HB 1329

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Tampa Port Authority, Hillsborough
3	County; amending chapter 95-488, Laws of Florida;
4	providing definitions; revising provisions relating to
5	membership of and appointment to the port authority;
6	revising provisions relating to appointment of the port
7	director and employment of other persons; providing an
8	effective date.
9
10	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	Section 1.  Sections 3 and 4 of chapter 95-488, Laws of
13	Florida, are amended to read:
14	Section 3.  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this act, the term:
15	(a)  "Board of county commissioners" means the Board of
16	County Commissioners of Hillsborough County.
17	(b)(1)  "Cost," as applied to improvements, means the cost
18	of acquiring or constructing improvements and includes the cost
19	of all labor and materials and of all machinery and equipment,
20	the cost of engineering, legal expenses, plans, specifications,
21	financing charges, and such other expenses as may be necessary
22	or incident to such acquisition or construction.
23	(2)  "Cost," as applied to a project acquired, constructed,
24	extended, or enlarged, includes the purchase price of any
25	project acquired; the cost of such construction, extension, or
26	enlargement; the cost of improvements; the cost of all lands,
27	properties, rights, easements, and franchises acquired; the cost
28	of all machinery and equipment; the cost of engineering and
29	legal services and of all investigations and audits; financing
30	charges; interest prior to and during construction and for 1
31	year after completion of construction; all other expenses
32	necessary or incident to determining the practicability or
33	feasibility of such acquisition or construction; administrative
34	expenses; and such other expenses as may be necessary or
35	incident to the financing herein authorized and to the
36	construction or acquisition of a project and the placing of same
37	in operation. Any obligation or expense incurred by the port
38	authority, prior to the issuance of revenue bonds under the
39	provisions of this act, for engineering studies and for
40	estimates of cost and of revenues, and for other technical,
41	financial, or legal services in connection with the acquisition
42	or construction of any project, may be regarded as part of the
43	cost of such project and are reimbursable to the port authority
44	out of the proceeds of revenue bonds issued under this act.
45	(c)  "County" means Hillsborough County.
46	(d)  "General obligation bonds" means bonds that are
47	secured by, or provide for their payment by, the pledge, in
48	addition to those special taxes levied for their discharge and
49	such other sources as may be provided for their payment or
50	pledged as security under the ordinance or resolution
51	authorizing their issuance, of the full faith and credit and
52	taxing power of the port district or county and for payment of
53	which recourse may be had against the general fund of the port
54	district or county.
55	(e)  "Improvements" means such replacements, repairs,
56	extensions, additions, enlargements, or betterments of and to a
57	project as are deemed necessary to place such project in proper
58	condition for the safe, efficient, and economic operation
59	thereof, when such project is undertaken by or owned,
60	controlled, or operated by the port authority.
61	(f)  "Maritime industry background" means that a person by
62	training or experience is or has been engaged in, for a
63	significant portion of his or her career, a business involving
64	maritime commerce, port management, terminal management, ship
65	agency business, shipbuilding, ship management, ship operations,
66	ship repair, admiralty law, international trade law, importing
67	or exporting water-borne cargo, or other maritime-related
68	business that is similar to the aforementioned specialties.
69	(g)  "Members" means the governing body of the port
70	authority, and "member" means one of the individuals
71	constituting such governing body.
72	(h)  "Nominating committee" means a committee of six
73	persons, three of whom shall be appointed by each of the
74	following groups:  the Port of Tampa Maritime Industries
75	Association, Inc. (Department of State, Division of Corporations
76	Document Number N03000005439), and the Propeller Club of the
77	United States Port of Tampa, Inc. (Department of State, Division
78	of Corporations Document number N03973), so long as each
79	maintains an active status with the Department of State,
80	Division of Corporations, or any successor agency and who may
81	make nominations to fill Port Authority Seats 4 and 5 as
82	provided by this act.
83	(i)(f)  "Port authority" means the Tampa Port Authority.
