§22C-1-9. Authority empowered to issue water development revenue bonds, renewal notes and refunding bonds; requirements and manner of such issuance.

The authority is hereby empowered to issue from time to time water development revenue bonds and notes of the state in such principal amounts as the authority deems necessary to pay the cost of or finance, in whole or in part, by loans to governmental agencies, one or more water development projects, but the aggregate amount of all issues of bonds and notes outstanding at one time for all projects authorized hereunder shall not exceed that amount capable of being serviced by revenues received from such projects.

The authority may, from time to time, issue renewal notes, issue bonds to pay such notes and whenever it deems refunding expedient, refund any bonds by the issuance of water development revenue refunding bonds by the state pursuant to the provisions of section twenty of this article. Except as may otherwise be expressly provided in this article or by the authority, every issue of its bonds or notes are obligations of the authority payable out of the revenues and reserves created for such purposes by the authority, which are pledged for such payment, without preference or priority of the first bonds issued, subject only to any agreements with the holders of particular bonds or notes pledging any particular revenues. Such pledge is valid and binding from the time the pledge is made and the revenues so pledged and thereafter received by the authority are immediately subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act and the lien of any such pledge is valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against the authority irrespective of whether such parties have notice thereof.

All such bonds and notes shall have and are hereby declared to have all the qualities of negotiable instruments.

The bonds and notes shall be authorized by resolution of the authority, bear such date and mature at such time, in the case of any such note or any renewals thereof not exceeding five years from the date of issue of such original note, and in the case of any such bond not exceeding fifty years from the date of issue, as such resolution may provide. The bonds and notes shall bear interest at such rate, be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or registered, carry such registration privileges, be payable in such medium of payment, at such place and be subject to such terms of redemption as the authority may authorize. The bonds and notes of the authority may be sold by the authority, at public or private sale, at or not less than the price the authority determines. The bonds and notes shall be executed by the chair and vice-chair of the authority, both of whom may use facsimile signatures. The official seal of the authority or a facsimile thereof shall be affixed thereto or printed thereon and attested, manually or by facsimile signature, by the secretary-treasurer of the authority, and any coupons attached thereto shall bear the signature or facsimile signature of the chair of the authority. In case any officer whose signature, or a facsimile of whose signature, appears on any bonds, notes or coupons ceases to be such officer before delivery of such bonds or notes, such signature or facsimile is nevertheless sufficient for all purposes the same as if he or she had remained in office until such delivery and in case the seal of the authority has been changed after a facsimile has been imprinted on such bonds or notes such facsimile seal will continue to be sufficient for all purposes.

Any resolution authorizing any bonds or notes or any issue thereof may contain provisions (subject to such agreements with bondholders or noteholders as may then exist, which provisions shall be a part of the contract with the holders thereof) as to pledging all or any part of the revenues of the authority to secure the payment of the bonds or notes or of any issue thereof; the use and disposition of revenues of the authority; a covenant to fix, alter and collect rentals and other charges so that pledged revenues will be sufficient to pay the costs of operation, maintenance and repairs, pay principal of and interest on bonds or notes secured by the pledge of such revenues and provide such reserves as may be required by the applicable resolution or trust agreement; the setting aside of reserve funds, sinking funds or replacement and improvement funds and the regulation and disposition thereof; the crediting of the proceeds of the sale of bonds or notes to and among the funds referred to or provided for in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or notes; the use, lease, sale or other disposition of any water development project or any other assets of the authority; limitations on the purpose to which the proceeds of sale of bonds or notes may be applied and pledging such proceeds to secure the payment of the bonds or notes or of any issue thereof; notes issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds, the agreement of the authority to do all things necessary for the authorization, issuance and sale of such bonds in such amounts as may be necessary for the timely retirement of such notes; limitations on the issuance of additional bonds or notes; the terms upon which additional bonds or notes may be issued and secured; the refunding of outstanding bonds or notes; the procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders or noteholders may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds or notes the holders of which must consent thereto and the manner in which such consent may be given; limitations on the amount of moneys to be expended by the authority for operating, administrative or other expenses of the authority; securing any bonds or notes by a trust agreement; and any other matters, of like or different character, which in any way affect the security or protection of the bonds or notes.

In the event that the sum of all reserves pledged to the payment of such bonds or notes are less than the minimum reserve requirements established in any resolution or resolutions authorizing the issuance of such bonds or notes, the chair of the authority shall certify, on or before December 1, of each year, the amount of such deficiency to the Governor of the state, for inclusion, if the Governor shall so elect, of the amount of such deficiency in the budget to be submitted to the next session of the Legislature for appropriation to the authority to be pledged for payment of such bonds or notes: Provided, That the Legislature is not required to make any appropriation so requested, and the amount of such deficiencies is not a debt or liability of the state.

Neither the members of the authority nor any person executing the bonds or notes are liable personally on the bonds or notes or be subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance thereof.