CHAPTER 131

AN ACT to amend and reenact § 144 (c) of Chapter 34, as amended, of the
Acts of Assembly of 1918, approved February 7, 1918, which chapter
provided a new charter for the city of Norfolk, and which section re-
lates to the powers and duties of the Norfolk Port Authority.

[S 95]

Approved February 28, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 144 (c) of Chapter 34, as amended, of the Acts of As-
sembly of 1918, approved February 7, 1918, be amended and reenacted
as follows:

§ 144 (c). Such port authority shall have the following powers:
_ (a) To adopt and use a corporate seal, and to alter the same at
its pleasure.

(b) To acquire, hold and dispose of such personal property as may
be necessary for its purpose.

(c) To acquire by purchase or lease, on such terms and conditions,
and in such manner as it may deem proper, except by condemnation or
by gift, such real property or such rights, easements or estates therein,
as may be necessary for its purposes, and to sell, lease and dispose of the
same, or any portion thereof or interest therein, whenever it shall be-
come expedient to do so.

(d) To acquire, lease, construct or maintain and operate, landings,
wharves, docks and piers, commodity elevators, and the approaches to and
appurtenances thereof, tracks, spurs, crossings, switchings, terminals,
warehouses and terminal facilities of every kind and description neces-
sary or useful in the transportation and storage of goods, wares and
merchandise, to perform any and all services at said facilities in con-
nection with the receipt, delivery, shipment and transfer in transit,
weighing, marking, tagging, ventilating, fumigating, refrigerating, ic-
ing, storing and handling of goods, wares and merchandise, to prescribe
and collect charges from vessels coming into or using any landings,
wharves, docks, piers and commodity elevators operated and maintained
by said authority and from persons using any of the other facilities of
the authority, and to lease any and all of such facilities or any conces-
sions properly incident thereto to any person, firm or corporation for
the maintenance and operation of any and all of such facilities on such
terms and conditions as it may deem proper.

(e) To acquire, purchase, construct, lease, operate, maintain and
undertake, when and as authorized by the council of the city of Norfolk
by formal ordinance, any wholesale market facility for merchants,
dealers and farmers engaged in the marketing of perishable farm pro-
duce, fruits, vegetables, poultry, eggs, horticultural products, dairy pro-
ducts, meats, sea food, dry groceries, frozen foods and in the operation
of freezing and prepackaging plants and in the furnishing of baskets
and containers for farm produce and other articles handled at said
market, to make charges for the use thereof with such facility being
classed as a public utility within the meaning of this act.

(f) To acquire, purchase, construct, lease, operate, maintain and
undertake any passenger bus or railroad passenger terminal facility
and to make charges for the use thereof.

(g) To acquire, for the purpose of encouraging major industry and
manufacturing, real property and to construct thereon any structures,
including all equipment, appurtenances and accessories necessary or
appropriate for such uses and purposes, and to sell or lease the same,
or any part thereof, for industrial or manufacturing uses and purposes.
The authority granted in this paragraph shall not be exercised in any
case where the aggregate cost of land and structures for any single
project is less than * $250,000.00. Nothing in this Section (g) shall be
construed as permitting any facility primarily designed for the park-
ing or storage of automobiles as a separate and distinct project.

(h) To maintain and operate any airport and air navigational facil-
ities now or hereafter owned by the city of Norfolk with the same powers
and authority thereover in the operation and maintenance thereof that
or ay may have, subject, however, to the provisions of Section
1 .

(i) To make capital improvements on any airport and air navi-
gational facility now or hereafter owned by the city of Norfolk and
transferred to said authority to operate and maintain, with the same
powers to issue its bonds therefor as it has for its other purposes, sub-
ject to the approval of the council of the city of Norfolk.

(j) To foster and stimulate the commerce of the Port of Norfolk
and the shipment of freight through such port and to investigate and
handle matters pertaining to all transportation rate structures affect-
ing the commerce of the port.

(k) To establish, acquire, lease, maintain and operate, within the
corporate limits of the city, a public transportation system, when and
as authorized by the council of the city of Norfolk.

To extend the operation and maintenance of such transportation
system in territory adjoining the city of Norfolk when and as author-
ized so to do by the governing body of the political subdivision in which
extended and as otherwise provided by law.

(1) To establish, acquire, lease, maintain and operate such other
public utilities as may be required of said port authority by the council
of the city of Norfolk and as may be otherwise authorized by law.

(m) To fix and charge tolls, fees and other charges for the use
of, or for services rendered by, any of the facilities it is authorized
hereunder to maintain and operate.

(n) To appoint and employ such officers, agents and employees as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes of said authority, to fix
their compensation and to prescribe their duties.
(0) To do all other acts and things which may be reasonably neces-
sary and convenient to carry out the purposes and powers given herein.

The powers conferred upon the authority by this section except the
powers conferred by clauses (h), (i), (j), and (k) of this section shall
be exercised solely within the corporate limits of the city of Norfolk;
provided further that rentals and charges for any and all facilities con-
structed and/or operated pursuant to clauses (f) and (g) shall, as near
as possible, be at commercial rates for like facilities or services, and
include a sum equivalent to real estate taxes at current rates on such
property.

Whenever in this act approval of the council of the city of Norfolk
is required to enable the Norfolk Port Authority to exercise any power
herein granted it, such approval shall be only by a formal ordinance.
2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.