§20-17-6. Powers of an authority.

An authority, as a public corporation and joint development entity, may exercise all powers necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this article, including, but not limited to, the power:

(1) To acquire, own, hold, and dispose of property, real and personal, tangible and intangible;

(2) To lease property, whether as lessee or lessor, and to acquire or grant through easement, license, or other appropriate legal form, the right to develop and use property and open it to the public;

(3) To mortgage or otherwise grant security interests in its property;

(4) To procure insurance against any losses in connection with its property, licenses, easements, operations, assets, or contracts, including hold-harmless agreements, in such amounts and from such insurers as the authority considers desirable;

(5) To maintain such sinking funds and reserves as the board determines appropriate for the purposes of meeting future monetary obligations and needs of the authority;

(6) To sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, and complain and defend in any court;

(7) To contract for the provision of legal services by private counsel and, notwithstanding the provisions of §5-3-1 et seq. of this code, the counsel may, in addition to the provisions of other legal services, represent the authority in court, negotiate contracts and other agreements on behalf of the authority, render advice to the authority on any matter relating to the authority, prepare contracts and other agreements, and provide such other legal services as may be requested by the authority;

(8) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal;

(9) To make, amend, repeal, and adopt bylaws for the management and regulation of the authority’s affairs;

(10) To appoint officers, agents, and employees and to contract for and engage the services of consultants;

(11) To make contracts of every kind and nature and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient for carrying out the purposes of this article, including contracts with any other governmental agency of this state or of the federal government or with any person, individual, partnership, or corporation;

(12) Without in any way limiting any other subdivision of this section, to accept grants and loans from, and enter into contracts and other transactions with, any federal agency;

(13) To maintain an office at such place or places within the state as it may designate;

(14) To borrow money, to issue notes, to provide for the payment of notes, to provide for the rights of the holders of notes, and to purchase, hold, and dispose of any of its notes;

(15) To issue notes payable solely from the revenue or other funds available to the authority, which may be issued in such principal amounts as necessary to provide funds for any purpose under this article, including:

(A) The payment, funding, or refunding of the principal of, interest on, or redemption premiums on notes issued by it, whether the notes or interest to be funded or refunded have or have not become due; and

(B) The establishment or increase of reserves to secure or to pay notes, or the interest on the notes, and all other costs or expenses of the authority incident to and necessary or convenient to carry out its corporate purposes and powers. Notes may be additionally secured by a pledge of any revenues, funds, assets, or moneys of the authority from any source;

(16) To issue renewal notes, except that no renewal notes may be issued to mature more than 10 years from the date of issuance of the notes renewed;

(17) To apply the proceeds from the sale of renewal notes to the purchase, redemption, or payment of the notes to be refunded;

(18) To accept gifts or grants of property, funds, security interests, money, materials, labor, supplies, or services from the federal government or from any governmental unit or any person, firm, or corporation, and to take appropriate measures in procuring, accepting, or disposing of gifts or grants;

(19) To the extent permitted under its contracts with the holders of notes of the authority, to consent to any modification of the rate of interest, time of payment of any installment of principal or interest, security or any other term of any note, contract or agreement of any kind to which the authority is a party;

(20) To construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, repair, operate, and manage the recreational areas at the locations within the participating counties as may be determined by the authority;

(21) To enter into an agreement with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources for natural resources police officers to provide law-enforcement services within the authority’s recreational area and to reimburse the Division of Natural Resources for its costs therefor;

(22) To exercise all power and authority provided in this article necessary and convenient to plan, finance, construct, renovate, maintain, and operate or oversee the operation of the authority at such locations within the participating counties as may be determined by the authority;

(23) To exercise all of the powers which a corporation may lawfully exercise under the laws of this state;

(24) To develop, maintain, and operate or contract for the development, maintenance, and operation of the authority;

(25) To enter into contracts with landowners and other persons holding an interest in the land being used for its recreational facilities to hold those landowners and other persons harmless with respect to any claim in tort growing out of the use of the land for recreational purposes or growing out of the recreational activities operated or managed by the authority from any claim except a claim for damages proximately caused by the willful or malicious conduct of the landowner or any of his or her agents or employees;

(26) To assess and collect a reasonable fee from those persons who use the trails, parking facilities, visitor centers, or other facilities which are part of the recreational area and to retain and utilize that revenue for any purposes consistent with this article: Provided, That such fee does not constitute a "charge" or a "fee" within the meaning and for the purposes of §19-25-5 of this code: Provided, however, That the authority may not charge a fee for any user to enter or go upon any trail that is already open for use by the public without fee as of January 1, 2019;

(27) To enter into contracts or other appropriate legal arrangements with landowners under which land is made available for use as part of the recreational area;

(28) To directly operate and manage recreation activities and facilities within the recreational area;

(29) To promulgate and publish rules governing the use of the recreational area and the safety of participants, including rules designating particular trails or segments of trails within the recreational area for certain activities and limiting use of designated trails to such activities;

(30) To coordinate and conduct athletic races, competitions, or events within the recreational area, in cooperation with the county commissions of participating counties in which such events will take place; and

(31) To exercise such other and additional powers as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this article.