The following terms, wherever used or referred to in this act, shall have the following respective meanings, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:

(a) "Authority" means any public body corporate and politic created by this act.

(b) "City" means any incorporated city or town in the state. "County" means any county in the state.

(c) "Governing body" means, in the case of a city, the council or other governing body of the city in which is vested legislative authority customarily imposed on the city council, and, in the case of a county, the board of county commissioners.

(d) "Mayor" means the mayor of the city or the officer thereof charged with the duties customarily imposed on the mayor or executive head of a city.

(e) "Clerk" means the city clerk or the county clerk, as the case may be.

(f) "Area of operation" means:

(1) in the case of an authority of a city, the city and the area within one (1) mile of the territorial boundaries thereof, except that the area of operation of an authority of any city shall not include any area which lies within the territorial boundaries of some other city;

(2) in the case of an authority of a county, all of the county for which it is created: Provided, that a county authority shall not undertake any project within the boundaries of any city unless a resolution shall have been adopted by the governing body of the city and by any authority which shall have been theretofore established and authorized to exercise its powers in the city declaring that there is need for the county authority to exercise its powers within

that city. No authority shall operate in any area in which an authority already established is operating without the consent by resolution of the authority already operating therein.

(g) "Federal government" includes the United States of America, the Public Housing Administration, or any other agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.

(h) "Slum" means any area where dwellings predominate which by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light, or sanitary facilities, or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to safety, health and morals.

(i) "Housing project" or "project" means any work or undertaking on contiguous or noncontiguous sites:

(1) to demolish, clear, or remove buildings from any slum

area;

(2) to provide or assist in providing (by any suitable method, including but not limited to: rental; sale of individual units in single or multifamily structures under conventional, condominium, or cooperative sales contract; lease-purchase agreement; loans; or subsidizing of rentals or charges) decent, safe and sanitary urban or rural dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations for persons of low income; or

(3) to accomplish a combination of the foregoing. Such work or undertaking may include buildings, land, equipment, facilities, and other real or personal property for necessary, convenient or desirable appurtenances; streets, sewers, water service, utilities, parks, site preparation, and landscaping; and facilities for administrative, community, health, recreational, welfare, or other purposes. The term "housing project" or "project" also may be applied to the planning of the buildings and improvements, the acquisition of property or any interest therein, the demolition of existing structures, the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, alteration or repair of the improvements and all other work in connection therewith; and the term shall include all other real and personal property and all tangible or intangible assets held or used in connection with the housing project.

(j) "Persons of low income" shall mean persons or families who lack the amount of income which is necessary (as determined by the authority undertaking the housing project) to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, safe and sanitary dwellings, without overcrowding, however, the local housing authority shall not exceed the guidelines in establishing incomes set forth by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

(k) "Bonds" means any bonds, notes, interim certificates, debentures, or other obligations issued by an authority pursuant to this act.

(l) "Real property" includes all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto, or used in connection therewith, and every estate, interest and right, legal or equitable, therein including terms for years.

(m) "Obligee of an authority" or "obligee" includes any bondholder, agent or trustee for any bondholder, or lessor demising to the authority property used in connection with a project, or any assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any part thereof, and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with the authority.

(n) "Persons engaged in national defense activities" means persons in the Armed Forces of the United States; employees of the Department of Defense; and workers engaged or to be engaged in activities connected with national defense. The term also includes the families of the persons, employees, and workers who reside with them.

(o) "Major disaster" means any flood, drought, fire, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, storm, or other catastrophe which, in the determination of the governing body, is of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant the use of available resources of the federal, state, and local governments to alleviate the damage, hardship, or suffering caused thereby.

(p) "State public body" means any city, county, municipal corporation, commission, district, authority, agency, subdivision, or public body of the state.

Added by Laws 1965, c. 251, § 4, emerg. eff. June 18, 1965. Amended by Laws 1967, c. 339, § 1; Laws 1969, c. 281, § 1; Laws 1971, c. 218, § 1, emerg. eff. June 11, 1971.