§4568.4. Powers and duties

The commission shall have all powers necessary or convenient for carrying out its purposes, including, but not limited to the following rights and powers:

(1) To acquire, purchase, lease as lessee and hold and use any franchise, property, real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of the commission, and to sell, lease as lessor, transfer and dispose of any property or interest therein at any time acquired by it; however, title to all such property shall be acquired in the name of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury.

(2) To acquire by purchase, lease or otherwise and to construct, improve, maintain, repair and operate facilities which it deems necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes.

(3) To enter into agreements of any nature with any person or persons (natural or artificial), corporation, association or other entity, including public corporations, political subdivisions, municipalities, the United States government and agencies thereof, the state of Louisiana or any of its agencies, or any combination thereof or with instrumentalities of every kind, for the operation of all or any part of the properties and facilities of the park.

(4) To make and enter into contracts, conveyances, deeds of trusts, bonds and leases in the carrying out of its corporate objectives.

(5) To let contracts for the construction or acquisition in any other manner of property and facilities incident to the carrying out of the corporate purposes of the commission, which contracts shall be let in such manner as shall be determined by the commission, in accordance with R.S. 38:2211 through R.S. 38:2225, inclusive.

(6) To fix, maintain, collect and revise rates, charges and rentals for the facilities of the park and the services rendered thereby.

(7) To make bylaws for the management and regulation of its affairs.

(8) To cooperate and contract with the government of the United States or any department or agency thereof and with the state of Louisiana or any department, agency or political subdivision thereof and to accept gifts, grants and donations of property and money therefrom, with title to immovable property to be acquired in the name of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury.

(9) To cooperate with the state of Louisiana or any political subdivision, department, agency or corporation of the state for the construction, operation and maintenance of facilities designed to accomplish the purpose for which the commission is created on any basis including the matching of funds and by participating in projects authorized by any federal or state law as it shall see fit.

(10) To pledge all or any part of its revenues.

(11) To levy and collect an ad valorem tax on all immovable property within Ward Seven of Calcasieu Parish, when authorized by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors within Ward Seven voting at an election called by the commission and held, insofar as practicable, in accordance with the procedures set forth in Chapter 6-A of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, except that no voter shall be required to sign a ballot nor vote assessed valuation of property and election machines shall be used. Said tax shall be over and above all other authorizations for and any limitations on the imposition and collection of taxes within such area and shall not be included in computing any tax limitation whether fixed by the Louisiana Constitution or by law. Said tax, when levied, shall be from year to year or for such period of years as may be designated in the resolution by which the election is called on the question of the imposition of said tax.

(12) To incur debt and issue negotiable bonds of the commission from time to time for any purpose within the authority delegated to it and to pledge for the payment of the principal and interest of such bonds the avails of taxes authorized to be imposed pursuant to this Section, or the income and revenues derived or to be derived from the properties and facilities maintained and operated by it, or received by the commission from any other sources whatsoever, or any combination of the foregoing, and to prescribe the conditions and details of such bonds. Such bonds shall be authorized by a resolution or resolutions of the board of commissioners and shall be of such series, bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times not exceeding thirty years from their respective dates, bear such rate or rates of interest payable annually or semiannually, be in such denominations, be in such form, carry such registration and exchangeability provision, be payable in such medium of payment and at such place or places, be subject to such terms of redemption, and be entitled to such priorities on the income, revenue and taxes as such resolution or resolutions may provide. The bonds shall be signed by such officers of the commission as the commission shall determine and coupon bonds shall have attached thereto interest coupons bearing the facsimile signatures of such officer or officers as the commission shall designate. Any such bonds may be issued and delivered, notwithstanding that one or more of the officers signing such bonds or the officer or officers whose facsimile signature or signatures may be upon the coupons, shall have ceased to be such officer or officers at the time such bonds shall actually have been delivered. Said bonds shall be sold to the highest and best bidder therefor at a public sale after advertisement by the commission at least once a week for two consecutive weeks in the official journal of the district and in a newspaper of general circulation or a financial journal published in New Orleans, New York City or Chicago, with the first publications to be made at least fifteen days prior to the date fixed for the reception of bids, reserving to the commission the right to reject any and all bids and to readvertise for bids. If, after the advertisement as hereinabove provided, no bids are received, or if such bids as are received are considered in the discretion of the commission to be unsatisfactory and are therefore rejected, then the bonds may be sold by private sale but no private sale shall be made at a price less than the highest bid which may have been received. Notwithstanding the aforesaid provisions with respect to public sale such bonds may be sold to the federal government or any agency thereof through negotiated or private sale. The commission may in any resolution authorizing the issuance of such bonds enter into such covenants with the future holder or holders of the bonds as to the management and operation of facilities, the lease or rental thereof, the imposition and collection of fees and charges for services and facilities furnished by the commission, the disposition of such fees and revenues, the issuance of future bonds and the creation of future liens and encumbrances against such facilities and the revenues therefrom, the carrying of insurance on the facilities, the keeping of books and records, and other pertinent matters, as may be deemed proper by the commission to assure the marketability of the bonds, provided such covenants are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Section. Any holder of the bonds or of any of the coupons thereto attached may by appropriate legal action compel performance of all duties required of the commission and officials of the commission by this Section. If any bond issued hereunder is permitted to go into default as to principal or interest, any court of competent jurisdiction may pursuant to the application of the holder of the bond, appoint a receiver for the facilities of the commission which receiver shall be under the duty of operating the facilities and collecting and distributing the revenues thereof pledged to the payment of the bonds, pursuant to the provisions and requirements of this Section and the resolution authorizing the bonds. No proceedings with respect to the issuance of any such bonds shall be necessary except such as are contemplated by this Paragraph. For a period of thirty days from the date of publication of the resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds hereunder, any person in interest shall have the right to contest the legality of the resolution, the legality of the bond issue and the security therefor, for any cause, and the validity of all other provisions and proceedings in connection with the authorization and issuance of the bonds, after which time no one shall have any cause or right of action to contest the legality of said resolution or of the bonds authorized thereby or of any proceedings taken in connection therewith for any cause whatever. If no suit, action or proceeding is begun contesting the validity of the bond issue within the thirty days herein prescribed, the authority to issue the bonds and to provide for the payment thereof, the legality thereof and of all of the provisions of the resolution and other proceedings authorizing the issuance of the bonds shall be conclusively presumed, and no court shall have authority to inquire into such matters. Such bonds shall have all the qualities of negotiable instruments under the law governing commercial paper, and the bonds and the income therefrom shall be exempt from taxation by the State of Louisiana and by any parish, municipality or political subdivision of the state.

(13) To issue refunding bonds to refund any outstanding bonds issued pursuant to this Section. Such refunding bonds may be exchanged for the outstanding bonds or may be sold and the proceeds applied to the purchase, redemption or payment of the outstanding bonds or deposited in escrow for the retirement of such bonds. The refunding bonds shall be authorized in all respects as original bonds are herein required to be authorized, and the commission, in authorizing the refunding bonds, shall provide for the security of the bonds, the sources from which the bonds are to be paid and for the rights of the holders thereof in all respects as herein provided for other bonds issued under the authority of this Section. The commission may also provide that the refunding bonds shall have the same priority of lien on the taxes, income and revenues pledged for their payment as was enjoyed by the bonds refunded.

Added by Acts 1980, No. 489, §1.