84	(j)(g)  "Port district" means the Hillsborough County Port
85	District.
86	(k)(h)  "Project" means any one or any combination of two
87	or more of the following, when undertaken by or owned,
88	controlled, or operated by the port authority: channels;
89	anchorage areas; jetties; breakwaters; harbors; canals; locks;
90	waterways; tidal and turning basins; wharves; docks; piers;
91	quays; slips; bulkheads; public landings; terminal storage and
92	sheddage facilities; warehouses; refrigeration, cold-storage and
93	quick-freezing plants; stockyards; elevators; shipyards; marine
94	railways; drydocks; oil tanks; pipe lines; terminal railway
95	facilities, including rolling stock, belt-line railroad ferries,
96	and car ferries; police boats; bridges; causeways; tunnels;
97	facilities for the loading and handling of passengers, mail,
98	express, freight, and other cargo; and any and all other
99	facilities, including all property, rights, easements, and
100	franchises relating to any such project or projects which by
101	resolution the port authority may deem necessary and convenient.
102	(l)(i)  "Revenue bonds" means obligations of the port
103	authority which are payable from revenues derived from sources
104	other than ad valorem taxes on real or tangible personal
105	property and which do not pledge the property, credit, or
106	general tax revenue of the port authority.
107	Section 4.  TAMPA PORT AUTHORITY.--There is created the
108	Tampa Port Authority, which shall be the governing body and port
109	authority of the Hillsborough County Port District. The port
110	authority constitutes a body politic and a body corporate; it
111	shall have perpetual existence; its operation shall be deemed a
112	proper governmental function; it shall adopt and use an official
113	seal and may alter the same; it may contract and be contracted
114	with; in its corporate name it may sue in any of the courts in
115	the various states and the courts of the United States; and it
116	may be sued in the courts of the State of Florida and in the
117	courts of the United States for the Middle District of the State
118	of Florida, except as may be limited by the provisions of
119	section 768.28, Florida Statutes, or any succeeding enactment.
120	(a)  The port authority shall consist of seven member seats
121	to be appointed as follows:
122	(1)  Members occupying Seats 1 through 5 five members,
123	three of whom shall be appointed by the Governor subject to
124	Senate confirmation. The numerical assignment of Seats 1, 2, and
125	3 shall be designated by the port authority, and members shall
126	be appointed to these seats through the standard application
127	process established by the Office of the Governor. Members
128	occupying Seats 4 and 5 shall be appointed from a list of
129	persons who have maritime industry backgrounds, notwithstanding
130	any provision of general law to the contrary, nominated for that
131	purpose by a nominating committee and as otherwise provided by
132	this act.
133	(2)  Seat 6; one of whom shall be occupied by a member of
134	the board of county commissioners, appointed by that board, ex
135	officio.
136	(3)  Seat 7; and one of whom shall be occupied by the Mayor
137	of the City of Tampa, ex officio.
138
139	Each appointed member of the port authority must be a qualified
140	elector of the county. If no nominations for Seat 4 or Seat 5
141	are received by the Office of the Governor from the nominating
142	committee as prescribed by this act, the Governor shall make any
143	such appointment through the standard application process while
144	ensuring that each such seat is occupied by a member who has a
145	maritime industry background in accordance with the provisions
146	of this act.
147	(b)  At least 30 days prior to the expiration of the term
148	of the any member occupying Seat 1, Seat 2, or Seat 3 of the
149	port authority appointed by the Governor through the routinely
150	established application process, or within 10 days after the
151	occurrence of a any vacancy in any such seat the term of any
152	member of the port authority appointed by the Governor, a
153	successor shall be appointed by the Governor. The Governor may
154	appoint a member to Seat 1, Seat 2, or Seat 3 who has a maritime
155	industry background, notwithstanding any general law to the
156	contrary and without taking nominations from the nominating
157	committee.
158	(c)  The Governor shall appoint members to Seats 4 and 5
159	within 90 days after the effective date of this act after
160	consideration of nominees selected by the nominating committee,
161	each of which nominations must be received by the Office of the
162	Governor within 60 calendar days after the effective date of
163	this act. The member appointed to Seat 4 shall be appointed for
164	an initial term of 2 years, and the member appointed to Seat 5
165	shall be appointed for an initial term of 4 years.
