| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Boca Raton Airport Authority; |
| 3 | providing for a codified charter for the Boca Raton |
| 4 | Airport Authority; creating the Boca Raton Airport |
| 5 | Authority; providing for its membership, terms of office, |
| 6 | officers, quorum, and meetings; defining the powers and |
| 7 | duties of the authority; providing for reimbursement of |
| 8 | travel expenses; providing for budgets; providing for |
| 9 | transfer of funds; providing for an airport manager; |
| 10 | defining the relationship between the authority, the City |
| 11 | of Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, and the State of |
| 12 | Florida; providing for continued vesting of title to the |
| 13 | land comprising the Boca Raton Airport in the Board of |
| 14 | Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund; providing |
| 15 | the authority is liable for certain obligations and |
| 16 | damages; declaring the authority to be an agency of the |
| 17 | state; repealing chapters 82-259, 83-371, 91-381, and 99- |
| 18 | 421, Laws of Florida; providing an effective date. |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Section 1. In accordance with section 189.429, Florida |
| 23 | Statutes, this act constitutes the codification of all special |
| 24 | acts relating to the Boca Raton Airport Authority. It is the |
| 25 | intent of the Legislature in enacting this law to provide a |
| 26 | single, comprehensive special act charter for the district, |
| 27 | including all current legislative authority granted to the |
| 28 | district by its several legislative enactments and any |
| 29 | additional authority granted by this act. |
| 30 | Section 2. Chapters 82-259, 83-371, 91-381, and 99-421, |
| 31 | Laws of Florida, are codified, reenacted, amended, and repealed |
| 32 | as herein provided. |
| 33 | Section 1. Short title.--This act may be cited as the "Boca |
| 34 | Raton Airport Authority Act." |
| 35 | Section 2. Definitions.--As used in this act: |
| 36 | (1) "Airport" means the state-owned land within the |
| 37 | territorial limits of the City of Boca Raton now known as the |
| 38 | Boca Raton Airport. |
| 39 | (2) "Authority" means the Boca Raton Airport Authority. |
| 40 | (3) "City" means the City of Boca Raton. |
| 41 | (4) "City council" means the governing body of the City of |
| 42 | Boca Raton. |
| 43 | (5) "County" means Palm Beach County. |
| 44 | (6) "County commission" means the Board of County |
| 45 | Commissioners of Palm Beach County. |
| 46 | (7) "Project" means and includes the acquisition, |
| 47 | improvement, or maintenance of real or personal property within |
| 48 | the boundaries of the Boca Raton Airport. |
| 49 | Section 3. Authority; creation and purpose.--There is |
| 50 | hereby created a body politic and corporate to be known as the |
| 51 | Boca Raton Airport Authority. The exercise by the authority of |
| 52 | the powers conferred upon it by this act will be deemed to be for |
| 53 | an essential and proper public purpose. |
| 54 | Section 4. Membership; terms of office; officers; quorum; |
| 55 | meetings; removal.-- |
| 56 | (1) The authority shall consist of seven members. As a |
| 57 | condition of eligibility for appointment and to hold office, five |
| 58 | members must reside within the municipality, and two members must |
| 59 | reside within the Greater Boca Raton Reserve Area, as defined in |
| 60 | chapter 67-1112, Laws of Florida. Of the five municipal |
| 61 | residents, three must reside east of the airport, one must reside |
| 62 | west of the airport, and one may reside anywhere in the |
| 63 | municipality. |
| 64 | (2) The county commission shall appoint two members, each |
| 65 | of whom must reside within the Greater Boca Raton Reserve Area. |
| 66 | The city council shall appoint the five members who must reside |
| 67 | within the limits of the municipality as specified in subsection |
| 68 | (1). |
| 69 | (3) The term of office for each member shall be 2 years. |
| 70 | Each term shall expire on June 1 in the year of expiration of the |
| 71 | term. The county members' terms shall expire in odd years and the |
| 72 | other members' terms shall expire in even years. |
| 73 | (4) A chair, vice chair, and secretary shall be chosen by |
| 74 | and from the authority membership. The term of office for the |
| 75 | chair, vice chair, and secretary shall be 1 year, and no member |
| 76 | shall hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms. |
| 77 | (5) A quorum shall consist of four members, but the |
| 78 | affirmative vote of not less than four members shall be necessary |
| 79 | to take any action except to adjourn. |
| 80 | (6) The authority shall meet at least once each month at |
| 81 | such times and places within the city as shall be determined by |
| 82 | the authority. |
| 83 | (7) Any member may be removed by the commission or council |
| 84 | which appointed that member, but only for grounds constituting |
| 85 | misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or upon |
| 86 | conviction of any crime. The unexcused failure to attend three |
| 87 | consecutive regular meetings of the authority shall be deemed |
| 88 | nonfeasance, without limiting the meaning of that term. |
| 89 | (8) Vacancies in office shall be filled by the appropriate |
| 90 | appointing entity for the balance of the term. Each appointment |
| 91 | to fill a vacancy shall be made from a list of nominees furnished |
| 92 | by the entity which nominated the member who held the office. In |
| 93 | such cases, the list of nominees shall be filed not later than 30 |
| 94 | days after notice of the vacancy has been given to the nominating |
| 95 | entity. |
| 96 | Section 5. Powers and duties.--The authority shall have |
| 97 | jurisdiction over the operation and maintenance of and |
