§ 42-64-7.4. Water supply facilities. (a) The Rhode Island commerce corporation is authorized and empowered to acquire and construct water supply facilities; to maintain, repair, and operate those facilities; and to issue revenue bonds of the corporation payable solely from revenues derived from the leasing of those water supply facilities to finance them. Development of these projects may be initiated by the corporation upon request of a municipality or municipalities seeking to undertake the project either singly or jointly.

(b) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the corporation is expressly empowered to lease or sell water supply facilities or any part of those facilities to any municipality. A lease by the corporation to any municipality may be for any period, upon any terms and conditions, with or without an option to purchase, as the corporation may determine.

(c) The provisions of any other laws or ordinances, general, special, or local, or of any rule or regulation of the state or any municipality, restricting or regulating in any manner the power of any municipality to lease, as lessee or lessor, or sell property real, personal, or mixed, shall not apply to leases and sales made with authority pursuant to this section; and insofar as the provisions of this section are inconsistent with the other laws of this state, general, special, or local, restricting the power of any municipality to enter into a lease or to sell property, the provisions of this section shall be controlling.

(d) Any municipality, notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, is authorized and empowered to lease, lend, grant, or convey to the corporation, at its request upon those terms and conditions that the proper authorities of a municipality may deem reasonable and fair and without the necessity for any advertisement, order of court, or other action or formality, other than the regular and formal action of the authorities concerned, any real property or personal property which may be necessary or convenient to effectuation of the authorized purposes of the corporation including real property already devoted to public use; and subject to the aforesaid, the state consents to the use of all lands owned by it, including land lying under water, and which are deemed by the corporation to be necessary for the construction or operation of any water supply facilities.

History of Section. (P.L. 1983 (S.S.), ch. 332, art. III, § 2; P.L. 2013, ch. 243, § 3; P.L. 2013, ch. 490, § 3.)