166	(d)  At least 90 calendar days prior to the expiration of
167	the term of any member appointed to Seat 4 or Seat 5, the
168	executive director of the port authority or his or her designee
169	shall notify the nominating committee by certified mail at each
170	of their primary places of business of the pending expiration.
171	The nominating committee shall have 60 calendar days to deliver
172	nominations to the Office of the Governor in the format
173	prescribed by that office, and a successor shall be appointed by
174	the Governor from those nominations.
175	(e)  If a vacancy occurs in the term of a member appointed
176	to Seat 4 or Seat 5 through nomination, the nominating committee
177	shall be notified of the vacancy within 3 business days after
178	such occurrence and in the manner described in subsection (d).
179	The nominating committee shall deliver the names of at least
180	three nominees to the Office of the Governor appointments office
181	in the manner prescribed by that office and within 30 calendar
182	days after the date the vacancy occurred. The Governor shall
183	thereafter appoint a replacement for the remaining term in which
184	the vacancy was created and may make the appointment from the
185	list of nominees provided.
186	(f)  Any member of the port authority appointed by the
187	Governor is shall be eligible for reappointment. Each member
188	appointed by the Governor shall hold office for a term of 4
189	years from the date of the expiration of the term of his or her
190	predecessor, except as otherwise provided by this act and
191	provided further that any person appointed to fill a vacancy for
192	an unexpired portion of a term shall be appointed for the
193	unexpired portion of the term only. Each member of the port
194	authority may continue to serve until his or her successor is
195	duly appointed and qualified.
196	(g)(c)  Before assuming office, each appointed or ex
197	officio member of the port authority shall take an oath that he
198	or she will faithfully discharge the duties of his or her office
199	and that he or she will uphold and defend the constitutions and
200	laws of the United States and of the State of Florida. Members
201	may not be compensated by the port authority for their services
202	but may be otherwise reimbursed for travel as provided by this
203	act.
204	(h)(d)  The officers of the port authority shall be elected
205	annually by and chosen from among the members and shall consist
206	of a chair, a vice chair, a membership of the port authority. A
207	chairman, vice chairman, secretary, and a treasurer, the latter
208	two of which offices may be held by a single member at the
209	discretion of the members shall be elected annually by the
210	members of the port authority from among their membership. The
211	offices of secretary and treasurer may be held by one person. A
212	port director shall be appointed by the port authority by
213	resolution and shall be chosen for his executive,
214	administrative, and technical qualifications.
215	(i)(e)  Four Three members of the port authority shall
216	constitute a quorum. An affirmative vote of four three members
217	is required necessary for any action to be taken by the port
218	authority involving the incurring of any indebtedness or the
219	expenditure of any funds or money in excess of the monetary
220	amount specified in section 15 and for the establishment of
221	policy governing the expenditure of any funds by the port
222	director and his or her staff. These requirements are shall not
223	be affected by any vacancy in the port authority.
224	(f)  The appointed members of the port authority shall
225	receive no compensation for their services. The port director
226	shall receive such salary as the port authority may approve.
227	(j)(g)  The members shall appoint by resolution a port
228	director who shall be chosen for his or her executive,
229	administrative, and technical qualifications, shall be a full-
230	time employee of the port authority, shall receive such salary
231	as may be approved by the members, and shall devote his or her
232	time and attention to the discharge of his or her duties. The
233	port director's His office shall be kept open during such hours
234	as the members port authority shall fix, but the minimum of
235	which hours so fixed by the port authority during which such
236	office shall remain open shall be the ordinary business hours
237	upon all business days.
238	(k)(h)  The port authority may shall have the power to
239	employ such additional persons in addition to the port director
240	as the business of the port authority may require and may
241	designate which, if any, require the approval of the members for
242	employment or dismissal.
243	Section 2.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2005.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.