| 98 | improvements to the Boca Raton Airport. The authority shall have |
| 99 | the following specific powers and duties: |
| 100 | (1) To enter into contracts and to sue and be sued in its |
| 101 | own name. |
| 102 | (2) To acquire real and personal property. |
| 103 | (3) To let or lease the airport or any portion of the |
| 104 | airport, including the buildings and hangars thereon, and to |
| 105 | grant concessions upon such terms and conditions as it shall deem |
| 106 | proper. |
| 107 | (4) To employ necessary personnel, including an airport |
| 108 | manager, whose duties and salaries shall be prescribed by the |
| 109 | authority. |
| 110 | (5) To accept revenues from the operation of the airport |
| 111 | and to accept gifts, grants, and other revenues; but the |
| 112 | authority shall not have the power to levy or collect ad valorem |
| 113 | taxes. |
| 114 | (6) To adopt a budget annually, and to amend it during the |
| 115 | fiscal year. |
| 116 | (7) To adopt rules for the regulation of its affairs and |
| 117 | the conduct of its business, and rules for the operation of the |
| 118 | airport and aircraft, including, but not limited to, safety and |
| 119 | noise abatement rules, and to enforce and administer all such |
| 120 | rules. |
| 121 | (8) To adopt and alter an official seal. |
| 122 | (9) To maintain an office within the city. |
| 123 | (10) To construct, reconstruct, improve, equip, repair, |
| 124 | maintain, and operate the airport and such buildings, structures, |
| 125 | roads, alleyways, and any other development of land as the |
| 126 | authority shall determine to be necessary and proper in the |
| 127 | performance of the duties and purposes of this act, within the |
| 128 | boundaries of the airport. |
| 129 | (11) To issue revenue bonds or refunding bonds of the |
| 130 | authority to pay the cost of such acquisition, construction, |
| 131 | reconstruction, improvement, or equipment. |
| 132 | (12) To fix and revise from time to time and to collect |
| 133 | rates, fees, and other charges for the use of or for the services |
| 134 | and facilities furnished by or at the airport. |
| 135 | (13) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient to |
| 136 | carry out the purposes of the authority. |
| 137 | Section 6. Compensation and travel expenses.--The members |
| 138 | shall receive no salary or other compensation for their services |
| 139 | as members of the authority except a fee of $100 for attending |
| 140 | each regular monthly meeting of the authority. Compensation of |
| 141 | members shall be limited to $1,200 per member per annum. The |
| 142 | authority shall also have authority to pay reasonable costs and |
| 143 | expenses necessarily incurred by the members in performance of |
| 144 | their duties. The rate for travel expenses shall not exceed the |
| 145 | rate for state employees. |
| 146 | Section 7. Budget.--The authority shall during each fiscal |
| 147 | year prepare and adopt an annual budget for such revenue and |
| 148 | expense accounts as the authority shall prescribe for its |
| 149 | operations in the ensuing fiscal year. The fiscal year of the |
| 150 | authority shall be the same as that of the city. The budget shall |
| 151 | include all estimated revenues and all estimated expenditures for |
| 152 | the ensuing fiscal year. |
| 153 | Section 8. Airport manager.--The authority shall employ an |
| 154 | aviation-experienced airport manager to administer all airport |
| 155 | operations and to supervise all airport projects. The decision to |
| 156 | employ or terminate the employment of the airport manager shall |
| 157 | require the four-fifths vote of the members of the authority. |
| 158 | Section 9. Relationship between the authority, city, |
| 159 | county, and state.--The authority shall have the power and |
| 160 | responsibility to operate the airport in a manner consistent with |
| 161 | applicable federal and state law and the objectives of the county |
| 162 | and the city. The authority shall comply with appropriate police |
| 163 | powers of the county or of the city respecting the operation and |
| 164 | development of an airport. Applicable building codes of the city |
| 165 | shall apply to all construction upon the airport, except to the |
| 166 | extent that different state or federal requirements are expressly |
| 167 | applicable, and except to the extent that the authority or the |
| 168 | airport has been made exempt from any requirement of the city by |
| 169 | state or federal law. All construction upon the airport shall be |
| 170 | subject to inspection by the city on behalf of the state, and the |
| 171 | city inspectors may insure compliance with applicable state |
| 172 | regulations for such construction in addition to applicable city |
| 173 | regulations. |
| 174 | Section 10. Title to airport land.--The title to the land |
| 175 | comprising the Boca Raton Airport shall continue to be vested in |
| 176 | the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of |
| 177 | the state. The airport is leased to the authority by the Board of |
| 178 | Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. Nothing in this |
| 179 | act shall be construed to impair the obligations of any agreement |
| 180 | between the state or any of its agencies and the fixed base |
| 181 | operator of the airport entered into as of effective date of this |
| 182 | act. |
| 183 | Section 11. Liabilities.--The authority shall be liable for |
| 184 | its obligations and for damages caused by the negligent acts or |
| 185 | omissions of the authority. The authority shall be deemed to be |
| 186 | an agency of the state for the purposes of section 768.28, |
| 187 | Florida Statutes. |
| 188 | Section 3. Chapters 82-259, 83-371, 91-381, and 99-421, |
| 189 | Laws of Florida, are repealed. |
| 190 | Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |