143B-1253. Creation of authority.

If the council of any city in the State having a population of more than one hundred thousand, according to the last federal census, shall, upon such investigation as it deems necessary, determine:

(1) That there is a lack of adequate veterans' recreation facilities and accommodations from the operations of public or private enterprises in the city and surrounding area; and/or

(2) That the public interest requires the construction, maintenance or operation of a veterans' recreation project for the veterans thereof, the council shall adopt a resolution so finding (which need not go into any detail other than the mere finding), and shall cause notice of such determination to be given to the mayor, who shall thereupon appoint, as hereinafter provided, five commissioners to act as an authority. Said Commission shall be a public body and a body corporate and politic upon the completion of the taking of the following proceedings:

The commissioners shall present to the Secretary of State an application signed by them, which shall set forth (without any detail other than the mere recital): (i) that the council has made the aforesaid determination after such investigation, and that the mayor has appointed them as commissioners; (ii) the name and official residence of each of the commissioners, together with a certified copy of the appointment evidencing their right to office, the date and place of induction into and taking oath of office, and that they desire the recreation authority to become a public body and a body corporate and politic under this Part; (iii) the term of office of each of the commissioners; (iv) the name which is proposed for the corporation; and (v) the location and the principal office of the proposed corporation. The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of the said commissioners before an officer authorized by the laws of the State to take and certify oaths, who shall certify upon the application that he personally knows the commissioners and knows them to be the officers as asserted in the application, and that each subscribed and swore thereto in the officer's presence. The Secretary of State shall examine the application, and if he finds that the name proposed for the corporation is not identical with that of a person or of any other corporation of this State or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion and uncertainty, he shall receive and file it and shall record it in an appropriate book of record in his office.

When the application has been made, filed and recorded, as herein provided, the authority shall constitute a public body and a body corporate and politic under the name proposed in the application; the Secretary of State shall make and issue to the said commissioners a certificate of incorporation pursuant to this Part, under the seal of the State, and shall record the same with the application.

The boundaries of such authority shall include said city and the area within 10 miles from the territorial boundaries of said city, but in no event shall it include the whole or a part of any other city nor any area included within the boundaries of another authority. In case an area lies within 10 miles of the boundaries of more than one city, such area shall be deemed to be within the boundaries of the authority embracing such area which was first established, all priorities to be determined on the basis of the time of the issuance of the aforesaid certificates by the Secretary of State. After the creation of an authority, the subsequent existence within its territorial boundaries of more than one city shall in no way affect the territorial boundaries of such authority.

In any suit, action or proceeding involving the validity or enforcement of or relating to any contract of the authority, the authority shall be conclusively deemed to have been established in accordance with the provisions of this Part upon proof of the issuance of the aforesaid certificate by the Secretary of State. A copy of such certificate, duly certified by the Secretary of State, shall be admissible evidence in any such suit, action or proceeding, and shall be conclusive proof of the filing and contents thereof.