64-1-102 - Powers and duties Eminent domain Tax-exempt status. - Tennessee Statutes

64-1-102. Powers and duties Eminent domain Tax-exempt status.

(a)  The authority is hereby specifically authorized and empowered to do any and all things necessary or desirable in forming and executing a plan for the comprehensive development of the resources of the Beech River watershed, including, but not limited to, action in cooperation, when necessary or desirable, with appropriate local, state and federal agencies, in the fields of agriculture, forestry, drainage and flood control, land reclamation, electric power utilization, irrigation, water conservation and supply, recreation, public health, education, manufacturing and trade. To that end the authority:

     (1)  Shall have succession in its corporate name;

     (2)  May sue and be sued in its corporate name;

     (3)  May adopt and use a corporate seal;

     (4)  May establish, amend and repeal bylaws, and make all rules and regulations deemed expedient for the management of its corporate affairs;

     (5)  May make contracts and execute instruments containing such terms, provisions and conditions as in the judgment of the board of directors may be necessary, proper or advisable in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it in this part, including, but not limited to, contracts for grants, loans or other assistance from any federal agency and contracts with corporations, associations or individuals for construction work in the furtherance of any development project, and may carry out and perform the terms and conditions of all such contracts or instruments;

     (6)  May acquire by purchase, lease, gift or by condemnation, property of any kind, real, personal or mixed, or any interest therein, that the board deems necessary to the exercise of its powers or functions. Acquisition by condemnation is limited to land, rights in land, including leaseholds and easements, and water rights in the Beech River watershed that, if taken for channel improvement along an unimpounded portion of the Beech River stream system, lie within the present floodplain of the main stream or of a tributary of the Beech River, and, if bordering an impoundment or detention reservoir, lie within two thousand six hundred fifty feet (2,650¢) of the nearest point on the maximum shoreline contour of such impoundment. The amount and character of interests in land, rights in land, and water rights to be acquired within either of these boundaries shall be determined by the board of directors, which determination shall be final;

     (7)  May issue its bonds from time to time in a total amount not to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the purpose of paying in whole or in part the cost of the acquisition of necessary land or interests therein and the development of the resources of the Beech River watershed, and expenses incidental thereto; may secure such bonds by a pledge of all or any part of the revenues that may now or hereafter come to the authority from any source, by a mortgage or deed of trust of the authority's land or any part thereof, or by a combination of the two (2); and may make such contracts or covenants in the issuance of such bonds as may be necessary to ensure the marketability thereof;

     (8)  May arrange with any city, county, municipality or supplier of utilities for the abandonment, relocation or other adjustment of roads, highways, bridges and utility lines;

     (9)  May enter into contracts with municipalities, corporations, other public agencies or political subdivisions of any kind, or with others for the sale of water from reservoirs in the Beech River system under its control for municipal, domestic, agricultural or industrial use, or any other services, facilities or commodities that the authority may be in a position to supply;

     (10)  May develop reservoirs and shoreline lands for recreational use and provide for their operation or use for this purpose directly or by concessionaires, lessees or vendees of shoreline lands;

     (11)  May sell or lease shoreline lands acquired in connection with development of the Beech River system for uses consistent with the authority's development plans and subject to such restrictions as the authority deems necessary for reservoir protection and to such requirements as to:

          (A)  Character of improvements and activities on the lands; and

          (B)  Time within which such improvements or activities shall be undertaken as the authority deems appropriate to its overall development plans; and

     (12)  May manage or operate reservoirs or shoreline lands of reservoirs owned by the United States under appropriate agreements with the federal agency or agencies having custody and control thereof.

(b)  (1)  The authority's power of eminent domain may be exercised under title 29, chapter 16, or pursuant to any other applicable statutory provisions, now in force or hereafter enacted, for the exercise of the power of eminent domain.

     (2)  (A)  At any time on or after the filing of a petition for condemnation of property, and before the entry of final judgment, the authority may file with the clerk of the court in which the petition is filed, a declaration of taking signed by the duly authorized officer or agent of the authority declaring that all or part of the property described in the petition is being taken for the use of the authority. The declaration of taking is sufficient if it sets forth:

                (i)  A description of the property, sufficient for the identification thereof, to which there may be attached a plat or map thereof;

                (ii)  A statement of the estate or interest in the property being taken; and

                (iii)  A statement of the sum of money estimated by the authority to be just compensation for the property taken.

          (B)  At any time prior to the vesting of title to property in the authority, the authority may withdraw or dismiss its petition with respect to any and all of the property described in the petition.

     (3)  From the filing of the declaration of taking and the deposit in court to the use of the persons entitled thereto of the amount of the estimated compensation stated in the declaration, title to the property described as being taken by the declaration shall vest in the authority, free from the right, title, interest or lien of all parties to the cause, and the property shall be deemed to be condemned and taken for the use of the authority, and the right to just compensation for the same shall vest in the persons entitled thereto. Upon the filing of the declaration of taking, the court shall designate a day, not exceeding twenty (20) days after such filing except upon good cause shown, on which the persons in possession are required to surrender possession to the authority.

     (4)  The ultimate amount of compensation shall be determined pursuant to title 29, chapter 16. If the amount so fixed exceeds the amount so deposited in the court by the authority or otherwise paid to the persons entitled thereto, the court shall enter judgment against the authority in the amount of such deficiency, together with interest at the legal rate on such deficiency from the date of the vesting of title to the date of entry of the final judgment, subject, however, to abatement for use, income, rents or profits derived from such property by the owner thereof subsequent to the vesting of title in the authority; and the court shall order the authority to deposit the amount of such deficiency in court. Upon the application of the parties in interest, the court may order that the money deposited in the court, or any part thereof, be paid forthwith for or on account of just compensation to be awarded in the proceedings. Interest is not allowed on so much of the just compensation as has been paid into court with the declaration of taking. In case the amount deposited in court by the authority as the estimated compensation for the property exceeds the amount of the final award or judgment, such excess shall be returned to the authority.

     (5)  As an alternative to the procedure provided in subdivisions (b)(2)-(b)(4), the authority may file in the court where condemnation proceedings of the authority are pending, an application for a writ of possession, which the court shall, upon the authority's posting a bond with the clerk of the court in such amount as the court may deem commensurate with the value of the property condemned, order that a writ of possession shall issue immediately or as soon and upon such terms as the court, in its discretion, may deem proper and just.

(c)  During the time that title to land or rights in land are held by the authority, they are exempt from all taxes levied by the state or any of its political subdivisions, or instrumentalities of either, and all other property and activities of the authority are similarly exempt.

[Acts 1963, ch. 343, § 2; T.C.A., § 66-1-102.]