and all other pertinent data. At least ten days prior to the date set for hearing, the Board shall publish in two newspapers of general circulation in the city, a notice of the time, place, and purpose of the hearing. If there is only one newspaper, one notice shall be sufficient;
(3) The governing body shall review the proposal of the Board of Directors of the Port Authority and if it approves shall provide for the advertisement and sale of the issue in compliance with I.C. 5-1-11, or future provisions of state law which may be applicable. For purposes of this chapter, I.C. 5-1-11 is intended to apply as fully to mortgage bonds as to general obligation or revenue bonds;
(4) Bonds issued under the authority of this chapter are not subject to limitations on interest rates;
(5) The Common Council shall fix the time and place of payment of principal and interest; but no issue shall have a maturity date in excess of 40 years from the date of issue;
(6) Bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter, together with the interest thereon, shall be tax-exempt as allowed by the laws of the state;
(7) The Common Council shall apply the proceeds from the sale of bonds exclusively to the purposes for which the bonds were issued and only to the extent necessary therefor; any remaining balance shall be placed in a sinking fund for the payment of the bonds and the interest thereon; and
(8) Nothing in this chapter shall affect existing obligations on outstanding bonds. In case the Board of Directors of the Port Authority is discontinued as provided under this chapter or under applicable state law, the primary obligations on its bonds shall remain unaffected; but, in addition, the city shall assume liability for the payment of the bonds according to their terms and in relation to its interest therein.
(E) The Port Authority created hereunder, with the approval of the Common Council, may sell, lease, or enter into a royalty contract for the natural or mineral resources of land which it owns. Monies received from these sources shall be deposited in the Nonreverting Capital Fund of the Port Authority;
(F) The Port Authority may apply to the proper authorities of the United States pursuant to appropriate law for the right to establish, operate, and maintain foreign trade zones within the limits of the Port Authority and to establish, operate, and maintain the foreign trade zones;
(G) Exercise the right of eminent domain to appropriate any land, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, or other property necessary or proper for the construction or the efficient operation of any facility of the Port Authority; and to award damages to land owners for real estate and property rights appropriated and taken or injuriously affected and in case the Board of Directors of the Port Authority cannot agree with the owners, lessees, or occupants of any real estate selected by them for the purposes herein set forth, it may proceed to procure the condemnation of the same as hereinafter provided, and in addition thereto, when not in conflict or inconsistent with the express provisions of this chapter, proceed under the general laws of the state governing the condemnation of lands and the rights-of-way for other public purposes which may be in force at the time, the provisions of the laws having been extended by the laws to ports and harbors and to the properties of port authorities. In any proceeding prosecuted by the Board of Directors of the Port Authority to condemn or appropriate any land or the use thereof or any right therein for purposes permitted by this chapter or under state law, the Board and all owners and holders of property or rights therein sought to be taken shall be governed by and have the same rights to as procedure, notices, hearings, assessments of benefits, and awards and payments thereof as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by law for the appropriation and condemnation of real estate and the property owners shall have like powers and rights as to remonstrance and of appeals to the Circuit or Superior Courts of the county; provided, that the payment of all damages awarded for all lands and property or interests or rights therein appropriated under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid entirely out of funds under the control of the Port Authority, except that:
(1) Upon written application of any property owner affected, the city, after ten days written notice to the Port Authority and public hearing had thereon, may revoke the right of eminent domain to be exercised by the Port Authority as to any parcel or parcels of land inside its borders within 60 days after the Port Authority has by resolution announced the lands, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, or other property to be taken.
(2) Nothing herein contained shall authorize the Port Authority to take or disturb property or facilities belonging to any public corporation, public utility, or common carrier, which property or facilities are necessary and convenient in the operation of the public corporation, public utility, or common carrier, unless provision is made for the restoration, relocating, or duplication of the property or facilities, or upon the election of the public corporation, public utility, or common carrier, for the payment of compensation, if any at the sole cost of the Port Authority; provided, that:
(a) If any restoration or duplication proposed to be made hereunder shall involve a relocation of the property or facilities, the new facilities and location shall be of at least comparable utilitarian value and effectiveness and the relocation shall not impair the ability of the public utility or common carrier to compete in its original area of operation; and
(b) Provisions for restoration or duplication shall be described in detail in the resolution for appropriation passed by the Port Authority.
(H) Accept, receive, and receipt for federal monies and other monies, either public or private for the acquisition, construction, enlargement, improvement, maintenance, equipment, or operation of a port or harbor or other navigation facilities and sites therefor; and to comply with the provisions of the laws of the United States and any rules and regulations made thereunder for the expenditure of federal monies upon ports and other navigation facilities;
(I) Maintain the funds as it, from time to time, deems necessary;
(J) Direct its agents or employees, when properly identified in writing, and after at least five days written notice, to enter upon lands within the confines of its jurisdiction in order to make surveys and examinations preliminary to location and construction of works for the purposes of the Port Authority, without liability to the Port Authority or its agents or employees except for actual damage done;
(K) Sell or lease real or personal property not needed for the operation of the Port Authority and grant easements or rights-of-way over property of the Port Authority;
(L) Promote, advertise, and publicize the port and its facilities; provide traffic information and rate information to shippers and shipping interests; appear before rate making authorities to represent and promote the interests of the Port Authority; and
(M) To have and do all other things necessary, convenient, and incidental to the execution of the foregoing powers and duties, together with those other powers and duties that may be specified in other sections of this chapter.
(Prior Code, § 44.06) (Ord. 0-99-0027, passed 12-20-1999)