159B-43.1. Alternative to board of commissioners.

(a) In lieu of the provisions of G.S. 159B-43(c) through (i), a joint municipal assistance agency organized by two or more joint agencies, by resolutions adopted by each of those joint agencies, may be governed by an executive committee created pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 159B-10. In that case, the commissioners of the joint municipal assistance agency appointed pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 159B-43(a) and (b) shall adopt a resolution substantially identical to the resolutions adopted by the joint agencies creating the executive committee. The terms of office, methods of filling vacancies, and such other matters involving the executive committee shall be as set forth in those resolutions.

(b) In connection with a joint municipal assistance agency governed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, member municipalities of that joint municipal assistance agency which are not members of the joint agencies organizing that joint municipal assistance agency and nonmunicipal members, as defined in G.S. 159B-50, may elect members to the executive committee pursuant to those procedures as they agree upon among themselves, but subject to the following: if the number of the member municipalities and nonmunicipal members is seven or less, those municipalities and nonmunicipal members, acting jointly, may appoint one member to the executive committee, and if the number of the member municipalities and nonmunicipal members is more than seven, those member municipalities and nonmunicipal members, acting jointly, may appoint two members to the executive committee.

(c) Members of the executive committee appointed by the member municipalities and nonmunicipal members, and members of any subcommittee created by those member municipalities and nonmunicipal members, may receive compensation, and be paid expenses, for the performance of their duties as determined by the member municipalities and nonmunicipal members appointing those members. However, for any member of an executive committee who is an employee of a member municipality or nonmunicipal member, a payment in lieu of any compensation shall be made to the member municipality or nonmunicipal member for distribution to the executive committee member in the manner and amount, if any, it deems appropriate.