New York Laws
Title 4 - Thousand Islands Bridge Authority
578 - Powers of the Authority.

§ 578. Powers of the authority. The authority shall have power and is
hereby authorized:

1. To sue and be sued in courts of general jurisdiction, whether
federal, state, or foreign, including but not limited to the supreme
court of the state of New York;

2. To have a seal and alter the same as its pleasure;

3. To acquire real property or rights or easements therein by
condemnation, pursuant to the condemnation law, and to acquire,
purchase, hold, dispose of and use any real or personal property or any
interest therein necessary, convenient or desirable to carry out any
purpose described in this title and to sell, at public or private sale,
convey, transfer, assign and dispose of any property or interest therein
at any time required by it in the exercise of its powers or when it may
determine it no longer needs the same for its corporate purposes, upon
such terms and for such consideration, if any, as it shall deem fit;

4. To lease, as lessor or as lessee, any real or personal property or
any interest therein for any purposes consistent with any purposes
described in this title or with the appropriate use of the authority's
facilities or with the convenience of the public using such facilities,
upon such terms and for such consideration, if any, as it shall deem
fit, provided, however, that no lease shall be made for a term of more
than ten years, including all renewal options, without the prior express
and formal approval and consent of the supervisors;

5. To make by-laws for the management and regulation of its affairs,
and to establish and change a fiscal year for its operations and
financial reporting purposes;

6. To determine as matters of policy what courses of action are in the
best interests of any bridge complex or other authorized purpose and to
pursue the same;

7. To appoint and remove such officers, agents and employees as it may
require for the performance of its duties, and to fix and determine
their qualifications, duties, and compensation and to retain or employ
and discharge counsel, auditors, engineers, architects and private
consultants on a contract basis or otherwise for rendering professional
or technical services and advice. To establish a practicable merit
system for the appointment and promotion of its employees. Neither the
authority nor any of its officers, employees, or agents shall be subject
to the provisions of the civil service law nor be under the jurisdiction
or subject to the rules of any civil service commission;

8. To use the agents, employees, facilities and equipment of the
county or of any town or political subdivision within the county or of
any board, agency or department thereof, to the extent agreement
therefor may be reached with the appropriate governing body, and to pay
such county, town or political subdivision its agreed proportion of the
compensation or costs;

9. To make contracts and agreements and to execute all instruments
necessary or convenient;

10. To construct, maintain, repair and operate the following bridges
and approaches thereto and roads:

One or more bridges across the easterly or American channel of the
Saint Lawrence river at a point at or near Collins landing in the town
of Orleans, in Jefferson county, New York, from the mainland to
Wellesley or Wells island.

One or more bridges across the westerly or Canadian channel of the
Saint Lawrence river at a point at or near Ivy Lea in the county of
Leeds, in the province of Ontario, from the mainland to Hill island.

One or more bridges across the International rift from a point on such
Wellesley or Wells island to such Hill island.

One or more roads on such Wellesley or Wells island connecting any
bridge across the American channel with any bridge across the
International rift.

One or more roads on such Hill island connecting any bridge across the
Canadian channel with any bridge across the International rift.

The approach roads connecting any of such bridges and tunnels with the
state highway system in New York and with the nearest highway in the
province of Ontario.

Any road connecting any of its facilities with any other or with any
state, county or town road, or any public highway, or any road providing
access for vehicles or pedestrians from one part of its real property to
another;

11. To construct and maintain over, under, along or across the bridges
and roads hereby authorized, telephone, telegraph or electric wires and
cables, gas mains, water mains, and other mechanical equipment not
inconsistent with the appropriate use of the bridges and roads or such
other facilities. To contract for such construction and maintenance and
to lease the right to construct, maintain and/or use the same on such
terms and for such consideration as it shall determine, provided,
however, that no lease shall be made for a term of more than ten years,
including all renewal option, without the prior express and formal
approval and consent of the supervisors;

12. To construct and maintain such buildings, structures,
improvements, roads, parking and other facilities as may be necessary or
convenient, to contract for such construction and maintenance and to
lease the right to construct, maintain and/or use such facilities on
such terms and for such considerations as it shall determine, provided,
however, that no lease shall be made for a term of more than ten years,
including all renewal options, without the prior express and formal
approval and consent of the supervisors;

13. To fix, charge and collect tolls for traffic across its bridges,
subject to any approval thereof or limitations or regulatory
restrictions thereto as required, fixed, or imposed by federal law of
either the United States of America or Canada, which shall in the
opinion of the authority be adequate to provide complete operation and
maintenance of all its facilities and programs, repay any indebtedness
of the authority as scheduled and agreed, establish and fund reserves
for the repair, improvement or replacement of any or all of its
facilities or the construction of any new facility which it may be
authorized to construct under this title, or which shall accomplish as
many of the foregoing purposes as may be practicable, and at a level
which shall not jeopardize or be unreasonably competitive with any other
similar toll charging facilities within a radius of fifty miles of
Collins Landing, New York;

14. To construct, maintain, repair and operate within the county one
or more facilities for the performance or display of any medium of the
arts, including but not limited to concerts, plays, exhibitions, and any
activity which could reasonably contribute to the cultural improvement
of the communities in the area of its influence;

15. To construct, maintain, repair and operate within the county one
or more facilities for conventions, meetings, sporting events of all
kinds, museums, any activity which could reasonably contribute to the
attraction of tourists and recreational development and industrial and
commercial developments;

16. To cooperate with the Watertown airport commission, the city of
Watertown, the county and any other agency or agencies to assist in the
improvement, enlargement, development, operation and promotion of the
Watertown international airport as an essential transportation facility

for the county and the adjacent territory, and to agree with said city
and county for the acquisition by the authority of such airport and to
operate and manage such airport;

17. To cooperate with the county and the municipalities therein
bordering on the Saint Lawrence river and on Lake Ontario and to assist
in the study, development, operation and promotion of suitable port and
docking facilities on said river and lake within or bordering the county
and the improvement of water-borne transportation, and to construct,
operate and manage such port and docking facilities as it may determine
to be in the public interest;

18. To make studies and surveys of the needs of the county for the
development and improvement of its transportation facilities, whether by
land, air or water and to report the results thereof and its
recommendations to the supervisors;

19. To enter on any lands, waters and premises for the purpose of
making surveys, soundings and examinations;

20. To fix and collect any payments, fees and other charges for the
use of any facility under its control other than bridges;

21. To borrow money and issue its negotiable bonds and notes or other
obligations for any of its corporate purposes and to provide for and
secure the payment thereof and to provide for the rights of the holders
thereof, subject to any limitations or conditions imposed thereon as
elsewhere in this title provided;

22. To put into effect and maintain fiduciary bonds on its members and
on any employee or agent who handles or controls money or assets of the
authority which could be embezzled or stolen, in such amounts as the
authority may deem reasonable or as requested by the county;

23. To put into effect and maintain insurance coverage protecting the
authority and its individual members from liability for errors and
omissions or from any act other than a willful violation of law which
constitutes a crime;

24. To make payments to any domestic or foreign subdivision of
government in which any of its facilities are situated, whether in lieu
of taxes or otherwise, in such amounts and at such times as the
authority may in its sole discretion determine, provided, however, that
if the authority is at the time of reference operating both in the
county and in the province of Ontario it shall endeavor in good faith to
make any such payments to Canadian political subdivisions or
municipalities and those to the county or subdivisions or municipalities
of such county in proportion to its income generated in such different
jurisdictions, as nearly as practicable, after taking into account any
taxes which are required to be paid and any services or facilities which
are required to be or are supplied for less than full payment;

25. To engage in such advertising and promotion of the bridges, bridge
complex, and of the areas adjacent thereto and within a radius of fifty
miles thereof, and of such of its other authorized purposes, as it in
its sole discretion shall determine. Such promotion shall be deemed to
include but not be limited to the promotion of tourism in the county and
the southern portion of the province of Ontario, Canada, including the
Front of Leeds and Lansdowne;

26. To cooperate and participate in or to initiate any public
promotions, parades, special events, area promotions, historical
pageants, and the like held within fifty miles of Collins Landing, New
York;

27. To invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any
moneys not required for immediate use or disbursement, at the discretion
of the authority in (a) obligations of the state or the United States
government, or any political subdivision, agency and instrumentality of

either; (b) obligations of the province of Ontario or of the federal
government of Canada, or any political subdivision or agency and
instrumentality of either, (c) obligations the principal and interest of
which are guaranteed by the state or the United States government, or by
the province of Ontario or the federal government of Canada, (d)
certificates of deposit of banks or trust companies in this state or in
the province of Ontario secured, if the authority shall so require, by
obligations described in (a), (b), or (c) above or other marketable
securities eligible as security for the deposit of trust funds under
regulations of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System with
a market value equal at all times to the amount on deposit;

28. To combine any two or more of its purposes or facilities into a
single project for financing purposes;

29. To use revenues, income or funds from any source to create,
construct, reconstruct, support, operate, repair and maintain any one or
more of its other purposes or facilities;

30. To make rules and regulations governing the use by the public of
the bridges, the bridge complex, and any facility owned or operated by
it;

31. To establish a code of ethics and rules regarding conflict of
interest for the members of its board and its employees and agents;

32. To accept public or private gifts or grants of funds or property;

33. To engage in any activity permitted by law which in its judgment
would be convenient for the public using any of its facilities;

34. To enter into agreements with the government of the Dominion of
Canada or the province of Ontario, or any political subdivision of
either, for the construction and operation in Canada of any of the
bridges and facilities authorized hereunder and for the application of
revenues collected by the authority for the use of the bridges and
facilities operated by it in Canada;

35. To do in the province of Ontario anything it is authorized or
permitted to do in the state of New York and which is permitted by the
laws of such foreign jurisdiction;

36. To exercise any of its powers alone or in conjunction with any
political subdivision;

37. To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers
enumerated above and to effectuate their general intent and purpose. The
foregoing specification of powers shall not be construed as in any way
limiting or denying the usual implied powers, it being the intent that
the authority shall have full power to manage its affairs generally with
the same freedom from the restrictions which apply to municipalities as
do boards of directors of privately owned corporations.

38. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, the authority shall not
initially enter into any general activity category authorized in
subdivisions fourteen through seventeen of this section, including but
not limited to the construction or operation of any performing arts
center, cultural improvement project, convention hall, sports arena,
museum, industrial or commercial development project, airport, port,
marina or docking facility, until and unless it has been formally
requested to do so by the supervisors by resolution duly adopted.