§ 4. Purposes and powers
(a) The Authority is hereby created for the following purposes and is granted the following
authority: to purchase, own, operate, or provide for the operation of land transportation
facilities; and to contract for transit services; to conduct studies; and to contract
with other governmental agencies, private companies, and individuals.
(b) The Authority shall be a body politic and corporate with the powers incident to a
municipal corporation under the laws of the State of Vermont consistent with the purposes
of the Authority and shall further have the purposes and powers set forth herein.
(c) The Authority is granted the authority to exercise all powers necessary, appurtenant,
convenient, or incidental to the carrying out of the aforesaid purposes, including
the following rights and powers:
(1) To sue and be sued.
(2) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal.
(3) To acquire, purchase, hold, lease as a lessee, and use any franchise or property—whether
real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible—or any interest therein, necessary
or desirable for carrying out the purposes of the Authority, and to sell, lease as
lessor, transfer, or dispose of any property or interest therein acquired by it.
(4) To fix, alter, charge, and establish rates, fares, and other charges for the services
and facilities within its area of operation, which rates, fees, and charges shall
be equitable and just.
(5) To acquire and operate, or provide for the operation of local transportation systems,
public or private, within its area of operation.
(6) To make contracts of every name and nature and to execute all instruments necessary
or convenient for the carrying on of its business.
(7) To enter into management contracts with any person for the management of a public
transportation system controlled by the Authority for such period of time and under
such compensation and other terms and conditions as shall be deemed advisable by the
Authority.
(8) To accept gifts or grants or loans of money or other property and to enter into contracts,
leases, or other transactions with any federal agency, the State, any agency of the
State, or with any other public body of the State, including municipalities, school
districts, and other authorities.
(9) To borrow money and issue evidence of indebtedness as provided by 24 V.S.A. chapter
53. For the purpose of that chapter, the grand list of the Authority shall be deemed
to be the total of the grand lists of member municipalities, and the debt limit of
the Authority shall not be diminished by any obligation incurred by a member municipality
alone. Obligations incurred under such chapter shall be the joint and several obligations
of the Authority and of each member municipality but shall not affect any limitation
on indebtedness of a member municipality. The cost of debt service shall be included
in the annual budget of the Authority as provided in section 7 of this chapter and
shall be allocated among the member municipalities as set forth in section 7. Where
voter approval is required pursuant to 24 V.S.A. chapter 53, the Board of Commissioners
shall determine the number and location of polling places, and when a majority of
all the voters present and voting on the question from all of the member municipalities
at such meeting vote to authorize the issuance of bonds, the Board of Commissioners
shall be authorized to issue the bonds as provided in chapter 53. The counting of
ballots shall be conducted by the Board of Commissioners together with the town or
city clerk from each member municipality or his or her designee.
(10) To develop transportation plans and to coordinate its planning and programs with those
of appropriate municipal, county, and State agencies and other political subdivisions
of the State.
(11) Within Chittenden County and its member municipalities, to acquire by the exercise
of the power of eminent domain any real property that it may have found necessary
for its purposes, in the manner provided for the condemnation of land or rights therein
as set forth in 19 V.S.A. §§ 501-514, and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.
(12) To adopt necessary rules consistent with the provisions hereof.
(13) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient for the conduct of its business
and the general welfare of the Authority in order to carry out the powers granted
to it by this chapter or any other law. (Added 1973, No. 122, § 4, eff. Feb. 2, 1973; amended 2003, No. 56, § 48, eff. June 4, 2003; amended 2009, No. 71 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. July 1, 2011; 2015, No. 23, § 128.)