PART I. CREATION; ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTION.

§8-26-1. Creation of commission; state may be ex officio member.

Any municipality or county or any two or more municipalities or counties, or any combination thereof, may cooperate with the political subdivisions of other states bordering on this state for the purpose of creating, by an agreement, an interstate regional planning commission, whenever such political subdivisions comprise a region which would benefit from cooperative planning. The agreement entered into by the several political subdivisions shall specify the extent of the region included within the jurisdiction of the interstate regional planning commission; and shall fix the membership comprising the commission, the terms of office and method of appointment of the members thereof, the duration of the commission, the method for terminating the commission, the method of disposal of all property belonging to the commission, the distribution of the proceeds, and the apportionment of the costs of maintaining the planning commission to be borne respectively by the various political subdivisions included within the agreement, such apportionment to be based on the population of the various participating political subdivisions. Any such agreement shall be executed on behalf of any municipality by the governing body thereof and on behalf of a county by the county commission.

The state of West Virginia may be an ex officio member of any such interstate regional planning commission formed under the provisions of this article. The Governor or a representative designated by him shall represent the state in the deliberations of any interstate regional planning commission or its agencies or instrumentalities but this state shall not be a voting member of any interstate regional planning commission or any agency or instrumentality thereof.