GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2019

 

SESSION LAW 2019-97

HOUSE BILL 489

 

 

AN ACT renaming the lincolnton‑lincoln county airport authority as the LINCOLNTON‑LINCOLN COUNTY regional AIRPORT AUTHORITY, authorizing the airport authority to apply for and accept grants from the state and federal government, and making other changes to the enacting legislation.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

SECTION 1.  Chapter 10 of the Session Laws of 1996 Second Extra Session, as amended by Section 1 of S.L. 2016‑12 and Section 3 of S.L. 2017‑104, reads as rewritten:

"Section 1.  There is hereby created the "Lincolnton‑Lincoln County Regional Airport Authority"(for brevity hereinafter referred to as the "Airport Authority"), which shall be a body both corporate and politic, having the powers and jurisdiction hereinafter enumerated and such other and additional powers as shall be conferred upon it by general law and future acts of the General Assembly.

"Sec. 2.  The Airport Authority shall consist of five members, four of whom shall be appointed to staggered three‑year terms by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners and one of whom shall be appointed to a staggered three‑year term by the Lincolnton City Council. The member appointed by the Lincolnton City Council shall be a qualified voter of the City of Lincolnton. At least one member appointed by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners shall be a qualified voter of the City of Lincolnton. All four members appointed by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners shall be qualified voters of the County of Lincoln. Each member shall take and subscribe before the Clerk of Superior Court of Lincoln County an oath of office and file the same with the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners and the Lincolnton City Council. No member of the Airport Authority Board shall serve more than two consecutive term limits. The Chairman chair of the Board Airport Authority shall be annually designated by Lincoln County.

"Sec. 3.  The Airport Authority may adopt suitable bylaws for its management.  The members of the Airport Authority shall receive compensation, per diem, or otherwise as the Lincolnton City Council or the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners from time to time determines and shall be paid their actual traveling expenses incurred in transacting the business and at the instance of the Airport Authority.

"Sec. 4.  (a) The Airport Authority shall constitute a body, both corporate and politic, and shall have the following powers and authority:

(1)        To purchase, acquire, establish, construct, own, control, lease, equip, improve, maintain, operate, and regulate airports and landing fields for the use of airplanes and other aircraft within the limits of the County and for this purpose to purchase, improve, own, hold, lease, or operate real or personal property. The Airport Authority may exercise these powers alone or in conjunction with the City of Lincolnton or the County of Lincoln.

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(15)      On behalf of Lincoln County and the City of Lincolnton, to apply for federal and State grants and to accept offers made pursuant to 14 C.F.R. 151.29, et seq. The Airport Authority may unilaterally accept on behalf of Lincoln County and the City of Lincolnton any grant that requires a matching contribution of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or less from the County and City. In no case shall the Airport Authority agree or commit to provide matching contributions that exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in any one fiscal year. The dollar limitations in this subdivision may be increased upon the express approval of both the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners and the Lincolnton City Council.

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"Sec. 8.  The Airport Authority shall make an annual report to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners and the Lincolnton City Council setting forth in detail the operations and transactions conducted by it pursuant to this act.  The Airport Authority shall not have the power to pledge the credit of Lincoln County or the City of Lincolnton, or any subdivision thereof, or to impose any obligation on Lincoln County or the City of Lincolnton, or any of their subdivisions, except when that power is expressly granted by statute.as authorized under subdivision (15) of subsection (a) of Section 4 of this act.

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Sec. 14.  The Airport Authority shall elect officers from among its members a chair and other officers at its initial meeting and then annually thereafter.  A majority of the Airport Authority shall control its decisions.  Each member of the Airport Authority, including the chair, shall have one vote.  The Airport Authority shall meet at the places and times designated by the chair.

"Sec. 14.1.  The airport operated by the Lincolnton‑Lincoln County Regional Airport Authority shall be hereafter known as the "Lincolnton‑Lincoln County Airport."

"Sec. 14.2.  The airfield of the Lincolnton‑Lincoln County Airport shall be hereafter known as the "David E. Lowe Airfield."

"Sec. 15.  The powers granted to the Airport Authority shall not be effective until the members of the Airport Authority have been appointed by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners and the Lincolnton City Council, and nothing in this act shall require the Board of Commissioners or City Council to make the initial appointments.  It is the intent of this act to enable but not to require the formation of the Lincolnton-Lincoln County Airport Authority.

…."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 8th day of July, 2019.

 

 

                                                                    s/  Ralph E. Hise

                                                                         Presiding Officer of the Senate

 

 

                                                                    s/  Tim Moore

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives