Public Act 0279 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3664 Enrolled LRB099 09450 AWJ 29657 b

Public Act 099-0279

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The America's Central Port District Act is amended by changing Sections 3, 3.1, and 4 as follows:

(70 ILCS 1860/3) (from Ch. 19, par. 286)

Sec. 3. There is created a political subdivision, body politic, and municipal corporation by the name of America's Central Port District embracing the following territory in Madison and Jersey Counties: all the territory included within the townships of Granite City, Venice, Nameoki, Chouteau, Wood River, Alton, Godfrey, and Elsah, and the City of Grafton Quarry. Territory may be annexed to the District in the manner hereinafter provided in this Act. The District may sue and be sued in its corporate name but execution shall not in any case issue against any property of the District. It may adopt a common seal and change the same at its pleasure.

(Source: P.A. 98-854, eff. 1-1-15.)

(70 ILCS 1860/3.1) (from Ch. 19, par. 286.1)

Sec. 3.1. It is declared that the main purpose of this Act is to promote economic development, including industrial, commercial and transportation activities, thereby reducing the evils attendant upon unemployment and enhancing the public health and welfare of this State.

All property of every kind belonging to the Port District shall be exempt from taxation, provided that taxes may be assessed and levied upon a lessee of the District by reason of the value of a leasehold estate separate and apart from the fee or upon such improvements as are constructed and owned by others than the District. All property of the District shall be construed as constituting public property owned by a municipal corporation and used exclusively for public purposes within the provisions of Section 15-155 of the Property Tax Code.

(Source: P.A. 88-670, eff. 12-2-94.)

(70 ILCS 1860/4) (from Ch. 19, par. 287)

Sec. 4. The Port District has the following rights and powers:

1. To issue permits: for the construction of all wharves, piers, dolphins, booms, weirs, breakwaters, bulkheads, jetties, bridges or other structures of any kind, over, under, in, or within 40 feet of any navigable waters within the Port District; for the deposit of rock, earth, sand or other material, or any matter of any kind or description in such waters; except that nothing contained in this paragraph 1 shall be construed so that it will be deemed necessary to obtain a permit from the District for the erection, operation or maintenance of any bridge crossing a waterway which serves as a boundary between the State of Illinois and any other State, when such erection, operation or maintenance is performed by any city within the District;

2. To prevent or remove obstructions in navigable waters, including the removal of wrecks;

3. To locate and establish dock lines and shore or harbor lines;

4. To regulate the anchorage, moorage and speed of water borne vessels and to establish and enforce regulations for the operation of bridges, except nothing contained in this paragraph 4 shall be construed to give the District authority to regulate the operation of any bridge crossing a waterway which serves as a boundary between the State of Illinois and any other State, when such operation is performed or to be performed by any city within the District;

5. To acquire, own, construct, lease for any period not exceeding 99 years, operate and maintain terminals, terminal facilities and port facilities, to fix and collect just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory charges for the use of such facilities, and, except as provided herein for short term financing, to use the charges so collected to defray the reasonable expenses of the Port District and to pay the principal of and interest on any revenue bonds issued by the District;

6. To acquire, erect, construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, operate and lease in whole or part for any period not exceeding 99 years, central office or administrative facilities for use by the Port District, any tenant, occupant or user of the District facilities, or anyone engaged in commerce in the District.

7. To sell, assign, pledge or hypothecate in whole or in part any contract, lease, income, charges, tolls, rentals or fees of the District to provide short term interim financing pending the issuance of revenue bonds by the District, provided that when such revenue bonds are issued, such contracts, leases, income, charges, tolls, rentals or fees shall be used to defray the reasonable expenses of the Port District and pay the principal of and income on any revenue bonds issued by the District;

8. To acquire, own, construct, lease for any period not exceeding 99 years, operate, develop and maintain Port District water and sewerage systems including but not limited to pipes, mains, lines, sewers, pumping stations, settling tanks, treatment plants, water purification equipment, wells, storage facilities and all other equipment, material and facilities necessary to such systems, for the use upon payment of a reasonable fee as set by the District, of any tenant, occupant or user of the District facilities, or anyone engaged in commerce in the District, provided that the District shall not acquire, own, construct, lease, operate, develop and maintain such water and sewerage systems if such services can be provided by a public utility or municipal corporation upon request of the District, and provided further that if the District develops its own water and sewerage systems such systems may be sold or disposed of at anytime to any public utility or municipal corporation which will continue to service the Port District.

9. To create, establish, maintain and operate a public incinerator for waste disposal by incineration by any means or method, for use by municipalities for the disposal of municipal wastes and by industries for the disposal of industrial waste; and to lease land and said incineration facilities for the operation of an incinerator for a term not exceeding 99 years and to fix and collect just, reasonable and non-discriminatory charges for the use of such incinerating facilities, and to use the charges or lease proceeds to defray the reasonable expenses of the Port District, and to pay the principal of and interest on any revenue bonds issued by the Port District.

10. To locate, establish and maintain a public airport, public airports and public airport facilities within its corporate limits or within or upon any body of water adjacent thereto, and to construct, develop, expand, extend and improve any such airport or airport facilities;

11. To operate, maintain, manage, lease or sublease for any period not exceeding 99 years, and to make and enter into contracts for the use, operation or management of, and to provide rules and regulations for, the operation, management or use of, any public airport or public airport facility;

12. To fix, charge and collect reasonable rentals, tolls, fees, and charges for the use of any public airport, or any part thereof, or any public airport facility;

13. To establish, maintain, extend and improve roadways and approaches by land, water or air to any such airport and to contract or otherwise provide, by condemnation if necessary, for the removal of any airport hazard or the removal or relocation of all private structures, railways, mains, pipes, conduits, wires, poles, and all other facilities and equipment which may interfere with the location, expansion, development, or improvement of airports or with the safe approach thereto or take-off therefrom by aircraft, and to pay the cost of removal or relocation; and, subject to the "Airport Zoning Act", approved July 17, 1945, as amended, to adopt, administer and enforce airport zoning regulations for territory which is within its corporate limits or which extends not more than 2 miles beyond its corporate limits;

14. To restrict the height of any object of natural growth or structure or structures within the vicinity of any airport or within the lines of an approach to any airport and, when necessary, for the reduction in the height of any such existing object or structure, to enter into an agreement for such reduction or to accomplish same by condemnation;

15. To agree with the state or federal governments or with any public agency in respect to the removal and relocation of any object of natural growth, airport hazard or any structure or building within the vicinity of any airport or within an approach and which is owned or within the control of such government or agency and to pay all or an agreed portion of the cost of such removal or relocation;

16. For the prevention of accidents, for the furtherance and protection of public health, safety and convenience in respect to aeronautics, for the protection of property and persons within the District from any hazard or nuisance resulting from the flight of aircraft, for the prevention of interference between, or collision of, aircraft while in flight or upon the ground, for the prevention or abatement of nuisances in the air or upon the ground or for the extension or increase in the usefulness or safety of any public airport or public airport facility owned by the District, the District may regulate and restrict the flight of aircraft while within or above the incorporated territory of the District;

17. To police its physical property only and all waterways and to exercise police powers in respect thereto or in respect to the enforcement of any rule or regulation provided by the ordinances of the District and to employ and commission police officers and other qualified persons to enforce the same. The use of any such public airport or public airport facility of the District shall be subject to the reasonable regulation and control of the District and upon such reasonable terms and conditions as shall be established by its Board. A regulatory ordinance of the District adopted under any provision of this Section may provide for a suspension or revocation of any rights or privileges within the control of the District for a violation of any such regulatory ordinance. Nothing in this Section or in other provisions of this Act shall be construed to authorize such Board to establish or enforce any regulation or rule in respect to aviation, or the operation or maintenance of any airport facility within its jurisdiction, which is in conflict with any federal or state law or regulation applicable to the same subject matter;

18. To enter into agreements with the corporate authorities or governing body of any other municipal corporation or any political subdivision of this State to pay the reasonable expense of services furnished by such municipal corporation or political subdivision for or on account of income producing properties of the District;

19. To enter into contracts dealing in any manner with the objects and purposes of this Act;

20. To acquire, own, lease, sell or otherwise dispose of interests in and to real property and improvements situate thereon and in personal property necessary to fulfill the purposes of the District;

21. To designate the fiscal year for the District;

22. To engage in any activity or operation which is incidental to and in furtherance of efficient operation to accomplish the District's primary purpose;

23. To apply to proper authorities of the United States of America pursuant to appropriate Federal Law for the right to establish, operate, maintain and lease foreign trade zones and sub-zones which may be located within or outside the territory within the limits of America's Central Port District and to establish, operate, maintain, and lease such , or its limits as approved foreign trade zones and the subzones by the United States Foreign-Trade Zones Board, or within the jurisdiction of the United States Customs Service Office of the St. Louis Port of Entry and to establish, operate, maintain and lease such foreign trade zones and the sub-zones;

24. To operate, maintain, manage, lease, or sublease for any period not exceeding 99 years any former military base owned or leased by the District and within its jurisdictional boundaries, to make and enter into any contract for the use, operation, or management of any former military base owned or leased by the District and located within its jurisdictional boundaries, and to provide rules and regulations for the development, redevelopment, and expansion of any former military base owned or leased by the District and located within its jurisdictional boundaries;

25. To locate, establish, re-establish, expand or renew, construct or reconstruct, operate, and maintain any facility, building, structure, or improvement for a use or a purpose consistent with any use or purpose of any former military base owned or leased by the District and located within its jurisdictional boundaries;

26. To acquire, own, sell, convey, construct, lease for any period not exceeding 99 years, manage, operate, expand, develop, and maintain any telephone system, including, but not limited to, all equipment, materials, and facilities necessary or incidental to that telephone system, for use, at the option of the District and upon payment of a reasonable fee set by the District, of any tenant or occupant situated on any former military base owned or leased by the District and located within its jurisdictional boundaries;

27. To cause to be incorporated one or more subsidiary business corporations, wholly owned by the District, to own, operate, maintain, and manage facilities and services related to any telephone system, pursuant to paragraph 26. A subsidiary corporation formed pursuant to this paragraph shall (i) be deemed a telecommunications carrier, as that term is defined in Section 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act, (ii) have the right to apply to the Illinois Commerce Commission for a Certificate of Service Authority or a Certificate of Interexchange Service Authority, and (iii) have the powers necessary to carry out lawful orders of the Illinois Commerce Commission;

28. To improve, develop, or redevelop any former military base situated within the boundaries of the District, in Madison County, Illinois, and acquired by the District from the federal government, acting by and through the United States Maritime Administration, pursuant to any plan for redevelopment, development, or improvement of that military base by the District that is approved by the United States Maritime Administration under the terms and conditions of conveyance of the former military base to the District by the federal government;

29. To acquire, erect, construct, maintain and operate aquariums, museums, planetariums, climatrons and other edifices for the collection and display of objects pertaining to natural history or the arts and sciences, or sports facilities and to permit the directors or trustees of any corporation or society organized for the erection, construction, maintenance and operation of an aquarium, museum, planetarium, climatrons, sports facilities or other such edifice to perform such erection, construction, maintenance and operation on or within any property now or hereafter owned by or under the control or supervision of the District; and to contract with any such directors or trustees relative to such acquisition, erection, construction, maintenance and operation and to authorize such directors or trustees to charge an admission fee, the proceeds of which shall be devoted exclusively to such erection, construction, maintenance and operation;

30. To acquire, erect, construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain and operate one or more, or a combination or combinations of, industrial buildings, office buildings, residential buildings, buildings to be used as a factory, mill shops, processing plants, packaging plants, assembly plants, fabricating plants, and buildings to be used as warehouses and other storage facilities;

31. To establish, organize, own, acquire, participate in, operate, sell, and transfer cause to be incorporated one or more subsidiary business entities corporations to own, operate, maintain, and manage facilities and services related to the community and economic development interests of the District, including, but not limited to, any terminal, terminal facilities, airfields, airports, port facilities, or real property of the District, whether as shareholder, partner, or co-venturer, alone or in cooperation with federal, state, or local governmental authorities or any other public or private corporation or person or persons. Such subsidiary business entities corporations and all of the property thereof, wholly or partly owned, directly or indirectly, by the District, shall have the same privileges and immunities as accorded to the District; and subsidiary business entities corporations may borrow money or obtain financial assistance from private lenders or federal and state governmental authorities or issue revenue bonds with the same kinds of security, and in accordance with the same procedures, restrictions and privileges applicable when the District obtains financial assistance or issues bonds for any of its other authorized purposes. For purposes of this paragraph, "business entities" means a person, partnership, association, public or private corporation, or similar organization, whether operated for profit or not for profit.

(Source: P.A. 98-854, eff. 1-1-15.)