GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1528

Short Title:  Civil War Commission/Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Kerr; Albertson, Cooper, Gulley, Gunter, Hoyle, Jordan, Marshall, Martin of Pitt, Perdue, and Sherron.
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Referred to:  State Personnel and State Government.
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May 25, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE CIVIL WAR CORRIDOR COMMISSION AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article 2 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Part to read:
"Part 30.  Civil War Corridor Commission.
"§ 143B-134.  Civil War Corridor Commission – powers and duties.
(a)	There is created within the Department of Cultural Resources the Civil War Corridor Commission.
(b)	The purpose of the Civil War Corridor Commission is to encourage the restoration, preservation, and enhancement of sites related to the American Civil War that are located along, in, and near the U.S. Highway 70 corridor running from Durham County to Carteret County, and including the seven counties of Durham, Wake, Johnston, Wayne, Lenoir, Craven, and Carteret.
(c)	The initial objectives of the Commission are (i) to bring about the enhancement of existing State Historic Sites at the Bennett Place in Durham County, at Bentonville Battleground in Johnston County, and at the Ram Neuse in Lenoir County; (ii) to enhance the State Park at Fort Macon; and (iii) to work to create three new historic attractions at the battlefields of Goldsborough Bridge in Wayne County, Wyse Fork in Lenoir County, and New Bern in Craven County.
(d)	In order to accomplish its purposes the Commission has the following powers and duties:
(1)	To encourage the county governments or their agencies, private groups or private individuals in Wayne, Lenoir, and Craven Counties, to acquire significant acreage on the battlefields of Goldsborough Bridge, Wyse Fork, and New Bern to form the basis for the establishment of historic attractions at these three locations.
(2)	To cooperate with and encourage the efforts of the Civil War Corridor Committee of the Eastern North Carolina Chamber of Commerce in its efforts to acquire funding from the private sector to provide these new attractions with visitor centers and to improve facilities at the existing sites of Bennett Place, Bentonville, and Fort Macon.
(3)	To solicit and accept gifts, grants, and other assistance for the furtherance of its purposes and the exercise of its powers.
(4)	To recommend to the Department of Cultural Resources the inclusion of additional sites along or adjacent to the corridor upon appropriate application by local sponsors, the manner and form of which shall be determined by the Commission.
(5)	To adopt and enforce such bylaws, rules, regulations, and guidelines that the Commission deems to be reasonably necessary in order to carry out its powers and duties.
"§ 143B-135.  Civil War Corridor Commission – members; terms; vacancies; expenses.
(a)	The Commission shall consist of 25 voting members as follows:
(1)	Twelve members to be appointed by the Governor, seven of whom shall be residents of the seven counties along the corridor as described in G.S. 143B-134(b);
(2)	One member to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives upon the recommendation of the House Cochair of the Eastern Delegation of the General Assembly;
(3)	One member to be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Senate Cochair of the Eastern Delegation of the General Assembly;
(4)	One member to be appointed by the Secretary of Cultural Resources;
(5)	One member to be appointed by the Secretary of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources;
(6)	One member to be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce;
(7)	Seven voting ex officio members who shall be the Chairs of the County Commissioners of the following seven counties or their designees – Durham, Wake, Johnston, Wayne, Lenoir, Craven, and Carteret;
(8)	One voting ex officio member who shall be the Secretary of the Eastern North Carolina Chamber of Commerce or the Secretary's designee.
(b)	Commission members shall serve four-year terms, and members may be reappointed to a maximum of two additional terms.  The Governor shall appoint a chairman from among the members of the Commission, who shall not serve more than two successive two-year terms as chairman.  Any appointment to fill a vacancy on the Commission created by the resignation, dismissal, death, or disability of a member shall be made by the Commission and shall be for the balance of the unexpired term.  The members of the Commission shall receive per diem and necessary travel and subsistence expenses in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 138-5.
A majority of the commission members shall constitute a quorum for purposes of forming its organization, but thereafter the Commission may provide its requirements for a quorum in its bylaws.
The Commission shall submit a periodic report to the Secretary of Cultural Resources, the Governor, and the General Assembly."
Sec. 2.  The Department of Cultural Resources, the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, and the Department of Commerce shall develop a plan and budget for coordination of the operation and promotion of the sites under their respective jurisdictions along the Civil War Corridor described in G.S. 143B-134(b), as enacted in Section 1 of this act, for presentation to the Commission.
Sec. 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Cultural Resources the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to implement the provisions of this act.
Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1994.