NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1965 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 200

HOUSE BILL 297

 

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PERSON-CASWELL LAKE AUTHORITY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. The County Commissioners of Person and Caswell Counties are authorized and empowered to create and establish an authority to be known as the "Person-Caswell Lake Authority." The Authority shall consist of three residents of Person County selected by the Board of County Commissioners of Person County and two residents of Caswell County selected by the Board of County Commissioners of Caswell County. Each member of the Authority shall serve at the pleasure of the Board of County Commissioners which selected him.

Sec. 2. Within ten days after the appointment of all of the members of the said Authority, the Authority shall hold its first meeting, at which the Authority shall elect a chairman, a vice-chairman and a secretary. The chairman and the vice-chairman shall be members of the Authority, but the secretary need not be a member of the Authority. These officers shall perform the duties usually pertaining to such offices and when elected shall serve for a period of one year, but may be reelected. In case of vacancies by resignation or death, the office shall be filled by the Authority for the unexpired term of said officer. The Authority shall meet at such times and places as may be designated by its chairman and may also be called at such times as may be requested by any three members of the Authority. The Authority shall adopt such other rules, regulations and bylaws governing the operation of the Authority as it shall deem necessary. Three members of the Authority shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. From and after its organizational meeting, the Authority shall have the powers and duties herein provided, and as otherwise provided by law.

Sec. 3. The Authority is authorized:

(a)       To secure by purchase, by gift or by lease such lands and waters within the Hyco River Watershed in Person and Caswell Counties as may, in the sole discretion of the Authority, be most desirable and practicable for public recreation in the two counties.

(b)       To recommend to the respective Boards of County Commissioners of Person and Caswell Counties such zoning laws within the Hyco River Watershed in the two counties as may in the opinion of the authority be most conducive to the orderly development of the area for public recreation, giving due attention to the existing and potential agricultural, commercial and industrial interests of the area.

(c)       To construct upon any lands acquired by the Authority, by deed, by will, or by lease, suitable facilities for public recreation, including, but not limited to, roads, parking areas, and sanitary facilities, provided such construction is not in conflict with the provisions of the respective instruments under which the Authority may have acquired such fee or leasehold, and to charge reasonable fees for the use of said lands and facilities.

(d)       To lease to others, including governmental agencies, such lands as the Authority may acquire in fee upon such terms as to the Authority may be desirable not in conflict with the provisions of the respective instruments under which the Authority acquired its title.

(e)       To sublease to others, including governmental agencies, such lands as the Authority may lease from the respective owners of the fee upon such terms as the Authority may deem desirable not inconsistent with the provisions of the original lease or leases.

(f)        To initiate and carry out policies which will promote the development of the Hyco River Watershed and bodies of water within it over which the Authority may acquire control under the provisions of subparagraph (a) above to the fullest extent possible for the benefit of the citizens of the two counties, of North Carolina and of the Nation. It shall advise and confer with the various departments, agencies, commissions and officials of the various interested governmental agencies which may be directly or indirectly concerned in the development of the resources of this area.

(g)       To employ personnel to assist in the implementation of the duties imposed upon it.

(h)       To recommend to the Boards of County Commissioners of Person and Caswell Counties the adoption of ordinances regulating the use by the public of the waters and lands under the supervision and control of the Authority and of recreation facilities established thereon.

Upon application by the Authority, the Governor is hereby authorized and empowered to commission as special officers such of the employees of the Authority as the Authority may designate for the purpose of enforcing the laws and ordinances for the protection, preservation and government of the lands and waters under the supervision or control of the Authority. Employees so commissioned special officers as herein provided shall be required to give bond and to take an oath as provided for special peace officers under G. S. 113-28.3 and 113-28.4. Any such special officer shall have the right to arrest with warrant any person violating any law or ordinance on or relating to the waters and lands under the supervision or control of the Authority, and shall have the right to pursue and arrest without warrant any person violating in his presence any law or ordinance on or relating to the waters and lands under the supervision or control of the Authority.

The Authority and the Boards of County Commissioners of Person and Caswell Counties may enter into agreements to provide for policing of the waters and lands under the supervision or control of the Authority by deputy sheriffs of the respective counties, and the Authority is authorized to expend its funds for such purposes.

(i)        To purchase insurance to protect against liability and losses.

Sec. 4. The Authority shall forward to the Boards of Commissioners of Person and Caswell Counties copies of the minutes of each of its meetings.

Sec. 5. The travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the members of the Authority shall be reimbursed by the Authority.

Sec. 6. The Boards of County Commissioners of the Counties of Person and Caswell and the municipalities within said counties are authorized and empowered to make annual contributions to the Authority for the purpose of defraying the necessary expenses of operation, and the Authority is authorized and empowered to accept grants or donations from any interested persons or from any State or Federal agency.

Sec. 7. All revenues and funds received by the Authority shall be ap­plied to the purposes set out in the foregoing provisions of this Act.

Sec. 8. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 9. This Act shall become effective upon its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 8th day of April, 1965.