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The board may exercise powers necessary, appurtenant, convenient, or incidental to the carrying out of the purposes of the authority, including but not limited to the following rights and powers:

(1)  To adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out the purposes of the authority, for the governance of its affairs, and for the conduct of the business of the board and the authority.

(2)  To adopt, use, and alter at will an official seal.

(3)  To plan, or construct, reconstruct, maintain, improve, operate, own, or lease projects within its jurisdiction in the manner determined by the board and to pay any project costs in connection therewith.

(4)  To sue and be sued in its own name.

(5)  To impose, revise, and adjust from time to time tolls, fees, and charges in connection with projects of the authority sufficient to pay all project costs, maintenance, operation, debt service and reserve or replacement costs, and other necessary or usual charges.

(6)  To regulate speed limits on the tollways consistent with state speed limits.

(7)  To contract with any person, partnership, association, or corporation desiring the use of any part of a project, including the right-of-way adjoining the paved portion, for placing thereon telephone, fiber optic, telegraph, electric light, or power lines, gas stations, garages, and restaurants, or for any other purpose, and to fix the terms, conditions, rents, and rates of charges limited to no more than the board’s direct and actual cost of administering the permitting process.

(8)  To acquire, hold, and dispose of real and personal property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this Chapter in accordance with law.

(9)  To acquire public or private lands in the name of the authority by purchase, donation, exchange, foreclosure, lease, or otherwise, including rights or easements, or by the exercise of the power of eminent domain in the manner hereinafter provided, as it may deem necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Chapter.

(10)  To hold, sell, assign, lease, or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property or any interest therein; to release or relinquish any right, title, claim, lien, interest, easement, or demand however acquired, including any equity or right of redemption in property foreclosed by it; to take assignments of leases and rentals; to proceed with foreclosure actions; or to take any other actions necessary or incidental to the performance of its corporate purposes.

(11)  To establish control of access, designate the location, and establish, limit, and control points of ingress and egress for each project as may be necessary or desirable in the judgment of the board to ensure its proper operation and maintenance, and to prohibit entrance to such project from any point or points not so designated, subject to  the prior written concurrence of the department when the state highway system is affected.

(12)  To relocate parish, municipal, or other public roads affected or severed by authority projects with equal or better facilities at  the expense of the authority.

(13)  To enter, or authorize its agents to enter, upon any lands, waters, and premises within the geographic boundaries of the authority for the purpose of making surveys, soundings, drillings, and examinations as it may deem necessary or appropriate for the purposes of this Chapter provided that the authority shall reimburse any actual damages resulting to such lands, waters, and premises as a result of such activities; such entry shall not be deemed a trespass or unlawful.

(14)  To procure insurance in such amount or amounts appropriate to the size of the project, as determined by the board, insuring the authority against all losses, risk, and liability arising out of the construction, operation, maintenance, and ownership of any project.

(15)  To apply for, receive, and accept grants, loans, advances, and contributions from any source of money, property, labor, or other things of value, to be held, used, and applied for purposes of the authority.

(16)  To open accounts at financial institutions necessary for the conduct of authority business and to invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement in such investments as may be provided in any financing document relating to the use of such funds, or, if not so provided, as the board may determine, subject to compliance with state laws relative to investments by political subdivisions.

(17)  To borrow money and issue bonds for any authority purpose.

(18)  To enter contracts and agreements and execute all instruments necessary or convenient thereto for accomplishing the purposes of the authority.

(19)  To enter into agreements with a public or private entity to construct, maintain, repair, or operate authority projects.

(20)  To authorize the investment of public and private money to finance authority projects, subject to compliance with state law relative to use of public funds.

(21)  To employ consultants, engineers, attorneys, accountants, construction and financial experts, superintendents, managers, and such other employees and agents necessary for the accomplishment of authority purposes, and to fix their compensation.  The authority shall not be deemed to be an instrumentality of the state for purposes of La. Const. Art. X, § 1(A) .

(22)  To exercise the power of eminent domain in accordance with Part XVIII of Chapter 1 of this Title.

(23)  To do all acts and perform things necessary or convenient to execute  the powers granted to the authority by law.

(24)  To impose taxes, subject to the approval of a majority of the voters in jurisdiction of the authority, in connection with projects of the authority sufficient to pay all project costs, maintenance, operation, debt service, reserve or replacement costs, and other necessary or usual charges.

Acts 2007, No. 329, §1.